Baltic
Dry Index. 2166 -37
Brent Crude 84.41
Spot
Gold 2365 US 2 Year Yield 4.80 -0.04
It is a well known and very important fact that America's founding fathers did not like taxation without representation. It is a lesser known and equally important fact that they did not much like taxation with representation.
John Kenneth Galbraith
In the stock
casinos, tomorrow will be like today which was like yesterday. We will all get
super rich buying up stocks, frontrunning the coming central bankster interest
rate cuts.
Stock
prices, to infinity and beyond.
What could possibly go wrong?
Asia markets
track Wall Street gains amid renewed U.S. rate cut hopes; Hong Kong stocks hit
9-month high
UPDATED FRI, MAY 10 2024 12:37 AM EDT
Hong Kong
led Asia-Pacific stocks on Friday as markets tracked Wall Street gains, with
renewed hopes for rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve bolstering market
sentiment.
The Hang Seng index hit
its highest level in nine months, up 1.62% after Bloomberg reported regulators were considering a proposal to exempt
individual investors from paying taxes on dividends earned from Hong Kong
stocks bought via Stock Connect.
In contrast, the mainland China’s
CSI 300 lost 0.28%.
Elsewhere, Japan’s overall
household spending in March fell 1.2% year on year, less than the 2.4% expected
by a Reuters poll of economists. However, on a month-on-month basis, household
spending rose 1.2%, compared with estimates of a 0.3% drop.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was
up 0.66%, while the broad-based Topix was 0.74% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed
0.73%, but the small cap Kosdaq slipped 0.58%.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 also
inched up 0.33%.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes
climbed as fresh
weekly jobless claims data came in at the highest level since
August, raising expectations that central bankers might cut interest rates at
some point this year.
The 30-stock Dow jumped
0.85% to notch its longest win streak since a nine-day run in December. The S&P 500 added
0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained
0.27%.
Asia
markets live updates: Japan trade, Japan household spending (cnbc.com)
Stock futures are
little changed after Dow notches seven-day win streak: Live updates
UPDATED FRI, MAY 10 2024 7:57 PM EDT
U.S. stock
futures were little changed on Thursday night after the Dow Jones Industrial
Average posted its longest win streak going back to December.
Futures linked to the 30-stock Dow rose
by 49 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500
futures climbed
0.09%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained
0.1%.
Wall Street is coming off a
positive session for the major averages. The blue-chip Dow advanced
0.85%, registering a seventh
straight day of gains in the benchmark’s best showing since a
nine-day win streak in December. The S&P 500 gained
0.51%, closing above 5,200 for the first time since early April. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose
0.27%.
Investors have been more
optimistic lately after the Federal Reserve indicated the next move is unlikely
to be a hike, pointing to a cap on interest rates that could be bullish for
equities. A strong earnings season, as well as some softer labor data, have
also bolstered confidence in the stock outlook.
“What’s important in all of this
context is, ‘are we in the early stages of a long-term bull market or not?’”
Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer of Merrill and Bank of America Private
Bank. “It feels comfortable saying it on a day like this, but we are, in our
opinion.”
Stocks were on pace for a winning
week as of Thursday’s close. The Dow has gained 1.8%. The S&P 500 and the
Nasdaq Composite were higher by 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively.
A slate of central bank officials
are scheduled to speak Friday, including Fed presidents Lorie Logan of Dallas,
Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Austan Goolsbee of Chicago. Fed Governor
Michelle Bowman will also make an appearance.
On the economic front, May
consumer sentiment data that’s due out Friday is expected to ease slightly to
76.0, down from 77.2.
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
Bank of England holds interest
rates steady, but signals a cut is coming
PUBLISHED THU, MAY 9 2024 7:07 AM EDT
LONDON — The Bank of England on Thursday announced
a widely-expected hold on interest rates following its May meeting, as it said
restrictive monetary policy was working to bring down inflation.
Members of the central bank’s Monetary Policy
Committee voted 7-2 to hold, with the latter favoring a cut. In the prior
meeting only one member voted for a cut.
The MPC nonetheless cautioned that indicators of
inflation persistence “remain elevated.”
It keeps the BOE’s key Bank Rate at 5.25%.
Market anticipation is building for interest rate
cuts to begin in the summer, with money markets fully pricing in a 25 basis
point reduction in August and 50 basis points overall this year.
Some economists see a cut as soon as the next
meeting in June, and three or more cuts in 2024. That is largely because U.K.
headline inflation is forecast to drop dramatically in April due to lower
energy prices from the current 3.2% to
below the BOE’s 2% target, according to some projections.
“While [economic] growth is increasing, the labor
market continues to loosen. Ultimately, we think that will feed into weaker
wage growth. We do expect that to come down across the course of this year,”
Matthew Swannell, U.K. economist at BNP Paribas, told CNBC’s “Street Signs
Europe” on Thursday.
“As well as that we see other costs coming down,
particularly non-labor costs and those related to energy, passing through the
supply chain and lowering services and goods prices, ultimately helping the
Bank of England get inflation back towards the 2% mark.”
Bank of England holds interest rates steady, but
signals a cut is coming (cnbc.com)
In other news.
Japan's consumer
spending extends declines as outlook weakens
By Satoshi Sugiyama and Tetsushi Kajimoto May 10, 2024 5:35 AM GMT+1
TOKYO, May 10 (Reuters) - Japan's consumer spending fell for the 13th
straight month in March, creating challenges for policymakers who are seeking
to drive stronger real wage growth, a prerequisite for additional central bank
rate hikes.
Household spending fell 1.2% in March from a year earlier, official data
released on Friday showed, against economists' median forecast for a 2.4% drop
and following a 0.5% decline in February.
On a seasonally adjusted, month-on-month basis, spending increased 1.2%,
much bigger than an estimated 0.3% contraction and a 1.4% rise in February.
The weak figures came a day after labour ministry data showed real wages
shrinking two years in a row, as the rising cost of living outpaced nominal
wages despite the biggest pay hikes in about three decades.
Weak household consumption is a source of concern for policymakers who
want to see sustained economic growth led by strong wage hikes and solid
consumer spending.
Separate data on Friday showed Japan's current account surplus widened
to 3.40 trillion yen ($21.9 billion) in March.
That compared with economists' median forecast for a surplus of 3.49
trillion yen in a Reuters poll.
For the fiscal year that ended March, Japan's current account surplus
was a record 25.339 trillion yen, reflecting a trade surplus, cooling commodity
prices and hefty gains in primary income from direct investment overseas.
Japan's consumer spending extends declines as outlook weakens | Reuters
Finally, yet more bad EV news.
Porsche Taycan: Urgent recall over battery fire fears for
luxury brand's Car of the Year EV range
By JAMES DOWLING FOR NCA NEWSWIRE
|
Porsche's leading electric
car has been hit with an
urgent recall notice by the federal transport department over battery issues.
The department has issued the recall on Porsche Taycan
models Y1A, Y1B and Y1C for the year range 2019-2023, citing a risk of fire
from the faulty batteries.
There only 19 such registered vehicles in Australia, with
a list of identifications available on vehiclerecalls.gov.au.
Cell modules in the high voltage battery
leaves the vehicles prone to short circuiting that could trigger overheating
and a vehicle fire.
Owners of the
affected cars can arrange free repair of the issue through their nearest
official Porsche dealer.
Prior to the
servicing, owners are warned to limit battery charging to 80 per cent or less.
'A vehicle fire
could increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants, other road
users and bystanders, and/or damage to property,' the recall memo said
The Taycan debuted
in 2020 as the company's first electric car and made up 7.4 per cent of the
retailer's sales that year.
It was commended
with What Car? magazine's Performance Car of the Year award in 2021.
Delay petrol ban beyond 2035, says Sir Jim Ratcliffe
May 9, 2024
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called for the
ban on all petrol car sales to be delayed beyond 2035, as the British
industrial tycoon warned that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has “dried
up”.
The billionaire behind petrochemicals
giant Ineos is lobbying the UK Government to relax net zero laws so that
low-emission vehicles can be sold even after the planned cut-off point, as an
“interim” step towards cleaner technologies.
This could include electric
cars fitted with petrol-powered range extenders as well as plug-in hybrids that
rely on their batteries most of the time.
Sir Jim’s
intervention comes amid a wave of criticism of the Government’s net zero stance
from some of the world’s biggest carmakers, including Ford and the owner of
Vauxhall.
It is understood that the
tycoon’s car brand, Ineos Automotive, which is itself preparing to launch an EV
with a range-extender, has held meetings with the Government about the issue.
Writing for The Telegraph,
Sir Jim blames consumer “range anxiety” – the fear they will run out of battery
and be unable to charge – for a slowdown in EV sales, arguing that plans to
make carmakers go all-electric by 2035 are “barmy”.
The
71-year-old, whose empire includes
Manchester United football club as well as the
Grangemouth oil refinery, a major supplier of petrol, adds: “Electric is fine
and dandy for the short local journey, but should you decide to head off for
the hills, forget it.
In recent weeks, major carmakers
including Volkswagen, Ford and Vauxhall owner Stellantis have publicly vented
their frustration at laws requiring them to sell ever-higher proportions of EVs
regardless of consumer demand.
Carlos Tavares, chief executive of
Stellantis, claimed measures such as the UK’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV)
mandate were “crashing into reality” as sales of EVs stall across Europe.
More
Delay petrol ban beyond 2035, says Sir Jim Ratcliffe
(msn.com)
Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.
Milton Friedman.
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
'When will Remainers apologise?' Brexiteer hails
booming UK trade after EU exit
May
8, 2024
A Brexiteer
has urged Remainers to apologise for doom-laden warnings of a "trade
disaster" if the UK left the EU.
Tory MP Sir
John Redwood highlighted official figures showing Britain exported £862billion
of goods and services in the 12 months to February 2024.
The former
minister also listed a series of other trade wins including joining the bumper
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
trade bloc.
In a
post on his website,
Sir John said: "Remain tried to make out Brexit was mainly about trade. It
was of course mainly about taking back control, giving us the right to make our
own laws, set our own taxes and spend our own money.
"They also asserted it would damage our trade to leave. They
said we would not even be able to roll over all the EU trade deals we were part
of.
"Treasury,
bank, much of the civil service and Remain parties pushed out these lies
continuously.
"The
Treasury famously summed up its conclusions by saying wrongly that leaving
would 'push the UK into recession and lead to a sharp rise in unemployment'.
"Their
severe shock scenario meant an extra 800, 000 unemployed and a 6 percent fall
in GDP."
On what happened after Brexit, he went on:
"After the vote unemployment fell and the economy grew. Trade went up.
"The
UK did roll over all the EU trade deals into UK trade deals and in some cases
negotiated improvements to them.
"The UK
went on to agree a trade deal with the Trans Pacific Partnership countries.
"The UK
also at some needless political cost signed a trade agreement with the EU.
"The
Government has recently released figures for what has happened to our trade
since the vote and since we left. Our service exports have doubled since 2014
to non-EU countries (2016 was a little up on 2014) and risen by more than a
half since 2016 to the EU.
"The UK
is now the second largest exporter of services worldwide after the USA. We are
now adding service sector chapters to trade deals which the EU was unwilling to
do.
"Total
exports are up from under £600million in 2016 to £862billion in the year to
February 2024. They are up by a third to the EU and by considerably more to the
rest of the world."
In a post on
X, Sir John added: "When will Remain experts, officials and MPs apologise
for all those wrong forecasts of trade disaster if we voted no?"
'When will Remainers apologise?' Brexiteer hails booming UK trade after EU exit (msn.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
New
'FLiRT' COVID-19 Variants Are Spreading: All About Symptoms, Treatment, And How
To Protect Yourself
May 8, 2024
With warm weather
finally within reach, a new set of COVID-19 variants,
given the nickname FLiRT, has been found in wastewater surveillance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
has reported.
On Wednesday, the CDC said
the FLiRT variants were appearing in wastewater sampling. They found that from
April 14 through April 27, FLiRT has made up about 25% of the cases in the
United States, and are behind 1 in 4 Covid cases in the US, per the CDC.
With it's rapid infection
rate in a two-week span, it's now the dominant variant in the United State, out
numbering JN.1, the variant
that spread all over the world throughout the winter, according to CDC
research.
So what
are these new FLiRT variants and what do their symptoms look like? Ahead,
everything to know about the new COVID-19 variant called FLiRT and how to
protect yourself from infection.
The FLiRT variants, KP.2 and
KP.1.1, are part of the Omicron family.
Specifically, they are descendants of JN.1.11.1, a by-product of JN.1—the most
common variant until these new ones popped up, per Prevention.
Since they are new, there
isn't too much information about how these variants work yet. However, research
has found a few changes in KP.2's spike protein compared to JN.1, according
to Prevention.
---- The CDC says symptoms
of COVID-19 FLiRT include:
- Fever or
chills
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Shortness of
breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or
body aches
- Headache
- New loss of
taste or smell
- Congestion or
runny nose
- Nausea or
vomiting
- Diarrhea
It's important to note that
as new COVID-19 variants spread, the symptoms can vary by person.
More
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section. Updates as they get reported.
Finnlines rolls out fuel and
emissions reducing hull coating
The
ferry operator will apply the GIT Coatings XGIT-FUEL to vessels in its ro-ro
and ro-pax fleets after a seven per cent reduction in fuel consumption and
emissions
08 MAY 2024
Finnlines
is to roll out a graphene-based hard foul release hull coating across its ro-ro
and ro-pax fleets following a seven per cent reduction in fuel consumption and
emissions on four of its vessels treated with the GIT Coatings XGIT-Fuel hull
coating.
The first Finnlines vessel was treated with XGIT-Fuel in 2022. Since
then, three more vessels have been treated with the low-friction hull coating,
reducing fuel consumption and emissions by around seven per cent (compared to
previously used coating) thanks to reduced vessel drag.
A biocide-free, hard foul release coating, XGIT-Fuel offers an
alternative to conventional anti-fouling and soft-foul release hull coatings.
It incorporates graphene to reduce vessel drag, enhance resistance to
mechanical damage, and it can be cleaned without affecting the surface of the
coating. Its application requires only one layer and, as it can be applied in
temperatures from -5 to 40°C, vessels can be upgraded during scheduled for
winter drydocking.
“Our commitment to sustainability is at the forefront of every decision
we make,” said Thomas Doepel, vice president and deputy CEO at Finnlines. “By
integrating XGIT-Fuel into our fleet, we are not only reducing costs and
advancing our environmental goals but also setting a new standard in the
industry for environmental responsibility.”
Finnlines rolls out fuel and emissions reducing hull
coating (cruiseandferry.net)
Finally,
our latest new section, the world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP
compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Another weekend and a summer of central bankster interest rate cuts lies directly ahead. And in the stock casinos, they all lived happily ever after (well maybe.) Have a great weekend everyone.
Truth has anciently been called the first casualty of war. Money may, in fact, have priority.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
