Baltic Dry Index. 601
-04 Brent Crude 49.16
Brexit odds checker.
http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/eu-referendum/referendum-on-eu-membership-result
Brexit Quote of the Day.
Let every nation know,
whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, tell any lie, to assure
the survival and the success of the EUSSR.Dodgy Dave Cameron, with apologies to J. F. Kennedy.
The
G-7: they came, they talked, they decided that they need “to avoid falling into another crisis." More
specifically, falling into another 2008 Lehman style crisis. Well yes, but we
all knew that before Dodgy Dave and all the rest headed out to the airport to
fly to Japan. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, just ask the Greeks.
Basically, it was every man for himself.
Below,
you have to wonder why they bother. You have to wonder why Canada and Italy are
still members, while China, India and Russia aren’t.
The whole history
of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at
first, and deadly afterwards.
Walter Bagehot.
Japan Fails in Bid to Have G-7 Warn of Global Crisis Risk
May 27, 2016 — 2:37 AM BST Updated on May 27, 2016 — 4:43 AM BST
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed in his bid to have Group of Seven
leaders warn of the risk of a global economic crisis in a communique
issued as their summit wraps up Friday in central Japan.The final statement declares that G-7 countries "have strengthened the resilience of our economies in order to avoid falling into another crisis."
Japan had pressed G-7 leaders to note "the risk of the global economy exceeding the normal economic cycle and falling into a crisis if we did not take appropriate policy responses in a timely manner." On Thursday, Abe presented documents to the G-7 indicating there was a danger of the world economy careering into a crisis on the scale of the 2008 Lehman shock.
Abe has frequently said he would proceed with a planned increase in Japan’s sales tax in April 2017 unless there is an event on the scale of Lehman or a major earthquake. He is expected to announce next week he is deferring the tax rise, Japanese media reported.
One of the biggest topics at the meeting was China, which is not a member of the G-7. A slowdown in China, alongside a global steel glut, has spurred concerns among developed economies and at times disagreement on how best to spur growth. Abe has advocated greater government spending to back up monetary policy action.
The communique urged a coordinated, albeit differentiated, response to storm clouds gathering over the global economy. Leaders pledged to use a mix of tools depending on their circumstances.
The G-7 statement compromised on the austerity-versus-stimulus debate by leaving each country’s road map open -- saying they will take "into account country-specific circumstances" as they move to use "all policy tools -- monetary, fiscal and structural -- individually and collectively to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints while continuing our efforts to put debt on a sustainable path."
More
G7 agrees need strong message on South China Sea, China says don't 'hype'
Group of Seven (G7) leaders agreed on Thursday on the need to send a
strong message on maritime claims in the western Pacific, where an increasingly
assertive China is locked in territorial disputes with Japan and several
Southeast Asian nations.
The agreement prompted a sharp rejoinder from China, which is not in the
G7 club but whose rise as a power has put it at the heart of some discussions
at the advanced nations' summit in Ise-Shima, central Japan.
"Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe led discussion on the current
situation in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Other G7 leaders said it
is necessary for G7 to issue a clear signal," Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet
Secretary Hiroshige Seko told reporters after a session on foreign policy
affairs.
At a news conference late on Wednesday, Abe said Japan welcomed China's
peaceful rise while repeating Tokyo's opposition to acts that try to change the
status quo by force and urging respect of the rule of law - principles expected
to be mentioned in a statement after the summit.
The United States is also increasingly concerned about China's action in
the region.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying retorted in Beijing
that the South China Sea issue had "nothing to do" with the G7 or any
of its members.
"China is resolutely opposed to individual countries hyping up the
South China Sea for personal gain," she said.
More
China says more than 40 countries support its stance on South China Sea dispute
China said on Friday more than 40 countries support its position on an
international legal case brought by the Philippines over its claims in the
South China Sea.
China refuses to recognize the Philippine case and says all disputes
should be resolved through bilateral talks.
Beijing has stepped up its rhetoric ahead of an expected ruling by the
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the Philippines case.
China claims almost all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through
which more than $5 trillion of maritime trade passes each year. The
Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.
"As far as I know, there are more than 40 countries that have made
statements or made their positions known through all kinds of means,"
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing.
"More and more countries are expressing themselves and showing
their support for China on the South China Sea issue."
She added that any unbiased country would support China.
Countries including Burundi, Slovenia, Niger and Mozambique had pledged
their support for China, the Foreign Ministry said this week.
More
The G-7 photo op over, the action switches now to the USA –China meeting Beijing on June 6-7. And then on to the European Cup starting in France on June 10, and the next Fedster coven on June 14-15, at which they’ve suggested they’ll probably raise their key interest rate again by another meaningless quarter of one percent. This is what passes for adult economic policy in the dying days of the Great Nixonian Error of fiat money.
U.S.-China Economic Poker Game Looms With Market Calm at Stake
May 26, 2016 — 11:00 PM BST
As top American and Chinese officials prepare for their annual
powwow against the backdrop of a looming Federal Reserve interest-rate
increase, the policy actions of the world’s two-biggest economies have
never been so closely bound.In what could be likened to a poker game, officials from the world’s two biggest economies will attempt to assess each others’ policy plans -- and their potential domestic implications -- when they sit down in Beijing June 6-7.
China wants to loosen the yuan’s link with the dollar while averting an exodus of capital. The Fed wants to gradually move away from near-zero interest rates, with almost all officials penciling in at least two quarter-point hikes this year. The past nine months have made clear how the two sides’ goals can conflict, with the withdrawal of U.S. stimulus encouraging Chinese outflows and a surprise August yuan devaluation generating market ructions that put a pause on a Fed rate move.
A Fed-induced surge in the U.S. currency would put pressure on the yuan, lighting a match under money outflows that have eased significantly after a record $1 trillion left in 2015.
Avoiding another financial conflagration is one task for Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and other officials when they meet their Chinese counterparts. The gathering will be the eighth and final Strategic and Economic Dialogue since the Obama administration agreed on the annual sessions, which were an extension of a Bush administration initiative.
“Both China and the U.S. have a shared interest in avoiding mutual
monetary policy surprises that could constrain their own room for domestic
policy actions,” said Eswar Prasad, a former chief of the International
Monetary Fund’s China division and now a professor at Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York.
For China, the biggest risk emanating from the U.S. could be the forward
path of rates that the Fed will communicate at its June 14-15 meeting.
More
We
end for the long weekend with some very bad news from America. A story, I think
that is only in its infancy.
U.S. sees first case of bacteria resistant to all antibiotics
Thu May 26, 2016 | 8:35 PM EDT
Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday reported the first case in
the country of a patient with an infection resistant to all known antibiotics,
and expressed grave concern that the superbug could pose serious danger for
routine infections if it spreads.
"We risk being in a post-antibiotic world," said Thomas
Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman
who had not travelled within the prior five months.
Frieden, speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C.,
said the infection was not controlled even by colistin, an antibiotic that is
reserved for use against "nightmare bacteria."
The infection was reported Thursday in a study appearing in
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society
for Microbiology. It said the superbug itself had first been infected with a
tiny piece of DNA called a plasmid, which passed along a gene called mcr-1 that
confers resistance to colistin.
"(This) heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant
bacteria," said the study, which was conducted by the Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first
report of mcr-1 in the USA."
The patient visited a clinic on April 26 with symptoms of a urinary
tract infection, according to the study, which did not describe her current
condition. Authors of the study could not immediately be reached for comment.
The study said continued surveillance to determine the true frequency of
the gene in the United States is critical.
"It is dangerous and we would assume it can be spread quickly, even
in a hospital environment if it is not well contained," said Dr. Gail
Cassell, a microbiologist and senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School.
But she said the potential speed of its spread will not be known until
more is learned about how the Pennsylvania patient was infected, and how
present the colistin-resistant superbug is in the United States and globally.
In the United States, antibiotic resistance has been blamed for at least
2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually.
The mcr-1 gene was found last year in people and pigs in China, raising
alarm.
The potential for the superbug to spread from animals to people is a
major concern, Cassell said.
For now, Cassell said people can best protect themselves from it and
from other bacteria resistant to antibiotics by thoroughly washing their hands,
washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly and preparing foods appropriately.
Experts have warned since the 1990s that especially bad superbugs could
be on the horizon, but few drugmakers have attempted to develop drugs against
them.
More
‘Probably the
battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton, but the opening
battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there.’
George Orwell
Dodgy Dave upheld
this fine tradition by losing the renegotiation war with the EU and leading the
Remainiac surrender campaign to stay in the EUSSR.
At
the Comex silver depositories Thursday final figures were: Registered 30.12 Moz, Eligible 123.52 Moz, Total 153.64 Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
In EUSSR news it was everything as
normal yesterday. France and Italy continued in chaos-as-usual mode, no one
really liked each other, but the Germans especially disliked the Greeks.
Migrant Mad Merkel’s pact with Sultan Erdogan, merely shifted the migrant route
back to Libya to Italy again. JC Junker especially disliked GB’s Boris Johnson.
Welcome to the 21st century, increasingly dysfunctional, sclerotic,
Bilderberger, EUSSR."If the EU cannot resolve a small problem the size of Greece, what is the point of Europe?"
Romano Prodi, former chief of the European Commission, former Italy Prime Minister.
French union leads new anti-reform protests, seeks to maintain momentum
France's hardline CGT union sought to choke off power and fuel supplies
and hamper the public transport network on Thursday in a showdown with a
government that flatly refused to withdraw a contested labor law reform.
As tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, workers
responded to the union call by stopping work at oil refineries, nuclear power
plants and
the railways, as well as erecting road blocks and burning wooden pallets and
tires at key ports like Le Havre and near key distribution hubs.
plants and
the railways, as well as erecting road blocks and burning wooden pallets and
tires at key ports like Le Havre and near key distribution hubs.
The standoff, which raises the specter of disruption during the
France-hosted European soccer tournament that opens on June 10, was condemned
both by Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls and the country's other big trade
union, the CFDT.
After months of rolling protests sparked by a reform that aims to make
hiring and firing easier, Thursday's stoppages and street marches were being
watched closely as a test of whether the CGT-led opposition is solid or at risk
of fizzling out.
The street marches were joined by scores of marchers from a youth
protest movement called Nuit Debout (Up All Night). Police deployed to counter
risks of the severe fringe violence in which 350 police and several protesters
have been hurt and more than 1,300 arrested at similar rallies in recent weeks.
CGT chief Philippe Martinez, asked by Reuters if his union was willing
to disrupt the Euro 2016 soccer contest, said: "The government will has
the time to say 'let's stop the clock' and everything will be ok."
"There is no question of changing tack, even if adjustments are
always possible," said Valls, who flatly rejected calls to scrap the part
of the law that put the CGT on the warpath.
That section would let companies opt out of national obligations on
labor protection if they adopt in-house deals on pay and conditions with the
consent of a majority of employees.
The SNCF state train company said that upwards of two-thirds of
national, regional and local rail connections were operating, suggesting
stoppages by railworkers were hurting less than last week when a similar strike
halved the number of trains running.
After police intervention in recent days to lift blockades at refineries
and fuel distribution depots, Valls said 20-30 percent of fuel stations were
dry or short of certain fuels.
"The situation is less worrisome as of today," Transport
Minister Alain Vidalies said. Deliveries of fuel from depots to the petrol pump
were now improving, he said.
The number of fuel stations short of petrol or diesel fell to 83 on
Thursday from 140 on Wednesday in the Loire-Atlantique department of western
France, the government office there said.
French nuclear power capacity was cut by as much as five gigawatts due
to stoppages. That is equivalent to just over six percent of the country's
total production capacity.
Even if power industry experts say the nuclear plant strike was unlikely
to provoke major blackouts due to legal limits on strike action and power
imports from abroad, the action usually raises running costs for the EdF power
utility.
With dockers striking at the southern port of Marseille, the number of
ships waiting at sea to offload oil, gas and chemicals rose to 21 from what
would normally be about five, the port authority said.
More
Europe's Pointless 'Breakthrough' on Greece
May 26, 2016 2:00 AM EDT
The leader of Europe’s finance ministers called Wednesday’s agreement on Greek
debt a “major breakthrough.” In a way, it was. The latest twist in this
perpetual negotiation has raised the art of dithering to impressive new
heights. The next financing crunch, which would otherwise have come this summer, has been staved off: Greece will get money to last it at least until October. To make this possible and maintain a show of comity, its official creditors have ventured various semi-commitments and vague understandings. But they left basic disagreements -- mainly between Germany and the International Monetary Fund -- unresolved. This epic of mismanagement is set to drag on.
Recently,
and in increasingly strident terms, the IMF has called on Europe to commit to
additional debt relief, whether by haircuts, caps on interest rates, extended
maturities or a repayment moratorium. It has argued -- correctly --
that Greece’s debts aren’t supportable otherwise, even with the maximum
feasible effort on the Greek side to achieve budget discipline. The new deal
acknowledges this position by stating long-term targets for the debt-financing
burden Greece will have to carry. What it fails to do is say how those targets
might actually be met.
More
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier says extending Russia sanctions more difficult
An agreement on renewing sanctions against Russia when they run out on
July 31 has become more difficult with growing opposition from some EU
countries, Germany's foreign minister said on Thursday.
European Union economic sanctions
against Russia were introduced for one year in July 2014 in response to its
actions in Ukraine and twice extended in 2015.
sanctions
against Russia were introduced for one year in July 2014 in response to its
actions in Ukraine and twice extended in 2015.
"We are aware that resistance in the EU to extending the sanctions
toward Russia has increased," Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted by Lithuania's
BNS news agency saying in an interview.
"It will be more difficult than it was last year to find a common
position on this issue."
Germany wants to keep the sanctions until the Minsk peace accords
between Russia and Ukraine are implemented, Steinmeier said.
"One thing is for sure. We cannot ignore Russia's annexation of
Crimea in violation of international law and the destabilization of Eastern
Ukraine," he said.
The 28-strong EU needs unanimity to keep the sanctions in place and the
bloc's unity has been increasingly tested on that.
Last week diplomats and officials told Reuters the EU was still on track
to renew them,
though an extension could be contested and only short-term.
them,
though an extension could be contested and only short-term.
Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Bulgaria are among EU states
skeptical that sanctions should be extended, diplomats said, facing off against
Britain, Sweden, Poland and the Baltic states.
Boris Johnson as PM is 'horror scenario', says Juncker EU aide
Chief of staff to European commission president lumps Brexit campaigner in with Trump and Le Pen at G7 summit in Japan
Thursday 26 May 2016 10.20 BST
Boris Johnson has
faced an extraordinary string of attacks from some of the most senior figures
in the EU, one of whom described the prospect of him becoming prime minister as
a “horror scenario”.Martin Selmayr, who is chief of staff to the European commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, lumped Johnson in with France’s Marine Le Pen and the US presidential candidate Donald Trump in a provocative tweet.
The message, in which Selmayr says “it is worth fighting populism”, has already triggered a backlash among out campaigners in Britain.
The Vote Leave media spokesman Robert Oxley said of the intervention: “Unelected bureaucrat working for unelected bureaucrat speaks.” There was speculation that Selmayr’s action might have been coordinated as it landed immediately after criticism from Juncker.
The commission president accused Johnson of painting an unreal picture of the EU for the British public and said he should return to Brussels, where he previously worked as a journalist, to see whether his claims chimed with “reality”.
Juncker also hinted that if Britain’s highest-profile campaigner were to become prime minister then his discussions with European partners might be strained.
At the G7 summit in Japan, responding to a question at a press conference about Johnson’s decision to compare the EU’s aims to those of Adolf Hitler, Juncker said: “I’m reading in [the] papers that Boris Johnson spent part of his life in Brussels. It’s time for him to come back to Brussels, in order to check in Brussels if everything he’s telling British people is in line with reality.
“I don’t think so, so he would be welcome in Brussels at any time.”
Asked whether the European institutions would be able to work with Johnson if he entered Downing Street, Juncker replied: “The atmosphere of our talks would be better if Britain is staying in the European Union.”
Johnson hit back with claims that Germany was the “paymaster” of an EU project designed to create a United States of Europe.
More
“We
all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done
it.”
Jean-Claude Juncker. Failed Luxembourg Prime Minister and
ex-president of the Euro Group of Finance Ministers. Confessed liar. EC
President.
Brexit The Animated Movie.
Brexit
Quote of the week.
“We hold these
truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness outside of the EUSSR.”
With grateful
thanks to the writers of the US Declaration of Independence.
Solar & Related Update.
With events
happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this
new section. Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable
cheap AC or DC energy mankind’s future from the 21st century
onwards? DC? A quantum computer next?
SunPower and Total to supply power to world’s first solar energy-operated metro
26 May 2016
US solar energy company SunPower has signed a power purchase agreement
with Total to deliver 300GW hours per year of clean energy to the Metro of
Santiago in Chile.
The metro currently handles 2.2 million passengers every day and will
become the world's first public transportation system to operate primarily on
solar energy.
Total's new energies division business and operations senior
vice-president Bernard Clement said: "This contract is expressing Chile's
commitment for a sustainable world.
"We are proud to partner with Metro in developing a new way of powering
public transportation systems through competitive, reliable and clean energy.
This project supports our ambition to become the responsible energy
major."
The Metro will receive its power from a 100MW El Pelicano Solar (AC)
Project near the municipalities of La Higuera in the Coquimbo Region and
Vallenar in the Atacama Region.
Construction is expected to commence this year and be operational by the
end of next year.
SunPower Global Power Plants executive vice-president Eduardo Medina
said: "SunPower is proud to serve Metro of Santiago's growing energy
demand with cost-competitive, renewable solar power.
"Solar is an ideal energy source for Chile because of the country's
high solar resource and transparent energy policies. In partnership with Total,
SunPower is committed to the continued growth of our business in Chile."
Another weekend, and hopefully another weekend closer to GB Independence Day. But with Project Fear now at warp speed, targeting pensioners, those on welfare, the young, their parents and grandparents, homeowners, and the military, aided and abetted by the Berlin Broadcasting Corporation, the latest propaganda spin is that Remainiacs ranks are growing. If so, poor John Bull will still likely have a ringside seat, when the EUSSR finally blows up not too far ahead. Have a great weekend everyone.
“When it becomes serious, you have to lie.”
Jean-Claude Juncker. Failed former Luxembourg P.M.,
serial liar, president of the European Commission.
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished April
DJIA: 17773.64-19 Down. NASDAQ: 4775.36 +11 Down. SP500: 2065.30 -21 Down.
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