Wednesday 21 September 2016

Today, The Fed’s Fold Up Chair.



Baltic Dry Index. 865 +29    Brent Crude 46.54

LIR Gold Target in 2019: $30,000.  Revised due to QE programs.

In central banking as in diplomacy, style, conservative tailoring, and an easy association with the affluent count greatly and results far much less.

John Kenneth Galbraith

This morning, one down, and one talking chair to go. Not much else really matters today. If the Fed’s talking chair blindsides everyone, unlikely, Wall Street promises a giant temper tantrum panic, matched only by the panic in the Hillary Clinton campaign. Not wanting to try out Wall Street’s cement boots, the Fedster’s fold up talking chair, will fold up once again later in the day.

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

John Kenneth Galbraith

Bank of Japan keeps rates steady, tweaks policy framework

Published: Sept 21, 2016 12:53 a.m. ET

Central bank launches 10-year interest rate target

TOKYO — Japan’s central bank took an unexpected step Wednesday, launching a 10-year interest rate target to step up its fight against deflation, following an internal review of existing measures that failed to achieve 2% inflation in a promised two-year time frame.

The Bank of Japan said it would start targeting 10-year interest rates, committing to keep them around zero as part of a new policy framework aimed at stoking inflation.

The BOJ also said it would continue quantitative easing until inflation “exceeds” 2%, effectively strengthening its commitment to continue aggressive easing.

At the latest policy meeting, the BOJ left its deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.1%. The bank imposed the charge on certain yen deposits held by commercial banks in February, partly to encourage more lending. But the measure has delivered only limited results and has raised worries that murky profit prospects might cause banks to reduce loans instead.

BOJ Shifts Policy Framework to Targeting Japan’s Yield Curve

September 21, 2016 — 5:35 AM BST Updated on September 21, 2016 — 5:51 AM BST
The Bank of Japan shifted the focus of its monetary stimulus away from a rigid target for expanding the supply of money, to controlling the shape of yields across different maturities.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda led his board in keeping the benchmark rate for a share of bank reserves at negative 0.1 percent. The central bank said that the monetary base target, which previously had been set at annual increases of 80 trillion yen ($780 billion), may now fluctuate in the short term as policy makers seek to control the yield curve.

The BOJ scrapped a target for the average maturity of its government bond holdings. Board members also pledged to expand the monetary base until inflation is stable above the 2 percent target -- committing to an overshoot of consumer-price gains.

The BOJ has been the most daring of global central banks in using monetary stimulus to confront deflationary pressures and stagnation, but Kuroda recently began to publicly weigh the costs of its extraordinary easing against the benefits, a shift from his "whatever-it-takes" approach of the past three-plus years.

 “The BOJ’s decision to steepen the yield curve showed they are taking into account the situation of financial institutions,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. Atsushi Takeda, an economist at Itochu Corp. in Tokyo, said today’s decisions "suggest that the BOJ is reaching its limit to monetary options.”
More

What time does the Fed interest-rate decision come out?

Published: Sept 20, 2016 2:28 p.m. ET

Weaker-than-expected data leaves few economists expecting a rate hike

The Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to raise interest rates is due Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Most economists expect the Fed to stand pat as it has since December, when it hiked rates for the first time since 2006.

The Fed’s strategy has not changed since last December. The central bank expects to very gradually hike rates, noted Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

But tactically, the Fed “has been all over the map,” he added.

Markets expected the Fed to hike rates for the second time this cycle in March, but the central bank demurred after the stock market swooned.

The Fed then hinted strongly in April that it was considering hiking rates in June, but a weak May jobs report again kept them on the sidelines.

Last month, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said at the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference that the case for a rate hike was strengthening. But weaker-than-expected data over the last few weeks has led the market to view any move as unlikely.

Some economists still think the Fed may surprise with a interest-rate hike Wednesday, but others saw little chance of a move.
More
Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.

John Kenneth Galbraith.
At the Comex silver depositories Tuesday final figures were: Registered 31.67 Moz, Eligible 139.05 Moz, Total 170.72 Moz. 

Crooks and Scoundrels Corner

The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Brexit, no problem says Moody’s, though the still in denial City of London Remainiacs see it differently. So far, three months on from the Brexit vote, not a single lying, stealing, cheating, Liebor rigging, London bankster has fled the City’s flesh and money pots, for those of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, or high tax Paris.
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.

British banks WILL be able to cope with Brexit despite bankers losing EU passports says credit agency Moody's

  • Moody's says impact of Brexit and end of freedom of movement 'modest'
  • Anti-Brexit campaigners warned banks would be devasted by Leave vote
  • Credit agency said: 'Critical factors such as capital and liquidity.. are unlikely to face material changes due to Brexit'
By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter For Mailonline
Banks will not really suffer if a Brexit deal ends freedom of movement across the EU, an influential credit rating agency has said.

Experts from Moody's have said the impact on the City of London of the loss of 'passporting rights' is likely to be 'modest'. 

Its report contrasts with doom-laden predictions from Remainers who predicted the banking sector would be devastated by Brexit.

EU passports allow British banks to freely trade with 28 states without needing a deal with each individual government.

But Moody's said ending passporting rights would still be manageable for banks.

'The greater impact would be felt through higher costs and diversion of management attention, as the companies concerned restructure, reducing profitability for a time,' it said.

'This is credit negative, but manageable. And other critical factors such as capital and liquidity, which are largely determined by global standards, are unlikely to face material changes due to Brexit per se.' 
Moody's report was released after comments from Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann, who said that Britain would have to remain part of the EEA to maintain passport rights.

Mr Weidmann told the Guardian: 'Passporting rights are tied to the single market and would automatically cease to apply if Great Britain is no longer at least part of the European Economic Area.'

Meanwhile Theresa May told the EU's posturing leaders yesterday that they will have no choice but to agree a trade deal with Brexit Britain.

In a defiant blast delivered en route to a summit of world leaders, the Prime Minister said it was firmly in the interests of the 27 remaining members of the Brussels club to conclude successful talks with the UK.

She was immediately backed up by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, who said the EU has far and away the most to lose if no deal on trade is reached. He pointed out that we import much more from EU countries than we sell to them.

Mrs May's comments on trade are a rebuttal to the EU chiefs and national leaders who have been sabre-rattling over the UK's chances of securing a post-Brexit deal.
more

BOE to Cut Rates Again as Economists See Sharp Slowdown in 2017

September 21, 2016 — 12:01 AM BST
The Bank of England will cut interest rates close to zero later this year as concern persists about the longer-term impact of the Brexit vote, according to a survey.

Forecasts in the latest Bloomberg monthly poll show that signs of strength in recent reports haven’t dissuaded economists from the view that there will be a sharp cooling in growth in 2017. They see the pace of expansion slipping to just 0.7 percent from 1.7 percent this year. That would be the worst performance since 2009, when the economy was last in recession.

The BOE, which cut its key rate to 0.25 percent in August, has kept alive the idea that it could loosen again before the end of the year. It sees the lower bound as close to, but just above, zero. While most of the survey respondents see a another cut, they are divided as to whether the central bank will move again in November, when it has new internal forecasts, or in December, when it will have had a chance to digest the government’s fiscal plans.
More

'You just never know. That unpredictability is the great thing about life. You change. The world changes. You live in a country where we are still blessed with enormous opportunity. Leave yourself open to the world of possibility. You have the ambition, you have the smarts and you have the toughness. So, turn the page on your biography - you have just started a new chapter in your lives.'

Lloyd Blankfein CEO of Goldman Sachs unintentionally backs Brexit in a US speech to graduates.

Solar  & Related Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this 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?

New anode material set to boost lithium-ion battery capacity

Date: September 19, 2016

Source: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

Summary: A team of researchers claims to have made yet another step towards finding a solution to accelerate the commercialization of silicon anode for Lithium-ion batteries.
A team of researchers affiliated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, claims to have made yet another step towards finding a solution to accelerate the commercialization of silicon anode for Lithium-ion batteries.
A new approach developed by a team of researchers, led by Prof. Jaephil Cho (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) could hold the key to greatly improving the performance of commercial lithium-ion batteries.
Prof. Cho and his research team have developed a new type anode material that would be used in place of a conventional graphite anode, which they claim will lead to lighter and longer-lasting batteries for everything from personal devices to electric vehicles.
In the study, the research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a next-generation hybrid anode using silicon-nanolayer-embedded graphite/carbon. They report that this architecture allows compatibility between silicon and natural graphite and addresses the issues of severe side reactions caused by structural failure of crumbled graphite dust and uncombined residue of silicon particles by conventional mechanical milling.
This newly-developed anode material has been manifactured with increase in graphite content in composite by 45%. The research team has also developed new equipment, which is capable of producing 300kg in 6 hours per batch using a small amount of silane gas (SiH4). Such simple procedure is expected to ensure a competitive price.
They report that the silicon/graphite composite is mass-producible and it has superior battery performances with industrial electrode density, high areal capacity, and low amounts of binder. The findings of the research have been published in the August issue of the energy journal Nature Energy.
This work has been supported by the IT R&D programme of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), 2016 Research Fund of UNIST, and by the Office of Vehicle Technologies, Battery Materials Research Program of the US Department of Energy.

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished August.

DJIA: 18401  +18 Up NASDAQ:  5213 +16 Up. SP500: 2171 +18 Up.

No comments:

Post a Comment