Baltic
Dry Index. 2140 +23 Brent Crude 72.87
Spot
Gold 5279 Spot Silver 93.29
U
S 2 Year Yield 3.38 -0. 04
US
Federal Debt. 38.742 trillion
US
GDP 31.193 trillion
“Imagine a world where AI can diagnose diseases earlier,
personalize education, and create a more sustainable future. That’s the
potential of AI.”
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
Update 7AM. Israel starts a new war. USA joins in.
For
more on AI at work profitably, scroll down to the scandal next section.
Great
news, for me at least, on Thursday I was able, after a week of walking, to get
my repaired 2012 Ford Focus back after a notorious Ford Focus oil circulation
failure, due to known problems with timing belt disintegration blocking the oil
filter.
After
paying a King’s ransom, Graeme is back to his great relaxation of driving
again. I once drove 8,000 miles in 10 days in a Hertz rental, around the wonderful
USA and a small part of great Canada, to see Niagara Falls in winter, among
other forgotten reasons. If you can, try to see the GREAT Niagara Falls in
winter’s depth, as well as in summer.
Two
very rainy, but delightful days of that, were spent, with distant, in every
sense or the word, relatives in Seattle. The good old days of being a young Anglo-Scot
and invincible. Now I have to remember where I left the car and how to
get back to it.
But,
back to more important things, like trying to stay reasonably healthy and
solvent in the 21st century's, increasingly absurd world fiat dollar
reserve standard.
Worryingly,
is US inflation back?
Dow
closes more than 500 points lower after hot inflation report, mounting concerns
about AI impact
Updated
Fri, Feb 27 2026 4:22 PM EST
Stocks
dropped on Friday after the latest producer
price index data came in much hotter than expected, adding sticky
inflation to a list of concerns that has caused market turbulence this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped
521.28 points, or 1.05%, to close at 48,977.92. The S&P 500 closed down 0.43%
at 6,878.88, while the Nasdaq
Composite lost 0.92% to settle at 22,668.21.
The
S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished in the red for February amid growing fears
about the impact of artificial intelligence on specific industries and the
overall economy. Those fears were exacerbated after Jack Dorsey’s fintech
company Block said
it’s laying
off more than 4,000 employees — nearly half of its workforce. Stocks
in the financial sector and other areas of the market tied to the economic
cycle pulled back Friday.
Stocks
linked to private credit were under pressure again as investors anticipated
that they could be potentially suffer as a result of UK mortgage provider
Market Financial Solutions’ collapse. Apollo and Jefferies were among the
laggards, dropping more than 8% and 9%, respectively. Shares of Blue Owl, which has been hit
recently in the wake of its liquidity
curbs and asset
sale, fell about 6%.
Notable
software names suffered losses as well Friday as they close out a terrible
month. Salesforce tumbled
more than 2%, as did Microsoft,
which weighed on the Dow. Cybersecurity company Zscaler shed 12% after deferred
revenue and billings in the fiscal second quarter missed expectations. CoreWeave fell 18% on disappointing
guidance.
Nvidia extended its post-earnings
slide with a 4% fall Friday. The stock shed more than 5% on Thursday,
a surprise to many investors who remain bullish on the chipmaker given its
blowout fourth-quarter results and upcoming product cycle. Market participants
attributed the decline in shares to doubts
around Nvidia’s deal with OpenAI, weak sentiment over the AI trade and
skepticism about whether hyperscalers’ lofty AI capital expenditures are
sustainable.
Fueling
the downbeat sentiment, January’s producer price index — a measure of wholesale
inflation — showed a 0.5% increase for the month. Economists polled by Dow
Jones saw the headline reading coming in at 0.3%. Perhaps more concerning is
that the core PPI reading, which excludes food and energy prices, recorded a
0.8% gain, much more than the 0.3% rise economists anticipated.
Stephen
Kolano, chief investment officer at Integrated Partners, views the PPI report
as an additional complication for investors on top of the already-existing
anxieties surrounding not just AI capex and the risk of its disruption to
industries but also other factors such as stress
in the private credit market. Noting that the inflation reading seems to be
more services driven, he thinks it’s a sign companies are possibly starting to
pass through the cost of tariffs to the end consumer in order to maintain their
margins.
“Inflation
isn’t solved yet,” he said, adding that it creates this conundrum for the
Federal Reserve of deciding whether to cut interest rates to spur growth or to
hold steady to continue to fight inflation. “It just creates this uncertainty
around which way is policy going to go in the remainder of the year.”
That’s
not to mention the state of the labor market as another
worry, Kolano said. Even though job growth last month was much
better than expected, the investment chief said he isn’t sure that the
labor market is stabilizing given that layoffs have been picking up. In fact,
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported earlier this month that layoffs in
January hit
their highest total for that month since the global financial crisis.
“I
don’t see a clear sign that unemployment is not going to move higher just yet,”
he said.
The
Nasdaq posted a decline of more than 3% in February, seeing its worst monthly
performance since last March. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF
(IGV) is down nearly 10% for the month, bringing its year-to-date
losses to almost 23%. The S&P 500, meanwhile, recorded a loss of close to
1% in February, while the Dow climbed about 0.2%.
Stock
market news for Feb. 27, 2026
UBS
downgrades the U.S. stock market. Here’s what has the investment bank worried
Published
Fri, Feb 27 2026 9:37 AM EST Updated Fri, Feb 27 2026 11:59 AM EST
Andrew
Garthwaite, head of global equity strategy at the investment bank, downgraded
American equities to “benchmark” in a fully invested global equity portfolio,
arguing that the factors that powered years of outperformance are starting to
fade.
The
dollar risk is a central concern, Garthwaite wrote. UBS forecasts the euro
climbing to $1.22 by the end of the first quarter and sees “asymmetric
structural downside risks” to the greenback. Historically, when the dollar’s
trade-weighted index falls 10%, U.S. equities underperform by roughly 4% in
unhedged terms, according to the bank.
Foreign
markets are trouncing the U.S. this year as a weaker dollar and cheaper
valuations draw capital overseas. The MSCI World ex-US index has gained about
8% in 2026, compared with the little changed performance for the S&P 500. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has rallied 17%
year to date, while the Stoxx
Europe 600 is up 7%, underscoring a sharp rotation away from American
equities. U.S. stocks struggled
again Friday as investors fretted over the potential downsides of the
artificial intelligence build-out and persistent inflation at home.
Another
pillar of U.S. stock strength — corporate buybacks — is also losing its edge,
the bank said. The buyback yield in the U.S. is now only roughly on par with
global peers, eroding what had been a key support for earnings per share growth
and investor flows, UBS said. The combined shareholder yield from dividends and
buybacks in the U.S. is now about half that of Europe, the bank said.
“The
buybacks yield is no longer exceptional and this had been an important driver
of funds flow, EPS and valuation,” Garthwaite wrote.
Valuations
add to the unease. UBS calculates that the sector-adjusted price-earnings ratio
for U.S. stocks is 35% above international peers, versus an average premium of
about 4% since 2010. Roughly 60% of sectors trade not only at higher multiples
than their global counterparts but also above their own historical premium, the
strategist wrote.
Policy
volatility under President Donald
Trump is another headwind. This year has brought shifts in tariff
policy, proposals to cap credit card interest rates, potential limits on
private equity investment in housing, renewed scrutiny of drug pricing, and
suggestions to curb dividends and buybacks for defense companies, UBS said.
Still,
the noted strategist stopped short of turning outright bearish.
More
UBS
downgrades the U.S. stock market. Here's what has the investment bank worried
Core
wholesale prices rose 0.8% in January, much more than expected
Published
Fri, Feb 27 2026 8:33 AM EST
Wholesale
prices rose at a faster-than-expected pace in January, countering hopes that
inflation was easing, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The
core producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices,
increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, more than the 0.6% gain in December and
well ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.3%.
On
an all-items basis, headline PPI rose 0.5%, also above the forecast for 0.3%
and 0.1 percentage point more than the prior month.
For
the full year, core wholesale prices accelerated 3.6%, while the headline index
posted a 2.9% gain. Both figures are well ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2%
inflation goal and suggest that rising prices are still a factor for the U.S.
economy.
Services
prices primarily drove the increase, with a 0.8% month increase that was the
highest since July 2025. By contrast, goods prices actually fell 0.3%, though
core goods prices rose 0.7%.
More
than 20% of the increase in services came from margins for professional and
commercial equipment wholesaling. On the goods side, energy and food prices
both fell while metals prices increased 4.8%.
Trade
services prices surged 2.5%, helping boost pressures on wholesale inflation.
The
report comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that inflation
has been tamed. Pipeline pressures as indicated by the PPI figures could keep
the Fed cautious as it weighs its next moves on interest rates. Markets largely
expect the Fed to stay on the sidelines until the summer, though Trump and
other White House officials have pushed for lower rates.
Why
prices are spiking and what it signals for inflation ahead
27
February, 2026
U.S.
producer prices increased more than expected in January, likely as businesses
passed on higher costs from import tariffs, suggesting inflation could pick up
in the months ahead.
The
Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.5% last month after advancing by a
downwardly revised 0.4% in December, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor
Statistics said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI
gaining 0.3% after a previously reported 0.5% increase in December.
A
0.8% jump in services accounted for the rise in the PPI. That reflected a 2.5%
increase in trade services, which measure changes in margins received by
wholesalers and retailers. There was a 14.4% surge in margins for professional
and commercial equipment wholesaling, suggesting businesses were passing on
tariffs.
Prices
also increased for apparel, footwear and accessories retailing, as well as
chemicals and allied products wholesaling, bundled wired telecommunications
access services, health, beauty and optical goods retailing, and food and
alcohol retailing.
In
the 12 months through January, the PPI increased 2.9% after rising 3.0% in
December. The moderation in the year-on-year producer inflation rate reflected
last year's high readings dropping out of the calculation.
The
report was delayed by the brief shutdown of the federal government early this
month. Producer goods prices fell 0.3%, with the cost of energy declining 2.7%
and food decreasing 1.5%. Excluding food and energy, goods prices soared 0.7%.
Some
of the components in the PPI report go into the calculation of the Personal
Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Indexes, the inflation measures tracked by
the Federal Reserve for its 2% target.
Prior
to the PPI data, economists estimated that core PCE inflation increased by as
much as 0.5% in January, which would translate to a year-on-year advance of
3.1%.
Core
PCE inflation rose 0.4% in December and increased 3.0% year-on-year. The
government will publish the delayed PCE inflation report on March 13.
Price
spikes hint that inflation may rise in coming months
In
other news, who invented the zip, when and why.
The
History of the Zipper
By Mary Bellis Updated
on May 11, 2025
It
was a long way up for the humble zipper, the mechanical wonder that has kept
our lives "together" in many ways. The zipper was invented with the
work of several dedicated inventors, though none convinced the general public
to accept the zipper as part of everyday life. It was the magazine and fashion
industry that made the novel zipper the popular item it is today.
The
story begins when Elias Howe, Jr. (1819–1867), inventor of
the sewing machine, who received a patent in 1851 for an "Automatic,
Continuous Clothing Closure." It didn't go much further beyond that,
though. Perhaps it was the success of the sewing machine, that caused Elias not
to pursue marketing his clothing closure system. As a result, Howe missed his
chance to become the recognized "Father of the Zip."
Forty-four
years later, inventor Whitcomb Judson (1846–1909) marketed a "Clasp
Locker" device similar to system described in the 1851 Howe patent. Being
first to market, Whitcomb got credit for being the "inventor of the
zipper." However, his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper.
The
Chicago inventor's "Clasp Locker" was a complicated hook-and-eye
shoe fastener. Together with
businessman Colonel Lewis Walker, Whitcomb launched the Universal Fastener
Company to manufacture the new device. The clasp locker debuted at the 1893
Chicago World's Fair and was met with little commercial success.
It
was a Swedish-born electrical engineer named Gideon Sundback (1880–1954) whose
work helped make the zipper the hit it is today. Originally hired to work for
the Universal Fastener Company, his design skills and a marriage to the
plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led to a position as head designer at
Universal. In his position, he improved the far from perfect "Judson
C-curity Fastener." When Sundback's wife died in 1911, the grieving
husband busied himself at the design table. By December of 1913, he came
up with what would become the modern zipper.
Gideon
Sundback's new-and-improved system increased the number of fastening elements
from four per inch to 10 or 11, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled
into a single piece by the slider and increased the opening for the teeth
guided by the slider. His patent for the "Separable Fastener" was
issued in 1917.
Sundback
also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The "S-L"
or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then
punched the scoop dimple and nib and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to
produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation,
Sundback's zipper-making machine was producing a few hundred feet of fastener
per day.
Naming
the Zipper
The
popular "zipper" name came from the B. F. Goodrich Company, which
decided to use Sundback's fastener on a new type of rubber boots or
galoshes. Boots and tobacco
pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper during
its early years. It took 20 more years to convince the fashion industry to
seriously promote the novel closure on garments.
In
the 1930s, a sales campaign began for children's
clothing featuring
zippers. The campaign advocated zippers as a way to promote self-reliance in
young children as the devices made it possible for them to dress in self-help
clothing.
More
The History of the
Zipper and How It Became Mainstream
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.
Today,
AI at work profitably. Unfortunately it’s for crooks and fraudsters. Is an AI
scandal about to unfold? (Don’t worry, it’s only Australian dollars, not real money
dollars, like US dollars. Oh wait…)
Commonwealth Bank urgently calls in the police
after $1 billion fraud
27 February 2026
Commonwealth Bank has uncovered what could be the
largest fraud ever committed against an Australian bank after an internal
investigation into its home loan portfolio - prompting the bank to refer the
matter to police. The review was prompted by the so-called Penthouse Syndicate
scandal, which allegedly saw NAB defrauded of about $150 million through
property purchases. Police are investigating NAB employees accused of
facilitating home and business loans as part of an alleged money-laundering
scheme. The Penthouse Syndicate is accused of building a Sydney property empire
worth tens of millions of dollars using corrupt solicitors, real estate agents
and mortgage brokers.
In response, CBA began scrutinising its own lending
practices, and uncovered about $1 billion worth of home loans that were
allegedly approved using fraudulent documents. Some of those documents are
suspected to have been generated using artificial intelligence. Mortgage fraud
often originates in broker and referral channels, where third parties gather
documents and submit applications on behalf of borrowers. In some cases,
dishonest brokers or applicants allegedly inflate incomes, falsify employment
details, or alter payslips and tax returns to make borrowers appear more
creditworthy than they are. Because banks process thousands of applications
each month and rely heavily on electronically submitted documents, falsified
paperwork can slip through if verification systems fail to detect
inconsistencies.
Once approved, loans provide access to funds that
may otherwise have been denied. In more serious cases, criminal groups can use
shell companies or fabricated financial records to obtain legitimate mortgages,
then use repayments to 'clean' illicit funds. The property may later be sold,
allowing money derived from criminal activity to re-enter the financial system
appearing legitimate. Penny Dunn, a forensics and financial crime partner at
PwC, told The Australian Financial Review that artificial intelligence is
making document forgery increasingly sophisticated. 'It's very difficult for
the human eye to see,' Ms Dunn said. A CBA spokesperson said: 'This is an
industry-wide challenge, with fraud being attempted through mortgage broking
and referral channels.'
While AI is helping criminals commit fraud against
financial institutions, it's also being used by banks to rake in more profits.
Just this week, CBA laid off hundreds of workers in Australia and launched a
hiring spree in India after recording a $5billion profit. The Finance Sector
Union said it will affect teams across retail, business and institutional
banking, and human resources, with the majority of roles impacted in
technology. Union national secretary Julia Angrisano said cutting 300 workers
was 'totally unacceptable'.
'For years we have seen CBA continue to axe
hundreds upon hundreds of jobs while raking in billions in profits,' she said.
'We've heard countless stories of CBA workers being tossed onto the redundancy
pile and having to fend for themselves at the whim of the bank. 'These are the
very workers who helped generate CBA's massive profits. The least the bank can
do is retrain and reskill workers, and provide opportunities for them to remain
at CBA.' The bank increased its India-based workforce by 21 per cent to 6,788
in the year to June 2025, a 138 per cent increase since 2022.
More
Commonwealth Bank urgently calls in the police after $1 billion fraud
Next, how AI is polluting YouTube. Caveat Emptor if
trading off YouTube. Approx. 19 minutes.
Who is the "AI Asian Guy" and Why is he
Manipulating Silver Markets?
Who is the "AI Asian Guy" and Why is he Manipulating Silver
Markets?
Technology
Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Lamborghini kills its electric supercar that
nobody wanted
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal February 23, 2026
Lamborghini seemed awfully keen to make an
all-electric supercar a few years ago when it revealed the gorgeous
Lanzador concept.
But as it turns out, that dream was short-lived. After showing off the EV
concept in 2023, the celebrated Italian marque secretly axed the project late
last year, apparently to no one's dismay.
That's from The Sunday Times,
which reported over the weekend that Lamborghini CEO Stephan
Winkelmann said interest in all-electric cars in its target market was
"close to zero." He added that he was mulling over what to do
with the Lanzador before ultimately deciding to kill it off "after over a
year of continuous internal discussion, engaging with customers, dealers,
market analysis and global data.”
Buyers in this segment want something that
looks, sounds, and feels like a supercar. “EVs, in their current form, struggle
to deliver this specific emotional connection,” said Winkelmann. He emphasized
that the noise coming from the engine is a prominent selling point when it
comes to luxury vehicles – and you simply don't get that from electric motors.
The Lanzador was a 2+2 seater grand tourer
with Lamborghini's signature aggressive styling, and high ground clearance to
allow for versatility as a daily driver. The company intended to drop in dual
electric motors, a new driving dynamics control system for precise handling,
active aerodynamics for increased range and performance, and sustainable
materials throughout the interior. It had been slated to go into production in
2028.
----At the same time, from a
business perspective, major
automakers are moving cautiously when it comes to investing heavily in EVs.
For its part, manufacturing the all-new Lanzador would've required Lamborghini
to expand its Sant'Agata Bolognese factory and grow its team. “Investing
heavily in full-EV development when the market and customer base are not ready
would be an expensive hobby, and financially irresponsible towards
shareholders, customers [and] to our employees and their families," said
Winkelmann.
At this point, Audi-owned Lamborghini is
currently all-in on plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), which combine electric motors to
boost acceleration with gas-powered engines for visceral performance. Its
current line-up includes the Urus SUV, the Temerario, and the Revuelto, which are all
PHEVs. Winkelmann says the company will stick to that lane until the time is
right to go fully electric.
Source: The
Sunday Times
Lamborghini axes
electric supercar Lanzador concept project
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
Exponent
Calculator
Enter
values into any two of the input fields to solve for the third.
This
weekend’s music diversion. Another largely forgotten maestro. Approx. 14 minutes.
Giovanni
Punto - Horn Concerto No.11 in E-major
Giovanni Punto -
Horn Concerto No.11 in E-major - YouTube
Next,
more fun with numbers. Approx.11 minutes.
The
Map of Mathematics
Finally, the GB few know about. Approx. 16 minutes.
50 Geography Facts You Never Knew about the
UK
50 Geography Facts
You Never Knew about the UK - YouTube
“I’m basically an email typist now, Copilot does the rest.”
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
