Tuesday 28 February 2017

Donald Trump’s Big Day.



Baltic Dry Index. 878 +03   Brent Crude 56.11

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

Trump: Hi. Do you speak English?

Garage Attendant: Uh, what country do you think this is?

With apologies to Ferris Bueller.

While we all await the speech of the Twitter President later today, surely not to be a bigger fiasco than yesterday’s laughing stock Oscars, today we present this day in earlier US history. A near miss on the President of the day, a tragedy and a love story, and all on the unlikely setting of the USS Princeton, at “sea” on the 400 mile long Potomac river. The moral of the tale: President Trump can be upstaged by earlier US Presidents after all.

"Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech."

President George W. Bush -- To Pope Benedict, in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2008

Tyler narrowly escapes death on the USS Princeton

On this day in 1844, President John Tyler cruises the Potomac with 400 others aboard the U.S. Navy’s new steam frigate USS Princeton, not realizing that his life will soon be in danger. In attendance that day were political dignitaries and their guests, which included the wealthy New Yorker David Gardiner and his two daughters. The 54-year-old Tyler, a recent widower, had fallen for Gardiner’s youngest, the lovely 20-year-old Julia, to whom he had proposed marriage. She had not yet responded.
The Princeton carried a brand new 12-inch, 27,000-pound cannon called the Peacemaker. The gun’s co-designer, John Ericsson, argued with the ship’s captain, who wanted to demonstrate the new weapon, over whether it was safe to discharge because he feared it had not been sufficiently tested. Days before the cruise, Captain Robert Stockton had boasted about the Navy’s new ship and armament, which he had helped design, to congressmen and reporters. He and the crew were eager to show off the cannon’s ferocity, and despite Ericsson’s warnings, Stockton insisted on firing the cannon during the Potomac cruise. The first two successful and ear-splitting volleys sent the crowd into wild applause.
Halfway through the cruise, President Tyler, below deck, proposed a toast to the three great guns: the Princeton, her Commander and the Peacemaker. Then the secretary of war asked for a third firing toward Mount Vernon in honor of George Washington. Stockton may have recalled Ericsson’s concerns or thought it best not to push their luck with the new cannon, because he initially refused the secretary’s request. In the end, though, he bowed to his superior’s wishes and gave the order to fire.
The third round proved deadly. In the worst peacetime disaster of its time, the cannon exploded, killing several aboard, including Julia’s father and two members of Tyler’s cabinet. Tyler was halfway up the ladder to the upper deck when the explosion occurred. Julia Gardiner fainted when she heard of her father’s death and, after the ship docked, Tyler whisked her off to safety in his arms. Julia’s admiration for Tyler deepened into love and they were married later that year.

Mon Feb 27, 2017 | 11:08am EST

Trump seeks 'historic increase' in U.S. defense spending, cuts elsewhere

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he is seeking a "historic increase" in military spending to be funded by cuts elsewhere in government.
Trump will seek to boost Pentagon spending by $54 billion in his first budget proposal and slash the same amount from non-defense spending, including a large reduction in foreign aid, a White House budget official said.
"This budget will be a public safety and national security budget," Trump told state governors at the White House. "It will include an historic increase in defense spending to rebuild the depleted military of the United States of America at a time we most need it," he said.
The U.S. military is already the world's most powerful fighting force and the United States spends far more than any other country on defense.
The White House will send Trump's proposal to federal departments on Monday as he gears up for budget negotiations with Congress that often take months to play out. Congress, controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, has the final say on federal spending.
In a speech to conservative activists on Friday, Trump promised "one of the greatest military buildups in American history."
Two officials familiar with Trump's proposal said the planned defense spending increase would be financed partly by cuts to the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and other non-defense programs.
One of the officials said Trump's request for the Pentagon included more money for shipbuilding, military aircraft and establishing "a more robust presence in key international waterways and chokepoints" such as the Strait of Hormuz and South China Sea.
A second official said the State Department's budget could be cut by as much as 30 percent, which would force a major restructuring of the department and elimination of programs.
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Trillions of Dollars Are at Stake When Trump Speaks to Congress

by Liz McCormick and Dani Burger
Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday is taking on the importance of a State of the Union speech when it comes to U.S. financial markets.

For investors relying on more than a year of campaign promises of a pro-growth agenda to push U.S. stocks to record highs, the dollar surging and bond yields climbing, the prime-time speech to House and Senate lawmakers couldn’t come any sooner.

“We need to see some details within all the policy talk,” said Sean Simko, who manages $8 billion in fixed-income assets at SEI Investments Co. in Oaks, Pennsylvania. “More specifics in terms of numbers or even a more defined timeline. If there aren’t specifics there, the risk trade might be ending.”

Though new life was given to some faltering Trump reflation trades by the president’s promise of a “phenomenal” tax plan earlier this month, investors say more is needed, especially with the administration designating the repeal and replace of Obamacare as its first priority ahead of a tax overhaul.

While it isn’t considered a State of the Union address since it falls within Trump’s first year, the initial speech to Congress has been no less important to presidents in the modern era. Barack Obama first spoke before both legislative bodies in February 2009 about the financial crisis.
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We close for Trump Super Tuesday, with the rump-EUSSR slowly facing up to the error of disrespecting Dodgy Dave Cameron’s EU reform attempt last year, in what turned out to be his ignominious European farewell tour. Sent humiliatingly back to GB with an empty envelope from Europe to sell to British voters, even Tusk’s promise of a Brexit vote setting off World War Three, couldn’t stop John Bull’s voters from voting for freedom. How long will the rump-EUSSR survive cut-off from Britain, under new German control?

How Brexit Means EU Loses Cash, Influence, Might: Six Charts

by Ian Wishart
27 February 2017, 00:01 GMT 27 February 2017, 11:25 GMT
The U.K.’s impending departure from the European Union means the rest of the bloc is saying goodbye not only to its most awkward member, but also to one of its richest countries, with its biggest defense budget and its most successful financial-services hub.

With Theresa May vowing to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start two-year exit negotiations in March, here are six charts showing what the EU will lose when the U.K. eventually walks away.

Defense is still the preserve of national governments, but there’s a reason why some of the EU’s countries closest to Russia fear they are losing a safety net -- and why the U.K. may be able to use its military might to gain some leverage in the Brexit negotiations.

Britain (with France the only EU countries with nuclear weapons) has participated in many EU military operations, particularly in Africa where the EU has run several peace-keeping and training missions. The British government has said cooperation will continue in some form, but the EU acknowledges that it’s losing expertise and clout.

The U.K. Gives the EU a Louder Voice on the World Stage

Despite the EU being a multinational organization, its countries represent themselves individually in most global bodies. And while there is no guarantee they all sing from the same EU hymn sheet when they meet as part of, say, the Group of Seven, they often try to coordinate positions.

---- The ability of EU citizens, no matter where they come from, to live and work in any of the bloc’s member countries underpins one of the EU’s most cherished principles. It also was one of the main reasons why 17.4 million British voters supported Brexit. With its liberal labor laws, English language and well-performing economy, the U.K. has been one of the biggest attractions for Europeans seeking to take advantage of the EU’s free-movement rules.

---- Financial services will be a key battleground in the Brexit negotiations. The U.K. accounts for 37 percent of all global foreign-exchange trading, 39 percent of the world’s trading in over-the-counter derivatives and is the biggest center for international bank lending, at 17 percent, according to lobby group TheCityUK.
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"I'm telling you there's an enemy that would like to attack America, Americans, again. There just is. That's the reality of the world. And I wish him all the very best."

President George W. Bush -- In Washington, D.C., on January 12, 2009

At the Comex silver depositories Monday final figures were: Registered 30.62 Moz, Eligible 154.65 Moz, Total 185.27 Moz. 

Crooks and Scoundrels Corner

The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Today, more from the insane asylum prison of the EUSSR. The wealth and jobs destroying EU simply isn’t working for most continentals either, as more and more continental Europeans start to think the unthinkable. Will Frexit follow Brexit?

French farmers hope Marine Le Pen will free them from EU 'straitjacket

David Chazan25 February 2017 • 6:00pm
Bertrand Hourdel proudly pats one of his plump pigs, but the Brittany farmer is painfully aware that when he sells them, his profits, if any, will be slim.

He blames the European Union’s “straitjacket” of regulations and inaction by politicians from establishment parties for French farming’s deepest crisis since the Second World War.
Brittany’s verdant pastures and ancient stone farmhouses are a picture of bucolic bliss, but anger and desperation in France’s leading agricultural region, and other rural areas, are shifting the political winds in favour of Marine Le Pen’s anti-EU Front National.

“If France left the EU, I hope things would get better,” said Mr Hourdel as he watched pregnant sows bedding down on straw.

France remains the biggest beneficiary of EU farm aid, but more than a third of French farmers earned less than €4,200 (£3,560) last year, squeezed by falling food prices and cheaper imports from other member states.

Some recorded six-figure losses and many were driven into debt. More than 600 livestock farms went bankrupt — a record. On average, one farmer committed suicide every two days, according to France’s public health agency.

Given British resentment over the years at paying into the EU and a popular perception that French farmers were claiming aid and living high on the hog, there may be a certain irony that the French now feel cheated by east European member states.
“We pay a lot into the EU and they give little back,” Mr Hourdel said. “We’re paying for subsidies that go to eastern Europe, financing countries that are competing with us.”
It is true that France is now a net contributor to the EU. Mr Hourdel, who also grows crops on his 300-acre farm in Pordic, collects €40,000 a year in subsidies, but says his expenses are much higher. He would prefer to see EU aid replaced by a national system of quotas and subsidies, as Ms Le Pen proposes.
Mr Hourdel struggles to make repayments on €3 million in bank loans.
---- Like many other farmers, Mr Hourdel, 53, used to vote for mainstream conservatives. Now he feels that Ms Le Pen is the only candidate standing in the presidential election this spring who is genuinely offering farmers a solution.
Imports of cheaper German pork and milk and Spanish fruit have badly hurt French farmers. Labour costs are higher in France, partly because of taxes and compulsory health and welfare contributions. Also, German abattoirs employ temporary workers from eastern Europe on east European pay rates. 
Mr Hourdel welcomes Ms Le Pen’s proposal to restrict imports — impossible in the single market. “What I really want is an end to handouts and to be paid at a fair price for what I do, but that will never happen as things stand now,” he said.
Milk prices paid to farmers fell by about 20 per cent last year because output rose after the EU phased out production quotas in 2015. Beef prices dropped as unprofitable dairy cows were sold to abattoirs.
Pork and chicken prices collapsed after EU sanctions ended exports to Russia. Consequently, many farmers see little harm in Ms Le Pen’s pro-Moscow views. 
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"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

President George W. Bush -- In parting words at his final G-8 Summit to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who looked on in shock in Rusutsu, Japan, on July 10, 2008

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?

As thin as an atom: A revolutionary semiconductor for electronics

Date: February 23, 2017

Source: University of Bayreuth

Summary: Semiconductors that are as thin as an atom are no longer the stuff of science fiction. A new two-dimensional material could revolutionize electronics, say researchers.
A two-dimensional material developed by Bayreuth physicist Prof. Dr. Axel Enders together with international partners could revolutionize electronics.
Semiconductors that are as thin as an atom are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Bayreuth physicist Prof. Dr. Axel Enders, together with partners in Poland and the US, has developed a two-dimensional material that could revolutionize electronics. Thanks to its semiconductor properties, this material could be much better suited for high tech applications than graphene, the discovery of which in 2004 was celebrated worldwide as a scientific breakthrough. This new material contains carbon, boron, and nitrogen, and its chemical name is "Hexagonal Boron-Carbon-Nitrogen (h-BCN)." The new development was published in the journal ACS Nano.
"Our findings could be the starting point for a new generation of electronic transistors, circuits, and sensors that are much smaller and more bendable than the electronic elements used to date. They are likely to enable a considerable decrease in power consumption," Prof. Enders predicts, citing the CMOS technology that currently dominates the electronics industry. This technology has clear limits with regard to further miniaturization. "h-BCN is much better suited than graphene when it comes to pushing these limits," according to Enders.
---- He had the idea of replacing individual carbon atoms in graphene with boron and nitrogen, resulting in a two-dimensional grid with the properties of a semiconductor. He has now been able to turn this idea into reality with his team of scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Research partners at the University of Cracow, the State University of New York, Boston College and Tufts University also contributed to this achievement.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170223144446.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished January

DJIA: 19864  +92 Up. NASDAQ:  5615 +95 Up. SP500: 2279 +95 Up.

Monday 27 February 2017

Fiascos.



Baltic Dry Index. 856 +50   Brent Crude 56.37

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

I don't really like the Oscars; it's a commercial promotional event. It helps immeasurably to sell films, but it's hardly the Nobel prize.

Richard Attenborough

The big news this week isn’t likely to remain the fiasco at the over rated, mutual admiration society Oscars, but tomorrow night’s speech to the US joint session of politicians by President Trump. While the anti-Trump media will likely focus on how rudely he is received by the Democrats and the senior Senator from Arizona, the rest of us are more interested in hearing of his administrations plans, costings, and priorities, and how they may play out over the rest of 2017 and into 2018.  We await President Trump’s speech with great interest.

We open with China investigating whether the new commodities rally is real or a speculative, cheap credit and fiat money driven bubble. My money is on it’s yet another unintended consequence of the Great Nixonian Error of fiat money, communist money, August 15, 1971. Though I don’t expect the new Chinese investigation to come out and say that. The longer the world stays on the unstable delusion of fiat money, the more mal-invested and distorted it becomes, though there’s no will anywhere on the planet to tackle the root cause of the disaster to which we are heading.

China Said to Probe Speculation in Commodity Futures Amid Rally

Bloomberg News
27 February 2017, 05:18 GMT
China’s top economic planner is investigating whether speculation has distorted commodity futures prices, due to concerns that the recent rally will drive inflation higher, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The National Development & Reform Commission this month questioned futures brokers on whether distortion had occurred, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential. The agency is worried over the potential impact on producer and consumer prices, they said.
China tightened rules and raised fees on commodities trading last spring, as it sought to clamp down on a speculative frenzy that spurred a rapid run-up prices amid unprecedented volumes. Steel and iron ore futures have continued to rise on government stimulus, capacity cuts and a steadying in the economy of the world’s biggest metals consumer.

Steel reinforcement bar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange is at its best level since December 2013 and iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange is close to its May 2014 peak, although trading in the contracts remains well below last year’s heady heights.

The NDRC has also consulted with institutions including equity brokers on the outlook for commodity prices, according to the people. The agency didn’t respond to a fax seeking comment.

China’s producer prices in January increased the most since 2011 as mining products surged 31 percent year-on-year and raw materials rose 13 percent. The consumer-price index climbed 2.5 percent, beating analysts’ estimate of 2.4 percent.

In Euroland news, is the euro zone recovery real or contrived? The next few months will provide the answer.

Euro zone economy: real recovery or another Sirens' song?

Sun Feb 26, 2017 | 4:07am EST
Over the years, euro zone economic growth has been a bit like the Sirens in Homer's Odyssey: singing a song of promise, only to end up pulling you onto the rocks. Will it be different this time?
The strong growth registered in numerous data releases and surveys at the beginning of this year has surprised many.
One eye-opening example was the release of flash purchasing managers indices for France, Germany and the euro zone on Feb 21. Of nine indexes, eight registered growth and six did so at a higher level than any economist polled by Reuters had imagined.
Not surprisingly, economists and policy-makers are now looking for firm proof that the euro zone's apparent rebound this year is sustainable, as well as noting a variety of potentially destructive economic and political hazards ahead.
There has not been, they say, a specific inflexion point at which it can be said that the euro zone has recovered and is off on a growth tear. Rather it has been a slow simmer.
"The euro zone has been recovering steadily for three years now, helped by monetary policy stimulus, an end to fiscal austerity and a healthier financial sector," said James McCann, OECD economist at Standard Life Investments.
"(It's) a steady recovery which has been trundling on."
The numbers confirm this. The European Commission notes that real GDP in the euro zone has grown for 15 consecutive quarters - a sign of steady improvement.
But putting aside some of the latest data, it has been steady rather than spectacular. Economic growth is still running at only around 1.6 percent annually, and most forecasters - from economists polled by Reuters to the Commission itself, reckon it will be about the same this year.
So the question is whether the recent data has turned this on its head. Even before considering whether Greece's debt problems will come back to bite the euro zone, there are two main strands: inflation and elections.
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Europe-wide RECESSION warning: Economist says downturn will cause COLLAPSE of eurozone

EUROPEAN UNION countries are heading for a HUGE recession which will ultimately destroy the euro and could bring down the entire union, according to a financial expert.
By Zoie O'Brien PUBLISHED: 09:31, Sat, Feb 25, 2017 | UPDATED: 11:37, Sat, Feb 25, 2017
Bureaucrats in Brussels are so obsession with sticking to their rigid model, and creating even closer unions, they are “missing the chance” to save themselves, it is claimed.
Economists in Finland have warned the euro may be past the point of saving, and one expert has predicted if it falls, the entire bloc could come down with it unless leaders finally admit the flaws in the European project.
According to economist Dr Tuomas Malinen, a CEO of GnS Economics and the Vice Chairman of EuroThinkTank, the whole of Europe could be rocked by a recession which will see the weaker countries suffer if drastic changes are not made.
Dr Malinen said: “There will be a downturn at some point and a recession at which point everything starts all over again.
“Weaker countries will suffer mass unemployment and a fall in GDP and then we have to make a decision whether or not to take another hit and go through long period of depression and internal devaluations and austerity again.
“I think the euro has until the next recession. When it hits some countries will leave, if not the whole structure will break down, but that is very difficult to predict.
“If you stick with the euro in its current form, it is more than likely to take the European Union with it.
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Fri Feb 24, 2017 | 12:00pm EST

Dutch relations with euro up for debate after lawmakers commission probe

Feb 24 The Netherlands' future relationship with the euro will be comprehensively debated by its parliament following elections in March, after lawmakers commissioned a report on the currency's future.
The motion approving the investigation by the Council of State, the government's legal advisor, coincides with a rising tide of euroscepticism in Europe, which populist parties are hoping to tap into in a series of national elections this year also taking in euro zone powerhouses France and Germany.
The probe will examine whether it would be possible for the Dutch to withdraw from the single currency, and if so how, said lawmaker Pieter Omtzigt.
Omtzigt, of the opposition Christian Democrats, tabled the parliamentary motion calling for the investigation, which legislators passed unanimously late on Thursday.
It was prompted by concerns the ECB's ultra-low interest rates are hurting Dutch savers, especially pensioners, and doubts as to whether its bond purchasing programmes are legal, he said.
Its findings will be presented in several months, by which time the make-up of parliament will have changed dramatically.
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Finally, big bully Germany, picks yet again on tiny Greece. Time for Grexit I think. Actually, long past time.

Sun Feb 26, 2017 | 5:12am EST

No debt relief for Greece, Germany's deputy finance minister says

Greece must not be granted a "bail in" that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, Germany's deputy finance minister said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, reiterating the German government's opposition to debt relief for Athens.

"There must not be a bail-in," Jens Spahn told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, according to a written transcript of the interview.

"We think it is very, very likely that we will come to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that does not require a haircut," he said, referring to losses that Greece's creditors would have to take if debt was written off.

The IMF has called for Greece to be granted substantial debt relief, but this is opposed by Germany, which makes the largest contribution to the budget of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro zone's bailout fund.

Greece and its creditors agreed on Monday to further reforms by Athens to ease a logjam in talks with creditors that has held up additional funding for the troubled euro zone country.

Inspectors from the European Commission, the ESM, the IMF and the European Central Bank are due to return to Athens this week.
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Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians.

At the Comex silver depositories Friday final figures were: Registered 31.24 Moz, Eligible 152.84 Moz, Total 184.08 Moz. 

Crooks and Scoundrels Corner

The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Today NATO again. Why should President Trump and Americans put up with this from Germany? Europe's richest country.

'Rearmament Spiral'A German Clash over Trump's NATO Demands

U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that NATO member states pay their fair share has turned into a political hot potato ahead of German elections later this year. But the debate ignores a salient fact: The German military is in a terrible state.

By Konstantin von Hammerstein  February 24, 2017  06:00 PM
It was really nothing more than a test. Sigmar Gabriel was standing at the lectern inside the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich for his first appearance at the Munich Security Conference in his new role as German foreign minister. And he looked terrible. He was sick and had cancelled many of his appointments, but nevertheless decided not to forego his speech and the Security Conference. He wanted to toss a fly into the NATO soup.

That morning, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had spoken from the same stage and had used the spotlight 
to urge NATO member states to fulfil their alliance obligations as agreed and spend the equivalent of at least 2 percent of their GDPs on defense. Germany was one of his primary targets. The country is the clear economic leader in Europe, but Berlin only spends 1.2 percent of its GDP on the military, less even in absolute terms than the United Kingdom, France and a host of other European countries.

Gabriel was well aware of all that, but he said: "We have to be a bit careful here that we don't over-interpret the 2 percent target." He then became much clearer: "Maintain perspective, stay focused on the target, but avoid being consumed by the bliss of a new rearmament spiral!" That was the decisive phrase: Rearmament spiral.

Following the careful test balloon launched in Munich, Gabriel dripped a bit more oil into the fire a few days later, warning of "blind obedience" to the U.S. He also took a dig at his cabinet colleague Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, saying that she apparently had a rather "naïve" notion regarding what was possible in Germany.

Just a few weeks after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the debate over military spending has reached the depths of the accelerating German election campaign. Trump himself triggered the debate, having declared several times that NATO is "obsolete" and hinting that the U.S. would make its loyalties dependent on member states paying their fair share.

---- The best overview of the state of the German military is provided once a year in a report submitted by Armed Forces Commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels. As an SPD member of parliament for many years, Bartels is a credible voice from the perspective of the Social Democrats. And the image that he paints of the Bundeswehr is dark indeed.
One year ago, he described how the Saxony-based 371st tank battalion, prior to taking on its role as "spearhead" of the NATO Response Force, had to borrow 15,000 pieces of equipment from 56 other German military units. In another example, the 345th artillery training battalion, based just west of Frankfurt, was officially supposed to have 24 armored artillery vehicles at its disposal. In reality, though, it had just seven, of which six were on standby for NATO and could not be used. And the seventh was in reserve for the six on standby. Troops reported to Bartels that they hadn't been able to carry out training exercises at the site for the last three years.
There is an endless list of such examples: A mountain infantry unit had only 96 pairs of night-vision goggles available instead of the 522 it had been allotted -- of which 76 had to be loaned out to other units. Which meant they only had 20, of which 17 were damaged.
---- One can imagine the Bundeswehr as a fire department which, due to a lack of money, has no hoses, too few helmets, hardly any ladder trucks and no oxygen masks. But the department isn't eliminated entirely just in case a fire breaks out.
More
  

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?

Three layers of graphene reveals a new kind of magnet

Date: February 23, 2017

Source: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Summary: Scientists have discovered the magnetism of electrons in three layers of graphene. This study reveals a new kind of magnet and provides insight on how electronic devices using graphene could be made for fundamental studies as well as various applications.

Metals have a large density of electrons and to be able to see the wave nature of electrons one has to make metallic wires that are only a few atoms wide. However, in graphene -- one atom thick graphite -- the density of electrons is much smaller and can be changed by making a transistor. As a result of the low density of electrons the wave nature of electrons, as described by quantum mechanics, is easier to observe in graphene.
Often in metals like copper the electron is scattered every 100 nanometers, a distance roughly 1000 times smaller than the diameter of human hair, due to impurities and imperfections. Electrons can travel much longer in graphene, up to distances of 10 micrometer, a distance roughly 10 times smaller than the diameter of human hair. This is realized by sandwiching graphene between layers of boron nitride. The layers of boron nitride have few imperfections to impede the flow of electrons in graphene.
Once electrons travel long distances, implying there are few imperfections, one notices the faint whispers of electrons "talking to each other." Reducing the imperfections is akin to making a room quiet to enable the faint whispers of electronic interactions to develop between many electrons.
In a study, led by PhD student Biswajit Datta, Professor Mandar Deshmukh's group at TIFR realized just this kind of silence allowing electronic interactions to be observed in three layers of graphene. The study reveals a new kind of magnet and provides insight on how electronic devices using graphene could be made for fundamental studies as well as applications. This work discovers the magnetism of electrons in three layers of graphene at a low temperature of -272 Celsius. The magnetism of electrons arises from the coordinated "whispers" between many electrons.
  

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished January

DJIA: 19864  +92 Up. NASDAQ:  5615 +95 Up. SP500: 2279 +95 Up.