Baltic Dry Index. 688
-14
Brent Crude 55.65
"When it becomes
serious, you have to lie"
Jean-Claude Juncker. Failed Luxembourg Prime Minister and ex-president of the Euro Group of Finance Ministers. Confessed liar. EC President.
Jean-Claude Juncker. Failed Luxembourg Prime Minister and ex-president of the Euro Group of Finance Ministers. Confessed liar. EC President.
Who knew, that Dodgy Dave Cameron, BOE comedian
“Art” Carney, the 5 useless EU Presidents, and President Barry Hussein Obama,
would all get Brexit so hopelessly wrong. They couldn’t have been more wrong if
they’d tried, and most of them really tried. WW3 has not broken out, western
civilisation as we know it hasn’t collapsed, and as of this morning, not a
single lying, cheating, stealing, rent-seeking, London bankster has slithered
away to continental Europe, Dublin or New York. Not that they should stay in
London for a single hour longer than necessary. The next Lehman is out there,
getting closer to bursting by the day, leaving the UK taxpayer still on the
hook to cover the banksters’ next bailout.
Below the latest wisdom from our
“friends” in the EUSSR. But are they now telling the truth or did their lips
move?
He may look like an EU idiot and talk like an EU idiot but don't
let that fool you. He really is an EU idiot.
With apologies to Groucho Marx
Brexit's Hit to Growth Will Be Milder Than Expected, EU Says
by Brian Swint
13 February 2017, 10:00 GMT
The European Commission is the latest forecaster to say the impact of Brexit
will be milder this year than previously anticipated.The EU’s executive arm revised up its estimate for U.K. economic expansion to 1.5 percent in 2017 from a 1 percent prediction in November. It left its forecast for 2018 unchanged at 1.2 percent.
The Bank of England also revised up its forecasts this month as it kept
interest rates at a record low. Both the BOE and the commission predict that
expansion will slow in 2017 as consumer spending weakens and inflation speeds
up. The commission sees U.K. consumer price growth accelerating to 2.5 percent
this year from 0.7 percent in 2016.
“The impact of the vote by the U.K. to leave the EU in the referendum
held on 23 June 2016 on growth has yet to be felt,” the commission wrote in a
report published in Brussels on Monday. “Recent momentum is projected to
largely continue in the first quarter” but “ease notably thereafter.”
But Project Fear is back, this time
running full throttle in France. But if France exits the euro, where will all
those recently relocated British rent-seeking banksters go? “Oh, the inhumanity!” to misquote Herbert Morrison.
Bank of France Warns Voters on Cost of Euro Exit, Rising Spread
by Mark Deen
13 February 2017, 11:27 GMT
Bank of France Governor Francois
Villeroy de Galhau cautioned French voters about the costs of withdrawing from
the euro, noting that local interest rates are already rising on concerns about
this year’s presidential election.
National Front
leader Marine Le Pen, who wants to take France out of the single European
currency, is on track to place first in the initial round of voting in France’s
2017 election, though she is unlikely to win the run-off and attain office,
polls show. Even so, with the National Front closer than ever to power, the
premium the French government pays to borrow over Germany has increased to its
highest level in more than four years.
“The recent increase in French rates -- which I believe is temporary --
corresponds to a certain worry about the exit from the euro,” Villeroy de
Galhau said Monday on France Inter radio.
Le Pen has the support of about 26 percent of the electorate for the
first round of voting in April, compared with 20.5 percent for independent
Emmanuel Macron and 17.5 percent for Republican Francois Fillon, according to
the latest Ifop daily rolling poll. Both Macron and Fillon would defeat Le Pen
in the second round vote, all polls show.
The National Front candidate has been hammering home her message on euro
exit. Speaking Sunday she said that the single currency was a political
instrument that limits French sovereignty.
“I can’t implement my promises of intelligent protectionism and
industrial policy with the single currency,” Le Pen said. “It’s a brake on the
economy, it’s an obstacle to the recovery. The euro isn’t a currency, it’s a
political tool.”
Villeroy, by contrast, estimates that leaving the euro would increase
the cost of debt service for the French government by about 30 billion euros
($32 billion) a year.
“That might seem a bit abstract to listeners, but 30 billion euros, to
be very concrete, is equivalent to France’s annual defense budget,” he said.
More
Elsewhere, fools rush in where angels
fear to tread. Trump’s team need to reread the Cairo Declaration of the meeting
in Cairo in late 1943, attended by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Chiang Kai-sheck
for China, and reaffirmed in the Potsdam Declaration 1945. The Diaoyu Islands
are Chinese or Taiwan-Chinese. The USA never held sovereignty over them and
hence only passed Japan “administration” of the Chinese islands. Will America
really fry Manhattan for Shanghai, over some obscure islands that everyone
agreed in 1943, and reaffirmed in 1945, were to be returned to China by Japan
after the war?
China upset at disputed islands mention in Japan-U.S. meeting
China's Foreign Ministry expressed concern on Monday after Japan got
continued U.S. backing for its dispute with Beijing over islands in the East
China Sea during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A joint Japanese-U.S. statement after the weekend meeting in the United
States said the two leaders affirmed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security
treaty covered the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in
China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China was
"seriously concerned and resolutely opposed", adding that the islands
had been China's inherent territory since ancient times.
"No matter what anyone says or does, it cannot change the fact that
the Diaoyu Islands belong to China, and cannot shake China's resolve and
determination to protect national sovereignty and territory," Geng told a
daily news briefing in Beijing.
The United States and Japan should watch what they say and do and stop
making the wrong comments to avoid complicating the issue and affecting
regional peace and stability, he added.
Next, Morgan Stanley falls in love with
and approves of China. But are they just talking up their book? If not, MS
seems not to have got the Trump memo. At MS it’s still “China First”
apparently.
China Will Avoid a Bank Crisis, Reach High Income Status: Morgan Stanley
14 February 2017, 04:36 GMT
China will likely avoid a financial crisis and is on track to reach high
income status by 2027, according to a new Morgan Stanley report on the nation’s longer-term prospects
titled "Why we are bullish on China."The sweeping outlook comes amid growing concern over China’s surging debt levels, slow pace of reforms and the impact of a potential trade spat with the U.S. While acknowledging those concerns as legitimate, the analysts point to the country’s increasing shift into high value-added manufacturing and services that will play a central role in boosting per capita incomes to $12,900 over the next decade from $8,100 now.
If China manages to pull off that feat, it will join South Korea and Poland as the only large economies with a population of over 20 million to achieve that over the past three decades, Morgan Stanley said. The World Bank defines high-income economies as those with a gross national income of at least $12,476 per person.
There are other positives, too. Consumption and services are increasingly powering growth and proposed structural reforms such as the closure of uncompetitive state-owned enterprises will clear the way for new, high-value added industries in areas such as health care, education and environmental services, according to Morgan Stanley. That would spur the creation of a new generation of Chinese multinational corporations with significant presences both at home and abroad.
At the same time, the risk of a
financial shock remains low even though overall debt soared to 279 percent of
the economy last year from 147 percent in 2007. That’s because borrowing has
been funded by China’s own savings and been used for investment. Strong net
asset positions provide a buffer along with an ongoing current account surplus,
high foreign reserves and the absence of
significant inflationary pressures that would destabilize the financial system,
according to the report.
A one-off devaluation of the yuan is also unlikely though the currency will likely weaken further, according to Morgan Stanley.
More
We close for the day with the markets
cautiously awaiting the Fed’s talking chair. Is she or is she not, in love with
Trumponomics?
"With respect to their safety, derivatives, for the most
part, are traded among very sophisticated financial institutions
and individuals who have considerable incentive to understand them and to use
them properly."
Ben “Bernocchio” Bernanke. November
15, 2005.
Asia shares eke out 19-month top, cautious ahead of Yellen
Yet caution bled into markets ahead of testimony by the head of the Federal Reserve, which could highlight the likelihood of two or more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.
Japanese shares also ran into trouble after Toshiba Corp (6502.T) delayed an anxiously-awaited earnings release, including details of a multibillion dollar charge related to cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear arm.
The Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.7 percent as Toshiba shed more than 8 percent under the weight of sell orders.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.2 percent, trying for its fifth straight session of gains.
Helping sentiment was data showing consumer and producer prices were rising in China, thus reducing the danger of deflation across the globe.
Stocks in Shanghai .SSEC were barely changed on the day, as were E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1.
Wall Street indexes had hit historic peaks on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500's market value topping $20 trillion as investors bet tax cuts promised by President Donald Trump would boost the economy.
The Dow .DJI rose 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.52 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.52 percent. Apple (AAPL.O), a component of all three indexes, rose 0.9 percent to close at a record high for the first time since 2015.
More
"The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing
press (or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to
produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost."
Ben “Bernocchio” Bernanke. November
21, 2002.
At the Comex silver depositories Monday
final figures were: Registered 30.76 Moz, Eligible 150.98 Moz,
Total 181.74 Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Today, Europe’s NATO problem. After freeloading on
America for decades, Continental Europe’s defence bill from President Trump on
behalf of Uncle Sam, just came due. If anyone seriously thinks that President
Trump or anyone else, is willing to swap Manhattan for Vilnius, Riga or Tallin,
they had better think again. NATO is now encamped in Narva Estonia, just 98
miles from St Petersburg, arguably Russia’s most important city. Just who is
encroaching on and threatening who?
Freedom
is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
George
Orwell.
Trump's Right - NATO Is Obsolete For The US
Feb 13, 2017 2:00 AM
Submitted by
George Friedman via MauldinEconomics.com,Donald Trump deeply upset the Europeans when he raised the possibility that NATO is obsolete and that the European Union is failing.
But this isn’t the first time these issues have been discussed. I wrote about it last year, and the conversation has only continued.
What Trump has done is simply bring into the open the question of Europe’s relationship with the US.
The missions and motives of NATO and the EU
NATO was an alliance with a single purpose: to protect Western Europe from a Soviet invasion.The basic structure of NATO didn’t change when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It simply grew to include the former Soviet satellite states and the Baltic states.
The motive behind the expansion was to bring these countries into the framework of the Western defense system in order to give them confidence in their independence. And help support the development of democracies.
The motivation was roughly the same for expanding the EU. The bloc was primarily an economic union. Simply being an EU member was believed to enhance prosperity, so that even the economically weakest country would become strong after attaining membership.
The real goal was to expand the EU as far as possible. As with NATO, EU expansion had less to do with the EU’s primary mission than with political and ideological factors.
NATO is obsolete if it can’t support the US’ interests
The EU question is ultimately a European problem.But NATO is an alliance. The US has important and legitimate interests. But there are questions.
First, with the Soviet Union gone, what is NATO’s purpose?
Second, how does NATO serve the American national interest?
Third, given that the EU has almost as large a GDP and almost 200 million more people than the US, why isn’t its collective contribution to NATO’s military larger than the US?
The automatic answer to the first question is fairly basic: NATO’s purpose is to guarantee its members’ security.
On the second question, it cannot be argued that NATO has served American interests since 1991.
It is true that NATO’s area of responsibility is focused on Europe. The US’ current wars are outside of this area. But from the American point of view, having an alliance with a region where large-scale warfare is unlikely makes little sense.
NATO must evolve with the needs of its members. If it can’t, it can be seen (as Trump put it) as obsolete.
This brings us to the third question, the size of the European force. A military alliance needs a military.
Many European countries, in times of wealth as well as constraint, have chosen not to create a force large enough to support American interests.
----Nations have the right and obligation to carry out their foreign and military policies as they wish. But an alliance holds nations to behave in a certain way given certain events.
Europeans must face two facts
First, the wars that matter to the US are being fought in the Islamic world. Second, Europe is not struggling to recover from World War II. Its military capabilities should be equal to those of the US.NATO is obsolete if it defines its responsibility mainly to repel a Russian invasion. Especially since it refused to create a military force capable of doing that. It is obsolete in that it regards the US as the guarantor of Europe’s security when Europe is quite capable of incurring the cost of self-defense.
If European nations are free to follow their own interests, then so is the United States.
When we step back, we see a broader truth. First, the European Union is breaking.
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?
Exploring mysteries on the surface
2D materials reveal surprising properties
Date: February 10, 2017
Source: Ames Laboratory
Summary: Scientists have discovered the unique properties of
two-dimensional (2D) materials and metals grown on graphene, graphite, and
other carbon coated surfaces.
Two-dimensional materials are a bit of a mind-bending
concept. Humans live in a three-dimensional world, after all, where everything
observed in our natural world has height, width, and depth. And yet when
graphene -- a carbon material unique in its truly flat, one-atom-deep dimension
-- was first produced in 2004, the mind-bending concept became reality and an
unexplored frontier in materials science.
Ames Laboratory scientists Pat Thiel and Michael Tringides are explorers
on that frontier, discovering the unique properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials
and metals grown on graphene, graphite, and other carbon coated surfaces.
"Our work is somewhat of a miracle, if scientists can talk about
miracles," said Tringides, who is also a professor of physics at Iowa
State University. "Only a few decades ago, no one would have believed that
we could see individual atoms, but our capabilities now not only allow us to
see them, but manipulate them, like a child building with Lego® bricks. We're
able to create these materials from the bottom up, ones that could never happen
in nature."
They're created in a controlled laboratory setting, in an ultra-high
vacuum environment, and investigated with the aid of scanning tunneling
microscopy. After heating the substrate to high temperature all impurities and
defects are removed. The substrate is cooled and atoms of interest are
deposited one by one from specially designed sources. By tuning the temperature
and deposition rate, the researchers search for the Goldilocks-like condition:
atoms move not too fast and not too slow, so a truly 2D material forms.
While their research groups create a variety of surface materials in
their work, the fabrications methods all have one thing in common: attempting
to confine the assembly of the atoms to the 2D plane. That's difficult, because
it's counter to what atoms naturally want to do under most conditions, to
assemble in three dimensions.
"Atoms are chaotic by nature; we are fighting this randomness in
everything we do," said Tringides. "In our work, atoms are precisely
arranged on a highly reactive surface in a vacuum. Every aspect of the
environment is controlled. Our work is to fabricate very small, very clean, and
very perfect. Working on materials in the nanoscale demands it."
Learning how these materials behave is paramount. Because 2D materials
are all surface with no bulk, a host of unique nanoscale properties --
chemical, magnetic, electronic, optical, and thermal -- can be attributed to
them.
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished January
DJIA: 19864
+92 Up NASDAQ: 5615 +95 Up. SP500: 2279 +95 Up
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