Baltic Dry Index. 859 -19 Brent Crude 56.40
“The beauty of me is that I’m
very rich.”
Donald Trump.
President
Trump: he came, he saw, and he morphed into the aspirational, middle of the
road, fickle president. President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress
yesterday and laid out his aspirations for a renewed America. Though it wasn’t
a budget speech, completely lacking was how all these aspirations were to be
paid for, or when President Trump will lay out in detail how he wants the
Congress to pay for his current aspirations. Back in favour was NATO, though
for how long seems to depend on NATO’s deadbeat members paying their fair share
of NATO’s bills. A middle class tax cutis coming, though not exactly when. The
Great Wall of Mexico is coming, though not exactly when, where, or how.
From
faraway London, though the glass was both half full and half empty, it played
out better than the laughing stock, PwC Oscars. But as we enter the 91st
month of the weakest US economic “recovery” in history, how much longer
President Trump can keep Trumpmania running without details and costings is an
open question. Attention now shifts to the Fed’s talking chair, due to talk
next on Friday. Will the Fedster’s dare pull the trigger mid-month on another
baby step interest rate hike? And what of President Trump’s aspirations, if
interest rate normalise?
“I have never seen a thin
person drinking Diet Coke.”
Donald Trump.
Below,
the USA, Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2017. The Emperor’s new clothes, comes to
mind.
In speech, Trump tries to turn from divisive to deal-maker
U.S. President Donald Trump showed a
different side in his first address to Congress. This Trump was part
deal-maker, part salesman, asking for unity and trying to repackage his
populist message in more palatable terms.
He was less combative, less thin-skinned and more inclusive.
And where five weeks ago at his inauguration, he slammed Washington's
politicians as out-of-touch elitists who prospered at the expense of the
public, his message on Tuesday night was different: I need you, Republicans and
Democrats alike.
Always a showman, the TV reality star-turned-politician laid out plenty
of promises: A massive infrastructure and public works program; tax cuts for
the middle class; immigration reform; a healthcare overhaul; an education bill.
All of it will require congressional action, likely by different
coalitions of conservatives, moderates and Democrats.
“This is our vision. This is our mission,” Trump said. “But we can only
get there together.”
Trump, a Republican who has taunted Democrats over his 2016 election
victory and publicly fumed as they held up his Cabinet nominees, did not criticize
them this time. Repeatedly, he asked for their help, arguing the country’s
problems demanded bipartisan solutions.
After weeks of attacks on the media, political rivals and the judges who
ruled against his executive order to ban travel from seven Muslim-majority
countries, Trump finally eased off, although his proposals were short on
specifics.
More
Trump recommits to U.S. allies but says must pay 'fair share'
President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed support for the United
States' longstanding security alliances around the world but insisted that
friends and partners from Europe to the Middle East to the Pacific must “pay
their fair share of the cost.”
In his first nationally televised speech to Congress since taking office
on Jan. 20, Trump sought to reassure allies still uneasy over doubts he raised
during the 2016 presidential campaign about his commitment to their defense and
to maintaining a U.S. global leadership role.
But he also made clear that he expects those countries to shoulder more
of the burden of their own security needs, echoing a campaign message that some
allies had taken advantage of Washington’s generosity in providing them a
security umbrella.
“Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement
with the world,” Trump told a joint session of Congress. “It is American
leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies
across the globe.”
He specifically assured NATO allies of his new administration’s
continued commitment to the decades-old alliance. However, he made no mention
of one of the main sources of European concern: his friendly overtures during
the campaign toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the
bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism and a Cold War that defeated
communism,” Trump said.
“But our partners must meet their financial
obligations,” he said. “And now, based on our very strong and frank
discussions, they are beginning to do just that.”
More
U.S. Economy Grew 1.9% in Quarter, Unchanged From Early Estimate
by Sho Chandra
28 February 2017, 13:30 GMT 28 February 2017, 13:44 GMT
- Consumer spending rose at faster pace than initially reported
- Business and government spending contributed less to growth
The gain in gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, was smaller than the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey for a 2.1 percent annualized rate. Consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, rose 3 percent, more than projected, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday in Washington.
The results reinforce the leading role that consumers continue to play in the current expansion, helped by a tight job market, low borrowing costs and rising confidence. Optimism that President Donald Trump will lower taxes, reduce regulation and rebuild infrastructure may also encourage businesses to step up investment this year, contributing to growth.
More
What a Fed Rate Hike in March Would Imply
Feb 28, 2017 2:00 AM EST By
Mohamed
A. El-Erian
On Monday, a combination of domestic and international factors contributed
to a significant reassessment by market participants of the probability of a
Federal Reserve interest rate hike in March. Now the markets are pricing in a
more realistic probability of 52 percent, up from less than 40 percent last
week. Where this probability assessment goes next increasingly depends
on a single data point, which could also fuel a gradual reorientation of the
Fed’s approach to monetary policy and how the U.S. central bank interacts with
markets.Market expectations of a March rate hike were boosted by a clarification by Robert Kaplan, the president of the Federal Reserve of Dallas and a voting member of the policy-making Open Market Committee. In referring to previous signals from Fed officials that the central bank would likely raise rates “sooner rather than later,” Kaplan said this would imply a hike in the “near future” -- this on the basis of stronger economic growth in 2017 and the need to lower the risk of monetary policy falling behind the curve on inflation.
Rate sentiment was further influenced by signals from the White House that President Donald Trump’s first budget would include a substantial and “historic” increase in defense spending of $54 billion.
Global conditions also played a role in the market re-evaluation. After a string of record negative interest rates in Germany last week, 2-year German government bonds found their footing, at least for now. This alleviated the considerable downward pressures on U.S. yields.
Nonetheless, the higher probability of a Fed hike still doesn’t make it a done deal, and rightly so; and this is not primarily due to heightened political risk in Europe.
Judging from the insights of Fed Chair Janet Yellen and some of her colleagues, the FOMC would need stronger wage-growth data to feel comfortable raising rates for what would be only the third time in 10 years. As a result, the jobs report for February, which will released March 10, will have an important, if not deterministic, influence on what the Fed does when its top policy-making committee next meets on March 14-15.
A green light from the wage data would do more than significantly increase the probability of a March rate hike. It also would allow the Fed to slowly evolve away from its tactical posture and toward one that involves more strategic consideration.
More
U.S.-China Tensions May Force Nations to Choose, Singapore Says
by Rosalind Mathieson and Sterling Wong 1 March 2017, 05:58 GMT Singapore risks being “coerced” into choosing between the U.S. or China as the two powers jostle for influence in Asia, according to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"If America-China relations become very
difficult our position becomes tougher because then we will be coerced to
choose between being friends with America and friends with China," Lee
said in an interview with BBC’s “HARDtalk” that aired on Wednesday. “And that’s
a real worry.”
“Right now we are friends with both, not that we
don’t have issues with either, but we are generally friends with both and the
relationships are in good working order.”
For decades Singapore, an open economy reliant on
trade and investment, has walked a careful line between the U.S. and China,
seeking to build economic ties with both while supporting a greater U.S.
military presence in the region as a buffer to China’s expansionism, especially
in the South China Sea.
Lee has warned previously that smaller countries in
Southeast Asia do not want to have to pick a side,
even as he said competition between major powers is unavoidable.
More
We
close for the day with yet more bad news for Europe. Is there ever any other kind
of European news?
Millionaires can’t seem to flee this European country fast enough
By Quentin Fottrell
Published: Feb 28, 2017 10:46 a.m. ET
There’s
been a surge in the number of millionaires around the world who are moving
countries.Some 82,000 high-net-worth individuals, defined as those who have assets over $1 million, left their home countries last year, versus 64,000 in 2015, according to the “Global Health Review: Worldwide Wealth and Wealth Migration Trends.” For the second consecutive year, Australia was the No. 1 country welcoming millionaire migrants, beating even the U.S. There was a 38% jump in millionaire migrants to Australia (11,000 last year versus 8,000 in 2015) and a 43% increase in those migrants to the U.S. over the same period (10,000 in 2016 versus 7,000).
High-net-worth individuals, however, fled France last year in greater numbers than any other country. Some 12,000 millionaires left France last year, versus 10,000 in 2015, a gain of 20%, even though economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter of last year. There have been several terror attacks in France in recent years. And there are winds of political change blowing: Earlier this month, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign with a hardline speech on immigration and globalization, leading some commentators to say Le Pen, if she won, could pull France out of the European Union in a “Frexit.”
This was followed by China (9,000 millionaires left, unchanged from 2015) and Brazil (8,000 millionaire migrants leaving the country last year, an increase of 300%, followed by India (a 50% increase to 6,000) and Turkey (6,000 millionaires left that country, a 500% increase). Ivan Martchev, an investment specialist with institutional money manager Navellier and Associates, recently wrote on MarketWatch that China’s foreign-exchange reserves fell by $12.3 billion to $2.998 trillion. Turkey, meanwhile, recently experienced terrorist attacks, political unrest and a failed coup.
More
“My IQ is one of the highest —
and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your
fault.”
Donald Trump.
At the Comex silver depositories Tuesday final figures were: Registered 30.62 Moz, Eligible 155.98 Moz, Total 186.60 Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
In Brexit news, the reality of negotiating with 5 EUSSR
presidents, a committee of a rump-27 nations, plus the Belgian Walloonatics,
has set in.
No Brexit Deal Is a Scenario U.K. Must Prepare for, Davis Warns
by Thomas Penny 28 February 2017, 13:43 GMT
U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis told cabinet colleagues to prepare for
the possibility of Prime Minister Theresa May failing to reach a divorce deal
with her European counterparts in the two years allowed by European Union
rules.
Describing talks to quit the bloc as the “most important peacetime
operation,” Davis called on government departments to “support a smooth exit
from the EU” at the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, May’s spokesman Greg
Swift told reporters in London.
The Brexit secretary underlined “the need to prepare not just for a
negotiated settlement but also for the unlikely scenario in which no mutually
satisfactory agreement can be reached,” Swift said. “It’s important departments
understand the challenges ahead.”
There was also a plea for optimism from May.
“She reiterated the need for an orderly process but stressed we must be
optimistic, that our message is we’re not going to fail,” Swift said.
Separately, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told delegates at the
British Chambers of Commerce annual conference that a deal can be done within
the two-year window allowed by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. May has pledged
to trigger the process by the end of March.
There’s “every reason” the U.K can go “full tilt and get this done
within two years,” Johnson said. “‘We have an unrivaled opportunity. It’s
unlike any other free trade deal that the EU has ever done in that we are
already exactly flush with our partners in terms of standards and tariffs.”
Trade Secretary Liam Fox also updated ministers on preparations for
deals around the world after Brexit and trying to establish the U.K. as a
“champion” for free trade.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-02-28/no-brexit-deal-is-a-scenario-u-k-must-prepare-for-davis-warnsSolar & 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?
Nano 'sandwich' offers unique properties
Rice University researchers simulate two-dimensional hybrids for optoelectronics
Date: February 27, 2017
Source: Rice University
Summary: Nanoclusters of magnesium oxide sandwiched between layers
of graphene make a compound with unique electronic and optical properties,
according to researchers who built computer simulations of the material.
Rice University researchers have modeled a nanoscale sandwich, the first
in what they hope will become a molecular deli for materials scientists.
Their recipe puts two slices of atom-thick graphene around nanoclusters
of magnesium oxide that give the super-strong, conductive material expanded optoelectronic
properties.
Rice materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and his colleagues built
computer simulations of the compound and found it would offer features suitable
for sensitive molecular sensing, catalysis and bio-imaging. Their work could
help researchers design a range of customizable hybrids of two- and
three-dimensional structures with encapsulated molecules, Shahsavari said.
The research appears this month in the Royal Society of Chemistry
journal Nanoscale.
The scientists were inspired by experiments elsewhere in which various
molecules were encapsulated using van der Waals forces to draw components
together. The Rice-led study was the first to take a theoretical approach to
defining the electronic and optical properties of one of those "made"
samples, two-dimensional magnesium oxide in bilayer graphene, Shahsavari said.
"We knew if there was an experiment already performed, we would
have a great reference point that would make it easier to verify our
computations, thus allowing more reliable expansion of our computational
results to identify performance trends beyond the reach of experiments,"
Shahsavari said.
Graphene on its own has no band gap -- the characteristic that makes a
material a semiconductor. But the hybrid does, and this band gap could be
tunable, depending on the components, Shahsavari said. The enhanced optical
properties are also tunable and useful, he said.
MoreThe monthly Coppock Indicators finished February
DJIA: 20,812
+133 Up. NASDAQ: 5,825 +120 Up. SP500: 2,364 +115 Up.
No comments:
Post a Comment