Baltic Dry Index. 1282 +20 Brent Crude 55.86
LIR updates notice. There will be no LIR update tomorrow,
Good Friday. The next update will be the weekend update on Holy Saturday. A
Happy Easter and Passover to all.
"If China is not going to solve North
Korea, we will."
President Trump.
Is President Trump
about to restart the Korean war over Easter? Or is he like “The Grand Old Duke
of York” merely marching his men to the top of the hill, to march them down
again. Or in President Trump’s case sailing his carrier group to North Korea,
to have them sail away again? Who knows, probably not even “the Donald,” who
seems to take his decisions based on what US TV media are promoting as outrage
of the moment. The South Koreans seem to
think that they have a right to be consulted before President Trump starts a
new Korean war. I hope their US Ambassador has good cable TV and a hotline to
Seoul.
Below, reason to
be flat this Easter. Risk off. Gold long.
Tensions grow on Korean peninsula ahead of 'big and important event'
South Korea said on Thursday it believed it would be consulted by the
United States before any possible pre-emptive U.S. strike against Pyongyang,
where foreign journalists gathered for "a big and important event".
With a U.S. aircraft carrier group steaming to the area, tensions on the
Korean peninsula grew this week
amid concern that the reclusive North could
soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of
United Nations sanctions.
China, North Korea's sole major ally and benefactor, has called for a
peaceful resolution after a sharp rise in rhetoric between the United States
and Pyongyang.
While U.S. President Donald Trump has put North Korea "clearly on
notice" that he would not tolerate provocative actions by the North, U.S.
officials have said his administration was focusing its strategy on tougher
economic sanctions.
Trump has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group toward the
Korean peninsula, which could take more than a week to arrive, in a show of
force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting another nuclear test or
launching more missiles to coincide with major commemorative events.
The possibility of U.S. military action against North Korea in response
to such tests gained traction after the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at
a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas attack.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said he believed Washington
would consult Seoul if it was considering a pre-emptive strike against the
North.
"Under the South Korea-U.S. alliance, any important measure on the
North is taken under consultation with the South Korea government and it will
continue in the future," Yun told a parliamentary hearing.
A Washington-based think tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said
satellite images taken on Wednesday showed continued activity around the
North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the east coast that showed it was ready
for a new test.
More
North Korea may be capable of sarin-tipped missiles: Japan PM
North Korea may have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with
sarin nerve gas, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, amid
concerns that the reclusive state could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or
more missile launches.
"There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability
to deliver missiles with sarin as warheads," Abe told a parliamentary
session.
Members of a Japanese doomsday cult killed 12 people and made thousands
ill in 1995 in simultaneous attacks with sarin nerve gas on five Tokyo
rush-hour subway trains.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated over Pyongyang's
continued nuclear and missile testing program, with the United States warning
it could take unilateral action and sending a navy carrier group to near the
Korean peninsula in a show of force aimed at deterring more tests.
North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder
Kim Il Sung on Saturday, North Korea's biggest national day called "Day of
the Sun". Leaders have in the past used the date to carry out weapons
tests.
North Korea has launched several missile tests this year, the latest on
April 5 when it fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. It
conducted its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, 2016.
In other Asian news, another Trump U-turn. With a hot
war with North Korea possibly starting next week, the trade war with China is
off for now.
We can’t continue to
allow China to rape our country. And that’s what they’re doing. It’s the
greatest theft in the history of the world.
President Trump.
China's economic picture brightens as trade data tops forecasts, Trump softens tone
China's 2017 export outlook brightened considerably on Thursday as it
reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and U.S. President Donald Trump
softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift.
Washington's improving ties with Beijing were underscored when Trump
told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Wednesday that he would not
declare China a currency manipulator as he had pledged to do on his first day
in office.
The comments were an about-face from Trump's campaign promises, which
had rattled China and other Asian exporters, and came days after his first
meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping where he pressed China to help rein
in North Korea.
China's exports rose at the fastest pace in a little more than two years
in March, climbing 16.4 percent from a year earlier in a further sign that
global demand is picking up, the customs office reported on Thursday.
Import growth remained strong at 20.3 percent, driven by the country's
voracious appetite for oil, copper, iron ore, coal and soybeans, whose volumes
all surged from February despite worries about rising inventories. Crude oil
imports hit a record high.
The stronger trade data reinforced the growing view that economic
activity in China has remained resilient or is even picking up, adding oomph to
a global manufacturing revival.
"There are increased signs of warming up in the global
economy", which helped China's steady growth in the first quarter, Yan
Pengcheng, a spokesman for the country's top economic planning agency, told a
news conference on Thursday.
----A shadow has fallen over the trade relationship between China and the United States, its largest export market, as Trump has railed against the massive trade imbalance between the two countries, which was $347 billion in favor of China last year.
China's exports to the U.S. rose 19.7 percent in March on-year, while
imports from the U.S. rose 15.1 percent.
But China's trade surplus with U.S. remained high in the first quarter
at $49.6 billion, down only slightly from $50.57 billion in the year-ago
period.
Customs spokesman Huang Songping said on Thursday that better
communication between China and the United States will benefit trade and
investment between the two countries.
Trump pressed Xi to help reduce the gap at last week's first meeting,
with the countries agreeing to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting
U.S. exports and reducing China's surplus with the United States.
----Despite Trump's comments backing away from labeling China a currency manipulator, many analysts reckon the new administration is just beginning to flex its trade muscles with Beijing and other major trading partners.
The U.S. launched a probe to determine whether imports of Chinese
aluminum foil should be subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on
March 27.
More
Next, does history repeat? Ray Dalio fears that it
might.
Ray Dalio explains why we may be repeating the mistakes of the 1930s
Bob Bryan
Apr. 7, 2017, 10:52 AM
Ray Dalio thinks the world's current path is looking eerily similar to one
of the worst decades in recent history. The founder and former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, said the economic and political issues popping up around the world were similar to the problems experienced in the lead-up to World War II.
In an interview with Business Insider's global Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget on "The Bottom Line," Business Insider's new weekly business news show, Dalio said the rise of populist leaders across the globe could lead the world down the same path as the 1930s.
"In the 1930s, which was quite similar to a lot of the period we've been through economically," Dalio said, "we had the wealth gap, we had large debts, we had zero interest rates."
The economic fallout of World War I and the Great Depression led to a growth of inequality in the 1930s, pushing many people around the globe toward populist politicians they felt were more aggressive and combative.
"During this same type of period, we experienced more populism, most countries became populist, and so it's very important to understand that," Dalio said.
Given the devastating impact of the rise of populist leaders in the 1930s, Dalio said the current rise of populist sentiment in the US and Europe should warrant scrutiny.
"If you were to see that happen in the United States, Europe, and so on you would have something that would be of concern, because that would alter how the economic conditions work," he said.
Dalio highlighted the rise of President Donald Trump and nationalist
French politician Marine Le Pen and said it was important to keep an eye on the
institutions that undergird democracies in the US and Europe.
"There are issues here that will be interesting to compare with,
such as the sanctuary-city question, or such as the Supreme Court," Dalio
said. "Will those conflicts become such that they will become more
antagonistic than normal and that tend to be more detrimental to the efficient
running of the system?"
More
There can be few fields of human
endeavour in which history counts for so little as in the world of finance.
Past experience, to the extent that it is part of memory at all, is dismissed
as the primitive refuge of those who do not have the insight to appreciate the
incredible wonders of the present.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
At the Comex silver depositories
Wednesday final figures were: Registered 30.29 Moz, Eligible 159.57 Moz,
Total 189.86 Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Below, another Scottish mystery like Nessie, the
Loch Ness monster. But will it be any easier to find?
5 April, 2017
- 18:59 Ashley Cowie
It Started with Bonnie Prince Charlie: Treachery and Skullduggery Accompany a Hunt for Lost Jacobite Gold in the Scottish Highlands
Although only one leather bag of gold coins has ever been recovered, no other treasure in Scottish history has inspired such controversy as the lost Jacobite Gold. The story begins in 1745 when Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) arrived in Scotland claiming the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland, in the name of his father James Stuart (the Old Pretender). Charlie managed to secure financial support from both Spain and Rome.The Story of the Jacobite Gold
Spain pledged 400,000 livres (or Louis d'or) per month for the Jacobite cause in Scotland, but getting these funds to the rebel army was proving difficult. The first instalment of gold was dispatched in 1745 by Charles' brother Henry, who was residing in France. The French sloop Hazard (renamed the Prince Charles) successfully landed its monies on the north coast of Scotland at Tongue, but it was intercepted by men of the Clan Mackay, who were loyal to King George II of England.In 1746, after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army was massacred at the Battle of Culloden near Inverness, he fled to the Western Isles. Before news of his defeat reached France, two frigates, the Bellona and Mars, were loaded with hundreds of casks of brandy, medical supplies, guns and ammunition, and hidden below deck was the payroll for Charlie’s Jacobite army and funds for his rebellion – 8 big bags of gold coins amounting to 1’200’000 livres. On the 10th of May 1746, the Bellona and Mars sailed into Loch nan Umah near Fort William on Scotland’s west coast - where they unloaded the stores and treasure. Six caskets of gold were transported about 20 miles (32.19 km) overland and buried somewhere near the banks of Loch Arkaig, just north of Fort William.
The secret location of the gold was entrusted to Murray of Broughton, a
Jacobite fugitive who was expected to distribute the gold to the clan
chiefs. But when he was apprehended by government forces the treasure was
entrusted first to Lochiel, chief of Clan Cameron, and then to Euan Macpherson
of Cluny, chief of Clan Macpherson. In September 1746, Prince Charles
escaped on the French frigate L'Heureux and Macpherson of Cluny
retained control of the treasure. And for the next 8 years he famously lived in
exile in the Scottish Highlands at a mysterious location known as Cluny’s
Cave, which was featured in Robert Louis Stephenson's ‘Kidnapped’.
Prince Charles became obsessed with securing his treasure in Scotland
and in 1753 he sent his loyal supporter, Dr. Archibald Cameron, Lochiel's
brother (who was acting as secretary to the Old Pretender) back to
Scotland on a covert mission to secure the treasure. Dr. Cameron based his
treasure recovery mission at Brenachyle, by Loch Katerine, but he was betrayed
by the notorious 'Pickle', a Hanoverian spy. After being arrested and charged
for his part in the 1745 Jacobite uprising, he was drawn and hanged in
1753, becoming the last Jacobite to be executed.
The Stuarts' papers are currently in the possession of Queen Elizabeth
II and they record several accusations, claims, and counter-claims among
the Highland chiefs and Jacobites in exile as to the fate of the gold. They
also include an account from around 1750, drawn up in Rome by Archibald
Cameron, which prove Cluny "had not or could not" account
for all of the gold. Charles finally accused Cluny of embezzlement and the
gold became a source of discord and grievance among the surviving
Jacobites.
Having spent over a decade researching the known historical texts and
records pertaining to the whereabouts of this treasure, I have been able to
derive four solid clues as to the possible whereabouts of the gold, from
the hard evidence and stories associated to this gold hoard.
More
Technology 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?
Below, a truly life
changing development.
Graphene, electricity used to change stem cells for nerve regrowth
Date:
April 10, 2017
Source:
Iowa State University
Summary:
Scientists are combining their expertise to change stem cells for nerve
regrowth.
Researchers looking for ways to regenerate nerves can have a hard time
obtaining key tools of their trade.
Schwann cells are an example. They form sheaths around axons, the
tail-like parts of nerve cells that carry electrical impulses. They promote
regeneration of those axons. And they secrete substances that promote the
health of nerve cells.
In other words, they're very useful to researchers hoping to regenerate
nerve cells, specifically peripheral nerve cells, those cells outside the brain
and spinal cord.
But Schwann cells are hard to come by in useful numbers.
So researchers have been taking readily available and noncontroversial
mesenchymal stem cells (also called bone marrow stromal stem cells that can
form bone, cartilage and fat cells) and using a chemical process to turn them,
or as researchers say, differentiate them into Schwann cells. But it's an
arduous, step-by-step and expensive process.
Researchers at Iowa State University are exploring what they hope will
be a better way to transform those stem cells into Schwann-like cells. They've
developed a nanotechnology that uses inkjet printers to print multi-layer
graphene circuits and also uses lasers to treat and improve the surface
structure and conductivity of those circuits.
It turns out mesenchymal stem cells adhere and grow well on the treated
circuit's raised, rough and 3-D nanostructures. Add small doses of electricity
-- 100 millivolts for 10 minutes per day over 15 days -- and the stem cells
become Schwann-like cells.
The researchers' findings are featured on the front cover of the
scientific journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. Jonathan Claussen, an
Iowa State assistant professor of mechanical engineering and an associate of
the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, is lead author. Suprem Das, a
postdoctoral research associate in mechanical engineering and an associate of
the Ames Laboratory; and Metin Uz, a postdoctoral research associate in
chemical and biological engineering, are first authors.
The project is supported by funds from the Roy J. Carver Charitable
Trust, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Iowa State's
College of Engineering, the department of mechanical engineering and the Carol
Vohs Johnson Chair in Chemical and Biological Engineering held by Surya
Mallapragada, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, an
associate of the Ames Laboratory and a paper co-author.
"This technology could lead to a better way to differentiate stem
cells," Uz said. "There is huge potential here."
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished March
DJIA: 20,663
+131 Up. NASDAQ: 5,912 +165 Up. SP500: 2,363 +135 Up.
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