Baltic Dry Index. 1332 +36 Brent Crude 54.06
Despite the headline, Irma’s not over, North Korea
is coming back into play later today, and to this old dinosaur market follower
it’s far too early to assume risk on again.
The main story today is likely to remain damage
assessment reports from Florida from the wind and rain from hurricane Irma. By
the end of today, that story may get competition from action or inaction over
North Korea, at the U. N. Security Council. Both China and Russia have said
that new sanctions are not the way to go to resolve the NK crisis. With President Trump threatening sanctions
against countries not supporting new sanctions, a USA v China sanctions clash
seems inevitable at some point.
Up first, hurricane Irma. By tracking up the less
expensive west coast of Florida, the total damage bill will be far less than
last week’s fears of a 200 billion damage bill.
Irma's Surprise Path May Fuel Insurance Claims
By Sonali Basak, Bailey Lipschultz, and Noah BuhayarAlong Florida’s west coast -- now in the direct path of the storm -- many residents thought they would avoid the worst of it, and then found themselves with too little time to fully prepare, according to Duncan Ellis, the U.S. property practice leader at Marsh & McLennan Cos.’ main brokerage unit.
Such was the scene near the waterfront in Tampa as the winds began to pick up. On Harbour Island late Saturday, condo resident Monty Gawel said he was only able to fill three sandbags, using dirt from a planter. While the 50-year-old intended to stay, a number of his neighbors were fleeing.
Nearby, some shops lining Garrison Channel were protected only by a single line of sandbags, just one sack high. Their glass windows and doors remained uncovered.
“Most people expected it to impact the east coast rather than the west coast,” said Ellis. “It took a turn to the left, and that’s caused a bit of a scramble in getting properties ready for the storm and evacuations.”
Total damage from Irma could reach about $49 billion, with $19 billion picked up by private insurers, according to Enki Research risk modeler Chuck Watson. That’s dramatically lower than earlier predictions after the storm’s harshest winds began to slow.
But within such broad figures, insurers are starting to sketch out damage trends with big implications for individual customers. Those will continue to unfold as Irma progresses.
More
September 10, 2017 / 4:47 PM
Irma knocks out power to nearly 4 million in Florida - utilities
(Reuters) - Hurricane Irma knocked out power to nearly 4 million homes
and businesses in Florida on Sunday, threatening millions more as it crept up
the state’s west coast, and full restoration of service could take weeks, local
electric utilities said.
Irma hit Florida on Sunday morning as a dangerous Category 4 storm, the
second highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, but by afternoon as
it barreled up the west coast, it weakened to a Category 2 with maximum
sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (177 kph).
So far, the brunt of the storm has affected Florida Power & Light’s
customers in the states’ southern and eastern sections, and its own operations
were not immune, either.
“We are not subject to any special treatment from Hurricane Irma. We
just experienced a power outage at our command center. We do have backup
generation,” FPL spokesman Rob Gould said on Sunday.
FPL, the biggest power company in Florida, said more than 3.2 million of
its customers were without power by 10 p.m. (0200 GMT Monday), mostly in
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. More than 200,000 had electricity
restored, mostly by automated devices.
The company’s system will need to be rebuilt, particularly in the
western part of the state, Gould said. “That restoration process will be
measured in weeks, not days.”
----Large utilities that serve other parts of the state, including units of Duke Energy Corp, Southern Co and Emera Inc, were seeing their outage figures grow as the storm pushed north.
Duke’s outages soared to 390,000 from 60,000 in a span of four hours on
Sunday evening, and the company warned its 1.8 million customers in northern
and central Florida that outages could ultimately exceed 1 million.
The company updated its website on Sunday evening with a warning to
customers that outages may last a week or longer.
More
September 10, 2017 / 5:02 PM
Caribbean faces hard road to recovery after Irma's ravages
VARADERO, Cuba (Reuters) - From Cuba to Antigua, Caribbean islanders
began counting the cost of Hurricane Irma on Sunday after the brutal storm left
a trail of death, destruction and chaos from which the tourist-dependent region
could take years to recover.
The Category 5 storm, which killed at least 28 people across the region,
devastated housing, power supplies and communications, leaving some small
islands almost cut off from the world. European nations sent military
reinforcements to keep order amid looting, while the damage was expected to
total billions of dollars.
Ex-pat billionaires and poor islanders alike were forced to take cover
as Irma tore roofs off buildings, flipped cars and killed livestock, raging
from the Leeward Islands across Puerto Rico and Hispaniola then into Cuba
before turning on Florida.
Waves of up to 36 feet (11 meters) smashed businesses along the Cuban
capital Havana’s sea-side drive on Sunday morning. Further east, high winds
whipped Varadero, the island’s most important tourist resort.
“It’s a complete disaster and it will take a great deal of work to get
Varadero back on its feet,” said Osmel de Armas, 53, an aquatic photographer
who works on the beach at the battered resort.
Sea-front hotels were evacuated in Havana and relief workers spent the
night rescuing people from homes in the city centre as the sea penetrated to
historic depths in the flood-prone area.
U.S President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration on Sunday for
Puerto Rico, where Irma killed at least 3 people and left hundreds of thousands
without electricity. Trump also expanded federal funds available to the U.S.
Virgin Islands, which suffered extensive damage to homes and infrastructure.
Further east in the Caribbean, battered islands such as St. Martin and
Barbuda were taking stock of the damage as people began emerging from shelters
to scenes of devastation.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the death toll on the Dutch part of
St. Martin had doubled to four, and that 70 percent of homes had been damaged
or destroyed.
Following reports of looting, the Netherlands said it would increase its
military presence on the island to 550 soldiers by Monday. Rutte said that to
ensure order, security forces were authorized to act with a “firm hand”.
More
In market news, who cares about hurricanes or North
Korea. Risk-on, buy more. A major error of over confidence, I think. Irma still
hasn’t stopped causing damage, and the North Korean crisis is far from over.
The US economy will be facing a drag from the two hurricanes for many weeks,
while both North Korea and the USA seem determined to talk themselves into war.
September 11, 2017 / 12:18 AM
Dollar, shares up in Asia on relief at North Korea inaction
SYDNEY (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar won a reprieve from risk aversion on
Monday after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un decided to hold a party over the
weekend rather than launch another missile, tempering safe havens such as the
yen and Treasuries.
Investors remained cautious over the possible economic impact of
Hurricane Irma as it chewed its way up the Florida coast, knocking out
electricity to 3 million homes and businesses statewide.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.4 percent after Pyongyang held a massive
celebration to congratulate the nuclear scientists and technicians who steered
the country’s sixth and largest nuclear test a week earlier.
The United States and its allies had been bracing for another long-range
missile launch to mark for the 69th anniversary of North Korea’s founding on
Saturday.
The sense of relief was enough to lift E-Mini futures for the S&P
500 by 0.5 percent, while yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose 3 basis points
to 2.09 percent.
More
North Korea Warns U.S. of `Greatest Pain' if Sanctions Pass
By Kanga Kong
North Korea warned of retaliation if the United Nations
Security Council approves a U.S. proposal for harsher sanctions after
Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
Kim Jong Un’s regime “is closely following the moves of the U.S. with
vigilance,” its state-run Korean Central News Agency said Monday, citing a
statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “In case the U.S. eventually does
rig up the illegal and unlawful ‘resolution’ on harsher sanctions, the DPRK
shall make absolutely sure that the U.S. pays a due price,” it said, using its
formal country name.QuickTake Sanctions - Financial Warfare
"The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the U.S. the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history," KCNA reported.
The warning came as the U.S. called for a vote on Monday on a draft
resolution to tighten sanctions on North Korea, which has repeatedly tested
bombs and missiles as it seeks the ability to target the U.S. with a nuclear
weapon. Kim threw a banquet over the weekend to reward the scientists and
engineers behind the Sept. 3 test, which North Korea said was a hydrogen bomb.
In response, the U.S., South Korea and Japan want the Security Council
to implement stronger measures against North Korea, including bans on oil
imports, exports of textiles and employment of its guest workers by other
countries. They also want to freeze Kim’s assets.
The U.S. is willing to risk a veto of its proposal rather than see it
watered down, according to a Security Council diplomat who asked not to be
identified while negotiations were ongoing. The U.S. has circulated a draft,
Agence France-Presse reported, citing unidentified diplomats.
----Russian President Vladimir Putin has said more sanctions wouldn’t work, while China is wary about cutting off Kim’s economic lifeline to the point it risks collapsing his regime. China is North Korea’s main ally and by far its biggest trading partner, including for oil shipments.
China would support further UN action if it helped restart dialogue with
North Korea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last week. Observers have said
Beijing might agree to just a partial, or temporary, oil exports ban.
More
We close with EUSSR news. Will Italy opt for a
stealth Euro exit?
September 8, 2017 / 4:44 PM
Italy's dual currency schemes may be long road to euro exit
ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s main opposition parties are replacing their
calls to leave the euro with apparently less radical proposals to flank it with
a new currency they say can boost growth and jobs.
Yet if any of their schemes are adopted with success they may convince
many Italians that the economy can function without the euro, and make an
eventual euro exit more likely.
It is a big if: previous such plans have been tried around the world
with mixed results and it would take a political shift for new ones to be
introduced in Italy, but not everyone is ruling it out.
“It can be done, technically and politically it is perfectly possible,”
said Roberto Perotti, economics professor at Milan’s Bocconi University.
Three of Italy’s four largest parties - the anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement, the right-wing Northern League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia -
propose introducing a parallel currency after an election due early next year.
They have settled on the dual currency proposal as a way of continuing
to tap into widespread anti-euro sentiment in Italy while avoiding - at least
for now - the huge upheaval and market turmoil that outright euro exit may
trigger.
Opinion polls currently point to a hung parliament in which they could
get a majority of seats but would be unlikely to form a government due to
divisions on other issues.
More
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Today, the Equifax hack scandal. Can it get any
worse? Yes, a whole lot worse, in part because Equifax has tried to scam the
victims from suing, probably because they seem to be grossly under insured.
Equifax data breach could create lifelong identity theft threat
Once hackers gain access to these key pieces of personal data — like Social Security numbers, names and dates of birth — it is at the cyber thieves’ disposal forever to cause harm.
By Adam ShellUSA Today Sat., Sept. 9, 2017
When a credit card gets stolen, it’s easy for the victim of the crime to
shut down the card, get a new account number and avoid monetary loss. But
financial peril rises and can persist for years when personal data likely to
stay the same forever — like Social Security numbers, names and dates of birth
— get stolen like it did in the cyber attack on credit-reporting service
Equifax.
Once hackers gain access to these key pieces of personal data — which is
akin to the DNA of a person’s online digital self — it is at the cyber thieves’
disposal forever to cause harm.
“It’s very problematic for hackers to have all that important
information all in one place,” says John Ulzheimer, a credit expert who once
worked for Equifax and credit-score firm FICO. “This information is perpetually
valuable. You are not going to change your name or date of birth or Social
Security number. In five years they will be the same, unlike a credit card that
takes five minutes to cancel over the phone.”
An estimated 143 million Americans, or nearly half of the U.S.
population, had their personal data stolen in the Equifax cyber heist,
according to the company.
The bad news is “this data will be used for years,” says Avivah Litan, a
security analyst at Gartner. “So, as a consumer, you need to be hypervigilant.”
Instead of looking at your bank and investment statements monthly, for
example, review them weekly, Litan advises. And if you see any fraudulent
activity, report it immediately.
With such a rich trove of personal data at their disposal, cyber thieves
have a greater chance of successfully committing financial crimes against
victims.
More
September 8, 2017 / 2:28 PM
Criticism of Equifax data breach response mounts, shares tumble
(Reuters) - Equifax Inc (EFX.N) faced a storm of criticism on Friday over a hack that may have compromised personal data for some 143 million Americans, with consumers clamoring for answers and cyber security experts questioning the response to the massive breach.Lawmakers and regulators joined the chorus, scrutinizing the company’s follow-up as it encouraged potential victims to sign up for free credit monitoring services. Equifax shares tumbled as much as 18 percent, the biggest one-day drop in 16 years, as complaints mounted that the company’s online and phone support systems were either broken or insufficient.
The hack, among the largest ever recorded, was especially alarming due to the richness of the information exposed, which included names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security and driver’s license numbers, cyber researchers said.
----Bigger hacks, such as those disclosed by Yahoo last year, did not put as much sensitive information at risk.
----Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday that the breach would impede Equifax’s growth over the next three to four quarters and hurt its reputation as a custodian of consumer data.
The company would incur significant costs to remediate the breach, potential litigation and regulatory action, and higher cyber insurance premiums, Moody’s said. But it said that Equifax’s rating and stable outlook were not affected.
Credit monitoring services such as Equifax collect vast amounts of financial information from consumers without their knowledge, working with banks and other lenders, for example, to track the creditworthiness of individuals.
More
Equifax’s Hacking Nightmare Gets Even Worse For Victims
First one of the biggest hacks ever. Then a delay in revealing who was affected. Now consumers are infuriated about fine print that may bar lawsuits.
By Polly Mosendz and Shahien Nasiripour
8 September 2017, 21:38 GMT+1 9 September 2017, 00:38 GMT+1
After Equifax Inc. revealed that sensitive data on two of every five
Americans was exposed in a cyberattack, thousands logged onto a company website
to see if they were at risk. For many, the site didn’t work at first.But for those who got through, a nasty surprise was waiting.
If your data had been stolen, Equifax offered a free year of credit monitoring known as “TrustedID Premier.” But some fine print may also mean that consumers who agree would be giving up the right to sue over many types of damages related to the massive penetration.
The unprecedented breach, which occurred in July but was disclosed on Thursday, is among the largest in U.S. history, affecting 143 million people. The hack revealed personal information such as Social Security numbers, addresses, driver’s license data, and birth dates, putting millions at risk for identity theft. A proposed multibillion-dollar class action lawsuit was filed Thursday evening. All told, Equifax could be facing as much as $70 billion in claims, said Ben Meiselas, an attorney for Geragos & Geragos, one of the firms that filed the lawsuit.
For already panicked consumers, that fine print—an arbitration clause—has caused further frustration, prompting federal lawmakers and at least one state attorney general to condemn Equifax for appearing to force aggrieved consumers to give up their day in court. Social media was flooded with messages of concern, with some fearing that simply using an Equifax website to check whether their information was compromised bound them to arbitration—a private proceeding which consumer advocates and lawyers consider inherently biased in favor of companies.
“We are witnessing uncharted depths of corporate duplicity, as Equifax is now targeting its victims” by using “stealth arbitration agreements,” Meisalas said. Hopefully this “conduct will finally spur Congress to protect victims of identity theft by stopping corporations from using poison pill arbitration clauses to deprive victims of their day in court.”
On Friday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked the company to remove the clause as he opened an investigation. sold off $1.8 million
----Late Friday, after a day of criticism, the company said consumers
wouldn’t have to give up their right to pursue class actions related to damages
stemming from the hacking incident. Equifax also said it tripled to more than
2,000 the number of agents on its call center team to handle questions, and
that the website allows consumers to quickly assess whether they were affected.
Earlier, consumer advocates and plaintiffs’ lawyers—who have a vested interest in preserving consumer rights to sue—expressed deep concerns about the arbitration clause. Equifax could divert from court lawsuits asserting damages as a result of negligence or invasion of privacy, said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, and Jim Francis, an attorney at Francis & Mailman P.C. in Philadelphia. Mailman recently won a $60 million jury trial against TransUnion LLC, another large credit reporting firm.
Earlier, consumer advocates and plaintiffs’ lawyers—who have a vested interest in preserving consumer rights to sue—expressed deep concerns about the arbitration clause. Equifax could divert from court lawsuits asserting damages as a result of negligence or invasion of privacy, said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, and Jim Francis, an attorney at Francis & Mailman P.C. in Philadelphia. Mailman recently won a $60 million jury trial against TransUnion LLC, another large credit reporting firm.
Whether the company’s statements late Friday will prevent it from
asserting the arbitration clause in the future is unclear. The clause, buried
in the company’s terms of use, obligates purchasers to individually resolve
“any claim, dispute, or controversy” in arbitration proceedings. In such a
hearing, one that is closed to the public and paid for by Equifax, a single
person would hear arguments from the consumer and the company before making a final,
binding decision.
The National Consumer Law Center describes arbitration as “biased,
secretive, and lawless,” in part because arbitrators are blocked from seeing
the full extent of a company’s alleged wrongdoing. In a court proceeding,
plaintiffs who overcome a motion to dismiss can demand pre-trial evidence from
a defendant company, including internal files and witness depositions.
More
Equifax's Insurance Is Likely Inadequate for Breach
By Sonali Basak and Jennifer Surane
9 September 2017, 20:22 GMT+1 9 September 2017, 22:07 GMT+
Equifax Inc.’s insurance against cyber breaches is
likely inadequate to cover the credit-reporting company’s costs tied to one of
the biggest hacks in history, according to people familiar with the coverage.The company holds a policy that would probably cover about $100 million to $150 million, with costs shared by carriers in the London market and elsewhere, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private contract. Though Equifax’s eventual expense may not be known for years, it could be multiples higher than the insurance payout, given what the company has disclosed and the costs at hacking victims like Yahoo and Target Corp., they said.
“Equifax carries cybersecurity, crime, general-liability and other lines of insurance, and we have begun discussions with our carriers regarding the incident,” a spokesperson said by email Saturday, without commenting further.
The company has offered free credit-monitoring to victims after reporting Thursday that a breach affected 143 million people, revealing Social Security numbers, drivers license data and birth dates. The Atlanta-based company now faces multiple state and federal investigations, and a proposed multibillion-dollar class action lawsuit was filed against Equifax. In its annual report, the company addressed the limits of its insurance protection tied to cyber risks.
‘Risk Retention’
“Our property and business interruption insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses or failures that may occur,” Equifax said in the filing. “Also, our third-party insurance coverage will vary from time to time in both type and amount depending on availability, cost and our decisions with respect to risk retention.”Equifax dropped 14 percent in New York trading Friday. The company is one of the three major bureaus that maintain databases of consumers’ credit status, payment history and address information. The same banks that furnish much of the bureaus’ credit data also use it to make lending decisions.
Beazley Plc, which has been expanding offerings to protect clients against cyber risks, is the lead insurer for Equifax, according to two people familiar with the contract. A representative for the London-based insurer declined to comment.
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?
Scientists unravel new insights into promising semiconductor material
Date:
September 8, 2017
Source:
National University of Singapore
Summary:
Researchers have established new findings on the properties of two-dimensional
molybdenum disulfide, a widely studied semiconductor of the future.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have
established new findings on the properties of two-dimensional molybdenum
disulfide (MoS2), a widely studied semiconductor of the future.
In two separate studies led by Professor Andrew Wee and Assistant
Professor Andrivo Rusydi from the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of
Science, the researchers uncovered the role of oxygen in MoS2, and a
novel technique to create multiple tunable, inverted optical band gaps in the
material. These novel insights deepen the understanding of the intrinsic
properties of MoS2 which could potentially transform its
applications in the semiconductor industry.
The studies were published in scientific journals Physical Review
Letters and Nature Communications respectively.
MoS2 -- An alternative to graphene
MoS2 is a semiconductor-like material that exhibits desirable
electronic and optical properties for the development and enhancement of
transistors, photodetectors and solar cells.
Prof Wee explained, "MoS2 holds great industrial
importance. With an atomically thin two-dimensional structure and the presence
of a 1.8eV energy band gap, MoS2 is a semiconductor that can offer
broader applications than graphene which lacks a band gap."
Presence of oxygen alters the electronic and optical properties of MoS2
In the first study published in Physical Review Letters on 16
August 2017, NUS researchers conducted an in-depth analysis which revealed that
the energy storage capacity or dielectric function of MoS2 can be
altered using oxygen.
The team observed that MoS2 displayed a higher dielectric
function when exposed to oxygen. This new knowledge shed light on how
adsorption and desorption of oxygen by MoS2 can be employed to
modify its electronic and optical properties to suit different applications.
The study also highlights the need for adequate consideration of extrinsic
factors that may affect the properties of the material in future research.
The first author of this paper is Dr Pranjal Kumar Gogoi from the
Department of Physics at NUS Faculty of Science.
MoS2 can possess two tunable optical band gaps
In the second study published in Nature Communications on 7
September 2017, the team of NUS researchers discovered that as opposed to
conventional semiconductors which typically have only one optical band gap,
electron doping of MoS2 on gold can create two unusual optical band
gaps in the material.
In addition, the two optical bandgaps in MoS2
are tunable via a simple, straight forward annealing process.
The research team also identified that the tunable optical band gaps are
induced by strong-charge lattice coupling as a result of the electron doping.
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished August
DJIA: 21,948 +215 Up. NASDAQ: 6,429 +266 Up. SP500: 2,472 +174 Up.
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