Baltic Dry Index. 1405 +23 Brent Crude 55.75
In flying, the probability of
survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
Neil
Armstrong
Short of President Trump launching a “surprise”
attack on North Korea, this week’s focus is likely to fall on the EUSSR. Will
Catalonia go for a universal declaration of independence tomorrow night, and if
they do, how will Spain respond? No one seems to know at present, but this
whole man made crisis isn’t doing any favours to the Catalan, Spanish and EU
economies, nor doing much for the credibility of the one German size fits all,
unloved euro.
Up first, Spain. Will sanity return this
week?
Since love and fear can
hardly coexist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be
feared than loved.
Niccolo Machiavelli.
Catalans Call for Talks as Bid to Leave Spain Enters Crunch Week
By Maria Tadeo, Esteban Duarte, and Angeline Benoit
A senior member of the Catalan administration called for dialogue with
Spain, warning that all of Europe faces economic damage unless a resolution is
found to his region’s standoff with the central government in Madrid.
After a weekend of mass demonstrations in favor of Spanish unity, Raul
Romeva, foreign affairs chief for the separatist government in Barcelona,
insisted that the door was open for talks if Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy would
grasp the chance of dialogue.
“We need two to tango, we need the other side to be at the table,”
Romeva said in an interview in Barcelona on Sunday. “We’re always going to be
at the negotiation table, but to start negotiations we need the other party to
negotiate with.”
The hint of an olive branch came as both sides hurtle toward crunch time
in a dispute that threatens the breakup of Spain. Catalan President Carles
Puigdemont has vowed to press ahead with his independence drive in a
declaration due as soon as Tuesday, while Rajoy pledged that “national unity
will be maintained” by using all instruments available to him.
“The risk of this getting a lot worse, with correspondingly bad market
development for Spanish assets, is still too great for my risk appetite,” said
Erik Nielsen, chief economist at UniCredit SpA. He predicted at least
another week of pressure on Spanish and Catalan debt and assets before “things
will eventually normalize.”
Spain’s benchmark IBEX index has lost almost 2 percent in the week since
Catalans voted in a referendum deemed illegal under the Spanish constitution,
while Catalan companies including lender CaixaBank SA are relocating away from
the region.
Romeva invoked the crisis in the euro area that sent yields soaring on
Spanish government debt and curbed access to finance, warning that the economic
fallout of any worsening of the situation won’t be limited to Catalonia.
“This simply won’t affect the Catalan economy, it’s going to affect the
Spanish economy, it’s going to affect the European economy,” Romeva said. He
blamed Madrid for causing the political uncertainty that’s prompted a stampede
for the exit.
“What causes uncertainty is the incapability of the political central
state -- or the Spanish state -- to provide a political solution,” he said.
More
Up next, France, where the unions have called
for a nationwide public workers strike this week. If you’re lucky enough to moor
your yacht in France, or even just store your gold there, it’s time to move
both to a less costly jurisdiction ASAP. Rothschild’s man has apparently done
another U-turn.
As for the French unions, no one’s tamed them
since General de Gaulle got kicked out in 1969, in yet another referendum issue.
He seriously annoyed the US Treasury when he kept sending a French battleship
to America to turn in French dollars for the American gold backing. Shortly
after his “retirement” and death,
President Nixon made the Great Nixonian Error of fiat money, abandoning gold convertibility
entirely, setting off the financial gambling chaos we have today.
October 8, 2017 / 3:00 PM /
Updated 15 hours ago
France's Macron, unions seek upper hand in struggle over reforms
PARIS (Reuters) - Emmanuel Macron may have won the opening salvo in his
battle to reform France’s economy, but a nationwide strike by public workers
this week will put more pressure on a leader struggling to shake off criticism
that he is “president of the rich”.
Strike notices have been lodged in schools, hospitals, airports and
government ministries. Tuesday’s protest over plans to axe 120,000 jobs and
reduce sick leave compensation will be the first time in a decade that all nine
unions representing 5.4 million public workers have united behind a protest
call.
The walkout comes as Macron, 39, looks to reverse damaging headlines
after a week in which he scrapped a wealth tax and was recorded making
unsympathetic remarks about workers at a struggling factory. Opponents reacted
by branding him out of touch with ordinary voters.
“It should be a massive mobilisation of workers,” Mylene Jacquot, a
senior official from France’s largest trade union, the moderate CFDT, told
reporters.
More
October 8, 2017 / 3:26 PM /
Updated 15 hours ago
Macron's lawmakers to propose levy on yachts, gold after wealth tax uproar
PARIS (Reuters) - Lawmakers from Emmanuel Macron’s party will propose an
amendment to France’s 2018 budget to tax luxury yachts, supercars and precious
metals, a senior party official said, after opponents attacked the president’s
move to scrap France’s wealth tax.
Macron last week made good on a campaign pledge to abolish the wealth
tax, a symbol of social justice for the left but blamed by others for driving
thousands of millionaires abroad.
Left-wing opponents said the move was proof Macron was a “president of
the rich”, a label the former Rothschild banker has been struggling to shake
off since taking office in May.
A planned nationwide strike by public workers on Tuesday will put more
pressure on Macron.
The wealth tax, introduced by the Socialists in the 1980s, was levied on
individuals with assets above 1.3 million euros ($1.5 million).
It was to be replaced by a real estate tax but yachts, jewellery and
luxury cars were to escape, even if the finance minister left the door open to
a change of heart.
“The idea of the wealth tax reform was that there should not be a brake
on contributors to economic production, that we suppress taxes that deter
investors,” Richard Ferrand, leader of the Republic on the Move parliamentary
group, told Ouest France.
“Taxing real estate wealth is compatible with this, but goods such as
yachts, luxury cars or precious metals do not contribute to the productive
economy either.”
Ferrand said he had the government’s backing to introduce the amendment.
More
In commodities news,
the oil market is getting nervous again ahead of next month’s OPEC meeting.
OPEC Says 'Extraordinary' Steps Needed for Stable Market in 2018
Debjit Chakraborty and Bruce StanleySaudi Arabia and Russia are currently leading consultations between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major suppliers about the future of their agreement to cut oil output, Barkindo said Sunday in New Delhi. The pact expires in March, and oil producers are debating whether to extend it later into the year.
“There is a growing consensus that, number one, the re-balancing process is underway,” he said after meeting with Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “Number two, to sustain this into next year, some extraordinary measures may have to be taken in order to restore this stability on a sustainable basis going forward.” Barkindo didn’t elaborate on any such measures.
OPEC and allied producers agreed in December to pare output to clear a glut and bolster oil prices. The cuts have helped revive crude, which had fallen to half its 2014 peak. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said the country is open to extending the cut deal to the end of 2018. OPEC plans to meet on Nov. 30 to assess the market and its production policy.
Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, was little changed at $55.68 a barrel by 11:50 a.m. in Singapore. Prices fell 3.3 percent last week, the steepest weekly drop since June, and are down about 2 percent this year.
The 24 producers that agreed to pump less oil are looking forward to welcoming additional participants in the accord, Barkindo said, without identifying any possible newcomers. “At the moment, there is no talk of an extraordinary meeting” beyond the session scheduled for next month in Vienna, he said.
More
We close for today
with yet another red flag from China. While the scripted GDP numbers keep
staying on script, and likely will for the foreseeable future, it’s the
unscripted numbers that keep causing concern.
China service-sector growth falls to 21-month low
Published: Oct 8, 2017 11:37 p.m. ET
BEIJING--Growth in activity in China's service sector slowed sharply in
September, a private gauge showed Monday, in contrast with official data
showing a faster pace of activity.
The Caixin China services purchasing managers' index slipped to 50.6 in
September from 52.7 in August, marking a 21-month low, Caixin Media Co. and
research firm Markit said.
A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity from the previous
month, while a result below that points to a contraction.
The growth of both new orders and output in the service sector slowed in
September, Caixin said.
"The Chinese economy generally held up well in the third quarter.
However, the expansion in both manufacturing and services cooled in September,
suggesting downward pressure on economic growth may reemerge in the fourth
quarter," said Zhengsheng Zhong, director of Macroeconomic Analysis at
CEBM Group.
China's official nonmanufacturing PMI, which includes the construction
sector, rose to 55.4 in September from 53.4 in August, the National Bureau of
Statistics said on Sept. 30.
"The great merit of gold is precisely that it is scarce; that its quantity is limited by nature; that it is costly to discover, to mine, and to process; and that it cannot be created by political fiat or caprice."
Henry Hazlitt
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Today, a scandal all too likely to grow. What has gone wrong in Japanese
corporations?
Kobe Steel Says It Falsified Data on Some Aluminum, Copper Parts
By Chikako Mogi
8 October 2017, 08:26 GMT+1
Kobe
Steel Co. Ltd. said on Sunday that it had falsified data related to
strength and durability of some aluminum and copper parts products to make them
look as if they met client quality standards.Japan’s third-biggest steelmaker said the products were delivered to more than 200 companies but did not disclose specific customer names. The Nikkei earlier reported online that products using falsified data were delivered to firms including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.’s regional jet unit and auto makers.
Kobe Steel said it discovered the data falsification in inspections it conducted on products shipped from September 2016 through August 2017, adding that there haven’t been any reports of safety issues with products concerned. The affected products account for about 4 percent of its shipments of aluminum parts, copper parts and aluminum castings and forgings.
The company said it is still ascertaining the impact on earnings and that it has established a committee on quality issues. Kobe Steel’s aluminum and copper operations, which also includes products such as sheets, plates and tubes, account for about 20 percent of its total sales, according to data for the quarter ended June 30.
Shinko Wire Co., a Kobe Steel affiliate, in June 2016 said a unit had misstated data on tensile strength of stainless steel wires for springs and that it had supplied customers with alloy that failed to meet Japanese industrial standards.
In other recent Japanese product-related cases, Takata Corp. pleaded guilty in the U.S. in February to one count of wire fraud for misleading automakers about the safety of its exploding air bags. Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. officials were referred to prosecutors in March following the company’s 2015 admission that it had falsified data on rubber for earthquake-proofing buildings. Nissan Motor Co. last week recalled more than 1 million cars in Japan after regulators discovered unauthorized inspectors approved vehicle quality.
"It's strange that men should take up crime when there are
so many legal ways to be dishonest. “
Al
Capone
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?
Exotic quantum particle observed in bilayer graphene
Date:
October 6, 2017
Source:
Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Summary:
Physicists have definitively observed an intensely studied anomaly in condensed
matter physics -- the even-denominator fractional quantum Hall state -- via
transport measurement in bilayer graphene.
A team led by Cory Dean, assistant professor of physics at Columbia
University, and James Hone, Wang Fong-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering
at Columbia Engineering, has definitively observed an intensely studied anomaly
in condensed matter physics -- the even-denominator fractional quantum Hall
(FQH) state -- via transport measurement in bilayer graphene. The study is
published online today in Science (October 6 issue).
"Observing the 5/2 state in any system is a remarkable scientific
opportunity, since it encompasses some of the most perplexing concepts in
modern condensed matter physics, such as emergence, quasi-particle formation,
quantization, and even superconductivity," Dean says. "Our
observation that, in bilayer graphene, the 5/2 state survives to much higher
temperatures than previously thought possible not only allows us to study this
phenomenon in new ways, but also shifts our view of the FQH state from being
largely a scientific curiosity to now having great potential for real-world
applications, particularly in quantum computing."
First discovered in the 1980s in gallium arsenide (GaAs)
heterostructures, the 5/2 fractional quantum hall state remains the singular
exception to the otherwise strict rule that says fractional quantum hall states
can only exist with odd denominators. Soon after the discovery, theoretical
work suggested that this state could represent an exotic type of
superconductor, notable in part for the possibility that such a phase could
enable a fundamentally new approach to quantum computation. However,
confirmation of these theories has remained elusive, largely due to the fragile
nature of the state; in GaAs it is observable only in the highest quality
samples and even then appearing only at milikelvin temperaures (as much as
10,000 times colder than the freezing point of water).
The Columbia team has now observed this same state in bilayer graphene
and appearing at much higher temperatures??reaching several Kelvin. "While
it's still 100 times colder than the freezing point of water, seeing the
even-denominator state at these temperatures opens the door to a whole new
suite of experimental tools that previously were unthinkable," says Dean.
"After several decades of effort by researchers all over the world, we may
finally be close to solving the mystery of the 5/2."
----"Demonstration
of the predicted 5/2 statistics would represent a tremendous achievement,"
says
Dean. "In many regards, this would confirm that, by fabricating a
material system with just the right thickness and just the right number of
electrons, and then applying just the right magnetic fields, we could
effectively engineer fundamentally new classes of particles, with properties
that do not otherwise exist among known particles naturally found in the
universe. We still have no conclusive evidence that the 5/2 state exhibits
non-abelian properties, but our discovery of this state in bilayer graphene
opens up exciting new opportunities to test these theories."
----The team expects that the robust measurements they have now observed in bilayer graphene will enable new experiments that could definitively prove its non-abelian nature. Once this is established, the team hopes to begin demonstrating computation using the even denominator state.
"For many decades now it has been thought that if the 5/2 state
does indeed represent a non-abelian anyon, it could theoretically revolutionize
efforts to build a quantum computer," Dean observes. "In the past,
however, the extreme conditions necessary to see the state at all, let alone
use it for computation, were always a major concern of practicality. Our
results in bilayer graphene suggest that this dream may now not actually be so
far from reality."
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished September
DJIA: 22,405 +223 Up. NASDAQ: 6,496 +274 Up. SP500: 2,519 +179 Up.
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