Baltic Dry Index. 1385
+14 Brent
Crude 62.29
"Any nation
which gives up its freedom in pursuit of economic advantage deserves to lose
both."
Thomas Jefferson, US President 1801-1809.
We are
on the cusp of a decade of great change ahead. Yet it barely registers in the
west’s national debates. From mid next decade onwards, job destruction from next
generation arriving technology seems all but certain, yet no nation or
political parties, nor even unions, seem willing to start addressing this
unsettling future. While we are still five to ten years away from its major social
impact, that’s uncomfortably close in the larger scheme of things. In the past,
technologic change usually brought in much improved lifestyle, employment, and
social conditions. The next decade’s changes seem far less benevolent, and
America and Europe already look pretty stressed out. Sooner or later our mainstream media will
start addressing the issue, though all too often sensationally. Where, I
wonder, is the informed academic, economic, political debate, addressing a
coming future that’s all but here.
Up first
today, the bizarre logic of our 21st century world. Buy stocks because
President Trump has added North Korea to a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
At least, as reported as a reason by Reuters.
November 21, 2017 / 2:23 AM /
Updated 4 hours ago
Nikkei up on large-cap rally, N. Korea tensions lift defence-related stocks
TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday
morning after large cap stocks such as automakers and manufacturers of factory
automation equipment rallied, with North Korea tensions supporting
defence-related shares.
The Nikkei gained 1.1 percent to 22,500.20 in midmorning trade, while
the broader Topix added 0.9 percent to 1,774.80, with 32 of 33 of its
subsectors rising.
Automakers gained, with Toyota Motor Corp rising 1.8 percent and Subaru
Corp adding 2.1 percent.
Factory automation stocks also attracted buyers, with Fanuc Corp rising
1.6 percent and Keyence Corp gaining 1.4 percent.
Banks were also strong, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group adding 1.2
percent and Mizuho Financial Group advancing 1.4 percent.
Retail investors speculated that demand for defence-related equipment
will increase after U.S. President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list
of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, lifting stocks such as Ishikawa
Seisakusho and Howa Machinery 7.2 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Eric Meijer)
Asian Stocks Advance; Dollar, Treasuries Steady: Markets Wrap
By Adam Haigh
Updated on November 21, 2017, 6:25 AM GMT
Stocks in Asia recovered some of their recent losses, with Chinese
shares bouncing from recent declines, as traders put on hold concerns about
U.S. tax reforms and European political issues in a holiday-shortened week in
America. Treasuries and the dollar were little changed.
A measure of Asian equities looked set to retest decade highs as stocks
in Tokyo and Hong Kong outperformed. Chinese stocks rallied, led by financial
companies, as investors reassessed warnings about excessive gains and a
crackdown on shadow banking that had shaken confidence. Volumes are likely to
be suppressed this week with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
The Australian dollar dropped to a five-month low after suggestions from
the central bank that interest rates will stay lower for longer. The dollar was
little changed from the previous session when it rose for the first time in
five days. Gold held on to most of its biggest drop since September after the
dollar’s gains sent precious metal prices including silver and platinum lower.
Oil recouped losses to head back toward a two-year high. The Turkish lira
weakened to a record low against the dollar. The country’s assets tumbled
Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revived his attack on the central
bank, criticizing its policy of using high interest rates to combat inflation.
----Federal
Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she will step down from the board of
governors after Jerome Powell has been sworn into office. Her decision will
give President Donald Trump a fourth spot to fill on the Fed’s seven-person
board, including a vice chairman spot. The Fed minutes are due on Wednesday,
which will allow investors to gauge officials’ eagerness to boost interest
rates next year.
More
Next in this usually thin trading week in the
markets, yet another sign of troubling change ahead.
How Many Uber and Lyft Drivers Will Lose Their Jobs? All of Them
Bloomberg reports Uber Expands Driverless-Car Push With Deal for 24,000 Volvos.Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to buy 24,000 sport utility vehicles from Volvo Cars to form a fleet of driverless autos, a signal that the company remains committed to autonomous cars under newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi.Uber’s order steps up efforts to replace human drivers, the biggest cost in its on-demand taxi service. The autonomous fleet is small compared with the more than 2 million people who drive for Uber but reflects dedication to the company’s strategy of developing self-driving cars.“This new agreement puts us on a path toward mass-produced, self-driving vehicles at scale,” Jeff Miller, Uber’s head of auto alliances, told Bloomberg News. “The more people working on the problem, we’ll get there faster and with better, safer, more reliable systems.”For carmakers, news of Uber buying vehicles at a commercial level means potential new sales, but also looming disruption to a business model that sees autos largely sold to private owners.Lyft Inc., the main ride-hailing alternative in the U.S., has said it’s also building driverless cars but has mainly focused on partnerships. Among those that have agreed to test autonomous vehicles on Lyft’s platform are Delphi Automotive Plc’s NuTonomy, Ford Motor Co., Jaguar Land Rover and Waymo.
----When Will Driving Jobs Vanish?
Long-haul, big-rig trucking jobs will vanish first, within 1-2 years
after self-driving trucks are allowed on the highways. 2021-2022 is a
conservative date range, and it may happen sooner.
Limo, taxi, Uber, and Lyft will take a bit longer. I am still looking at
2022-2024 before most of these jobs start to vanish in size.
The rollout will not be as fast as with trucks, but it will still be
faster than most think, likely even me. At the current pace of technological
advancement, 2022 is a long way away.
Looking ahead, the total number of driving job likely to vanish by 2025
approaches 5 million.
Avis, Hertz, Alamo, Budget, Dollar Gone
Avis, Hertz and all the car rental businesses will either be out of
business or out of business as we know it today. Instead, the car rental
companies will compete with Waymo, Uber, Lyft, and perhaps even the auto
manufacturers.
Insurance
Self-driving vehicles will reduce accidents. The insurance business will
change dramatically, perhaps even vanish by the end of the next decade.
Much depends on how Congress handles liability issues for self-driving
cars.
More
Finally in unreformed/unreformable EUSSR news, continental Europe seems to have lost its
way. Why would anyone want to remain in a dysfunctional club like this.
November 19, 2017 / 1:45 PM /
Updated 12 hours ago
Merkel signals readiness for new election after coalition talks collapse
BERLIN (Reuters) -
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a
minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but
Germany’s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a
government.
The major obstacle to a three-way deal was immigration, according to
Merkel, who was forced into negotiations after bleeding support in the Sept. 24
election to the far right in a backlash at her 2015 decision to let in over 1
million migrants.
The failure of exploratory coalition talks involving her conservative
bloc, the liberal pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens
raises the prospect of a new election and casts doubt about her future after 12
years in power.
Merkel, 63, said she was sceptical about ruling in a minority
government, telling ARD television: “My point of view is that new elections
would be the better path.” Her plans did not include being chancellor in a
minority government, she said after meeting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Steinmeier said Germany was facing the worst governing crisis in the
68-year history of its post-World War Two democracy and pressed all parties in
parliament “to serve our country” and try to form a government.
His remarks appeared aimed at the FDP and the Social Democrats (SPD),
who on Monday ruled out renewing their “grand coalition” with the
conservatives.
More
November 20, 2017 / 4:44 PM / Updated 13 hours ago
Italy's far-right makes inroads locally as nation frets about fascism
OSTIA,
Italy (Reuters) - At their office in a rundown Rome neighbourhood, volunteers
from a neo-fascist group line up bags full of groceries to donate to poor
Italian families, keen to show local residents they are ready to help.
Such initiatives helped CasaPound win 9 percent of the vote in a
municipal election this month, securing its first ever seat on Ostia’s council.
Buoyed by a rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiment and years of
economic strain, the group hopes for a similar breakthrough in national
elections due next year.
Europe is proving fertile terrain for the far right, with the
Alternative for Germany party winning seats in the Bundestag in September for
the first time and Austria’s Freedom Party, which was founded by Nazis, in
talks to enter government.
Although polls say CasaPound will struggle to make an impact nationally,
the group is ploughing a furrow in forlorn areas like Ostia, where the beach
fills with day-trippers in summer but the backstreets are dogged by organised
crime and poverty.
“They help lots of families who are in trouble, although you can’t deny
they can be violent,” said 33-year-old Daniele Fascetti, an unemployed Ostia
resident, recalling how CasaPound delivered water to homes when the supply was
cut off last year.
“It works like this: ‘I don’t have water, you bring it to me. No one
else helps, other political parties never come here. I vote for you.'”
A microcosm of some of Italy’s thorniest social issues, Ostia’s problems
were laid bare in the local council election campaign, the first since the
previous mafia-infiltrated council was shut down two years ago.
An assault on a journalist by a man linked to the mafia, who had praised
CasaPound on Facebook, prompted the government to deploy the army for the
run-off. CasaPound condemned the attack and distanced itself from the coastal
mafia clans.
More
Violence on the streets of Paris as protesters rage against Macron for fifth day
FRANCE has faced violence on the streets for the fifth day in a row as turmoil continues to beset the Macron presidency.
PUBLISHED: 07:04, Mon, Nov 20, 2017 | UPDATED: 11:42, Mon, Nov 20, 2017
Emmanuel
Macron, who was lauded by the EU elite as the saviour of the European
project, is struggling to maintain his grip
on power just a few months into his reign.This week the French President faced a mass revolt of 100 party members after they criticised his "broken promises and trust".
Following this, furious protesters took to the streets yesterday afternoon in an anti-Macron rally for the fifth consecutive day.
Anti-Macron protesters confronted dozens of police while marching on the Elysee Palace in Paris, with a number of banks and businesses vandalised.
Footage of the protest showed a topless activist facing off with police, while others around her let off flares.
Those on the streets voiced their fury at the leader's controversial labour reforms, due to take effect in January 2018.
The new law will make it easier for businesses to hire and fire employees and reduce the power of the labour unions.
Mr Macron has been under increasing pressure in recent weeks, with approval ratings plunging and a sinking economy.
Even when the French leader went to Athens last month, he faced a series of violent protests as the tide against the pro-EU figure escalates.
Mr Macron has set his eyes on changes to pensions, training and university access next year, all of which will likely stir more trouble for the leader.
The national demonstrations this week- which have taken place in more than 200 towns - have also seen transportation strikes throughout France.
This follows accusations from members of his own party that he "used" them as a tool to seize power.
More
“Europe exemplifies
a situation unfavourable to a common currency. It is composed of separate
nations, speaking different languages, with different customs, and having
citizens feeling far greater loyalty and attachment to their own country than
to a common market or to the idea of Europe".
Professor Milton Friedman, The Times 19 November
1997.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Yes, back to the banksters again. This time Russian and German. Why do
these criminal banks still have banking licences?
"We
shouldn't pour cold water on everything.
We, the eight or nine players in global investment banking, have a very
good future."
Deutsche
Bank, CEO Josef Ackermann. Davos, January 2007.
The Russian Banker Who Knew Too Much
Alexei Kulikov was charged with looting a small Moscow bank.
But his trial turned into a window on the shadowy—and seemingly
uncontrollable—world of money laundering in Putin’s Russia.
By Irina Reznik, Evgenia Pismennaya, and Gregory White
The pounding on the door begins at about 6 a.m. on a wintry Moscow
day in March 2016. Insistent knocking at that hour usually means just one
thing: police.
Inside the apartment on tony Kutuzovsky Prospekt, Alexei Kulikov’s
partner, Maria Plyushkina, 23, cares for their infant son. She begs Kulikov not
to open the door. The 40-year-old banker, stunned by the possibility of
arrest, knows better than to consider that option. Ignoring the appeals from
the men outside but desperately seeking help, he starts making calls—first to
his lawyer, then to any and every friend who might have some pull with law
enforcement. It’s all for nothing. He’s alone.
The knocking continues for hours, eventually slowing but never entirely
stopping. Around 5 p.m., police wrench the heavy steel door open with a
crowbar. A half-dozen tired-looking officers conduct a desultory search of the
apartment, plucking a wad of cash from Plyushkina’s purse—“spending money,” she
recalls later. The police count every bill they find in the apartment:
2,010,000 rubles ($34,409) and $59,243, according to court records.
----Kulikov hasn’t been home since. Charged with fraud and embezzlement and facing a 10-year prison sentence, he went on trial in March in the Podolsk City Court, just south of Moscow. The main allegations centered around the alleged looting of 3.3 billion rubles from Promsberbank, a small lender that the Central Bank of Russia had shut down about a year before Kulikov’s arrest.
By Russian standards, it was pretty typical treatment for a businessman in trouble with the law. Kulikov’s arrest got little notice in the local media. He lived large, driving a Mercedes-Benz SLR sports car and hiring stars from Comedy Club, Russia’s hottest TV-comedy show, to perform at a birthday party, says an associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. But he was no oligarch. As for Promsberbank, it looked like just another casualty in regulators’ efforts to clean up the financial sector. Its collapse drew scant attention beyond its home base in the gritty suburb of Podolsk.
Despite
appearances, Promsberbank was, according to the central bank, a “crucial link”
in one of the biggest money laundering schemes ever exposed in Russia. Kulikov
wasn’t charged with laundering funds, but from its unprepossessing office on
Kirov Street, his bank helped pump more than $10 billion out of Russia, the
regulator says. Promsberbank was a key conduit into a channel that used stock
transactions called “mirror trades.”
These transactions involved buying shares of Russian blue-chip stocks through
local brokers in Moscow for rubles and simultaneously selling them in London
for dollars or euros, effectively bypassing regulations to move funds out of
the country. Some of the laundering benefited members of
President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, say people familiar with the
investigations. Igor Putin, the son of the younger brother of the president’s
father, served on Promsberbank’s board of directors before regulators shuttered
it.
To help avoid detection, the brokers in Moscow made these trades through big Western banks, according to Russian regulators. The bulk of them went through Deutsche Bank AG from 2012 to 2014. Revelations about the mirror trades, first reported by Bloomberg News in 2015, rocked Germany’s largest lender, already battered by legal troubles and fines in the wake of the financial crisis. Deutsche Bank admitted to “systemic” failures in its internal controls, shut down its Russia trading desk, and agreed to pay a total of $630 million in fines to the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and the New York State Department of Financial Services for lax anti-money laundering practices. The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation in the case.
Russia’s treatment of Deutsche Bank wasn’t quite so harsh. Regulators fined it 300,000 rubles, praised it for cooperating, and closed the case. Although Kulikov’s criminal prosecution makes no mention of the German lender by name, investigators did quiz several witnesses in detail about Deutsche Bank and the mirror trades, say lawyers and witnesses in the case.
At his trial, Kulikov pleaded his innocence and said he was being made the fall guy for the more powerful players who really controlled Promsberbank. Only Kulikov was charged in the Promsberbank affair, but the names of his partners in the bank read like a who’s who of Russian money laundering. Two of the bank’s investors, Igor Putin and Alexander Grigoriev, were shareholders in Russky Zemelny Bank, which was shut down for suspicious activities in 2014 after being linked to a $20 billion-plus money laundering scheme, an operation so large it came to be known simply as the “Russian Laundromat.”
----Another apartment, another time. In September 2016 police turn up at No. 284 on the 11th floor of the newly completed Dominion luxury complex near Moscow State University. They’re there as part of an investigation into corruption allegations against a police colonel named Dmitry Zakharchenko. They remove the door with power tools. Nobody is home, but something gets their attention: a custom-built vault. Inside, police find so much cash—$124 million and €1.5 million ($1.7 million)—that it takes them all night to count it. It’s stashed in wine boxes and plastic tote bags embossed in faux-Burberry plaid. There are bricks of stiff $100 bills shrink-wrapped in $100,000 bundles.
More
J. Edgar Hoover
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?
Meet the critical material that can also prevent fire…
Adrian Nixon | November 18,
2017
Graphene has such a combination of world beating properties it is being used
in new applications all the time. The latest of these applications is in fire
prevention.Graphene is made of carbon, so you would expect it to burn a bit like charcoal. In fact graphene seems so difficult to set alight it is being used to prevent fires spreading through combustible materials.
Examples of graphene fire preventatives
In one experiment by an Australian company called first graphite, two pieces of wood were subjected to a blowtorch for twelve seconds and left to burn.
The flame penetrated both samples and set them alight. The
untreated wood rapidly caught fire and burned to ash within seconds. The wood
coated with graphene could not resist the intensity of the blowtorch which
burned a hole right through. Once the blowtorch stopped the flames quickly went
out and the glowing edges gradually faded. The treated wood sample survived.
This is not the only example of graphene being used as a
fire retardant. A few weeks ago a new graphene flame retardant fabric was
exhibited in Shanghai, China. A flame was played over the surface of the fabric
without any apparent effect. You can see the demonstration at this link
Any fire needs oxygen, heat and fuel. Deny any one of these and the fire will go out or not start in the first place. All fire retardant coatings work by targeting one of these three key ingredients.
How graphene works as a fire retardant
Graphene and graphene oxide nanoplatelets are available as powders and pastes that can be missed with a variety of liquids and polymers. This flexibility makes them ideal additives and coatings for a wide range of products.A team at Henan University in China has researched the way graphene works and discovered that there are a several ways graphene prevents fires spreading.
The Chinese team found that when a graphene coating is burned it chars. This char layer is dense and continuous. It blocks the surface and prevents oxygen accessing deeper into the material. Graphene has more tricks up its sleeve. It conducts heat really well. This means localised heat is conducted away into the rest of the material and dispersed, making it hard for the fire to spread. The heat conducting and char blocking create what the authors termed a labyrinth effect where the heat and combustion gases have to follow a tortuous path to the fuel and this effectively prevents the spread of the flames.
As well as the fire retardant effect graphene and graphene oxide also have a very high surface area. This adsorbs flammable organic volatiles and hinders their release and diffusion during combustion. It is likely that graphene additives and coatings will reduce poisonous gases from a fire.
I feel in a privileged position at the moment, the pace of graphene research is breath-taking. There are so many uses for these new materials; saving lives is a particularly satisfying application for this technology.
Jamie Dimon, US CEO of JP Morgan Chase
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished October
DJIA: 23,277 +233 Up. NASDAQ: 6,728 +284 Up. SP500: 2,575 +183 Up.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThe knocking continues for hours, eventually slowing but never entirely stopping. Around 5 p.m., police wrench the heavy steel door open with a crowbar. Promsberbank was, according to the central bank, a “crucial link” in one of the biggest money laundering schemes ever exposed in Russia.Russia’s treatment of Deutsche Bank wasn’t quite so harsh.I feel in a privileged position at the moment, the pace of graphene research is breath-taking.I agree with this post. Thanks for sharing your post.......
---http://onedaytop.com/marriage-equality-wins-australia-political-fight-best-beginning/