Baltic Dry Index. 1721 +26 Brent Crude 71.85
Murray N. Rothbard
With President Trump’s
misstatement and U-turn well covered in mainstream media, we open today with
stocks, and the start of a long summer churn? It’s strange how everyone’s
currencies are now mostly weakening against the dollar. Must be some sort of
coincidence.
Asian stocks rebound, Japan’s Nikkei continues rally on weak yen
Published: July 17, 2018 11:47 p.m. ET
Korean stocks shrug off news of slower GDP growth forecast
Stocks in Asia recovered from their weakness to advance Wednesday while Japan’s Nikkei continued to rally as the yen remained weak against the U.S. dollar.Chinese and Hong Kong shares posted relatively robust gains following recent losses with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.51% up 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, +0.31% also rising 0.4%.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges are working on a system to allow investors in China to buy and sell shares of companies with supervoting equity via the Stock Connect link.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +0.58% extended its rally to climb 1% on the back of a weak yen which is expected to help the country’s exporters. The dollar USDJPY, +0.11% last bought 112.94 yen versus ¥112.86 earlier.
Stocks in other major Asian markets were also higher.
Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.07% added 0.2%, shrugging off news that the Korean government projects 2018 economic growth to slow to 2.9% versus 3.1% in 2017. Seoul blamed the country’s shrinking workforce as well as weaker overseas demand for Korean automobiles and ships for the softer growth forecast, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
More
Dow gains for 4th day in a row, Nasdaq logs record after earnings and Powell testimony
Published: July 17, 2018 4:48 p.m. ET
U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, extending a recent upswing after
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated the U.S. central bank wouldn’t
move too quickly in changing monetary policy, and that it would be flexible in
the face of changing conditions.Traders also digested the latest round of corporate earnings, which came in mixed but nevertheless showed strong growth.
What are markets doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.22% added 55.53 points, or 0.2%, to 25,119.89. The blue-chip average posted its fourth straight advance, as well as its eighth rise of the past nine sessions.The S&P 500 SPX, +0.40% closed up by 11.12 points, or 0.4%, to 2,809.55. Leading the day’s advance was the materials sector, which rose 1.3%. Both technology and consumer-staples shares both gained 0.8%.
----Appearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said the “best way forward is to keep gradually raising the federal-funds rate for now.” This was seen as suggesting that the central bank wouldn’t become too aggressive in raising rates, something that is widely seen as a risk to markets.
In a cautious note, however, Powell said that “it is difficult to predict the ultimate outcome of current discussions over trade policy as well as the size and timing of the economic effects of the recent changes in fiscal policy.”
More
In oil news, some old
oilfields are getting a new look over.
July 18, 2018 / 12:12 AM
Not dead yet - Home of Brent crude gets new lease of life
LONDON
(Reuters) - Oil giant BP’s (BP.L) Eastern Trough Area Project off the coast
of Scotland wasn’t supposed to be viable beyond 2018. But government and
industry working together have given ETAP a new lease of life that is being
closely watched by countries and companies eyeing other ageing projects around
the world.
When ETAP was launched 20 years ago today, some experts predicted the UK
sector of the North Sea would cease most production by 2030.
Government efforts to keep producers in the basin, home to the Brent
crude that underpins the price benchmark, gained urgency with the 2014 oil
price crash. Cheaper oil also forced the industry to upgrade technology and
find more efficiencies.
From original plans to stop production at ETAP, BP decided to invest $1
billion in 2015.
One has to take stock of the potential going forward and make an
intervention that allows for the right investment to extend life,” Ariel
Flores, BP’s North Sea Chief, told Reuters. “We’ve done that on ETAP.”
ETAP’s example shows how efforts to extend the production in the North
Sea are succeeding, providing lessons for producers in other fields near
exhaustion such as those in the Gulf of Mexico and southeast Asia. ETAP
produces around 37,000 barrels per day of oil now against as much as 217,000
bpd in 2000. But BP production in the entirety of the North Sea is set to
double in 2020 to 200,000 bpd from 2014 as fields such as Clair Ridge west of
Shetland islands come on line, Flores said. “There are a number of fields in
the central North Sea area waiting for final investment decisions (FIDs). And
for some of those, the potential host is ETAP,” Flores said.
----The region has
also seen something of a changing of the guard in recent years. Shell, BP, OMV (OMVV.VI), and Engie have sold fields and
infrastructure to smaller players, many of which are backed by private equity
or specialise in squeezing more life out of mature assets, such as Chrysaor,
Siccar Point and Neptune. Chrysaor acquired around half of Shell's North Sea
portfolio last year and is now one of the largest operators in the basin,
boosting reserves by drilling wells around ageing fields, such as the Armada
field. "Six years ago you went to the U.S. raising money and everyone was
talking about fiscal instability, decommissioning, a basin in decline, and that
has completely changed," Chrysaor CEO Phil Kirk told Reuters. "Now
people talk about opportunity, about a change in the ownership of the
basin."
More
Next, in Trump trade
war news, probably more than just ZTE will be switching suppliers from US firms
to more reliable technology suppliers. Once bitten twice shy. Europe seeks more
allies. China says “no problem” in hitting GDP targets, well not the official
ones anyway, that no one believes not even the government in Beijing. Uncle Sam
files 5 tariff disputes at the WTO. Check back in about 4 years.
July 17, 2018 / 9:11 AM
U.S. ban on China’s ZTE forces telecoms to rethink business: sources
LONDON
(Reuters) - The U.S. trade ban on Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE (000063.SZ)
(0763.HK)
wreaked havoc at wireless carriers in Europe and South Asia and forced
operators worldwide to consider broadening their supply networks, industry
sources told Reuters.
Disruptions at Russian and emerging markets mobile operator Veon, one of
the world’s 10 largest mobile firms by number of customers, illustrate the
effects of the U.S. ban, which lasted three months, ending when the U.S.
Commerce Department lifted the order on Friday.
Veon was especially hard hit, suffering launch delays at its Italian
joint venture and in Ukraine, near network outages in Bangladesh, and lesser
disruptions at its Pakistan operations, sources at the Amsterdam-based operator
told Reuters. “Veon has decided to second source everything,” a person familiar
with the strategy shift at Veon said of moves to reduce dependence on any one
supplier of network gear.
“We don’t want the company to be in the same position we were in when
the U.S. (ban on ZTE) came out: It caused massive problems in three or four of
our markets,” the source said.
Perhaps the biggest setback was for Italian mobile operator Wind Tre, which had a 1 billion euro ($1.17 billion) contract with ZTE to upgrade radio equipment.
The ban forced ZTE to abandon more than half of the remainder of the contract, and Wind
Tre will use gear from network supplier Ericsson (ERICb.ST) instead, sources told Reuters.
The original deal had marked ZTE’s biggest breakthrough into the European market, which has been dominated by regional players such as Ericsson of Sweden and Nokia of Finland.
Ericsson’s win with Wind Tre could be a sign of renewed momentum for the Swedish equipment supplier, which has struggled in recent years with slowing growth, restructuring and big job cuts.
One industry expert said operators may start using multiple vendors to
avoid being stuck with a supplier that comes under trade sanctions or suffers
other extended disruptions.
“Many supplier strategies will be reviewed,” said Bengt Nordstrom, a
telecoms industry consultant based in Sweden who advises operators on equipment
purchasing strategies.
“Wind Tre was the first example so far. This is a wake-up call to the
industry that if you have a single vendor dominating your network supply chain
– ZTE for now, but other vendors eventually – you are leaving yourself
exposed.”
More
July 17, 2018 / 11:42 AM
Japan, EU sign free trade pact amid worries about Trump
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Japan and the European Union signed a wide-ranging free trade deal
on Tuesday that both sides hope will act as a counterweight to the
protectionist forces unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The
ambitious trade pact, which creates the world’s largest open economic area,
comes amid fears that a trade war between the United States and China will diminish
the role of free trade in the global economic order.
“There are rising concerns about protectionism, but I want Japan and the
EU to lead the world by bearing the flag of free trade,” Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe said at a news conference after the signing ceremony.
The United States this month imposed 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion
of Chinese goods to lower the U.S. trade deficit, and China quickly retaliated
with an increase in tariffs on U.S. goods.
The Japan-EU trade deal is also a sign of shifting global ties as Trump
distances the United States from long-time allies like the EU, NATO and Canada.
“We are sending a clear message that we stand against protectionism. The
EU and Japan remain open for cooperation,” European Council President Donald
Tusk, who speaks for the 28 EU national leaders, told reporters.
The deal removes EU tariffs of 10 percent on Japanese cars and 3 percent
on most car parts. It would also scrap Japanese duties of some 30 percent or
more on EU cheese and 15 percent on wines, and secure access to large public
tenders in Japan.
Europe’s food sector is one of the biggest winners from the deal, which
should allow it to capitalize on Japanese demand for high-quality cheese,
chocolates, meats and pasta.
Japanese car and car parts makers are also expected to increase their
sales to Europe, where they have lagged behind European rivals.
However, Japan’s dairy industry is expected to lose market share to
European products once tariffs of up to 40 percent on some cheese imports start
falling.
Japan and the EU also agreed on Tuesday to establish a regular dialogue
on trade and economic policy, with the first meeting to be held before year’s
end.
The dialogue will be chaired by Japan’s trade and foreign ministers and
the European Commission’s vice-president for competitiveness, both sides said
in a joint statement.
More
July 17, 2018 / 6:32 AM
China still confident of hitting 2018 growth target despite slowdown, trade risks
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is still confident of hitting its economic
growth target of around 6.5 percent this year despite views that it faces a
bumpy second half as a trade row with the United States intensifies, the state
planning agency said on Tuesday.
The remarks came a day after China reported slightly slower growth for
the second quarter and the weakest expansion in factory activity in June in two
years, suggesting a further softening in business conditions in coming months
as trade pressures build.
Even after Monday’s weaker data and the latest U.S. tariffs, most
economists predict Beijing is still likely to come in around its official GDP
growth target this year, though some China watchers believe activity levels are
already much weaker than official data suggest.
Yan Pengcheng, spokesman for the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), told a news conference that China has ample policy room to
deal with any shocks.
“Overall, We have the confidence, conditions, and enough capability to
effectively cope with the uncertainties in the world economy and make sure we
accomplish the target we set at the beginning of the year,” said Yan.
Yan said he was responding to “some views” that China will have a tough
time keeping maintaining stable economic development in the second half this
year due to the Sino-U.S. trade frictions and domestic structural problems.
More
July 16, 2018 / 7:50 PM
U.S. launches five WTO challenges to retaliatory tariffs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States launched five separate World
Trade Organization dispute actions on Monday challenging retaliatory tariffs
imposed by China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey following U.S.
duties on steel and aluminum.
The
retaliatory tariffs on up to a combined $28.5 billion worth of U.S. exports are
illegal under WTO rules, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a
statement.
“These tariffs appear to breach each WTO member’s commitments under the
WTO Agreement,” he said. “The United States will take all necessary actions to
protect our interests, and we urge our trading partners to work constructively
with us on the problems created by massive and persistent excess capacity in
the steel and aluminum sectors.”
Lighthizer’s office has maintained that the tariffs the United States
has imposed on imports of steel and aluminum are acceptable under WTO rules
because they were imposed on the grounds of a national security exception.
Mexico said it would defend its retaliatory measures, saying the imposition
of U.S. tariffs was “unjustified.”
“The
purchases the United States makes of steel and aluminum from Mexico do not
represent a threat to the national security,” Mexico’s Economy Ministry said in
a statement.
More
Finally, because some
things are too good not to share. Mars is at its closest to earth this July. It
rises in the east, “travels” west during the night in the south sky. Impossible to miss, even in
our towns and cities, unless there’s cloud. It’s about as bright as Jupiter
now.
Mars! Mars! Mars!
The
best time to see Mars since 2003 is now! Watch for Mars as the extremely bright
red “star,” ascending in the east by mid-evening and crossing the sky for the
rest of the night. Photos from the EarthSky community here.
'You
just never know. That unpredictability is the great thing about life. You
change. The world changes. You live in a country where we are still blessed
with enormous opportunity. Leave yourself open to the world of possibility. You
have the ambition, you have the smarts and you have the toughness. So, turn the
page on your biography - you have just started a new chapter in your lives.'
Lloyd
Blankfein, “Mr. Goldman Sacks,” CEO of Goldman Sachs unintentionally backs
Brexit in a US speech to graduates, mid 2016.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.
Today, more old jobs going,
more new jobs coming. Pilots and technicians out, drone operators and AI
robotics in. Are our schools anywhere near preparing the young for their
future?
July 16, 2018 / 9:42 AM
Power to the drones: utilities place bets on robots
MILAN/FRANKFURT
(Reuters) - Flying robots that can travel dozens of kilometers without stopping
could be the next big thing for power companies.
Utilities in Europe are looking to long-distance drones to scour thousands of miles of grids for damage and leaks in an attempt to avoid network failures that cost them billions of dollars a year. However the technology faces major safety and regulatory hurdles that are clouding its future in the sector.
Snam (SRG.MI) and EDF’s (EDF.PA) network subsidiary RTE have tested prototypes of long-distance drones that fly at low altitudes over pipelines and power lines.
Italy’s Snam, Europe’s biggest gas utility, told Reuters it is trialing one of these machines - known as BVLOS drones because they fly ‘beyond the visual line of sight’ of operators - in the Apennine hills around Genoa. It hopes to have it scouting a 20 km stretch of pipeline soon.
France’s RTE has also tested a long-distance drone, which flew about 50 km inspecting transmission lines and sent back data that allowed technicians to virtually model a section of the grid. The company said it would invest 4.8 million euros ($5.6 million) on drone technology over the next two years.
At present, power companies largely use helicopters equipped with
cameras to inspect their networks. They have also recently started occasionally
using more basic drones that stay within sight of controllers and have a range
of only about 500 meters.
However an industry-wide shift toward renewable energy, and the need to
monitor the myriad extra connections needed to link solar and wind parks to
grids, is forcing utilities to look at the advanced technology.
“It’s a real game changer,” Michal Mazur, partner at consultancy PwC,
said of drones. “They’re 100 times faster than manual measurement, more accurate
than helicopters and, with AI devices on board, could soon be able to fix
problems.”
In-sight drones cost around 20,000 euros each and BVLOS ones will cost
significantly more, according to executives at tech companies that make the
machines for utilities, and a fleet of dozens if not hundreds would be needed
to monitor a network.
Power grid companies are expected to spend over $13 billion a year on
drones and robotics by 2026 globally, from about $2 billion now, according to
Navigant Research.
But that is still dwarfed by the amount of money the sector loses every
year because of network failures and forced shutdowns - about $170 billion,
according to PwC.
The growing demand from utilities is coming at a time of swift
technological advances in civilian long-distance drones. The prototypes, which
are about a meter long and wide, not only have aircraft systems but can avoid
obstacles, detect other flying objects - from helicopters to hang gliders -
while mapping grids with thermal and infrared sensors.
However the future of these flying robots in the utility sector hinges
on regulation.
More
"Gold bears the confidence of the world's millions, who value it far above the promises of politicians, far above the unbacked paper issued by governments as money substitutes. It has been that way through all recorded history. There is no reason to believe it will lose the confidence of people in the future."
Oakley R. Bramble
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?
Researchers make and test atom-thick boron's unique domains
Date:
July 16, 2018
Source:
Rice University
Summary:
Defects are often observed when making borophene, the single-atom form of
boron, but unlike in other two-dimensional materials, these mismatched lattices
can assemble into ordered structures that preserve the material's metallic
nature and electronic properties.
Borophene, the atomically flat form of boron with unique properties, is
even more interesting when different forms of the material mix and mingle,
according to scientists at Rice and Northwestern universities.
Scientists at the institutions made and analyzed borophene with
different lattice arrangements and discovered how amenable the varied
structures are to combining into new crystal-like forms. These, they indicated,
have properties electronics manufacturers may wish to explore.
The research led by Rice materials theorist Boris Yakobson and
Northwestern materials scientist Mark Hersam appears in Nature Materials.
Borophene differs from graphene and other 2D materials in an important
way: It doesn't appear in nature. When graphene was discovered, it was famously
yanked from a piece of graphite with Scotch tape. But semiconducting bulk boron
doesn't have layers, so all borophene is synthetic.
Also unlike graphene, in which atoms connect to form chicken wire-like
hexagons, borophene forms as linked triangles. Periodically, atoms go missing
from the grid and leave hexagonal vacancies. The labs investigated forms of
borophene with "hollow hexagon" concentrations of one per every five
triangles and one per every six in the lattice.
These are the most common phases the Northwestern lab observed when it
created borophene on a silver substrate through atomic boron deposition in an
ultrahigh vacuum, according to the researchers, but "perfect"
borophene arrays weren't the target of the study.
The lab found that at temperatures between 440 and 470 degrees Celsius
(824-878 degrees Fahrenheit), both 1-to-5 and 1-to-6 phases grew simultaneously
on the silver substrate, which acts as a template that guides the deposition of
atoms into aligned phases. The labs' interest was heightened by what happened
where these domains met. Unlike what they had observed in graphene, the atoms
easily accommodated each other at the boundaries and adopted the structures of
their neighbors.
These boundary adjustments gave rise to more exotic -- but still
metallic -- forms of borophene, with ratios such as 4-to-21 and 7-to-36
appearing among the parallel phases.
"In graphene, these boundaries would be disordered structures, but
in borophene the line defects, in effect, are a perfect structure for each
other," said Rice graduate student Luqing Wang, who led a theoretical
analysis of atom-level energies to explain the observations. "The
intermixing between the phases is very different from what we see in other 2D
materials."
"While we did expect some intermixing between the 1-to-5 and 1-to-6
phases, the seamless alignment and ordering into periodic structures was
surprising," Hersam said. "In the two-dimensional limit, boron has
proven to be an exceptionally rich and interesting materials system."
----"As an atomically thin material, borophene has properties that should be a function of the substrate, neighboring materials and surface chemistry," Hersam said. "We hope to gain further control over its properties through chemical functionalization and/or integration with other materials into heterostructures."
Yakobson and Hersam also co-authored a recent Nature Nanotechnology perspective
about "the lightest 2D metal." In that piece, the authors suggested
borophene may be ideal for flexible and transparent electronic interconnects,
electrodes and displays. It could also be suitable for superconducting quantum
interference devices and, when stacked, for hydrogen storage and battery
applications.
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished June.
DJIA: 24,271 +221 Down. NASDAQ:
7,510 +267 Down. SP500: 2,718 +169 Down.
All
three slow indicators moved down in March and have continued down in April. May
and June. For some a new bear signal, for others a take profits and get back to
cash signal.
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