Baltic Dry Index. 1066
-02 Brent
Crude 68.70
Never ending Brexit
now October 31st, maybe.
Nuclear Trump
Tariffs Now In Effect.
USA v EU trade war postponed
to November, maybe.
Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
The summer holiday
over, get ready for trade war three. The EU and USA gear up for trade war three.
Madness. Nothing good for anyone comes from this. Get ready for rising
unemployment, and social disorder breakdown.
Europe Stocks Advance With Bonds After EU Election: Markets Wrap
ByTodd White
Updated on 27 May 2019, 18:36 BST
·
·
Italy’s sovereign bonds drop as European
Commission mulls fine
The Euro Stoxx index rose for a second straight session, led by carmakers in the wake of Fiat Chrysler’s proposed merger with France’s Renault. U.S. stock futures drifted as markets closed for the Memorial Day holiday. Emerging-market shares gained.
More
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-26/asia-stocks-set-for-mixed-start-euro-steadies-markets-wrap?srnd=premium-europe
Oil rises to $69 as Mideast tension and supply cuts offset trade concerns
May
27, 2019 / 1:39 AM
LONDON
(Reuters) - Oil rose to about $69 a barrel on Monday, supported by Middle East
tensions and OPEC-led supply cuts, though concern over the U.S.-China trade
dispute and global economy capped gains.
Supply cuts - both voluntary by the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, plus those resulting from U.S. sanctions
- have helped Brent crude, the global benchmark, rise by about 29 percent this
year.
Brent was up 33 cents at $69.02 a barrel by 1334 GMT, having fallen by
about 4.5% last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 30 cents at
$58.33.
“The main factor preventing the market from going higher on the
geopolitical news is really the concern about the global economy,” said
Petromatrix oil analyst Olivier Jakob.
Both crude contracts registered their biggest weekly price declines of
the year last week. Public holidays in the United States and Britain on Monday
limited participation, keeping volumes low.
Tension between the United States and Iran, with Washington’s
announcement on Friday that it would deploy more troops to the Middle East, is
supporting the market but some analysts said its impact could be limited.
“This move further increases tensions in the regions, but with the U.S.
and UK markets closed today and most of the geopolitical tension likely already
priced in to the market, effects on crude prices may remain subdued,” JBC
Energy said in a report.
Nonetheless, concern about the global economy weighed. Figures on Monday
showed that profits for Chinese industrial companies shrank in April while new
orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected.
“The macroeconomic outlook does not look good,” Jakob said.
More
Ball in U.S. court to start trade talks - EU trade chief
May 27, 2019 /
5:17 PM
BRUSSELS (Reuters)
- EU-U.S. talks that could prevent the United States imposing punitive car
tariffs have made some progress, but Washington must decide if it wants to
negotiate with Brussels on a broad removal of import duties, the EU trade chief
said on Monday.
EU countries last month cleared the start of formal trade talks with the
United States on two fronts: cutting tariffs on industrial goods, and making it
easier for companies to show their products meet the standards of the EU or
U.S. market.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the two sides had made
progress on the latter, conformity assessment, as well as discussing potential
for regulatory cooperation, which could avoid the need to test on both sides of
the Atlantic.
“The aim is not to change our respective systems,” she told a news
conference after a meeting of EU trade ministers. “Here, we are making some
progress”.
However, Malmstrom recognised that the two sides had conflicting
mandates over tariff reduction, with the United States wanting to include farm
products and the European Union united in opposing this.
“The ball is now in the U.S. court to start these negotiations,”
Malmstrom said.
EU trade ministers also discussed on Monday another area of tension with
the United States, namely Washington’s blocking of appointments to the World
Trade Organization’s appellate body that rules in disputes between WTO members.
That body is set to be paralysed at the end of the year when two of its
three remaining members step down. Three are required to hear any case.
EU countries agreed the Commission should reach out to other WTO members
to find an interim solution that retains the binding character of the appellate
body’s decisions and the WTO’s two-tier
system of adjudication.
One possible avenue is to use article 25 of the WTO’s existing Dispute
Settlement Understanding, which allows the settlement of disputes via
arbitration, but Malmstrom stressed this was not satisfactory in the long term.
“By end of the year we will need to make sure, and other countries feel
the same, that there is something to guarantee our interests. There are
provisions in article 25, but it would be interim, it would be temporary,” she
said.
More
Fitch: Huawei's loss could be rival Samsung's gain
May 27, 2019 /
5:42 AM
SEOUL, May 27 (UPI) -- Samsung could be the big winner in a China-U.S. trade spat that has
led to sanctions against Chinese smartphone giant Huawei, according to a
statement Monday from Fitch Ratings, the New York-based global credit
ratings and research firm."Turmoil from the U.S.-China trade dispute brings Samsung an opportunity to strengthen its position in the structurally weakening smartphone market," the statement said.
Amidst an ongoing trade war with China, the Trump administration placed Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications equipment and electronics giant, on an "entity list" that severely restricts it from doing business with any American company.
The Commerce Department has accused Huawei of being an arm of the Chinese government, saying it is "engaged in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interest."
Following the blacklist, Google revoked Huawei's license of its Android operating system. Other major technology suppliers such as Britain-based ARM, which supplies the underlying architecture for Huawei's chipsets, have also cut ties, according to reports.
Last week, Washington gave Huawei a 90-day reprieve from the sanctions, but uncertainty still swirls around the company's prospects.
The restrictions on U.S. companies providing hardware, software and components to Huawei's smartphone business "could stir up the smartphone industry by pausing Huawei's positive momentum," the Fitch statement said.
Huawei is the number two smartphone maker in the world, with a 19 percent global market share in the first quarter of 2019, according to a recent report from International Data Corporation, following on the heels of Samsung's 23.1 percent.
The Chinese giant was the only global smartphone maker to see volume growth in a market that has otherwise seen shipments on the decline.
"Consumers used to the Android operating system are likely to consider buying other smartphone brands than Huawei, and Samsung could restore market share especially in regions where Huawei has shown strong recent growth," the Fitch statement said, citing Europe, South America and parts of Asia outside of China.
The United States actions against Huawei may also give Samsung the lead
in newly developing segments of the market such as 5G and foldable phones,
Fitch said, depending on how long sanctions last.
"U.K. and Japanese companies have followed suit in delaying the
launch of Huawei's 5G smartphones, which could help boost the sales of Samsung
and LG Electronics, two of a few 5G handset makers with ready-to-market
products -- at least in the short term," the statement added.
Fitch expects the challenging outlook for smartphone manufacturers to
continue due to saturation in developed markets and longer replacement cycles.
Overall shipments fell 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to
IDC. Samsung's volume dropped by 8.1 percent, while Huawei's grew by 50
percent.
Who gains
from a destabilised China and Europe, plus a return of the French or Russian Revolution?
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled
over.
Here we go again. Asset stripping, lay-offs, and multi-national madness.
More multi-nationalism voting.
Fiat Chrysler and Renault pursue $35 billion merger to combat car industry upheaval
May
27, 2019 / 6:41 AM
MILAN/PARIS
(Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler pitched a finely balanced merger of equals to Renault
on Monday to tackle the costs of far-reaching technological and regulatory changes
by creating the world’s third-biggest automaker.
If it goes ahead, the $35 billion-plus (27.6 billion pounds) tie-up
would alter the landscape for rivals including General Motors and Peugeot maker
PSA Group, which recently held inconclusive talks with Fiat Chrysler (FCA), and
could spur more deals.
Renault said it was studying the proposal from Italian-American FCA with
interest, and considered it friendly.
Shares in both companies jumped more than 10 percent as investors
welcomed the prospect of an enlarged business capable of producing more than
8.7 million vehicles a year and aiming for 5 billion euros (4.4 billion pounds)
in annual savings.
It would rank third in the global auto industry behind Japan’s Toyota
and Germany’s Volkswagen.
But analysts also warned of big complications, including Renault’s
existing alliance with Nissan, the French state’s role as Renault’s largest
shareholder and potential opposition from politicians and workers to any
cutbacks.
“The market will be careful with these synergy numbers as much has been
promised before and there isn’t a single merger of equals that has ever
succeeded in autos,” Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said.
With these sensitivities in mind, FCA proposed an all-share merger under
a listed Dutch holding company. After a 2.5 billion euro dividend for existing
FCA shareholders - giving a big upfront boost to the Agnelli family that
controls 29% of FCA - investors in each firm would hold half of the new entity.
The merged group would be chaired by Agnelli family scion John Elkann,
sources familiar with the talks told Reuters, while Renault chairman
Jean-Dominique Senard would likely become CEO.
Renault’s board will hold informal work sessions within days and likely
decide next week whether to enter an agreement with FCA to proceed with merger
talks, two sources said.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini welcomed the merger
proposal but said Rome may need to acquire a stake, balancing France’s 15%
Renault holding - which is set to be diluted to 7.5% of the combined group.
A deal could also have profound repercussions for Renault’s 20-year-old
alliance with Nissan, already weakened by the crisis surrounding the arrest and
ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn late last year. The Japanese carmaker
has yet to comment on FCA’s proposal.
More
On some great and glorious day
the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the
White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L. Mencken
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?
Selenium Boosts Efficiency Of Thin Film Solar Cells To 22%
May 25th, 2019 by Steve Hanleyconventional solar cells made from crystalline silicon. They need far less raw material — up to 100 times less — which makes them cheaper to manufacture than silicon cells. They also absorb sunlight at nearly the ideal wavelength. As a result, electricity generated by thin film solar cells is the least expensive available today. Thin film solar has one significant disadvantage, however. It is less efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than silicon wafers. Researchers at Colorado State University Next Generation Photovoltaics Center, working in collaboration with scientists at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, have discovered that adding selenium to the mix can boost thin film solar’s efficiency to around 22% — as good as some of the best silicon wafer solar cells.
The question the scientists couldn’t answer was why adding selenium to the mix made the thin film cells more efficient. Their experiments revealed that selenium overcomes the effects of atomic-scale defects in the cadmium telluride crystals. Electrons generated when sunlight hits the selenium-treated solar panel are less likely to be trapped and lost in the defects often located at the boundaries between crystal grains as they are grown, increasing the amount of power extracted from each solar cell in the process. The results of the research were published recently in the journal Nature Energy.
Okay, this is only in the laboratory phase right now. We all know there is no guarantee breakthroughs in the lab will ever translate into commercially viable products. But this research, funded in part by National Science Foundation, is precisely the kind of thing that keeps driving down the price of solar energy and making it harder for fossil fuels to compete.
The key to decarbonizing electricity generation is continuing to find ways of beating fossil fuels on price without subsidies. Selenium enriched thin film solar could help put the fossil fuel companies out of business.
Thin film solar cells made from cadmium telluride have a significant
advantage over conventional solar cells made from crystalline silicon. They
need far less raw material — up to 100 times less — which makes them cheaper to
manufacture than silicon cells. They also absorb sunlight at nearly the ideal
wavelength. As a result, electricity generated by thin film solar cells is the
least expensive available today.
The question the scientists couldn’t answer was why adding selenium to
the mix made the thin film cells more efficient. Their experiments revealed
that selenium overcomes the effects of atomic-scale defects in the cadmium
telluride crystals. Electrons generated when sunlight hits the selenium-treated
solar panel are less likely to be trapped and lost in the defects often located
at the boundaries between crystal grains as they are grown, increasing the
amount of power extracted from each solar cell in the process. The results of
the research were published recently in the journal Nature Energy.
The whole aim of practical
politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to
safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them
imaginary.
H. L. Mencken
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished April
DJIA: 26,593 +51 Down. NASDAQ: 8,095 +89 Down.
SP500: 2,946
+55 Up.
The S&P has
reversed to up largely as a result of the Fed falling into line with President
Trump’s demands, but with President Trump wanting to be judged by the
performance of the stock market and the Fed’s Plunge Protection Team now
officially part of President Trump’s re-election team, probably the safest
action here is still fully paid up synthetic double options on most of the
major indexes. This could all go very wrong very fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment