Baltic Dry Index. 1059
+10 Brent
Crude 70.50
Never ending Brexit
now October 31st, maybe.
Nuclear Trump
Tariffs Now In Effect.
USA v EU trade war postponed
to November, maybe.
“It’s an excise tax, and people think of tariffs other than what
it is, it’s a tax and everybody engaged in warfare of this type, it would mean
that you’re withdrawing credit or purchasing power from a whole series of
countries. There are victors and there are losers in a tariff fight, but that
doesn’t say that a more important issue is both are losing, it’s just the
winner loses less.”
Alan
Greenspan. November 2018.
Total madness took
over the USA v China trade war yesterday, as the trade war turned into a full
on trade war against technology companies. The shares of most technology
companies are already flying on a wing and a prayer in the stratosphere, and if
China opts to go nuke in return, a NASDAQ collapse probably follows in short
order. We are living in the age of madness, with no sign of sanity returning.
No one wins in a
trade war, the “winner” is merely the one least damaged. But in our latest
development, a technology trade war, a technology sector implosion is a highly foreseeable
result, with no telling how bad the end result could get.
Below, yesterday’s economic
technology assault on China.
Asia shares hit four-month low on risk of endless trade war
May 23, 2019 /
1:33 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -
Asian shares broke support and caved to a four-month low on Thursday, as
concerns grew that the Sino-U.S. trade conflict was fast morphing into a
prolonged technology cold war between the world’s two largest economies.
Late Wednesday, Reuters reported the U.S. administration was considering
Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision over the
country’s treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, according to a person
briefed on the matter.
After the United States placed Huawei Technologies on a trade blacklist
last week, British chip designer ARM has halted relations with Huawei in order
to comply with the blockade.
Digging the knife in, the U.S. military said it sent two Navy ships
through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
“Both the U.S. and China appear to be preparing for a prolonged period
of trade conflict,” wrote analysts at Nomura in a note on the standoff.
“We think domestic pressures and constraints will drive both sides
towards further escalation,” they warned. “Without a clear way forward during
an intensifying 2020 U.S. presidential election, we see a rising risk that
tariffs will remain in effect through end 2020.”
Shanghai blue chips shed 1.2% in response to be near their lowest since
February. An index of major telecoms firms fell 2.7% as suppliers to Huawei
suffered.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched its
lowest in four months and was last down 0.7%.
Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.7% and South Korea 0.3%. Also feeling the pain,
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dropped 0.4%.
More
U.S. startup accuses Huawei executive of involvement in trade-secrets theft: WSJ
May 22, 2019 /
10:03 PM
(Reuters) - A Silicon Valley chip startup has accused a top executive of
China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Deputy Chairman Eric Xu, of participating
in a conspiracy to steal its trade secrets, the Wall Street Journal reported on
Wednesday, citing court documents.
The allegations were made in a lawsuit set for trial on June 3 in
federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, in which CNEX Labs Inc claimed
that Huawei engaged in a multi-year conspiracy to steal the company’s
solid-state drive computer storage technology, including with the help of a
Chinese university, the WSJ reported.
Huawei said in a statement on Thursday the allegations against Xu were
“groundless”.
CNEX did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
California-based CNEX is developing technology to enhance the
performance of solid-state drives in data centers and has been in a dispute
with Huawei since 2017.
It had accused Huawei of enlisting a Chinese university professor
working on a research project to improperly access the startup’s technology.
Chip designer ARM halts work with Huawei after U.S. ban
May 22, 2019 /
11:34 AM
LONDON (Reuters) -
British chip designer ARM has halted relations with Huawei [HWT.L] in order to
comply with a U.S. blockade of the company, potentially crippling the Chinese
company’s ability to make new chips for its future smartphones.
Huawei, in common with Apple Inc and chipmakers such as Qualcomm, uses
ARM blueprints to design the processors that power its smartphones. It also
licenses graphics technology from the Cambridge-based company.
“ARM is complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the U.S.
government and is having ongoing conversations with the appropriate U.S.
government agencies to ensure we remain compliant,” an ARM spokesman said in a
statement.
“ARM values its relationship with our longtime partner HiSilicon
(Huawei’s chip arm) and we are hopeful for a swift resolution on this matter.”
Huawei said it valued its close relationships with its partners, but it
recognised the pressure some of them are under “as a result of politically
motivated decisions”.
“We are confident this regrettable situation can be resolved and our
priority remains to continue to deliver world-class technology and products to
our customers around the world,” a spokesman said.
---- The BBC reported earlier on Wednesday that ARM, which is owned by Japan’s Softbank, had instructed employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei after the United States added Huawei to a list of companies with which U.S. firms could not do business.
ARM said in an internal company memo that its designs contained
technology of U.S. origin, the BBC reported.
More
Panasonic halts component shipments to Huawei
Panasonic has
halted shipments of some components to Huawei in order to comply with US export
restrictions, in the latest setback for the Chinese telecoms equipment maker.
In a statement on
Thursday, the Japanese group, which makes car batteries, smartphone components
and other devices, said it had sent an “internal notification that it should
suspend transactions with Huawei and its 68 affiliates that were banned by the
US government”.
Panasonic said the
ban applies to its goods that are comprised of 25 per cent or more of US-based
technology, software or materials. It declined to specify which of its
components were affected, but the company considers the impact on its earnings
to be limited for now.
The decision by
Panasonic came as UK chip designer Arm, which is owned by Japan’s SoftBank,
said it would stop licensing essential technology to Huawei so it can comply
with the US ban order issued last week.
The Chinese
telecoms group was dealt a series of blows after large mobile operators in
Japan and the UK pulled planned launches of new Huawei smartphones.
So
will China be forced to hit back in the technology trade war by using rare
earths, their nuclear option? Mutual Assured Destruction lies ahead in this
insane trade war.
Explainer: China's rare earth supplies could be vital bargaining chip in U.S. trade war
May 22, 2019 /
10:42 PM
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of consumer products,
from iPhones to electric car motors, as well as military jet engines,
satellites and lasers.
Rising tensions between the United States and China have sparked concerns that Beijing could use its dominant position as a supplier of rare earths for leverage in the trade war between the two global economic powers.
WHAT ARE RARE EARTHS USED IN?
Rare earths are used in rechargeable batteries for electric and hybrid cars, advanced ceramics, computers, DVD players, wind turbines, catalysts in cars and oil refineries, monitors, televisions, lighting, lasers, fiber optics, superconductors and glass polishing.Several rare earth elements, such as neodymium and dysprosium, are critical to the motors used in electric vehicles.
RARE EARTHS IN MILITARY EQUIPMENT
Some rare earth minerals are essential in military equipment such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, antimissile defense systems, satellites, as well as in lasers.Lanthanum, for example, is needed to manufacture night vision devices.
The U.S. Defense Department accounts for about 1% of U.S. demand, which in turn accounts for about 9% of global demand for rare earths, according to a 2016 report from the congressional U.S. Government Accountability Office.
WHICH COMPANIES ARE MOST DEPENDENT ON CHINESE SUPPLIES?
Companies such as Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and BAE Systems Plc all make sophisticated missiles that use rare earths metals in their guidance systems, and sensors. Lockheed and BAE declined to comment. Raytheon did not respond to a request for comment.Apple Inc uses rare earth elements in speakers, cameras and the so-called “haptic” engines that make its phones vibrate. The company says the elements are not available from traditional recyclers because they are used in such small amounts they cannot be recovered.
Since 2010, the government and private industry have built up stockpiles of rare earths and components that use them, according to Eugene Gholz, a former senior Pentagon supply chain expert, who teaches at the University of Notre Dame.
WHAT ARE RARE EARTHS AND WHERE DO THEY OCCUR?
Rare earth metals are a group of 17 elements - lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium, yttrium - that appear in low concentrations in the ground.
Although they are more abundant than their name implies, they are
difficult and costly to mine and process cleanly. China hosts most of the
world’s processing capacity and supplied 80% of the rare earths imported by the
United States from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, China accounted for 81% of the
world’s rare earth production, data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed.
Importers made limited efforts to reduce rare earth consumption and
dependence on China after a diplomatic dispute between China and Japan in 2010.
Japan accused China of halting rare earth supplies for political reasons,
sparking recognition worldwide of the risks of dependence on one supplier.
China denied it had halted supplies.
Few alternative suppliers were able to compete with China, which is home
to 37% of global rare earths reserves.
California’s Mountain Pass mine is the only operating U.S. rare earths
facility. But MP Materials, owner of Mountain Pass, ships the roughly 50,000
tonnes of rare earth concentrate it extracts each year from California to China
for processing. China has imposed a tariff of 25% on those imports during the
trade war.
Morehttps://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-rareearth-explainer/explainer-chinas-rare-earth-supplies-could-be-vital-bargaining-chip-in-u-s-trade-war-idUKKCN1SS2VW
We have to work towards free
trade because otherwise we will miss out on many opportunities for cooperation,
and relations amongst countries will become much more difficult.
Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister,
Singapore.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled
over.
Today, more weather trouble in America’s grain belt. While it’s far too
early to start guessing on harvest outcomes, this is President Trump’s
political base getting squeezed.
Smaller corn, soybean yields expected as wet weather persists in Midwest
May 21, 2019 /
3:10 PM
Corn and soybean planting data showed a slight improvement
in this week's U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Crop Progress compared to last week, but planting
still remains behind schedule in 17 of 18 key states for both corn and soybeans
compared with 2014-2018 averages.The corn crop was projected at 15 billion bushels, up from last year's crop of 14.3 billion bushels, according to the USDA. However, AccuWeather meteorologists estimate the 2019 corn crop will yield 14.2 billion bushels, which is slightly below last year's yield.
Similarly, the USDA estimated the soybean crop to yield 4.15 billion bushels in a May 10 report, following a 2018 season that saw a record 4.54 billion bushels.
AccuWeather, however, estimates the 2019 soybean crop will be 4.1 billion bushels, which is below the USDA estimate. The continued wet weather has led to delays in planting corn and soybeans, the two main crops for Midwestern farmers.
Corn planting as of May 20 in 18 key U.S. states is off 38.75 percent compared with the five-year average according to the Crop Progress; by now, 80 percent of corn in those key states is normally planted, but this week's report shows that only 49 percent is planted.
Soybean planting is off 59.5 percent of its five-year average with just 19 percent of soybeans planted in the 18 key states, compared to a normal of 47 percent by the beginning of this week.
More wet weather is expected in the Midwest through Wednesday, including flooding downpours, hail and possible tornadoes, as well as during next weekend.
"That will raise some concerns for getting the crops in on time," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Jason Nicholls said. "The biggest problem areas are Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas."
Jet Stream Detour Leaves Midwest Farmers Drenched, Canadians Dried Out
By Brian K Sullivan and Ashley Robinson
21 May 2019, 22:01 BST Updated on 22 May 2019,
05:00 BST
·
Two high-pressure ridges have trapped jet stream
between them
·
Farms drenched inside the ridges, outside it’s
hot and dry
North American farmers are stuck between a flood and a
dry spot, and there is little immediate help ahead.
More
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?
Strain enables new applications of 2D materials
Date:
May 21, 2019
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Superconductors' never-ending flow of electrical current could provide new
options for energy storage and superefficient electrical transmission and
generation. But the signature zero electrical resistance of superconductors is
reached only below a certain critical temperature and is very expensive to
achieve. Physicists believe they've found a way to manipulate superthin,
waferlike monolayers of superconductors, thus changing the material's
properties to create new artificial materials for future devices.
Superconductors' never-ending flow of electrical current could provide
new options for energy storage and superefficient electrical transmission and
generation, to name just a few benefits. But the signature zero electrical
resistance of superconductors is reached only below a certain critical
temperature, hundreds of degrees Celsius below freezing, and is very expensive
to achieve.
Physicists from the University of Belgrade in Serbia believe they've
found a way to manipulate superthin, waferlike monolayers of superconductors,
such as graphene, a monolayer of carbon, thus changing the material's
properties to create new artificial materials for future devices. The findings
from the group's theoretical calculations and experimental approaches are
published in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing.
"The application of tensile biaxial strain leads to an increase of
the critical temperature, implying that achieving high temperature
superconductivity becomes easier under strain," said the study's first
author from the University of Belgrade's LEX Laboratory, Vladan Celebonovic.
The team examined how conductivity within low-dimensional materials,
such as lithium-doped graphene, changed when different types of forces applied
a "strain" on the material. Strain engineering has been used to
fine-tune the properties of bulkier materials, but the advantage of applying
strain to low-dimensional materials, only one atom thick, is that they can
sustain large strains without breaking.
Conductivity depends on the movement of electrons, and although it took
seven months of hard work to accurately derive the math to describe this
movement in the Hubbard model, the team was finally able to theoretically
examine electron vibration and transport. These models, alongside computational
methods, revealed how strain introduces critical changes to doped-graphene and
magnesium-diboride monolayers.
"Putting a low-dimensional material under strain changes the values
of all the material parameters; this means there's the possibility of designing
materials according to our needs for all kind of applications," said
Celebonovic, who explained that combining the manipulation of strain with the
chemical adaptability of graphene gives the potential for a large range of
potential new materials.
Given the high elasticity, strength and optical
transparency of graphene, the applicability could be far reaching -- think
flexible electronics and optoelectric devices.
Going a step further, Celebonovic and colleagues tested how two
different approaches to strain engineering thin monolayers of graphene affected
the 2D material's lattice structure and conductivity. For liquid-phase
"exfoliated" graphene sheets, the team found that stretching strains
pulled apart individual flakes and so increased the resistance, a property that
could be used to make sensors, such as touch screens and e-skin, a thin
electronic material that mimics the functionalities of human skin.
"In the atomic force microscopy study on micromechanically
exfoliated graphene samples, we showed that the produced trenches in graphene
could be an excellent platform in order to study local changes in graphene
conductivity due to strain. And those results could be related to our
theoretical prediction on effects of strain on conductivity in
one-dimensional-like systems," said Jelena Pesic, another author on the
paper, from the University of Belgrade's Graphene Laboratory.
Although the team foresees many challenges to realizing the theoretical
calculations from this paper experimentally, they are excited that their work
could soon "revolutionize the field of nanotechnology."
Trade wars aren't started by
countries appealing to respected, independent trade authorities. Rather, trade
wars begin when one country decides to violate international trade rules to
undercut another country's industries.
Ron Wyden
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