Baltic Dry Index. 1823 -34 Brent
Crude 60.78 Spot Gold 1466
Never ending Brexit now October 31, maybe. 30 days away.
Trump’s Nuclear China Tariffs Now In Effect.
USA v EU trade war postponed to November, maybe.
George Orwell.
Today it’s all about China. As China celebrates its 70th
year of communist China with a massive military display, the world watches to
see what will happen in Hong Kong.
Reportedly, China has doubled its troop garrison in Hong
Kong ahead of today’s celebrations and possible demonstrations in Hong Kong. The
fate of next week’s renewed high level USA v China trade talks, may well depend
on what happens in Hong Kong this week.
Asian shares inch up, investors pin hopes on U.S.-China talks
October 1, 2019 /
2:04 AM
TOKYO (Reuters) -
Asian share prices ticked up on Tuesday as some investors clung to hopes that
the fourth quarter will bring progress in resolving the United-States trade war
that’s cast a shadow over the global economy.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.74% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS inched up 0.24% and Australia's benchmark by 0.25%.
Chinese markets will be shut for a week, starting on Tuesday, to mark 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 rose 0.35% in Asia, a day after the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.50%.
Technology sectors led New York gains on Monday while U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms bounced up a tad, after big falls on Friday, with Alibaba (BABA.N) up 0.75% and Baidu (BIDU.O) gaining 1.53%.
During the July-September quarter, the S&P500 advanced 1.21%.
In Europe, the benchmark stock index gained 2.15% in the quarter to end
at a 16-month high, thanks in part to a weak euro.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro dismissed reports that the Trump
administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock
exchanges as “fake news”, giving short-term players an excuse to buy back risk
assets.
“Whether it was a fake news or not, it is becoming harder to know exactly
what the U.S. administration will be doing,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief
strategist at Monex Securities.
China and the United States are due to resume high-level trade talks
next week in Washington.
More
China marks 70 years of Communist rule with massive show of force
October 1, 2019 /
12:40 AM
BEIJING (Reuters)
- China celebrated its growing power and confidence with a massive display of
military hardware and goose-stepping troops in Beijing on Tuesday, overseen by
President Xi Jinping who pledged peaceful development on the 70th birthday of Communist
China.
The event is the country’s most important of the year as China looks to
project its assurance in the face of mounting challenges, including nearly four
months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and a economy-sapping trade war
with the United States.
Xi, dressed in a slate grey “Mao” suit and accompanied by his
predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, said China will pursue a mutually
beneficial strategy of opening up.
The country’s military should resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty,
security, and development interests, and firmly uphold world peace, Xi told a
handpicked crowd at Tiananmen Square, in comments carried live on state
television.
“No force can ever shake the status of China, or stop the Chinese people
and nation from marching forward,” Xi said from the Gate of Heavenly Peace,
where Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China on
this day in 1949.
China must maintain lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and
Macao, promote the peaceful development of relations with self-ruled Taiwan and
“continue to strive for the motherland’s complete reunification”, he added.
Xi, whose military modernisation programme has rattled nerves around the
region, then descended to the street and inspected row upon row of military
hardware and immaculately presented troops.
---- Among the
weapons on display were DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles, the backbone
of China’s nuclear deterrence capability, which can carry several nuclear
warheads and reach as far as the United States.
---- The capital has been locked down for the parade. Police have told residents whose houses look onto the parade route not to look out their windows.
There will be a civilian parade too, of students, model workers, ethnic
minorities and even a few foreigners, walking alongside or travelling in floats
celebrating China’s achievements, officials said last week.
Once the show is
over, 70,000 doves will be released to symbolise peace, according to state
media.
More
Special Report - China quietly doubles troop levels in Hong Kong, envoys say
September 30,
2019 / 11:13 AM
The state news agency Xinhua described the operation as a routine
“rotation” of the low-key force China has kept in Hong Kong since the city’s
handover from Britain in 1997. No mention was made of the anti-government
protests that have been shaking the metropolis since June.
It was a plausible report: China has maintained a steady level of force
in the territory for years, regularly swapping troops in and out. And days
earlier, according to an audio recording obtained by Reuters, embattled Hong
Kong leader Carrie Lam had told local business people that China had
“absolutely no plan” to order the army to put down the demonstrations.
A month on, Asian and Western envoys in Hong Kong say they are certain
the late-August deployment was not a rotation at all, but a reinforcement.
Seven envoys who spoke to Reuters said they didn’t detect any significant
number of existing forces in Hong Kong returning to the mainland in the days
before or after the announcement.
Three of the envoys said the contingent of Chinese military personnel in
Hong Kong had more than doubled in size since the protests began. They
estimated the number of military personnel is now between 10,000 and 12,000, up
from 3,000 to 5,000 in the months before the reinforcement.
As a result, the envoys believe, China has now assembled its
largest-ever active force of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and other
anti-riot personnel and equipment in Hong Kong.
Significantly, five of the diplomats say, the build-up includes elements
of the People’s Armed Police (PAP), a mainland paramilitary anti-riot and
internal security force under a separate command from the PLA. While Reuters
was unable to determine the size of the PAP contingent, envoys say the bulk of
the troops in Hong Kong are from the PLA.
More
Hong Kong prepares for massive showdown on Chinese anniversary
Sept. 30, 2019 /
10:54 AM
HONG KONG, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- As China prepares to celebrate its 70th
anniversary on Tuesday, Hong Kong is bracing for what may be one of the largest
showdowns yet in nearly four months of clashes between demonstrators and
police.
Activists on Monday warned that China will be desperate to clamp down on
dissent on as it celebrates its National Day with a massive parade and show of
military might in Beijing.
At a briefing with reporters, members of an activist group called the
Citizens Press Conference said Tuesday's anti-China protests will be a
"milestone" in the movement and acknowledged they are bracing for a
violent crackdown by authorities.
"[The authorities] have one single goal, of bullying Hong Kongers
into silence," said a spokesman for the Citizens Press Conference, who
remained anonymous behind a mask and helmet.
The spokesman
said that recent spate of arrests and increasingly violent tactics by police
are "means to threaten us not to stand up for ourselves on the 1st of
October."
More
In commodities news,
weakening demand worries oil. More sign
of of a global recession getting underway?
Oil Slides to its Worst Quarter This Year on Demand Worries
By Catherine Ngai
Updated on September 30, 2019, 8:21 PM GMT+1
Oil recorded its weakest quarter since late last year as
fears over a global economic slowdown overshadowed an unprecedented attack on
Saudi Arabia’s key energy facilities.Brent futures slumped 8.7% since the end of June after a brief spike earlier this month due to drone strikes on the Abqaiq processing facility and Khurais oil field. Despite some skepticism from the market, Saudi Aramco has already returned to producing more than 9.9 million barrels a day of crude, and this quicker than expected timeline coupled with the subsequent sell off in prices has underscored investors’ focus on weakening oil demand from slower economic growth and the U.S.-China trade war.
“Oil supply
remains quite adequate and the U.S. has a lot of oil,” said Phil Streible,
senior market strategist at R.J. O’Brien & Associates. “The economic
picture might be weakening a bit, so demand is softening with that.”
---- The oil market has also been driven by the prolonged clash between Washington and Beijing over trade, and the knock-on effects on economic growth. The world’s two largest economies will head into another round of high-level trade talks following China’s week-long national holidays starting Oct. 1.
Investors are also looking ahead to weekly inventory data tomorrow,
which could help bolster the lagging prices.
“We are looking for a turnaround Tuesday,” said Phil Flynn, senior
market analyst at Price Futures Group, citing expectations for a bullish crude
inventory draw. “But the report that Saudi Arabia is back at full capacity is
kind of the negative hangover today.”
More
Finally, in Brexit
news, life goes on, despite project fear and remainiac media fifth columnists.
Just don’t tell anyone at the BBC.
UK and Norway sign temporary Brexit agreement on fishing rights
September 30,
2019 / 4:01 PM
OSLO (Reuters) - Britain and Norway have signed an agreement to allow
fishermen of both countries to continue to fish in each others waters in case
Britain leaves the European Union on Oct. 31, the two governments said on
Monday.
The agreement ensures that the existing arrangements based on the EU
agreement with Norway will remain in place until the end of 2019.
Arrangements for 2020 onwards are currently being negotiated, the
British government added in a statement.
21st
century adage: Is that true, or did you hear it on the BBC?
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner.
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled
over.
No crooks today. Today the USA and Canada, finally getting serious about
producing some rare earth metals outside of China. Only a decade late, and up
to a decade away from completion. Still better late than never.
Canada, U.S. drafting plans to curb China’s dominance in critical rare-earth minerals
Published 3o September, 2019
Canada and the United States are drawing up plans to reduce
their reliance on China for rare-earth minerals that are critical to high-tech
and military products, such as smartphones and fighter jets.The “joint action plan” – now being drafted by senior Canadian and U.S. officials – will be presented to the political party that forms the next government after the Oct. 21 election, according to a federal briefing document obtained by The Globe and Mail.
The document says the action plan should include defence funding for critical-minerals projects and strategic investments in North American processing facilities, as well as greater research and development in extraction of these rare-earth materials.
It says senior Canadian officials involved in economic and security issues have been meeting since July to discuss how Ottawa and Washington can secure access to vital minerals and metals, such as uranium, lithium, cesium and cobalt, from Chinese control.
In 2018, acting on a presidential order, the U.S. Department of the Interior, together with the Department of Defense, compiled a list of 35 mineral commodities considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States. Of these, China was the top supplier of 13 and the top producer of nearly 20.
These critical minerals are used in a wide variety of products ranging from lasers, computer chips, electric vehicles, solar panels, smartphones and military equipment, such as weapons guidance systems.
“For decades, China has pursued a strategy to control global critical mineral production and processing. This strategy has led to China being the leading producer of minerals vital to the modern economy,” the federal document warned.
At a White House meeting in late June, U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to negotiate a joint strategy on mineral collaboration. The U.S. is also seeking alliances with Australia, Japan and the European Union, which share U.S. fears about mineral dependency on China.
China has made veiled threats to restrict critical materials as leverage in its trade war with the U.S., as it did against Japan. In 2010, Beijing limited rare-earth exports to Tokyo while the two countries were sparring over disputed islands.
The Canadian team involves senior bureaucrats from Global Affairs, National Resources, Privy Council Office, Finance, National Defence, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Public Safety and Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
Discussions have taken place in Ottawa and Washington, although little is known about the proposals under consideration.
“They have shared very little with us. I think it is happening and I know there is strong interest,” Pierre Gratton, president and chief executive officer of the Mining Association of Canada, said in an interview. “We have been extremely dependent on China for a number of the rare-earth minerals … they have kind of monopolized the market and when others come into the market they can often increase production and drive them out of business.”
The briefing document says collaboration on the minerals with the U.S. "represents opportunities not only to attract investment into Canadian exploration and mining projects … [but] presents a real opportunity for job creation and economic growth across Canada and across industry sectors,” the document said.
The U.S. “critical mineral” list drawn up in 2018 includes six minerals for which Canada was the United States’ top supplier, including aluminum (aircraft, power transmission lines, alloys), cesium and rubidium, which often occur together (medical applications, global-positioning satellites and night-vision devices), indium (flat-panel displays, special alloys), potash (key fertilizer), tellurium (infrared devices and solar cells) and uranium (nuclear and medical applications).
In recent years, Chinese firms have also purchased stakes in Canadian
companies that extract cesium, uranium, chromite, the main source of chromium –
a key ingredient in stainless steel – as well as lithium.
Early this year, a Chinese company with significant Chinese state
ownership purchased a mine in eastern Manitoba that is the among world’s most
significant sources of cesium.
More
Every
generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before
it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
George
Orwell.
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?
First fully rechargeable carbon dioxide battery lasts 500 cycles
Nick Lavars September
29, 2019
The
search for advanced materials that can take battery technology to the next
level has led scientists to some imaginative places, including designs inspired
by the human spine and
others that fashion key components into nanochain
structures. Another example concerns an element
we’re producing too much of in carbon dioxide, which scientists have now worked
into a high-potential battery with the ability to recharge 500 times.
That team of mechanical engineers pioneered a new type of electrochemical reaction that increased the discharge voltage and actually converted the carbon dioxide into a solid carbonate material as a result. The researchers noted one shortcoming of the battery design, however, in an ability to only run for around 10 cycles before failure.
A team at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) now claims to have developed the first lithium-carbon dioxide battery capable of full rechargeability. The technical problem the researchers have overcome centers on the tendency of these batteries to quickly fail due to the buildup of carbon on the catalyst during charging, which has plagued similar efforts so far.
“The accumulation of carbon not only blocks the active sites of the
catalyst and prevents carbon dioxide diffusion, but also triggers electrolyte
decomposition in a charged state,” said Alireza Ahmadiparidari, first author of
the paper and a UIC College of Engineering graduate student.
A way around this, the researchers have found, is to introduce new
materials that shore up the battery's ability to recycle the materials, over
and over. This meant integrating nanoflakes of molybdenum disulfide into the cathode
catalyst, and using a new type of hybrid electrolyte made of ionic liquid and
dimethyl sulfoxide.
This combination, the researchers say, leads the battery to output a
composite made up of multiple components rather than individual products, which
sees the carbon naturally incorporated into the recycling process rather than
form a troublesome buildup on the battery’s catalyst on its own. So much so,
they were able to recharge their prototype battery across 500 consecutive
cycles.
“Our unique combination of materials helps make the first carbon-neutral lithium carbon dioxide battery with much more efficiency and long-lasting cycle life, which will enable it to be used in advanced energy storage systems,” says associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, Salehi-Khojin.
This research is a long way from commercial production, and even further away from putting a dent in the carbon dioxide that is continuing to build up in the atmosphere. It does, however, provide yet another proof-of-concept energy storage device for a next generation battery, along with yet another possible way we might one day be able to channel carbon dioxide into more useful.
The research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Source: University of Illinois at Chicago
"On
the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the
time.”
George
Orwell.
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished September
DJIA: 26,917 +57 Up. NASDAQ: 7,999 +62 Up. SP500: 2,977 +61 Up.
Another inconclusive month,
but all three moved up weakly. I would not rely on nor take such a weak buy
signal.
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