Saturday 30 November 2019

Weekend Update 30/11/2019 Suddenly Everyone Wants Gold.


Baltic Dry Index. 1528 +88 Brent Crude 62.43 Spot Gold 1464

Never ending Brexit now January 31, maybe sooner.
Trump’s Nuclear China Tariffs Now in effect.
The USA v EU trade war started October 18. Now in effect.

Comrade Agent Corbyn’s New Communist, Hate Filled, Labour Party: "You give us your vote. We give you your dreams.” Delivery aspirational.

Given that it’s the weekend after Thanksgiving in the USA, a timely story about Thanksgiving, socialism, and its relevance to the coming GB general election.

Happy Thanksgiving, But Do You Know What It's Really About?

byMish

The origins of Thanksgiving are likely far different that you have been led to believe.

History Lesson

In 1620, the Mayflower with 102 passengers and a crew of 30 set sail for America. The Pilgrims arrived in miserable condition. Two people died on passage and others died shortly after.

The diary of the colony’s first governor, William Bradford, provides the details.
Thanksgiving is actually about the Failure of Socialism and the Success of Private Property and Capitalism.

In the diary of the colony’s first governor, William Bradford, we can read about the settlers’ initial arrangement: Land was held in common. Crops were brought to a common storehouse and distributed equally. For two years, every person had to work for everybody else (the community), not for themselves as individuals or families. Did they live happily ever after in this socialist utopia?

Hardly. The “common property” approach killed off about half the settlers. Governor Bradford recorded in his diary that everybody was happy to claim their equal share of production, but production only shrank. Slackers showed up late for work in the fields, and the hard workers resented it. It’s called “human nature.”

The disincentives of the socialist scheme bred impoverishment and conflict until, facing starvation and extinction, Bradford altered the system. He divided common property into private plots, and the new owners could produce what they wanted and then keep or trade it freely.

Communal socialist failure was transformed into private property/capitalist success, something that’s happened so often historically it’s almost monotonous. The “people over profits” mentality produced fewer people until profit—earned as a result of one’s care for his own property and his desire for improvement—saved the people.

Siren Song of Socialism

Time and time again people, especially young voters, are lured by the call of "free" health care, education, housing, social services, etc.

In the UK, Jeremy Corbyn is promising a self-professed "radical" socialist platform. On that score, Corbyn is correct, his plan is radical.

To understand how radical, please see Jeremy Corbyn Goes for Broke With Last Desperate Act, US Democrats Take Note.

Corbyn has had nothing but praise for Venezuela and its socialist model, now in the ashes of hyperinflation.

Meanwhile, in the US, Elizabeth Warren is promising similar things. So does AOC with her New Green Deal that will cost close to $90 Trillion.

The problem is Progressive Lies Like "Free College" and "Medicare For All" Hide Cost of Debt

So, please be thankful that Jeremy Corbyn, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, etc., (socialists in general) are not running the UK and US.

Be fearful, that they might.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock

Next, exactly why is the Fed monetizing like a drunken sailor, if not to keep the Trump stock market bubble inflating and make certain his re-election next year? Is this why people are now placing massive bets on gold reaching $4,000 and ounce by mid 2021? Poland is repatriating its gold bullion?

New York Fed Adds $108.95 Billion to Markets

By Dave Sebastian  Nov. 27, 2019 9:27 am ET
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York added $108.95 billion in temporary liquidity to the financial system on Wednesday.

The intervention came in two parts. There were $87.95 billion in overnight repurchase agreements, or repos, and $21 billion in 15-day repos. The central bank took all the securities it was offered.

Fed repo interventions take in Treasury and mortgage securities from eligible banks in what is effectively a short-term loan of central-bank cash, collateralized by the securities.

The Fed has been intervening in markets in the current fashion since mid-September, when short-term rates unexpectedly shot up on a confluence of factors, although it has used similar operations for decades to manage short-term rates.

The Fed’s interventions are aimed at ensuring that the financial system has enough liquidity and that short-term borrowing rates remain well-behaved, with the central bank’s federal-funds rate staying within the 1.5%-to-1.75% target range. The effective fed-funds rate stood at 1.55% on Tuesday. The broad general collateral rate for repo trading stood at 1.51%, also for Tuesday.

Since the large interventions started, money-market rates have been well-behaved. The Fed is using temporary operations to tamp down on any possible volatility, while purchasing Treasury bills to build up reserves in the banking system. It hopes that by buying Treasury bills it will be able to cut back on repo interventions at the start of next year.

The Fed currently expects to buy Treasury bills through the middle of next year.
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Federal Debt Up $1.3 Trillion Since Last Thanksgiving; $10,137 Per Household

November 27, 2019 | 11:41am EST
The federal debt has increased by $1,303,466.578.471.45 since last Thanksgiving, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury.

That is the largest Thanksgiving-to-Thanksgiving increase in the debt in nine years. The last time the debt increased more from Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving was in 2010, when it increased by $1,785,995,360,978.10.

It also equals approximately $10,137.48 per household in the United States.

At the close of business on November 21, 2018—the day before last Thanksgiving—the federal debt stood at $21,769,263,916,844.09. At the close of business yesterday, it stood at $23,072,730,495,315.54.

That equaled an increase of $1,303,466,578.471.45.

That Thanksgiving-to-Thanksgiving increase in the debt worked out to approximately $10,137.48 for each of the 128,579,000 households the Census Bureau estimates there are in the United States in 2019.

The full federal debt of $23,072,730,495,315.54 now equals $179,444 per household.

Bold Bets That Gold Could Triple to $4,000 Trade in New York

By Yvonne Yue Li
November 27, 2019, 6:32 PM GMT Updated on November 28, 2019, 12:00 AM GMT
The gold options market saw $1.75 million in block trades betting the precious metal could almost triple in more than a year, surpassing the record.

Around noon in New York Wednesday, 5,000 lots of a gold option giving the holder the right to buy the precious metal at $4,000 an ounce in June 2021 changed hands. The bets were sold at $3.50 an ounce.

“It’s like 18-month term life insurance; what will the world look like if gold is at $4,000,” Tai Wong, the head of metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets, said in an email. “They are hoping for a quick violent move,” he said, referring to the people who bought the call options.

Gold futures climbed to a record $1,923.70 an ounce in 2011 as the Federal Reserve bought more than $2 trillion of debt to stimulate the U.S. economy. While bullion has rallied 14% this year, the precious metal is still 24% below the current all-time high.

Bullion for delivery in February settled at $1,460.80 an ounce at 1:33 p.m. in New York. Futures for June 2021 delivery, which settled at $1,494.40 on Wednesday, will need to almost triple before expiration to make the call options profitable for its holder.
— With assistance by Michael Roschnotti
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/huge-bets-that-gold-could-triple-to-4-000-trade-in-new-york

Poland Brings Gold Home; Calls It a Symbol of Strength

  by SchiffGold   
Poland has repatriated 100 tons of gold from England. National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapiński announced the yellow metal’s return home on Monday.

“The gold symbolizes the strength of the country,” Glapiński told reporters.

He noted that the country could generate multi-million dollar profits if it sold its gold reserves, although there are no plans to do so.

Glapiński said the Polish central bank will continue to bring its precious metal home if the “reserve situation is favorable.”

Poland has also been aggressively increasing its gold reserves. The National Bank of Poland added 100 tons of the yellow metal to its hoard through the first half of 2019. In a statement announcing the plans earlier this year, Glapiński said he was “proud” of the moves.

We managed to increase the strategic reserves of gold and take steps to repatriate a large part of Polish gold to the country. By implementing our constitutional, statutory and simply patriotic commitment, we not only build the economic strength of the Polish state, but also create reserves that will safeguard its financial security. This is the global trend, but also the expectation of Polish society.”

----Gold repatriation underscores the importance of holding physical gold where you can easily access it. Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and “paper gold” have their place. But true security and stability come from physical possession of precious metals. If you can’t hold it in your hand, you don’t really possess it. That’s exactly why these countries are bringing their gold home, safe within their own vaults.

report by Bullion Star noted that “Although the official language in the press release is diplomatic, the NBP makes it clear that there is a real risk to holding its gold in London.” According to the report, England’s “brazen” confiscation of Venezuela’s gold may have increased unease about holding gold abroad.

Finally, an impeachment from long ago. A lesson for today, perhaps?

Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. He was impeached by the House on grounds of letting his partisan leanings affect his court decisions but was acquitted by the Senate and remained in office. 

Born near Princess Anne, Maryland, Chase established a legal practice in Annapolis, Maryland. He served in the Maryland General Assembly for several years and favored independence during the American Revolution. He won election to the Continental Congress before serving on the Baltimore District Criminal Court and the Maryland General Court. In 1796, President George Washington appointed Chase to the United States Supreme Court.

After the 1800 elections, President Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans sought to weaken Federalist influence on the federal courts. Chase's actions on the court had been accused of demonstrating bias, and Jefferson believed that Chase should be removed from office. The House of Representatives impeached Chase on eight articles of impeachment, all centering on Chase's alleged political bias. The Senate voted to acquit Chase on all counts, and Chase served on the Supreme Court until his death in 1811. Some historians have argued that Chase's acquittal set an important precedent regarding the independence of the federal judiciary.
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This weekend’s musical diversion. Piano music by J. C. Bach. The “London Bach.” The Catholic one. Music Master to Queen Charlotte.

Johann Christian Bach
"The leaders of the French Revolution excited the poor against the rich; this made the rich poor, but it never made the poor rich."
Fisher Ames.

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished November

DJIA: 28,051 +76 Up. NASDAQ: 8,665 +94 Up. SP500: 3,141 +90 Up. All higher again, but it’s not a buy signal I would follow.

Friday 29 November 2019

What Will China Do?


Baltic Dry Index. 1467 +27 Brent Crude 63.59 Spot Gold 1459

Never ending Brexit now January 31, or maybe sooner.
Trump’s Nuclear China Tariffs Now in effect.
The USA v EU trade war started October 18. Now in effect.

"I would have made a good Pope."

President Richard Nixon. (Who knew he ran for the wrong office? Can an Evangelical Quaker become Pope?)

It is the day after Thanksgiving in America, when millions of ordinary, sensible, working American’s take the day off to abandon all common sense, thrift and reason, to go all out on a wild spending spree to boost China’s consumer export industries. 

This year in some parts of the USA, weather difficulties might impair some of the retail sales. Not to worry though, online shopping will take up any slack.

Meanwhile, back in the holiday shortened stock and bond bubbles, the big question on everyone’s minds is will China retaliate for US interference in China’s domestic affairs?
Hesitant Asian markets appear think no. China’s economy is too weak to allow President Xi to meaningfully strike back. The Trump Fed’s latest stock bubble can continue to bubble on, all the way out to November 3rd, 2020 and Trump’s re-election.

Call me an old fashioned dinosaur, but I’d take the other side of that bet.

President Xi has to retaliate, whatever the state of the Chinese economy, or risk losing face, probably setting off a Chinese power struggle. Besides, President Trump loses re-election if there’s no meaningful USA v China trade deal, causing the Trump Fed stock market bubble to collapse. President Xi will likely play hardball.

Below, the state of play, on the last day of the month of the penultimate month of 2019. Dress up Friday, or time to slip quietly out of the bubble exit? I know what I would be doing.

Stocks hesitate just short of new peaks as clouds darken over U.S.-China ties

November 29, 2019 / 1:18 AM
TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian markets slipped on Friday leaving global shares just short of an all-time peak as investors turned cautious, fearing a new U.S. law backing Hong Kong protesters could torpedo efforts to end the U.S.-China trade war.

MSCI All Country world index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 49 countries, were up 0.08% at 548.88, only 0.3% away from all-time peak hit in January last year before the start of U.S.-China trade war. 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9%. Hong Kong .HSI led the losses, dropping 2.0%. South Korean shares .KS11 lost 1.2% and Japan's Nikkei .N225 eased 0.1%.

China's blue-chips .CSI300 gave up 0.9% a day before the country reports manufacturing activity, which analysts polled by Reuters expect to have shrunk for seventh straight month in November.

Asian markets were sold off due to uncertainty over how U.S. markets will perceive the latest clash between Washington and Beijing over Hong Kong.

Traders on Wall Street will commence a half-day session on Friday following Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. S&P 500 mini futures ESc1 were down 0.26%.

China warned the United States on Thursday it would take “firm counter measures” in response to U.S. legislation backing anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

Anthony Chan, chief Asia investment strategist at Union Bancaire Privée in Hong Kong, said the market is still erring on the side of caution especially as the year-end approaches.

“There is still downward pressure on earnings. That’s why when there is (negative) geopolitical news, some funds might want to sell and lock in their performance,” he said.

But on the whole, investors are now betting that while the U.S. legislation spoils the mood, ultimately it remained in the interest of both Washington and Beijing to move forward with talks to get a trade deal.

“The working assumption for most investors is that this will not derail the trade talks, given China is suffering from an economic slowdown,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Sentiment in the region has enjoyed an additional boost from a strong share performance this week by Alibaba Group (9988.HK), Asia’s largest firm by market capitalization. Alibaba has risen as much as 16% since their IPO in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
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China Financial Warning Signs Are Flashing Almost Everywhere

Bloomberg News
Updated on November 29, 2019, 4:03 AM GMT
From rural bank runs to surging consumer indebtedness and an unprecedented bond restructuring, mounting signs of financial stress in China are putting the nation’s policy makers to the test.

Xi Jinping’s government faces an increasingly difficult balancing act as it tries to support the world’s second-largest economy without encouraging moral hazard and reckless spending. While authorities have so far been reluctant to rescue troubled borrowers and ramp up stimulus, the costs of maintaining that stance are rising as defaults increase and China’s slowdown deepens.

In its annual Financial Stability Report released this week, China’s central bank described 586 of the country’s almost 4,400 lenders as “high risk,” slightly more than last year. It also highlighted the dangers associated with rising consumer leverage, saying household debt as a percentage of disposable income jumped to 99.9% in 2018 from 93.4% a year earlier.

The PBOC and other regulators have long warned about the risks of excessive corporate debt, which climbed to a record 165% of gross domestic product in 2018, according to Bloomberg Economics.

For now, investors appear to be betting that policy makers can manage the country’s financial risks and keep the economy afloat.


The government’s sale of $6 billion in sovereign dollar debt this week was oversubscribed, while volatility in the Chinese stock market has dropped to the lowest level since early 2018, in part due to optimism over the prospects for a trade deal with the U.S. Yield spreads on the short-term debt of lower-rated Chinese banks relative to AAA peers have narrowed in recent months, a sign that smaller lenders are finding it easier to secure funding.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-28/china-s-financial-warning-signs-are-flashing-almost-everywhere

China vows countermeasures after Trump signs pro-Hong Kong bill

Nov. 28, 2019 / 3:58 AM
Nov. 28 (UPI) -- China on Thursday condemned the United States for signing a bill into law in support of pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters and vowed to retaliate for the "stark hegemonic acts."

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law that requires the State Department to annually assess whether Hong Kong's level of autonomy from China warrants its special trade status and mandates sanctions be imposed against those responsible for committing human rights abuses against Hong Kong citizens, among other directives. 

The bill was introduced following the outbreak of mass pro-democracy protests in June by Hong Kongers against the Chinese government that have continued into their sixth month.

China on Thursday criticized the bill as an attempt by the United States to interfere in its internal affairs, an argument it has repeated since the legislature was first introduced, and accused the United States of distorting facts and supporting "violent criminals."

"The egregious and malicious nature of its intentions is fully revealed," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. "Its very aim is to undermine Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, sabotage the practice of 'one country, two systems,' and disrupt Chinese nation's endeavor to realize the great renewal."

Hong Kong has functioned under the so-called one country, two systems model since it was returned to China from British rule in 1997, which affords it freedoms the mainland does not share.

China said the bill exposes the United States' "malicious and hegemonic" intentions but its attempts to interfere "are bound to fail," vowing to take countermeasures if the United States does not rectify the situation.

"The United States must bear all consequences," it said.

---- The Hong Kong And Macao Affairs Office also issued its own statement, accusing the United States of being the biggest "black hand" behind the protests.

"This bill, which has been condemned by the entire Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots, is full of prejudice and arrogance," the statement said. "It treats Hong Kong with intimidation and threats, and blatantly provides protection to anti-China Hong Kong elements with insidious intention."

Prominent protest leader Joshua Wong called the bill's passing Thursday a "remarkable achievement."
"The bill signifies fundamental change of U.S.'s China policy and a new stage of the U.S.-H.K. relation," he said via Twitter, adding that he along with other protesters "will continue our efforts in other countries to encourage similar legislative efforts and sanctions mechanism."
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/11/28/China-vows-countermeasures-after-Trump-signs-pro-Hong-Kong-bill/4301574929910/?lh=5

In other news, the global auto recession deepens. A wider recession lies directly ahead.

France's PSA to sell stake in smaller Chinese tie-up as sales slide

November 28, 2019 / 7:07 PM
PARIS/BEIJING (Reuters) - Peugeot maker PSA Group (PEUP.PA) said it is preparing to sell its 50% stake in an eight-year-old joint venture with Chinese partner Chongqing Changan Automotive (000625.SZ) which has struggled with falling sales.

The announcement in Paris on Thursday came after Changan also signaled in regulatory filings earlier this month that it was seeking a buyer for its half of the Shenzhen-based venture known as CAPSA, which builds cars under PSA’s premium DS brand. 

PSA’s move highlights how global car manufacturers are struggling in the world’s biggest auto market, where sales contracted last year for the first time since the 1990s.

It also plans to cut jobs and drop two of the four assembly plants it shares in a larger join venture with China’s Dongfeng Group (0489.HK), which builds Peugeot and Citroen cars, Reuters reported in August.

A PSA spokesman said the French company still hoped to roll out DS cars in China and a “new strategic plan” would be presented in the coming weeks or months.

The partners planned to continue building DS-branded cars at the Shenzhen plant, a China-based PSA spokesman said on Friday.

PSA’s sale plan would be presented to French unions on Friday, a source familiar with the matter said.

PSA’s sales in China fell in 2018 by 32% to 262,583 vehicles, a long way off the 1 million-a-year target it had set itself a few years ago.

Changan said it is seeking a floor price of 1.63 billion yuan ($232 million) for its stake in the joint venture.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-psa-china-changan/frances-psa-to-sell-stake-in-smaller-chinese-tie-up-as-sales-slide-idUKKBN1Y225Q

"This is a great day for France!"

President Richard Nixon while attending the funeral of French President Charles de Gaulle in 1970.

Crooks and Scoundrels Corner.

The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.

Today, America’s pot calls Germany’s kettle black, at least according to China’s Global Times.  

“The Global Times is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, focusing on international issues from a nationalistic perspective.”

And this isn’t even part of China’s fight back against America’s, as perceived by China anyway, meddling in Hong Kong and China’s internal affairs.

Stay tuned in, things are about to get quite interesting.

More countries are beginning to see US double standards

By Li Qingqing Source: Global Times Published: 2019/11/27
To refute US fears that Huawei would send sensitive data records to the Chinese government, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier said on Sunday that "Germany still did not impose any boycott" on the US despite the US National Security Agency's surveillance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013.

Then, US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell hysterically fought back by saying that equating the US government action with that of the "Chinese Communist Party" was "an insult" to the US troops who "help ensure Germany's security" and "the millions of Americans committed to a strong Western alliance." He said there is "no moral equivalency" between China and the US.

First of all, Grenell's remarks were an insult to China and the 1.4 billion Chinese people. It was an extreme statement full of discrimination against another kind of value, race and civilization. Indeed, it is not equivalent to compare China with a hegemonic and inconsistent government full of double standards.

Grenell was also insulting and despising Germany and Europe by forcing European countries to choose sides between China and the US. Washington has been forcing Europe to divide on many issues, and this is completely against European countries' interests. More and more countries have seen US double standards: While the US is hyping Huawei's unfounded spying concerns, it is also spying on its European allies. As time passes by, fewer countries will follow the US.

The US will insist on targeting Huawei worldwide. However, Germany's reaction shows that the results may not be as optimistic as the US had expected. During the Christian Democratic Union of Germany's convention on Friday and Saturday, Merkel said Germany should not rule out any company due to political problems. Indeed, countries should focus more on objective factors, such as companies' technological security and standards, instead of ideology or political system.

Despite US provocation of China-Europe relations, China is determined to promote relations with Europe. For example, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President
Emmanuel Macron expressed on November 6 their support for early conclusion of an ambitious and balanced China-European Union investment agreement. Many leaders from Central and Eastern European countries have expressed their will to deepen cooperation with China. As Merkel said in 2017, Europe has to take its destiny in its own hands.

China has never told Europe to follow China's steps and fight the US. It is the US that has been trying to rope in European countries to oppose China. Washington should not turn Europe into a battlefield of China-US disputes. This is contempt for Europe.

It seems that some US politicians can never get rid of their Cold War mind-set. But 21st century conditions are different from those in the Cold War era, and today's China is not like the Soviet Union decades ago. China is not a threat to any country. China and Europe are victims of US hegemony and protectionism, and neither of them can bear multilateralism breaking down. When facing the US government's words and deeds, China and Europe must jointly maintain the free and open global investment environment to deal with the challenges.

“It must not appear that you're trying to affect the network's news content. That's what you must do, but you must not appear to be doing that. That would be stupid."

President Richard Nixon, ordering staff members to get Bill Moyers's new show on PBS off the air

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?

FACTBOX: The Asian companies dominating the global electric-battery market

November 27, 2019 04:16 AM
Asian companies dominate the market for electric-vehicle batteries and they are expanding their production capacity in Europe, China and the United States in a fight to win lucrative contracts from global automakers.

Some automakers worry, however, there will not be enough batteries for all the EVs they plan to launch in the coming years and a bitter row between South Korea's SK Innovation and LG Chem risks exacerbating the potential shortfall.

Below are details of the world's leading EV battery makers with details of their customers and expansion plans:

CATL

China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world's biggest EV battery maker, counts BMW, Volkswagen Group, Daimler, Volvo, Toyota and Honda among its customers.

The company emerged as a major force partly thanks to Beijing's policy of only subsidising vehicles equipped with Chinese batteries in the world's biggest EV market. Beijing is phasing out EV subsidies next year.

CATL, which operates factories in China, is building its first overseas plant in Germany and is considering a U.S. factory.

Panasonic

Japan's Panasonic, a supplier of U.S. EV pioneer Tesla , said it has installed equipment to ramp up production at Tesla's Nevada plant to 35 GWh from its current production of around 30 GWh as of late October. Panasonic has said it is investing about $1.6 billion in the factory.

Panasonic also produces EV batteries in Japan, China and plans to shift some of its plants to a new joint venture with Toyota. Panasonic's clients also include Honda and Ford.

BYD

China's BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, is also one of the world's biggest EV battery makers. It mainly uses them in-house for its own cars and buses. BYD said last year it is was considering cell production in Europe.

LG Chem

The South Korean firm was an early industry mover, winning a contract to supply General Motor's Volt in 2008. It also supplies Ford, Renault, Hyundai Motor, Tesla, VW and Volvo.

It is investing 3.3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) to build and expand production facilities near Tesla's plant in Shanghai. It has a joint venture (JV) in China with Geely Automobile Holdings , which makes Volvos, and is in talks with other automakers about JVs in major markets.

The company is considering building a second U.S. factory in addition to its facility in Michigan and is expanding its plant in Poland.

Samsung SDI

Samsung SDI an affiliate of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, which supply customers such as BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen.

Samsung SDI is investing about 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to expand its factory in Hungary though the EU is investigating whether Budapest's financial support complies with the bloc's state aid rules.

Samsung started production last year on the Hungary plant, which will produce batteries for 50,000 EVs a year.

SK Innovation

LG Chem's cross-town rival SK Innovation supplies batteries to Volkswagen, Daimler and Kia Motors, as well as Jaguar Land Rover and Ferrari.

An oil refiner that came to the battery industry late, SKI is investing about $3.9 billion to build three plants in the United States, China and Hungary, with a goal of expanding its annual production capacity to 33 GWh by 2022.

SKI currently operates one battery factory in South Korea, with a capacity of 4.7 GWh annually.
It set up a joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) of China in August 2018 and another Chinese partner. It is in talks with VW about another battery JV and is building a $1.7 billion factory in the U.S. state of Georgia, not far from VW's Chattanooga plant.
Another weekend, and the end of the month too.  Dress up time for stocks and a few commodities. A good weekend to ponder what President Nixon might have tweeted had Twitter been around in the early 1970s. Have a great weekend everyone.
"I would not like to be a Russian leader. They never know when they're being taped."
President Richard Nixon

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished October

DJIA: 27,046 +59 Up. NASDAQ: 8,292 +67 Up. SP500: 3,038 +67 Up.

Another inconclusive month, but all three continued to move up weakly. A buy signal. But, like the Fed, I would await more data.