Baltic Dry Index. 1357 -07 Brent
Crude 63.33 Spot Gold 1466
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.
Be wiser than other people if you can, but
do not tell them so.
Lord Chesterfield, statesman.
Today, I suspect, it will all depend on what happens next
in Hong Kong, and China and America’s reaction to it. If the Hong Kong university
siege ends violently, it could all to easily undo the progress of the US v China
trade talks.
Below, a tense and testy exchange between the USA and
China over Hong Kong.
A tense and testy exchange between China and the USA over
the South China Sea and Taiwan.
A good day to sit out developments in cash.
Asia shares hauled higher as China trims key repo rate
November 18, 2019
/ 12:58 A M
SYDNEY (Reuters) -
Asian shares ticked higher on Monday after Beijing surprised markets by
trimming a key interest rate for the first time since 2015, stirring
speculation that further stimulus was on the way for the world’s second-largest
economy.
China’s central bank cut rates on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by five basis points to 2.50%, a move that nudged the yuan higher while lowering bond yields.
The news helped Shanghai blue chips recoup early losses to rise 0.8% .CSI300, though the initial reaction was cautious overall. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS moved 0.3% higher.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 firmed 0.3%, and was just short of its recent 13-month top. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 held steady, as did EUROSTOXX 50 futures STXEc1.
Beijing’s latest policy shift added to hopes it might also be more serious about making progress in trade talks with the United States.
On Saturday, Chinese state media said the two sides had “constructive talks” on trade in a high-level phone call that included Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
More
China calls on U.S. to 'stop flexing muscles' in South China Sea
November 18,
2019 / 3:53 AM
BANGKOK (Reuters)
- China on Monday called on the U.S. military to stop flexing its muscles in
the South China Sea and to avoid adding “new uncertainties” over Taiwan, during
high-level talks that underscored tension between the world’s two largest
economies.
The remarks by Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to U.S. Defense
Secretary Mark Esper, recounted by a Chinese spokesman, came just two weeks
after a top White House official denounced Chinese “intimidation” in the busy
waterway.
It also came a day after Esper publicly accused Beijing of “increasingly
resorting to coercion and intimidation to advance its strategic objectives” in
the region.
During closed-door talks on the sidelines of a gathering of defence
ministers in Bangkok, Wei urged Esper to “stop flexing muscles in the South
China Sea and to not provoke and escalate tensions in the South China Sea,” the
spokesman, Wu Qian, said.
China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, where
it has established military outposts on artificial islands. However, Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the
sea.
The United States accuses China of militarising the South China Sea and
trying to intimidate Asian neighbours who might want to exploit trillion of
dollars worth of oil and gas reserves.
The U.S. Navy regularly vexes China by conducting what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations by ships close to islands China occupies in the South China Sea.
Asked specifically what Wei sought for the United States to do differently, and whether that included halting such freedom of navigation operations, Wu said: “We (call on) the U.S. side to stop intervening in the South China Sea and stop military provocation in the South China Sea.”
Despite warm words exchanged in front of reporters, Wei and Esper also discussed the thorny issues, including Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, which has seen months of anti-government protests.
They also talks about democratic Taiwan, which is claimed by China as a wayward province and is the Communist Party’s most sensitive and important territorial issue.
Fenghe underscored to Esper China’s position that it would “not tolerate any Taiwan independence incident,” Wu said, adding that it opposed any official or military contact with Taiwan.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-usa-military/china-calls-on-u-s-to-stop-flexing-muscles-in-south-china-sea-idUKKBN1XS09T?il=0
Besieged Hong Kong protesters prepare for bloody crackdown as U.S. urges restraint
November 17,
2019 / 5:32 PM / Updated 42 minutes ago
HONG KONG
(Reuters) - Hong Kong police lay siege on Monday to a university where hundreds
of anti-government protesters were bunkered down with petrol bombs and other
homemade weapons, amid fears of a bloody crackdown and U.S. calls for
restraint.
Police fired volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets to force back dozens
of protesters who tried to escape the besieged campus of Polytechnic
University, after a night of mayhem in which major roads and a police armoured
van were set alight and a police officer was shot with an arrow.
Dozens of protesters were arrested near the university on Monday
morning, public broadcaster RTHK reported, while in the nearby commercial area
of Nathan Road activists stopped traffic and forced shopping malls and stores
to shut.
“We’ve been trapped here for too long. We need all Hong Kongers to know
we need help,” said Dan, a 19-year-old protester on the campus, as he burst
into tears.
“I don’t know how much longer we can go on like this. We may need
international help.”
Thirty eight people were injured overnight on Sunday, the city’s
Hospital Authority said. Reuters witnesses saw some protesters suffer burns
from chemicals in the jets fired from police water cannons.
“Remember you have life in your hands. Why do you need to push us to
death?” one person shouted at police from a campus rooftop as protesters
wearing gas masks and clutching umbrellas looked for ways to escape the
university.
---- Police said they fired three live rounds when “rioters” attacked two officers who were attempting to arrest a woman. No one was injured in the incident and the woman escaped.
Police had earlier warned they were ready to use live bullets if
“rioters” continued to used lethal weapons, amid a dramatic escalation of the
unrest that has plunged the Asian financial hub into chaos for almost six
months.
Demonstrators angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the former
British colony have said they are responding to excessive use of force by
police.
More
U.S. condemns "unjustified use of force" in Hong Kong: senior official
November 18,
2019 / 2:43 AM
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United States condemned the
“unjustified use of force” in Hong Kong and called on Beijing to protect Hong
Kong’s freedom, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration
said Sunday, as protesters battled Hong Kong police who had trapped them inside
a major university.
“We condemn the unjustified use of force and urge all sides to refrain
from violence and engage in constructive dialogue,” the senior U.S. official
said.
“As the President has said, the United States expects Beijing to honor
its commitments under the Sino-British joint Declaration and to protect Hong
Kong’s freedom, legal system and democratic way of life,” the official said.
Hong Kong police
sealed off the Polytechnic University and demonstrators rampaged through a
tourist district, after almost two straight days of standoffs that have raised
fears of a bloody showdown. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell Editing by Shri
Navaratnam)
Asian airlines slash flights to Hong Kong as unrest escalates
November 18, 2019
/ 5:11 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -
Several Asian airlines have cut flights to Hong Kong over the coming weeks,
according to industry scheduling publication Routes Online, as anti-government
protests in the city grow increasingly violent and disrupt daily life.
Routes online said latest schedules showed cancellations from PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA.JK), India’s SpiceJet Ltd SPJT.NS, Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd (AIRA.KL), and the Philippines’ PAL Holdings Inc (PAL.PS) and Cebu Air Inc (CEB.PS).
The cuts come as Hong Kong police on Monday fired tear gas at protesters trying to escape a besieged university, while others armed with petrol bombs awaited an expected operation to oust them.
---- On Monday,
Routes Online showed Garuda has reduced weekly flights to Hong Kong to four
from 21 through mid-December, SpiceJet has suspended its Mumbai-Hong Kong route
through Jan. 15 and AirAsia has cut flights from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu
in December and January.
---- Airport
Authority Hong Kong on Sunday reported an October decline of 13% in passengers
and 6.1% in the number of inbound and outbound flights - the steepest falls
since the unrest began. It said a growing proportion of travellers were using
Hong Kong as a transit point rather than a destination.
More
Some foreigners with full bellies and nothing better to do
engage in finger-pointing at us. First, China does not export revolution;
second, it does not export famine and poverty; and third, it does not mess
around with you. So what else is there to say?
Xi Jinping
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner.
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled
over.
Today, more on America’s growing farm recession. While the Fed fuels the
Wall Street bubble, in the real economy, manufacturing, farming, mining and
freight are all in recession.
U.S. stock market at record but farm bankruptcies at highest since 2011
By Clive
McKeef Published: Nov 16, 2019 4:55
p.m. ET
While U.S. stock market is soaring to new record highs,
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
+0.80% hitting 28,000 on Friday,
farmers are having trouble paying their bills in the heart of America’s
agricultural sector.Farms incomes are falling in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and portions of western Missouri and northern New Mexico, according to the Kansas City Federal Reserve.
Farm income fell in each state within the district from a year ago and credit conditions in the Federal Reserve’s Tenth District deteriorated in the third quarter despite an increase in the price of certain commodities and additional government aid to farmers.
Farm household spending and capital spending both declined, with bankers in the Kansas Fed’s region saying they expect the trends to continue.
See also: U.S. stocks climb to fresh records on revived hope for U.S. - China trade deal
Farmers have struggled to escape a downturn that began in 2013, a slump made worse by President Trump’s trade war with China, Mexico and Canada that cut exports and depressed already low prices, while extreme weather including flooding, a freeze, and drought early in 2019 added to farming woes.
In other districts such as Iowa, farm finances are also faltering. About 85% of Iowa land is used for farmland and it’s ranked first in U.S. corn and egg production and one-third of the country’s hogs are raised in Iowa.
Iowa farm debt hit $18.9 billion in the second quarter, the highest level in the nation, according to Ohio State University agricultural lending data.
Despite President Trump’s agriculture bailouts, Iowa farmers continue to see their financial condition erode, with 44% of producers last year struggling to cover their bills, an Iowa State University report shows.
“It’s very, very concerning,” said Alejandro Plastina, the Iowa State
agricultural economist who conducted the study. “It’s getting harder and harder
for farm operations to cash-flow their business.”
Plastina expects farmers’ struggles to continue this year, with a tough
growing season and dim prospects for improved prices. Record spring rain
hampered planting, leaving nearly 464,000 acres unplanted. And the fall harvest
has been slowed by rain, sub-freezing temperatures and snow.
The Trump administration rolled out a total of $28 billion in farm
assistance packages over the past two years to offset losses due to the trade
war, but Plastina said the assistance Iowa farmers received has only slowed,
but not reversed, the trend of financial decline for farmers.
Farmers have worked to lower costs and restructure debt, shrinking
payments and freeing up cash. Some growers also have sold unneeded equipment
and land to keep operations afloat.
Nationwide U.S. farm bankruptcies in September surged 24% to their highest level since 2011 amid strains from President Trump’s trade war with China and a year of wild weather.
In the 12 months through September, there were 580 Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy filings, the most since 2011, the American Farm Bureau Federation reports. Wisconsin, which was among the top five milk-producing states in 2018, had the highest number: 48.
More
We will never allow anyone, any organization, or any political
party, at any time or in any form, to separate any part of Chinese territory
from China.
Xi Jinping
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?
Today, for the EV
enthusiast with money to burn.
Morris JE van among the most adorable electric vehicles this lifetime
November
14, 2019
We
knew the all-electric
Morris J-type redux was going to be cool, but we weren't
quite prepared for just how much we want to pinch its chubby little fenders.
Combine those fenders with the buttery-smooth, arched roof, body-color wheels,
beady headlights and creased windshield, and you have a van that's delightfully
British retro. Below its mid 20th century-influenced skin, the JE packs a
cutting-edge electric powertrain and modular chassis that could lead to
additional variants, including a pickup truck and camper van. Yes, please.
Rather than simply recreate the original J-type, a van it likens to the
Mini and Land Rover Defender in terms of legendary Britishness, Morris
Commercial reimagines the classic as a proper modern-day light commercial
vehicle, pulling out creases and rounding corners with ultralight carbon fiber
construction.
The pear-shaped grille is there, but not quite so large and a little
smoother than the original. The split windshield is also subtler, an off-color
crease rising to a slight spine that splits the rounded roof. The profile is
cleaner, the inset sliding curbside door replaced by a flush combination of
front passenger door and sliding rear cabin door. The fenders and headlamps are
as distinctive as ever, but more cleanly integrated into the greater body
aesthetic.
The
original Morris J-type relied on a forward-control engine layout for its
hoodless front-end and tiny overhang, but the new JE steps into the present
with a decentralized electric powertrain. Power is supplied by a lithium-ion
battery offering up to 200 miles (322 km) of range with help from the
lightweight carbon fiber design.
Morris
believes the JE will quickly find a passionate customer base among companies
looking to stand out from the pack with a unique, eco-friendly promotional or
utility van. The 2.5-tonne van offers a payload of 1 tonne (2,200 lb), with 5.5
cu m (194 cu ft) of storage accessed straight through the rear double doors.
Morris debuted the JE on Tuesday at The Design Museum in London. It plans to begin production in late 2021, selling the JE for a base price of £60,000 (approx. US$77,275). About those other body styles, Morris says: "The vehicle benefits from a lightweight, modular chassis, making it highly adaptable for future derivatives, such as a pickup, minibus or camper van." It also vows to never produce an ICE-based vehicle, so any future models will also be electrified.
$60K plus the cost of conversion might be a bit rich in a market that sells sweet camper vans like the Le-Tour for under £35,000, but the JE certainly would make a stylish, little pop-top with the ability to glamp up the campsite by using extra battery power for accessories like TVs and electric cooking appliances.
Pictures.
Source: Morris Commercial
Capital is
that part of the wealth of a country which is employed in production and
consists of food, clothing, tools, raw materials, etc., necessary to give
effect to labour.
David Ricardo,
economist.
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished October
DJIA: 27,046 +59 Up. NASDAQ: 8,292 +67 Up. SP500: 3,038 +67 Up.
No comments:
Post a Comment