Baltic Dry Index. 407 +14 Brent Crude 32.50
Spot Gold 1744
U.S. moves to cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers as China eyes retaliation
May 15, 2020 / 11:34 AM
A new rule,
unveiled by the Commerce Department and first reported by Reuters, expands U.S.
authority to require licenses for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad
with U.S. technology, vastly expanding its reach to halt exports to the world’s
No. 2 smartphone maker.
“This action
puts America first, American companies first, and American national security
first,” a senior Commerce Department official told reporters in a telephone
briefing on Friday.
Huawei, the
world’s top telecoms equipment maker, did not respond to a request for comment.
News of the move against the firm hit European stocks as traders sold into the day’s gains, while shares of chip equipment makers such as Lam Research (LRCX.O) and KLA Corp (KLAC.O) closed down 6.4% and 4.8%, respectively, in U.S. trading.
The reaction from China was swift, with a report on Friday by China’s Global Times saying Beijing was ready to put U.S. companies on an “unreliable entity list,” as part of countermeasures in response to the new limits on Huawei.
The measures include launching investigations and imposing restrictions on U.S. companies such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), as well as suspending purchases of Boeing Co (BA.N) airplanes, the report said here citing a source.
The Commerce Department’s rule, effective Friday but with a 120-day grace period, also hits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (2330.TW), the biggest contract chipmaker and key Huawei supplier, which announced plans to build a U.S.-based plant on Thursday.
TSMC said on Friday it is “following the U.S. export rule change closely” and working with outside counsel to “conduct legal analysis and ensure a comprehensive examination and interpretation of these rules.”
Wave of COVID-19 bankruptcies poses next threat to US economy
John BIERS, AFP •May 14, 2020
New York
(AFP) - Larger companies have generally survived the initial blow from the
coronavirus crisis, but still face existential challenges to get through what
will probably be a long and grinding recovery.
Since
COVID-19 shuttered much of the global economy, airlines, major retail chains,
oil companies and other hard-hit businesses have been able to tap bank
facilities and public debt markets for the funds they need to keep paying the
bills and stay afloat.
But many
firms now bleeding cash are in for a tough ride until the economy fully
rebounds, which likely will come only after a vaccine is developed and broadly
employed.
That has
raised worries about a much bigger wave of bankruptcies beyond the handful of
retailers that have sought to restructure through the US process known as
"Chapter 11."
The US
Congress moved with remarkable speed to approve rescue measures for small
businesses, large industries and workers, amounting to nearly $3 trillion.
But that
infusion simply "bought time... it postponed" bankruptcies, David
Kotok, cofounder of Cumberland Advisors, said of the massive federal push to
support the economy.
Kotok -- who
thinks it will take around five years for the US economy to fully recover --
expects casualties in other sectors, including travel, leisure, real estate,
energy and "more that haven't surfaced yet," he told AFP this week.
Federal
Reserve Chief Jay Powell warned Wednesday of a potential "wave of
bankruptcies" that could cause lasting harm to the world's largest
economy, and said more fiscal support may be needed to prevent the devastation,
despite the massive cost.
Powell, who
has launched a host of key programs to support credit markets and provide funds
directly to companies, said there are limits to how far the Fed can go.
"We
can make loans to solvent businesses," Powell said, but cautioned that
"The passage of time is all that is needed for a liquidity problem to turn
into a solvency problem."
More
https://news.yahoo.com/wave-covid-19-bankruptcies-poses-next-threat-us-012544535--finance.htmlGermany plunges into recession as coronavirus hits - posts sharpest GDP contraction since global financial crisis
· The German
economy plunged into recession as the country's federal statistics authority
released grim data showing a contraction of 2.2% on Friday.
· The economy's
decline reflects its biggest quarterly drop since the global financial crisis
and its second largest fall since German unification.
· Germany is the latest country in Europe to
enter recession during the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, the UK posted a
first-quarter contraction of 2.2%. France and Spain shrank by 5.8% and 5.2%,
respectively. The eurozone economy fell by its "sharpest on record"
at 3.8%.
Germany plunged into recession at the start of 2020, with Europe's biggest economy shrinking 2.2% in the first three months of the year, according to data released Friday by the German statistics authority.
"The corona pandemic hits the German economy hard. Although the spread of the coronavirus did not have a major effect on the economic performance in January and February, the impact of the pandemic is serious for the 1st quarter of 2020," Destatis, the country's data authority, said in its statement.
The German economy's decline reflects its biggest quarterly drop since the global financial and economic crash of 2009 and the second-largest decrease since German unification.
More
Fitch lowers outlook on France debt rating to negative
Issued on:
The
international ratings agency Fitch on Friday lowered the outlook on France's
sovereign debt from "stable" to "negative" in view of the
anticipated deterioration in the country's public finances and economy this
year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Fitch
said in a statement that it was nevertheless maintaining France's long-term
credit rating at "AA" for the time being.
"The
revision of the outlook reflects the substantial worsening in public finances
and economic activity expected this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic,"
Fitch said.
"The
combination of much reduced economic activity due to containment measures
introduced from March and government policies to support the economy in the
period of enforced reduced activity will sharply increase government borrowing
and indebtedness."
The
deterioration of France's public finances comes at a time when its debt levels
were already comparatively high and when it had made only "limited
progress in fiscal consolidation since the global financial crisis" of
2008 and when real economic growth was only "moderate", the statement
said.
Fitch now
has two years during which it may possibly downgrade France's debt rating.
At the
beginning of April, rival ratings agency S&P maintained France's credit
rating at "AA" and the outlook at "stable".
UK manufacturers less confident about swift return to work - survey
May 15, 2020 / 12:11 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - British manufacturers think it will take
longer to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 than just a couple of
weeks ago, according to an industry survey on Friday. Three-quarters do not think business will be back to normal within six months, and 36% think it will take more than a year - twice the proportion two weeks ago, trade body Make UK said.
“It’s clear that it is going to be a long road back to anything like normal trading conditions and, despite the lockdown beginning to be lifted, there will be a significant impact on companies and jobs for some time to come,” Make UK’s chief executive, Stephen Phipson, said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that workplaces such as factories and building sites that had not been told to close due to the coronavirus should resume operations where it was safe to do so.
Ford (F.N) said on Wednesday that it would restart production at two British engine factories on May 18.
---- Official figures on Wednesday showed factory output fell by 4.6% in March, and the economy as a whole shrank by an unprecedented 5.8% in what is likely to be a far bigger collapse in activity in the months when the lockdown is in full effect.
Make UK said
almost 90% of manufacturers were operating to some extent but more than 83% had
suffered a fall in orders. Some 22% said their order book had fallen by more
than half.
The survey
of 197 companies was carried out between May 4 and May 11.
On the coronavirus crisis front, some
good news and some not so good news. But ready or not, more and more places are
easing or lifting their lockdown restraints. Right or wrong we should know over
the next month.
Antimicrobial surface coating kills coronavirus for 90 days: study
Issued on:
A specially
formulated antimicrobial coating can keep surfaces clear of a human coronavirus
for up to 90 days with just one application, a preliminary study said Friday,
suggesting a new line of defense against COVID-19.
The paper by
researchers at the University of Arizona (UA), which has not yet been
peer-reviewed, found that the amount of virus on coated surfaces reduced by 90
percent in 10 minutes and by 99.9 percent in two hours.
Charles
Gerba, a microbiologist at UA who was the study's senior author, told AFP the
technology was "the next advancement in infection control."
"I
think it's mostly important for high-use surfaces like subways and buses,
because you could disinfect them but then the next people that come in there
will recontaminate the surfaces," he said.
"It's
not a substitute for regular cleaning and disinfecting, but it covers you in
between regular disinfecting and cleaning."
The UA team
tested a coating specifically designed to act against viruses that was
developed by the company Allied BioScience, which also funded their study.
The
researchers carried out their testing on human coronavirus 229E, which is
similar in structure and genetics to SARS-CoV-2 but causes only mild cold
symptoms and was therefore safer to use.
The coating
works by "denaturing" the virus' proteins -- effectively twisting
them out of shape -- and attacking its protective layer of fat.
The
colorless substance is sprayed on surfaces, and has to be reapplied every three
to four months.
The
technology behind so-called self-disinfecting coatings has been around for
almost a decade, and has previously been used in hospitals to fight against the
spread of infection, including against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
A 2019 paper
by UA researchers found that coatings reduced hospital-acquired infections by
36 percent.
More
Nearly 40% of low-income workers lost their jobs in March
New York (CNN Business)The Federal
Reserve Bank on Thursday reported just how unequally the coronavirus-induced
economic downturn is hitting Americans.
On one hand, lower-income people are
getting slammed. Nearly 40% of those with a household income below $40,000
reported a job loss in March, according to the Economic Well-Being of US Households report.
At the same time, for the majority of
adults, their income and ability to pay current bills appeared to remain
generally stable during the initial weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Also
essentially unchanged was the percentage of people who reported they could pay
off an unexpected $400 emergency expense entirely using cash, savings, or a
credit card at the next statement.
The findings back up other reports that
show that lower-income Americans, as well as black and Hispanic people,
are bearing the brunt of the outbreak's financial fallout. They are more likely
to work in sectors that are laying off or furloughing workers,
such as food services. More than one in five Americans have filed initial jobless claims
since the pandemic began.
From the start of March through early
April 2020, 19% of adults said they lost a job, were furloughed or had their
hours reduced, the Fed report found. More than one-third of these folks
expected to have difficulty paying their bills in April.
Some 64% of adults who reported a job loss
or reduction in hours expected to be able to pay all their bills in full in
April, compared to 85% of those without an employment disruption.
But nine in 10 people who lost a job
reported that their employer indicated that they would return to
work, though
their bosses did not say when that would occur.
More
Why millions of Americans are losing health coverage during COVID-19 pandemic
Posted: May 14, 2020 4:00 AM ETMillions of Americans have been hit with a double blow during this pandemic: they're out of work and without health insurance if they get sick.
Not only is the U.S. different from other developed nations by not providing universal coverage. It's also distinct in that most working-age people rely on their job to provide health insurance.
The way it usually works is people get an insurance package when they start a new job. In normal times, most Americans tell pollsters they like their plan.
These aren't normal times.
Unemployment is skyrocketing, with a historic 10-percentage-point jump in one month. Thirty-six million people have applied for jobless benefits since mid-March, according to the latest release from the U.S. Department of Labour.
A new estimate from the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation says nearly 27 million people will lose their health plan, and while most will qualify for a subsidized backup plan, nearly six million won't.
That follows similar findings from the Economic Policy Institute and Urban Institute that suggest at least seven million people will be left without coverage.
It's creating a medical crisis-within-a-crisis with the potential to shape the U.S. presidential campaign.
One of the country's best-known health-policy experts sees an alignment of conditions that could trigger a reform that has eluded U.S. politicians for generations: guaranteed health care for all citizens.
"What [the pandemic] really does is force us to figure out how we're going to get to universal coverage," said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who not only served a senior role in the Obama White House but has been tapped for health-policy advice by President Donald Trump.
The U.S. medical system is really four systems that wind up covering most Americans: workplace plans; plans sold to individuals under the so-called Obamacare law; and two public programs, Medicare for seniors and Medicaid for low-income people.
Most people who lose a job are eligible for a backup health plan. But then they face a hodge-podge of regulations, and whether they qualify depends on the rules in their state, their income and the date they apply.
More
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-health-insurance-woes-1.5567896 China confirms unauthorised labs were told to destroy early coronavirus samples
·
National health authority says this was done for
biosafety reasons and to ‘prevent secondary disasters caused by unidentified
pathogens’
·
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said
Beijing declined to provide samples and destroyed them at the start of the
outbreak
Zhuang Pinghui in Beijing Published:
8:04pm, 15 May, 2020
China on
Friday confirmed it had ordered unauthorised laboratories to destroy samples of
the new
coronavirus in the early
stage of the outbreak, but said it was done for biosafety reasons.
US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly said that Beijing declined to provide virus
samples taken from patients when the contagion began in China late last year,
and that Chinese authorities had destroyed early samples.
Liu
Dengfeng, an official with the National Health Commission’s science and
education department, said this was done at unauthorised labs to “prevent the
risk to laboratory biological safety and prevent secondary disasters caused by
unidentified pathogens”.
“The remarks made by some US officials
were taken out of context and intended to confuse,” he said at a briefing in
Beijing.
When the
pneumonia-like illness was first reported in Wuhan, “national-level
professional institutes” were working to identify the pathogen that was causing
it, Liu said.
“Based on
comprehensive research and expert opinion, we decided to temporarily manage the
pathogen causing the pneumonia as Class II – highly pathogenic – and imposed
biosafety requirements on sample collection, transport and experimental activities,
as well as destroying the samples,” he said.
---- Tensions have escalated between
Beijing and Washington as they trade accusations over the origin of the virus,
which has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide, and China is under
mounting international pressure to allow an inquiry into its handling of the
pandemic.
More
How official figures may hide true virus death toll
Issued on:
15/05/2020 - 11:30
The
coronavirus has now taken 300,000 lives globally, according to official
figures. But depending on the way deaths are counted, the real human cost could
be far greater.
The official
figures include only those deaths attributed to coronavirus, but experts are
increasingly looking at data comparing this year's death rates with previous
years -- regardless of the official cause.
This
"excess deaths" metric raises the spectre of a much higher toll, as
it includes fatalities indirectly related to the virus -- for example, people
suffering from other illnesses who could not access treatment because of the
strain the pandemic has placed on hospitals.
Throughout
the crisis, methods of data compilation have differed widely between nations,
making direct comparisons difficult.
In Italy,
between February 20 and March 31, 12,428 people were recorded as having died of
the coronavirus. But in the same period, authorities noted 25,354 "excess
deaths" compared with the average of the five previous years.
For the
United States, the difference is even more striking: according to data for
March, before the country was hit by the worst of the pandemic, the number of
excess deaths reached 6,000 -- more than triple the official COVID-19 toll.
Even in
Germany, widely considered by experts to have handled the outbreak better than
other EU countries, 3,706 deaths more than the average were noted in March,
even as the official virus toll was 2,218.
In France,
by contrast, for the period from March 1 to April 27, the COVID-19 toll of
23,291 is very close to the total number -- 24,116 -- of additional deaths
compared with 2019.
- 'Indirect
effects' -
Even without
a standardised counting method, excess mortality data is the best indicator of
how the virus has impacted different countries, said professor Yvonne Doyle,
the medical director of Public Health England.
"This
is a comparable measure internationally. So we would then be able to understand
how we have been impacted internationally as well," she said.
‘It’s a completely different world’: Tourists make up two-thirds of Broadway’s audience and theatergoers skew older
Theater fans won’t be able to give their regards to Broadway in person until September at the earliest. And certain factors could prevent New York City’s theaters from reopening for quite some time.The Broadway League, the trade group that represents theater owners and producers, announced Tuesday that Broadway performances would be canceled through at least Sept. 6 because of the coronavirus outbreak. Theaters are offering exchanges and refunds for tickets purchased for performances through then.
The closure of Broadway, which began in March, has already led producers to pull the plug on some productions. Disney DIS, +2.90% said Thursday that it would close its Broadway musical production of “Frozen” because of the pandemic. Previously, producers said the curtain had fallen for good on the productions of two plays, “Hangmen” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
There’s a significant chance though that performance cancellations will be extended further, said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, because the arts and entertainment industry is in the fourth phase of New York state’s official reopening plan, which calls for gradually putting certain business sectors back online as long as the state meets certain metrics.
“We literally cannot reopen unless there is a confidence in the safety of the cast and crew and theatergoers,” St. Martin told MarketWatch. “So we don’t really know when that will be and that’s part of the challenge we’re facing.”
Guaranteeing
the safety of audiences and theater professionals will be difficult given the
limitations presented by the theaters themselves. Social distancing isn’t
possible in most Broadway theaters, St. Martin said.
‘Social
distancing just doesn’t allow a show to be viable financially.’
Many of the
theaters are over 100 years old, and feature narrow aisles, seats arranged very
close together and tiny bathrooms. Audience sizes would need to be reduced
significantly to adhere to health experts’ guidelines to keep people six feet
away from each other.
---- But even setting aside the troublesome logistics of reopening, there are other factors that will limit Broadway’s ability to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.
Tourists make up two-thirds of Broadway’s audience
During the 2018-2019 season, tourists from outside the New York metropolitan areas purchased 65% of the tickets sold for Broadway shows, according to data from the Broadway League. And nearly one in five Broadway audience members was visiting from abroad.With such a large share of the audience for a Broadway show on any given day being made up of out-of-town visitors, Broadway’s ability to bounce back will very much depend on New York City’s tourism sector’s ability to return to full strength.
---- New York is highly dependent on Broadway reopening in order to thrive in a post-coronavirus world. In its last season, Broadway contributed $14.7 billion worth of economic impact to the Big Apple.
“That’s
people who stay in the hotels and eat in the restaurant because they’re here to
see a Broadway show,” St. Martin said.
More
Mineral Production to Soar as Demand for Clean Energy Increases
May 11, 2020
WASHINGTON, May 11, 2020 — A
new World Bank Group report finds that the production of
minerals, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, could increase by nearly 500%
by 2050, to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies. It estimates
that over 3 billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind,
solar and geothermal power, as well as energy storage, required for achieving a
below 2°C future.The report “Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition” also finds that even though clean energy technologies will require more minerals, the carbon footprint of their production—from extraction to end use—will account for only 6% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuel technologies. The report underscores the important role that recycling and reuse of minerals will play in meeting increasing mineral demand. It also notes that even if we scale up recycling rates for minerals like copper and aluminum by 100%, recycling and reuse would still not be enough to meet the demand for renewable energy technologies and energy storage.
In the current global context, COVID-19 is causing major disruptions to the mining industry across the world. In addition, developing countries that rely on minerals are missing out on essential fiscal revenues and, as their economies start to reopen, they will need to strengthen their commitment to climate-smart mining principles and mitigate any negative impacts.
“COVID-19 could represent an additional risk to sustainable mining, making the commitment of governments and companies to climate-smart practices more important than ever before,” said Riccardo Puliti, World Bank Global Director for Energy and Extractive Industries and Regional Director for Infrastructure in Africa. “This new report builds on the World Bank’s long-standing expertise in supporting the clean energy transition and provides a data-driven tool for understanding how this shift will impact future mineral demand.”
The report reveals that some minerals, like copper and molybdenum, will be used in a range of technologies, while others, such as graphite and lithium, may be needed for just one technology: battery storage. This means that any changes in clean energy technology deployments could have significant consequences on demand for certain minerals.
The report is designed to help governments, especially resource-rich developing countries, the private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs), understand how the clean energy transition will impact future mineral demand. It is part of the joint World Bank-IFC Climate-Smart Mining initiative and builds upon the World Bank’s 2017 report “The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low-Carbon Future.”
Welcome to SRG Mining
SRG Mining Inc. – (TSXV.SRG) is a Canadian-based resource company with the goal of creating shareholder value by becoming a leader in the production and delivery of low-cost, quick-to-market, quality graphite.SRG is focused on developing the Lola graphite deposit, which is located in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. The Lola Graphite occurrence has a prospective surface outline of 3.22 km2 of continuous graphitic gneiss, one of the largest graphitic surface areas in the world. SRG owns 100% of the Lola Graphite Project.
Management is also very optimistic about the nickel-cobalt-scandium deposit, known as the Gogota deposit, located on the same permit as the Lola graphite deposit. SRG will be resuming activities on the Gogota deposit and expects to file a National Instrument (“NI”) 43-101 compliant maiden mineral resource estimate in 2018.
This weekend’s musical diversion. Beethoven for once, and possibly his greatest
piano concerto. Performed here by a
father and son combination.
For clarity, the father is the very
gifted old geezer working hard on the ivories. His son is the conductor of the
very large, noisy orchestra. Both race each other to see who can get to ending
first. The result, a tie.
Will we ever be able to hold such
meetings again? I wouldn’t like to try this with the orchestra and audience all
sitting 6 feet apart. With such a large orchestra, the audience and orchestra
might have to swap places.
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" Op. 73 - Daniele & Maurizio Pollini - Sinfónica de Galicia
There is nothing more
difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its
success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Machiavelli.
The Monthly Coppock Indicators finished April
DJIA: 24,346 +26 Down. NASDAQ: 8,890 +162
Up. SP500: 2,912 +89 Down.
The NASDAQ has rebounded to up. The S&P and the DJIA remain down. But
the game is now totally rigged by the Fed.
No comments:
Post a Comment