Baltic Dry Index. 1317 +53 Brent Crude 43.74
Spot Gold 1963
Coronavirus Cases 30/7/20
World 17,123,154
Deaths 668,626
If
anything can go wrong, it will.
Murphy’s
law.
To
no one’s great surprise, the Fed left interest rates unchanged yesterday and
again promised to leave them that way into 2022.
With
global Covid-19 cases surging past 17 million, and the global economy starting
to shut down again, that 2022 target may be off by a few years.
Oh
well, time to dress up the stock casinos for the month-end bonuses.
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged
July 29, 2020 /
3:26 PM / Updated July 29, 2020 at 4:24 PM
July 29 (UPI) -- The Federal Reserve left its benchmark lending rate unchanged and near zero Wednesday, saying the economy is still "well below" pre-pandemic levels.
The Fed lowered the rates twice in March as a result of the coronavirus, and kept the figure at 0% to 0.25%.
"The coronavirus outbreak is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world," a statement from the Federal Open Market Committee said. "Following sharp declines, economic activity and employment have picked up somewhat in recent months but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year."
The Fed blamed weaker demand and lower oil prices for keeping consumer price inflation down. It also said COVID-19 is keeping employment down and promises to do so for the medium term.
In June, the Fed said it doesn't expect to raise the federal funds rate until at least 2022.
The major markets closed the day with gains after the news as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 160.29 points, or 0.61%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.24% and the Nasdaq Composite increased 1.35%.
Gold prices also hit an all-time high for the second time this week, rising 0.5% to $1953.50, while the dollar fell 0.2% against currencies used by major trading partners.
Back
in the real economy and in the rear-view mirror, a historic GDP drop is expected
to be announced later in the day. Boeing crashes yet again.
U.S. economy likely suffered historic plunge in second-quarter; outlook murky as COVID-19 cases surge
July 30, 2020 /
5:11 AM
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely contracted at its steepest pace since the
Great Depression in the second quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed
consumer and business spending, potentially wiping out more than five years of
growth.
The bulk of the historic plunge in gross domestic product expected to be
reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday occurred in April when activity
almost ground to an abrupt halt after restaurants, bars and factories among
others were shuttered in mid-March to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Though activity picked up starting in May, momentum has slowed amid a
resurgence in new cases of the illness, especially in the densely populated
South and West regions where authorities in hard-hit areas are closing
businesses again or pausing reopenings. That has tempered hopes of a sharp
rebound in growth in the third quarter.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday acknowledged the
slowdown in activity. The U.S. central bank kept interest rates near zero and
pledged to continue pumping money into the economy.
“The bottom fell out of the economy in the second quarter,” said Sung
Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in
Los Angeles. “The outlook is not very good. Americans are not behaving well in
terms of social distancing, the infection rate is unacceptably high and that
means economic growth cannot gain any traction.”
Gross domestic product probably collapsed at a 34.1% annualized rate
last quarter, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be the
deepest decline in output since the government started keeping records in 1947.
The drop in GDP would be more than triple the previous all-time decline
of 10% in the second quarter of 1958. On a non-annualized basis, GDP likely
tumbled 10.6%. The economy contracted 5% in the first quarter.
More
Boeing begins new round of layoffs after posting $2.4B loss
July 29, 2020 /
12:52 PM
July 29 (UPI) -- U.S. aviation giant Boeing said Wednesday it's considering further
job cuts and will reduce production due to depressed air travel brought on by
the COVID-19
pandemic.The company made the remarks as it reported a $2.4 billion loss for the second quarter of 2020. Its commercial aircraft unit saw a 65% loss in revenue.
---- Boeing said earlier this year it planned to reduce its workforce by 10%, or abut 16,000 employees.
"Regretfully, the prolonged impact of COVID-19 causing further reductions in our production rates and lower demand for commercial services means we'll have to further assess the size of our workforce," Calhoun added.
"The first wave of associates affected by [layoffs] received notification in May, and we continue to conduct smaller, phased workforce reductions to reach this target. Managers are communicating the latest wave of those reductions beginning today.
"The reality is the pandemic's impact on the aviation sector continues to be severe ... While there have been some encouraging signs, we estimate it will take around three years to return to 2019 passenger levels."
Boeing said in May its 737 program resumed early stages of production, and it plans to slowly increase production of the model to 31 per month by the beginning of 2022.
The company said this month customers had canceled dozens of 737 Max orders, bringing the total number of cancellations this year to 323.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/07/29/Boeing-begins-new-round-of-layoffs-after-posting-24B-loss/5711596038846/
Almost 30 Million in U.S. Didn’t Have Enough to Eat Last Week
In the bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey, roughly 23.9 million of 249 million respondents indicated they had “sometimes not enough to eat” for the week ended July 21, while about 5.42 million indicated they had “often not enough to eat.” The survey, which began with the week ended May 5, was published Wednesday.
The number of respondents who sometimes had insufficient food was at its highest point in the survey’s 12 weeks. The number who often experienced food insufficiency was at its highest since the week ended May 26.
This follows deep recession resulting from the pandemic, which put
millions of Americans out of work. Unemployed Americans have been receiving an
extra $600 per week benefit, which is set to expire at the end of July as
Congress debates a new relief package.
Other high-frequency data, including Household Pulse jobs numbers,
indicate that the U.S. economic recovery may be stalling out at virus cases
spike around the country and states roll back their reopening plans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/markets/almost-30-million-in-us-didn-e2-80-99t-have-enough-to-eat-last-week/ar-BB17ldBN
Meanwhile
China is looking ahead to more US sanctions, and trade and payments difficulties.
Chinese banks urged to switch away from SWIFT as U.S. sanctions loom
July 29, 2020 /
9:00 AM
BEIJING (Reuters)
- China should prepare for potential U.S. sanctions by increasing use of its
own financial messaging network for cross-border transactions in the mainland,
Hong Kong and Macau, according to a report from the investment banking unit of
Bank of China.
Chinese state lenders have been revamping contingency plans in
anticipation of U.S. legislation that could penalise banks for serving
officials who implement the new national security for Hong Kong, Reuters
reported earlier this month.
Greater use of the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) instead
of the Belgium based SWIFT system would also reduce exposure of China’s global
payments data to the United States, BOC International (BOCI) said in the
report, which was co-authored by a former foreign exchange regulator.
The bank’s chief economist Guan Tao was previously a director of the
international payments department of State Administration of Foreign Exchange
(SAFE).
The report looked at potential measures the United States could take
against Chinese banks, including cutting off their access to the SWIFT
financial messaging service, a primary network used by banks globally to make
financial transactions.
“A good punch to the enemy will save yourself from hundreds of punches
from your enemies,” the report wrote, amid deteriorating relating between the
world’s two largest economies. “We need to get prepared in advance, mentally
and practically.”
China launched the CIPS clearing and settlement services system in 2015
to help internationalise use of the yuan. Supervised by the central bank, CIPS
said it processed 135.7 billion yuan (14.96 billion pounds) a day in 2019, with
participation from 96 countries and regions.
More
Hong Kong arrests 4 student activists under new security law
July 30, 2020 /
12:04 AM
July 29 (UPI) -- Hong Kong Police on Wednesday arrested four student protesters for
creating a new organization promoting Hong Kong independence, becoming some of
the first people to be arrested under a new controversial national security
law.Senior Superintendent Li Wai-wah of the police's newly created National Security Department told reporters that the three males and one female between the ages of 16 and 21 were arrested at about 3 p.m. Wednesday in separate locations throughout the city.
Referring to them as a "syndicate," Li said the four students had broken a new but controversial national security law that went into effect July 1 that criminalizes acts of secession, sedition, subversion, terrorism and working with foreign agencies to undermine the national security of China in Hong Kong.
The four students were accused of creating an organization to unite all pro-independence groups in Hong Kong, Li said, explaining the action was in breach of articles 20 and 21 of the new law, which concern acts of secession.
"We found that this organization posted in a social media of the establishment of a new party that will promote the independence of Hong Kong," he said.
Police did not reveal the suspects' names but prominent Hong Kong activists said one of those who were detained was Tony Chung, a member of Studentlocalism, a pro-Hong Kong independence group.
"Arrestes' mobile phones were hacked by unknown Huawei and Samsung phones soon after their arrests," Wong tweeted. "Tonight's arrest will clearly send a chilling effect on [Hong Kong] online speech."
Studentlocalism confirmed via Twitter that four of its members were arrested, stating they were being detained at three separate police stations and would be giving their statements on Thursday.
"The four will not be released on bail," it said
More
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/07/30/Hong-Kong-arrests-4-student-activists-under-new-security-law/9541596077305/
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to
worse.
Murphy’s second law.
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Australia posts record number of new coronavirus cases
Issued
on:
Australia on Thursday reported a record number of new coronavirus
infections and its deadliest day of the pandemic so far following a spike in
cases at elderly care homes.
Days after authorities expressed hope that a Melbourne lockdown -- now
in its third week -- was bringing persistent outbreaks under control, the surge
is a potent warning that the country's initial success in managing COVID-19 can
quickly unravel.
Thirteen deaths and 723 positive tests were reported in the southeastern
state of Victoria alone, well beyond the previous nationwide record of 549
cases set on Monday.
Premier Daniel Andrews indicated the leap, was in part, linked to a
surge in cases in aged care homes.
Most of those who died were aged in their 70s-90s.
At one of the worst-hit facilities, Epping Gardens, an ambulance was
seen Wednesday taking away the body of one of the deceased residents.
Health workers rolled other masked residents on stretchers to waiting
ambulances for transfer to hospital.
The rest of the country remained on high alert as three new cases were
reported in Queensland and several schools in Sydney were shuttered overnight
amid growing fears that the country's largest city may also be tipping toward
an uncontrollable outbreak.
New South Wales reported 18 new cases, roughly in line with previous
days.
Australia has been one of the most successful countries in containing
the pandemic, with most states and territories reporting few or no new cases in
recent weeks.
But Melbourne has had thousands of new infections since mid-June, an
outbreak initially blamed on security bungles at hotels where returning
international travellers were under mandatory quarantine.
More
Study detects heart damage in majority of recovered COVID-19 patients
Rich Haridy July 28, 2020
A pair of newly published studies in the journal JAMA Cardiology
highlight the potential for long-term heart complications in recovered COVID-19
patients. The research suggests the virus can directly damage cardiovascular
muscles with ongoing inflammation detectable months after recovery, even in
patients originally suffering a mild form of the disease.
While much attention has been focused on the volume of deaths caused by
COVID-19, now that we are six months into this global pandemic researchers are
beginning to see signs of chronic health problems in recovered patients. Only
now are clinicians starting to get a glimpse at the potential persistent health
consequences of this new virus, and two new studies offer insights into the
cardiovascular impact of COVID-19.
The first new study investigated 100 recovered COVID-19 patients (median age of 49 years old), an average of 71 days after initial diagnosis. Using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) the study detected cardiovascular abnormalities in 78 percent of the recovered patients. Signs of myocardial inflammation were detected in 60 percent of the subjects. These abnormal results were compared to a healthy age-matched control group, and independent of any cardiovascular disease diagnosed before the patients presented with COVID-19.
Most notably, only 33 percent of the cohort studied required
hospitalization during the course of their COVID-19 infection. This suggests a
degree of cardiovascular damage seems to result from the disease regardless of
the severity of the acute illness or the presence of any pre-existing
conditions.
“Our findings demonstrate that participants with a relative paucity of
preexisting cardiovascular condition and with mostly home-based recovery had
frequent cardiac inflammatory involvement, which was similar to the
hospitalized subgroup with regards to severity and extent,” the researchers
write in the study.
More
Vietnam says every city, province now at risk of virus infection
July 29, 2020 /
5:16 AM
HANOI
(Reuters) - Vietnam, virus-free for months, was bracing for another wave of
COVID-19 infections on Wednesday after state media reported new cases in Hanoi,
Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands linked to a recent outbreak in the
central city of Danang.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the current wave of infections was
different to the second wave Vietnam fought in March and every province and
city in the Southeast Asian country was at risk, state broadcaster Vietnam
Television (VTV) reported.
Thanks to a centralised quarantine programme and an aggressive
contact-tracing system, Vietnam had managed to keep its coronavirus tally to
just 446 cases, despite sharing a border with China.
With over 95 million people, Vietnam is the most populous country in the
world to have recorded no deaths from the virus, and until now no locally
transmitted infections had been reported for months.
That record is now under threat following an outbreak last weekend in
Danang, where tens of thousands of domestic tourists were vacationing thanks to
discounted travel deals.
The government on Tuesday suspended all flights to and from Danang for
15 days. At least 30 cases of the novel coronavirus have been detected in or
around the city.
About 18,000 tourists who had been in Danang have returned to the
southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City, authorities said on Tuesday.
Hanoi authorities had earlier said they were expecting 15,000 to 20,000
to return from Danang.
Prime Minister Phuc said tourist hubs throughout the country had to step
up vigilance, and that Danang must go under “strict lockdown”, VTV said.
More
Some useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
resource centre
Rt Covid-19
Covid19info.live
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.
22 July2020
Graphene@Manchester labs reopen for research and business
World-class research and innovation at the ‘Home of Graphene’ is back on site, as The University of Manchester reopens its facilities following the campus-wide closure of buildings in March.Staff at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) have spent a number of weeks carefully managing the process of reopening their laboratories and multi-user facilities.
NGI Director Professor Vladimir Falko (pictured right) said the graphene research community remained active throughout lockdown and, with researchers returning to their labs, they will rapidly reboot their fundamental and applied research programmes.
“During the COVID-19 closure, NGI researchers continued to work remotely, analysing data, developing theoretical models for 2D materials, planning new experiments and attending the popular Friday afternoon graphene seminars online – but everyone is more than eager to get back to action in their labs,” said Vladimir.
“Thanks to the effort of the NGI’s professional support staff, the building has been efficiently prepared for reopening - and special thanks must go to [technical managers] John Whittaker, Polly Greensmith and colleagues in Estates and Cleaning Services.”
Phased reopening
By the end of July, as part of a phased programme, all of the NGI labs will reopen and be operating at about 25% personnel capacity, with researchers keeping social distancing in the labs and throughout the building. This includes the world-first ultra-high vacuum 2D materials transfer system - the bespoke ‘UHV 2DM press’ - which has been designed for the research group led by Dr Roman Gorbachev.Several characterisation laboratories have now reopened, including the metrology-class magneto-transport suite hosting a 10 milli-Kelvin cryostat and a 14 Tesla magnet, optical characterisation facilities, and the nanocomposites laboratories.
More
No
nation was ever ruined by trade.
Benjamin
Franklin.
The Monthly Coppock Indicators finished June
DJIA: 25,813 -2 Down. NASDAQ: 10,059 +196 Up.
SP500: 3,100 +75 Down.
The NASDAQ has remained up.
The S&P and the DJIA still remain down despite the best efforts of the Fed
to get them to go higher. The Dow has now gone negative.
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