Baltic Dry Index. 1317 -71 Brent Crude 43.32
Spot Gold 1935
Coronavirus Cases 27/7/20
World 16,410,572
Deaths 651,426
27 July 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh brings the first tobacco to
England from Virginia. A man with a lot to answer for.
It
is a gloomy day here in the middle Thames Valley this morning, matching events
unfolding in China.
On
the brighter side this morning, Asian stock casino gamblers are all back piling
into technology stocks. Shame that so many US ones picked Chengdu and Sichuan
province to make their Chinese home. Maybe it was the gastronomy that swung it.
Later
this week, possibly today, the markets are expecting news of what US Federal
unemployment supplement programs will replace those about to expire, and at
what cost.
With
estimates ranging from 1 trillion new fiat dollars created out of nothing to 3
trillion, gold will likely continue last week’s near 100 dollar advance.
In
Covid-19 news, Spain seems to leading Europe down the wrong “one-way” street.
Globally, we seem to be running now consistently at a million new cases every
four or five days.
Gold hits record high as U.S.-China ties worsen, Asia stocks helped by tech
July 27, 2020 /
1:42 AM
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Gold hit an all-time high on Monday as tit-for-tat consulate
closures in China and the United States rattled investors, boosting the allure
of safe haven assets, although sentiment was mixed with tech gains supporting
some Asian stocks.
MSCI’s ex-Japan Asia-Pacific index rose 1.3% as Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW), Asia’s third-largest company by market capitalisation, rose almost 10%.
The chipmaker’s gains boosted other tech stocks in the region and came after rival Intel (INTC.O) signalled it may give up manufacturing its own components due to delays in new 7 nanometer chip technology.
Also soothing sentiment, Chinese shares eked out gains after big falls late last week, with CSI300 index .CSI300 rising 0.5%.
S&P500 futures were last up 0.4% in choppy trade while Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.5%, resuming trade after a long weekend and catching up with falls in global shares late last week.
Global shares had lost steam last week after Washington ordered China’s consulate in Houston to close, prompting Beijing to react in kind by closing the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China last week, saying Washington and its allies must use “more creative and assertive ways” to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways.
“U.S. President (Donald) Trump used to say China’s President Xi Jinping
is a great leader. But now Pompeo’s wording is becoming so aggressive that
markets are starting to worry about further escalation,” said Norihiro Fujito,
chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi Securities.
Gold rose 1.0% to a record high of $1,920.9 per ounce, surpassing a peak
touched in September 2011, as Sino-U.S. tensions boosted the allure of safe
haven assets, especially those not tied to any specific country.
The yellow metal is also helped by aggressive monetary easing adopted by
many central banks around the world since the pandemic plunged the global
economy into a recession.
More
In
China news, after the USA kicked out China’s consulate in Houston Texas, China kicked
out America’s consulate in Chengdu. Chengdu in addition to being China’s UNESCO
city of gastronomy, Chengdu is home to US firms Apple, Amazon, Dell, Intel, and
Oracle, among many others.
Nothing
good for either country lies down this road. Nor all too likely, for the rest
of the world either.
China takes over U.S. consulate premises in Chengdu as ties worsen
July 27, 2020 /
2:42 AM
CHENGDU,
China (Reuters) - China said it had taken over the premises of the U.S.
consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Monday after ordering the
facility be shut in retaliation for being ousted from the Chinese consulate in
Houston, Texas.
Police
in Chengdu restricted access to the area around the consulate on Monday
morning, and four officials in personal protective gear were seen walking
towards the consulate at about 10:24 a.m. local time (0224 GMT).
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the consulate was closed as of
10 a.m. It said later that authorities entered the building and took over the
premises.
China ordered the closure of the facility on Friday after Washington
last week gave China 72 hours to vacate its consulate in Houston, in a dramatic
escalation of tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The United States confirmed the closure of the consulate in a farewell
video shared from the U.S. embassy in China’s Twitter account.
“The U.S. consulate in Chengdu has been proudly promoting the mutual understanding
between Americans and the people in Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan and
Tibet since 1985. We will forever miss you,” it said.
---- On Sunday night, a crane was seen entering the consulate compound and hoisting at least one container onto a large truck.
On Saturday evening, a worker was seen using tools including a hammer
and chisel to remove fittings around a plaque outside the main entrance.
U.S.-China relations have plunged to their worst in decades over a range
of disputes, from trade and technology to the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s
territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.
China's June U.S. copper concentrate imports hit highest since Sept 2018
July 26, 2020 /
6:46 AM
HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s imports of copper concentrate from the
United States hit their highest in June since September 2018, customs data
showed on Sunday, as smelters made the most of a trade detente to purchase
tariff-free metal earlier this year.
China, the world’s top copper consumer, imported 30,734 tonnes of U.S.
copper concentrate last month, according to the General Administration of
Customs. That accounted for 1.93% of its total June copper concentrate imports
of 1.59 million tonnes.
The intensifying China-U.S. tensions had squeezed copper concentrate
imports to China since late 2018, although Chinese firms had been allowed to
apply for exemption on tariffs since March, with at least two cargoes of copper
concentrate from the United States due to arrive in mid-June.
But tensions between the world’s two largest economies have escalated
again, with each blaming the other for the COVID-19 pandemic, and this week,
China retaliating against a U.S. move to close the Chinese consulate in
Houston.
It was not immediately clear who bought the concentrate that arrived in
June, although the customs database showed cargoes had gone to Zhejiang and
Fujian provinces.
Reuters reported in late May that two Chinese smelters had booked
cargoes of U.S. copper concentrate after applying for exemptions on import
duties under a scheme announced by the Ministry of Finance in February as part
of trade war detente.
Finally,
the great Covid-19 vaccine “gold rush.” No connection to bad mouthing low
priced hydroxychloroquine and zinc, then.
Corporate Insiders Pocket $1 Billion in Rush for Coronavirus Vaccine
Well-timed stock bets have generated
big profits for senior executives and board members at companies developing
vaccines and treatments.
July 25, 2020
On June 26, a small South San Francisco company called Vaxart made a
surprise announcement: A coronavirus vaccine it was working on had been
selected by the U.S. government to be part of Operation Warp Speed, the
flagship federal initiative to quickly develop drugs to combat Covid-19.
Vaxart’s shares soared. Company insiders, who weeks earlier had received
stock options worth a few million dollars, saw the value of those awards
increase sixfold. And a hedge fund that partly controlled the company walked
away with more than $200 million in instant profits.
The race is on to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and some companies and
investors are betting that the winners stand to earn vast profits from selling
hundreds of millions — or even billions — of doses to a desperate public.
Across the pharmaceutical and medical industries, senior executives and
board members are capitalizing on that dynamic.
They
are making millions of dollars after announcing positive developments,
including support from the government, in their efforts to fight Covid-19.
After such announcements, insiders from at least 11 companies — most of them
smaller firms whose fortunes often hinge on the success or failure of a single
drug — have sold shares worth well over $1 billion since March, according to
figures compiled for The New York Times by Equilar, a data provider.
In
some cases, company insiders are profiting from regularly scheduled
compensation or automatic stock trades. But in other situations, senior officials
appear to be pouncing on opportunities to cash out while their stock prices are
sky high. And some companies have awarded stock options to executives shortly
before market-moving announcements about their vaccine progress.
The sudden windfalls highlight the powerful financial
incentives for company officials to generate positive headlines in the race for coronavirus vaccines and
treatments, even if the drugs might never pan out.
Some companies are attracting government scrutiny for
potentially using their associations with Operation Warp Speed as marketing
ploys.
For example, the headline on Vaxart’s news release
declared: “Vaxart’s Covid-19 Vaccine Selected for the U.S. Government’s
Operation Warp Speed.” But the reality is more complex.
More
"We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds
upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become
simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention
is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first."
Charles Mackay Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the
Madness of Crowds 1841.
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Spain's COVID-19 death toll could be 60% higher than official count, says El Pais
July 26, 2020 /
2:21 PM
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s COVID-19 death toll could be nearly 60%
higher than the official figure of 28,432, according to an investigation by El
Pais newspaper published on Sunday.
The country’s official death toll includes only people who were formally
diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, not suspected cases who were never
tested.
A lack of widespread testing, particularly in the early stages of the
outbreak, means the official count could underestimate the virus’ toll, like in
many other countries.
By counting regional statistics of all suspected and confirmed
fatalities from the virus, El Pais reached a total of 44,868 deaths. If
accurate, that would make Spain’s outbreak the second deadliest in Europe after
Britain’s.
The health ministry said it followed all international protocols in
accounting for COVID-19 deaths and stressed that the higher number of deaths
was reflected in other official indicators.
“There is evidence that in all pandemics there is an increase in
indirect deaths,” it added. “This has also happened with the COVID-19
pandemic.”
More
Spain Second Virus Wave Swells, Fuels Concern Across Europe
By Flavia Krause-Jackson and Rodrigo Orihuela
July 26, 2020, 9:01 AM GMT+1 Updated on July 26, 2020,
12:02 PM GMT+1
Spain is scrambling to stay ahead of new outbreaks of the
coronavirus that prompted the U.K. to impose a quarantine on travelers
returning from the country, dealing a new blow to its tourism-dependent
economy.Only weeks after the U.K. included Spain on a list of countries safe for summer holidays, the government reversed course and announced late Saturday it would impose a 14-day quarantine on anyone arriving from Spain. The move came after cases in the country jumped, particularly in the Catalonia region, where authorities are racing to stamp out new outbreaks.
Spain’s health ministry reported more than
920 new cases on both Thursday and Friday, the highest numbers since early May,
when the government began easing one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.
---- Catalonia in northeastern Spain is at the epicenter of a new jump in cases and has been expanding restrictions to try to flatten the curve. In Barcelona, nightclubs have been ordered shut for two weeks and imposed there is a midnight curfew on bars. A partial lockdown affecting 200,000 people has been already imposed in the western district of Segria.
“We are quite frustrated. We actually feel safer here, because everyone is wearing masks,” Carolyne Lansell, a British tourist, said in interview with Spanish state-television broadcaster TVE.
Tui, the U.K.’s biggest tour operator, suspended all its flights from Spain and the Canary Islands that were due to leave today, Sky News reported. The World Travel & Tourism Council called the U.K. decision a “bitter blow” for travelers and said local lockdowns, not broader travel restrictions would be a better solution.
---- Countries around the Mediterranean Sea were praying that a glimpse of tourism would get them through the summer before the cold snap drives people indoors and ushers in a second chapter to the pandemic. Now, it appears the spread of the virus may not wait for the winter months.
Governments across the globe have been bracing for a second wave, though
there is little appetite for reimposing large scale lockdowns on already
crippled economies. The hope is that localizing quarantines to towns, cities
and regions will be enough to snuff out bouts of infections as they come.
More
US gets reality checks on Covid-19 vaccine, duration of symptoms
Updated 0221 GMT (1021 HKT) July 25, 2020
CNN)The United States on Friday got two reality checks on the coronavirus
pandemic as the number of cases around the world set another high.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, reminded Americans that even if a vaccine candidate gets
through the testing process and is successful by the end of the year, it will
be several months before vaccination is widespread across the US.
"I think as we get into 2021, several months in, that you would
have [a] vaccine that would be widely available to people in the United
States," Fauci told the Washington Post's Bob Costa during a Post Live
event.
That means spring 2021 at the soonest.
Fauci noted that some companies have claimed they could have a vaccine
available before the end of the year. "I'm a little skeptical about that,
but, you know, anything is possible," he told the Post.
But Fauci says he's confident a vaccine will be able to stop the
pandemic in its tracks, once it's widely available.
Fauci also said that as many people as possible should get vaccinated
for influenza this year, since the pandemic will complicate flu season.
The other sobering message came from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
A new survey found that coronavirus symptoms can linger for weeks, even
among otherwise healthy young adults who don't have severe symptoms.
One in five people 18 to 34 said they had lingering symptoms, usually
fatigue or a cough. The older people were, the more likely they were to have
lingering symptoms.
---- As of Friday
night, more
than 4.1 million coronavirus cases and 145,333 deaths
have been reported in the United States. There were 67,499 new cases and 1,029
reported deaths on Friday, according to data from Johns
Hopkins University.
More
than 150 prominent US medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and others
have signed a letter to political leaders urging them to shut down the country
and start over to contain the surging coronavirus pandemic.
More
Noses usually catch COVID-19 first, so keep them covered with face masks, experts say
By
Katie Camero July 24, 2020 02:32 PM
Wearing a mask without covering your nose is like applying your first
round of sunscreen at the end of a beach day — pointless.
That’s because scientific research has found that the novel coronavirus
infects your nose first, using it as an entry point to the rest of your body
and as a mucousy hotspot for rapid replication.
So, people who don’t cover their nose with their mask risk exposing
their most infectious organ to others, and increase their own chances of
contracting COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.
“If the nose
is the dominant initial site from which lung infections are seeded, then
the widespread use of masks to protect the nasal passages, as well as any
therapeutic strategies that reduce virus in the nose, such as nasal irrigation
or antiviral nasal sprays, could be beneficial,” Dr. Richard Boucher, the
co-senior author of a May study on the topic from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a news release.
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.
Diamonds shine a light on hidden currents in graphene
Date:
July 22, 2020
Source:
University of Maryland
Summary:
A new diamond-based quantum sensing technique gives researchers a map of the
intricate movement of electricity on a microscopic scale. New results
demonstrate the potential of the technique by revealing the fluid-like
electrical currents that flow in graphene, a layer of carbon just one atom
thick. Graphene has exceptional electrical properties, and the technique could
help researchers better understand graphene and other materials and find new
uses for them.
It sounds like pure sorcery: using diamonds to observe invisible power
swirling and flowing through carefully crafted channels. But these diamonds are
a reality. JQI Fellow Ronald Walsworth and Quantum Technology Center (QTC)
Postdoctoral Associate Mark Ku, along with colleagues from several other
institutions, including Professor Amir Yacoby and Postdoctoral Fellow Tony Zhou
at Harvard, have developed a way to use diamonds to see the elusive details of
electrical currents.
The new technique gives researchers a map of the intricate movement of
electricity in the microscopic world. The team demonstrated the potential of
the technique by revealing the unusual electrical currents that flow in
graphene, a layer of carbon just one atom thick. Graphene has exceptional
electrical properties, and the technique could help researchers better
understand graphene and other materials and find new uses for them.
In a paper published on July 22 in the journal Nature, the team
describes how their diamond-based quantum sensors produce images of currents in
graphene. Their results revealed, for the first time, details about how
room-temperature graphene can produce electrical currents that flow more like
water through pipes than electricity through ordinary wires.
"Understanding strongly interacting quantum systems, like the currents in
our graphene experiment, is a central topic in condensed matter physics,"
says Ku, the lead author of the paper. "In particular, collective
behaviors of electrons resembling those of fluids with friction might provide a
key to explaining some of the puzzling properties of high-temperature
superconductors."
It is no easy task to get a glimpse of current inside a material. After
all, a wire alive with electricity looks identical to a dead wire. However,
there is an invisible difference between a current-bearing wire and one
carrying no electrical power: A moving charge always generates a magnetic
field. But if you want to see the fine details of the current you need a
correspondingly close look at the magnetic field, which is a challenge. If you
apply to blunt a tool, like a magnetic compass, all the detail is washed away
and you just measure the average behavior.
Walsworth, who is also the Director of the University of Maryland
Quantum Technology Center, specializes in ultra-precise measurements of
magnetic fields. His success lies in wielding diamonds, or more specifically
quantum imperfections in man-made diamonds.
More
Finally, more on
Sir Walter Raleigh.
Bob Newhart - Walter Raleigh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zli4AdR3ks
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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