Clowning In Cleveland. China. WTO.

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Coronavirus Cases 30/9/20 World 33,598,388

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Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung.

P. T. Barnum

Asian markets are cautiously probing higher this morning, boosted by new scripted positive figures out of China. 

But, Asian casinos are nervous as to how the US stock casinos will interpret the outcome of yesterday’s presidential circus in Cleveland.

My guess is that the US stock casinos will take last night’s spectacle positively, since each contestant lived up to their billing, with neither disappointing.

China data lifts Asian stocks but caution returns after chaotic debate

September 30, 202012:46 AM

By Tom Westbrook, Stanley White

SINGAPORE/TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares crept higher on Wednesday after data showed China’s economic recovery gathering steam, but a chaotic first U.S. presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden weighed on the mood.

U.S. equity futures slipped and the dollar, regarded as a safe-haven currency, drew support in the wake of the debate as it offered few insights into the outcome of the U.S. election.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% led by a 1.2% gain in Hong Kong.

S&P 500 futures were volatile, and gave up gains as large as 0.7% to trade 0.5% lower for the day after President Donald Trump again cast doubt on whether he would accept the election’s outcome.

That also lifted the dollar a touch from overnight lows.

The first face-off between Trump and Biden was seen by some political analysts as Trump’s best chance to upend a race where he has lagged in the polls.

In a confrontational debate marked by constant interruptions from both candidates, Biden pressed Trump over his handling of the coronavirus and Trump responded with aggressive personal attacks.

“Right now, it looks like an even split between Trump and Biden, so it is difficult for the markets to move,” said Ayako Sera, market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets/china-data-lifts-asian-stocks-but-caution-returns-after-chaotic-debate-idUKKBN26K3RS?il=0

China's factory activity accelerates at solid pace in September on boost from overseas demand

September 30, 20202:17 AM  By Gabriel Crossley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s factory activity extended solid growth in September, twin surveys showed, as the nation’s crucial exports engine revved up on improving overseas demand and underlined a steady economic recovery from the coronavirus shock.

 

The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) rose to 51.5 in September from 51.0 in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday, remaining above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction for the seventh month.

Analysts had expected it to pick up slightly to 51.2.

A private survey, also released on the day, painted a similar picture of the manufacturing sector gaining momentum backed by stronger overseas demand.

China’s vast industrial sector is steadily returning to the levels seen before the pandemic paralysed huge swathes of the economy, as pent-up demand, stimulus-driven infrastructure expansion and surprisingly resilient exports propel a recovery.

The official PMI, which largely focuses on big and state-owned firms, also showed the sub-index for new export orders stood at 50.8 in September, improving from 49.1 a month earlier and snapping eight months of declines.

The signs of stronger overseas demand were also highlighted in the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index(PMI), which focuses more on small and export-oriented firms. Its gauge for new export orders rose at the fastest pace in over three years.

Recently, economic indicators ranging from trade to producer prices have all suggested a further pick up in the industrial sector.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-pmi/chinas-factory-activity-accelerates-at-solid-pace-in-september-on-boost-from-overseas-demand-idUKKBN26L047?il=0

But in other real economy news, are we heading into the next wave of mass lay-offs? With coronavirus cases surging again in the northern hemisphere, generating local lock downs in Europe, and the winter flu season due in November, probably.

Disney to lay off about 28,000 parks unit employees due to coronavirus hit

September 29, 202010:15 PM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co DIS.N said on Tuesday it will lay off roughly 28,000 employees, mostly at its U.S. theme parks, where attendance has been crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, especially in California where Disneyland remains closed.

About two-thirds of the laid-off employees will be part-time workers, the company said in a statement.

Disney shut its theme parks worldwide when the novel coronavirus began spreading this year. All but Disneyland - nicknamed the Happiest Place on Earth - reopened, though the company was forced to limit the number of visitors to allow for physical distancing.

“We have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of the parks unit, said in a statement.

He cited the parks’ limited capacity and uncertainty about the pandemic’s duration, which he said was “exacerbated in California by the state’s unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen.”

In a letter to employees, D’Amaro called the move “heartbreaking.” He said management had tried to avoid layoffs by cutting expenses, suspending projects and streamlining operations. The company had continued to pay health benefits for furloughed workers since April.

“However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity,” D’Amaro said.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-disney-parks-layoffs/disney-to-lay-off-about-28000-parks-unit-employees-due-to-coronavirus-hit-idUKKBN26K3KL

WTO backs EU tariffs on $4 billion U.S. goods over Boeing subsidies: sources

September 30, 202012:06 AM  By Tim Hepher, Andrea Shalal

(Reuters) - The World Trade Organization has authorized the European Union to impose tariffs on U.S. goods worth $4 billion to retaliate against subsidies for American planemaker Boeing Co BA.N, people familiar with the matter said.

The delayed award provides a fresh source of potential trade friction weeks before November's U.S. presidential election, after Washington last year began imposing tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods over state support for Boeing rival Airbus AIR.PA.

The two sides have been locked in a 16-year-old dispute at the Geneva-based WTO over aid to their aircraft industries in a pair of cases that together represent the world’s largest-ever corporate trade dispute.

They were informed of the decision by WTO arbitrators on Friday, and the award is expected to be published within weeks.

The U.S. Trade Representative and the EU’s Washington office did not immediately answer requests for comment.

Boeing declined to comment on the confidential WTO report but accused Airbus of ignoring its recent decision to forgo tax breaks in Washington state to try to resolve the dispute

Airbus, which recently announced its own concessions on funding in France and Spain, was not immediately available.

Sources on both sides said EU tariffs on products such as Boeing jets, which must still be adopted formally by the WTO, were unlikely to be imposed before the Nov. 3 presidential election as Brussels seeks to avoid inflaming a bitter campaign.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wto-aircraft/wto-backs-eu-tariffs-on-4-billion-u-s-goods-over-boeing-subsidies-sources-idUKKBN26K3Q2

Manhattan Offices Are Nearly Empty, Threatening New York City’s Recovery

About 1 in 10 office workers have returned since Covid-19 hit, far fewer than elsewhere, hurting local businesses

Sept. 29, 2020 5:30 am ET

Manhattan office employees are returning to work at a much slower pace than those in most other major U.S. cities, raising the risk that New York faces a more protracted and painful recovery from the coronavirus pandemic than much of the rest of the country.

Wall Street bankers have been trickling back to their glass towers, while real-estate firms have tried to set an example by encouraging staff to return in force. But most of the city’s lawyers, media and publishing employees, tech industry workers and others have stayed away, real-estate brokers say.

Overall, about 10% of Manhattan office workers were back as of Sept. 18, according to CBRE Group Inc., a commercial real estate services firm.

That represents only a modest uptick from the 6% to 8% who were back in July, a month after the city allowed nonessential workers to return for the first time since offices closed in March because of the pandemic. The monthslong stretch of near-empty office buildings has had a debilitating knock-on effect in Midtown Manhattan and other business districts, leading many small shops and restaurants to shut down for good.

More

https://www.wsj.com/articles/manhattan-offices-are-nearly-empty-threatening-new-york-citys-recovery-11601371800?mod=mhp

Next, the Federal Maritime Commission says it’s time for the prison ships to start cruising again. But who will let them in to dock and where? Besides, most of the prison ships aren’t located in expensive US waters at present.

'Urgent Need for Ships to Start Sailing' from Florida, Federal Maritime Commission Says

September 24, 2020

(4:30 p.m. EDT) -- A report issued by U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis E. Sola says there is an urgent need for the cruise industry to resume sailing from Florida's cruise ports, citing staggering losses to revenue, local employment and the contributions cruise passengers make to other tourism sectors such as the airline and hospitality industries.

In its latest Fact Finding 30 report  , FMC Commissioner Sola indicates that Florida has lost $3.2 billion in economic activity and 49,500 local jobs paying approximately $2.3 billion in wages as a result of the suspension of cruising following the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's No-Sail Order, in effect through September 30.

The report notes that Florida is home to the top-three multiday cruise ports in the world, with 59 percent of all embarkations in the United States taking place there in 2018. Including the corporate and administrative staff of the cruise lines headquartered in Florida, the cruise industry was responsible for over 149,000 jobs in the state totalling $7.69 billion in wages.

The cruise industry resulted in $8.49 billion in direct spending each year within Florida.

"The interviews I have conducted with port directors, government officials and business leaders all confirm the importance of the cruise industry to Florida's economy and the urgent need for ships to start sailing again," Sola said. "The financial consequences of laid-up cruise ships are being seen in government coffers and the pockets of working men and women. Across Florida, people recognize the vital necessity of the cruise industry contributing to the economy again."

Losses for the 2020 cruise season have been staggering for some of Miami's largest turnaround ports.

 

Before the pandemic, Port Miami welcomed 6.8 million cruise passengers, a world record. As Florida's busiest cruise port, and one of the largest and busiest ports in the world, Port Miami is responsible for over 30,000 local jobs, $5.8 billion in economic value and $188 million in local and state taxes.

----Commissioner Sola's report points out that the suspension of the cruise industry within Florida alone has an impact on other industries within the United States. Cruise passengers contributed nearly $2 billion in fares to the airline industry in 2019. They also contributed $1.1 billion to the local economy in Miami-Dade County from related expenses like overnight hotel stays, food and beverage, shopping and transportation.

"It is not just large companies that benefit from the cruise industry," Sola said. "Cruise customers begin and end their voyages by using taxis, eating in restaurants, visiting museums, and shopping in local businesses.

More

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5618/

Finally, in raw entertainment news, the first presidential debate wasn’t very presidential, but did live up to its billing. What they make of it in Beijing, Moscow, or anywhere else is anyone’s guess, but my suggestion is that they go global and stage the next presidential debate from Rome’s Coliseum, complete with props and lions.

The global audience will be huge, with plenty of opportunity for global advertisers to get the stumbled global economy fired up once again.

Chaos reigns in first Trump-Biden debate

September 29, 202011:12 AM  By Jarrett Renshaw, Steve Holland

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden battled fiercely over Trump’s leadership on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and the integrity of November’s election in a chaotic first debate on Tuesday marked by personal insults, name calling and Trump’s repeated interruptions.

Moderator Chris Wallace never established control of the debate. The two White House contenders talked over each other and lobbed insults in a breathtaking political brawl that made it hard for either to make a point.

“Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential,” said an exasperated Biden after Trump’s repeated interruptions during the first segment of the debate on the Supreme Court.

Biden later called Trump a “clown,” a “racist,” and “Putin’s puppy” in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin and told Trump: “You’re the worst president America has ever had.”

Trump for his part said: “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe.”

Late in the debate, Wallace himself urged the president to stop his interruptions.

Wallace said: “I think that the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you sir to do that.”

Trump replied: “Well, and him too.”

Wallace: “Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting.”

Trump: “But he does plenty.”

Biden, 77, has held a consistent lead over Trump, 74, in national opinion polls, although surveys in the battleground states that will decide the election show a closer contest. It was hard to determine whether the debate would move the needle.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-debate/chaos-reigns-in-first-trump-biden-debate-idUKKBN26K1NF

“To find a man's true character, play golf with him.”

P. G. Wodehouse

 

Covid-19 Corner                       

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears safe, shows signs of working in older adults: study

September 29, 202010:06 PM  By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc's MRNA.O coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the vaccine’s safety in older adults, a group at increased risk of severe complications from COVID-19.

The findings are reassuring because immunity tends to weaken with age, Dr. Evan Anderson, one of the study’s lead researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, said in a phone interview.

The study was an extension of Moderna’s Phase I safety trial, first conducted in individuals aged 18-55. It tested two doses of Moderna’s vaccine - 25 micrograms and 100 micrograms - in 40 adults aged 56 to 70 and 71 and older.

Overall, the team found that in older adults who received two injections of the 100 microgram dose 28 days apart, the vaccine produced immune responses roughly in line with those seen in younger adults.

Moderna is already testing the higher dose in a large Phase III trial, the final stage before seeking emergency authorization or approval.

Side effects, which included headache, fatigue, body aches, chills and injection site pain, were deemed mainly mild to moderate.

In at least two cases, however, volunteers had severe reactions.

One developed a grade three fever, which is classified as 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit (39°C) or above, after receiving the lower vaccine dose. Another developed fatigue so severe it temporarily prevented daily activities, Anderson said.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKKBN26K3K9

India's coronavirus infections surge to 6.23 million

September 30, 20205:17 AM

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India’s coronavirus case tally surged to 6.23 million after it reported 80,472 new infections in the last 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday.

Deaths from coronavirus infections rose by 1,179 in the last 24 hours to 97,497, the ministry said.

The south Asian nation, which is second only to the United States in terms of total cases, has a scope for higher infections with a large chunk of the population still unexposed to the virus, a survey showed on Tuesday.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-india-cases/indias-coronavirus-infections-surge-to-6-23-million-idUKKBN26L0GF?il=0

Europe lockdown: New coronavirus rules country-by-country

29 September 2020

Spain: Madrid lockdown for one million

A new lockdown in parts of the capital and surrounding neighbourhoods affects about a million people.

People can leave their local area only to go to work, school or for medical care. Social gatherings are limited to six, public parks are shut and businesses have to close by 22:00.

Members of the armed forces and extra police are expected to be deployed to help enforce restrictions.

Face masks have to be worn by anyone over the age of six on all forms of public transport and in many indoor public spaces.

Most regions in Spain have made masks obligatory outdoors as well.

Spanish schools are asking children as young as six to wear masks.

Netherlands: Restrictions in major cities

Dutch authorities are introducing new measures from 29 September, after the number of daily infections surged to the highest level since the start of the pandemic.

Masks will have to be worn in shops in major cities and restaurants and bars have to close by 2200 across the country.

Businesses must log clients' contact details and working from home is encouraged. Social gatherings inside people's homes must not exceed three people. There can be no spectators at sports events.

The measures will stay in place for at least three weeks.

Previous measures, such as wearing masks on public transport, will also continue to apply. Local authorities can implement their own additional measures.

France: 22:00 closing time for restaurants and bars

Bars and restaurants have to close at 22:00 in 11 cities, including Paris. In Marseille, they had to shut completely for 15 days.

Gatherings are limited to 10 people and wedding receptions, students parties and other organised gatherings in hired locations are banned.

Following fresh outbreaks in July, the French government made face coverings compulsory in enclosed public spaces.

Face masks must be worn outdoors in Paris and surrounding areas by anyone aged 11 and over. Hundreds of other municipalities across France have the same rule, including Toulouse, Nice, Lille and Lyon.

Masks also have to be worn in most workplaces.

More

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53640249

Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic

September 29, 20203:29 AM

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa’s overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when COVID-19 hit the continent in February.

The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year.

In May the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 190,000 people on the continent could die if containment measures failed. Yet as the world marks 1 million COVID-19 deaths, Africa is doing much better than expected, with a lower percentage of deaths than other continents.

The continent’s case fatality count stands at 2.4%, with roughly 35,000 deaths among the more than 1.4 million people reported infected with COVID-19, according to Reuters data as at late Monday. In North America, it is 2.9% and in Europe 4.5%

Hard-hit countries such as Italy and Britain have recorded fatality counts of 11.6% and 9.0% respectively, compared to 1.6% for Ethiopia, 1.9% for Nigeria and 2.4% for South Africa, the continent’s worst affected country.

Hospitals in many African countries say COVID-19 admission rates are falling.

“Based on what we have seen so far it is unlikely that we are going to see anything at the scale that we are seeing in Europe - both in terms of infections and mortality,” said Rashida Ferrand, a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine professor working at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.

Experts say that some COVID-19 deaths in Africa probably are being missed. Testing rates in the continent of about 1.3 billion people are among the lowest in the world, and many deaths of all types go unrecorded.

South Africa saw some 17,000 extra deaths from natural causes between early May and mid-July, 59% more than would normally be expected, according to a July report from the South African Medical Research Council. That suggests the death toll from COVID-19 could be significantly higher than the official figure, currently over 16,000, researchers say. Even so, there is wide agreement that COVID-19 fatality rates have not so far been as bad as predicted.

Why? Scientists and public health experts cite a number of possible factors, including the continent’s youthful population and lessons learned from previous disease outbreaks. African governments also had precious time to prepare due to the relative isolation of many of their citizens from airports and other places where they could come into contact with global travellers.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-africa-mortality-i/puzzled-scientists-seek-reasons-behind-africas-low-fatality-rates-from-pandemic-idUKKBN26K0AK

Timeline: How the global coronavirus pandemic unfolded

September 29, 20203:30 AM By Reuters Staff

(Reuters) - Here are some key developments as the novel coronavirus spread around the world:

Dec. 31, 2019: China alerts the World Health Organization of 27 cases of “viral pneumonia” in the central city of Wuhan. Authorities shut down a wet market in Wuhan the next day, after discovering some patients were vendors or dealers.

Jan. 11, 2020: A 61-year-old man is reported as the first death. Preliminary lab tests cited by Chinese state media point to a new type of coronavirus.

Jan. 13: A Chinese woman is quarantined in Thailand, the first detection of the virus outside China.

Jan. 15: Japan confirms its first case.

Jan. 20: South Korea confirms its first case.

Jan. 22: The WHO convenes an emergency meeting. Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the new coronavirus does not yet constitute an international emergency.

Jan. 23: China issues a lockdown for millions of people in Wuhan and Hubei province as the death toll rises to 18.

Jan. 24: The first cases in Europe are reported in France.

Jan. 25: China bans wildlife trade, and extends the Lunar New Year holiday for workers and schools. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announces measures to limit links with China.

Jan. 27: The United States warns against travel to China, a day after five people who had been in Wuhan become the first confirmed cases in America.

Jan. 30: The WHO declares the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Feb. 1: The United States, Singapore, Russia and Australia ban foreign travelers who were recently in China.

Feb. 2: A 44-year-old man dies in the Philippines, the first death outside China.

Feb. 3: Investors erase $393 billion from China’s benchmark stock index, selling the yuan and dumping commodities on the first day of trade after the Lunar New Year break.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-timeline/timeline-how-the-global-coronavirus-pandemic-unfolded-idUKKBN26K0AX?il=0

Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.

World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html

Stanford Website. https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132

 

Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

Some useful Covid links.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Rt Covid-19

https://rt.live/

Covid19info.live

https://wuflu.live/

“It was one of the dullest speeches I ever heard. The Agee woman told us for three quarters of an hour how she came to write her beastly book, when a simple apology was all that was required.”

P. G. Wodehouse

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 21^st century onwards.

 

Nokia Expands 5G Deal With U.K.’s BT to Fill Huawei Void

By Thomas Seal

September 29, 2020, 9:02 AM GMT+1

Nokia Oyj has extended its relationship with BT Group Plc to supply the British phone company with gear for its high-speed fifth-generation mobile networks.

The deal will make Nokia BT’s largest provider of radio access equipment -- the wireless network’s antennas -- the Finnish company said in a statement on Tuesday. BT’s fourth-generation mobile network is currently about two-thirds Huawei Technologies Co. and one-third Nokia.

The network gear maker is filling a void left by Huawei after the U.K. set out rules this year banning the Chinese company from supplying phone companies with 5G equipment and requiring Britain’s carriers to remove all of its 5G gear by 2027.

Read More: U.K. Phone Market Will Be Duopoly for Years After Huawei Ban

BT’s 5G supplier for the sensitive network core is Ericsson AB, and Nokia’s Swedish rival could also win more work from BT as the carrier plans to phase out its Huawei gear.

Nokia currently has an agreement to supply equipment to BT in the greater London area, the Midlands -- which covers an area in the middle of England that includes the city of Birmingham -- and some other rural parts of the country. The deal announced Tuesday will expanded coverage to areas including Aberdeen, Cambridge and Brighton, Nokia said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-29/nokia-expands-5g-deal-with-u-k-s-bt-to-fill-huawei-void?srnd=premium-europe

US Politics Betting Odds

https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics

“I always advise people never to give advice.”

P. G. Wodehouse