Baltic Dry Index. 1395 -50 Brent Crude 43.61
Spot Gold 1938
Coronavirus Cases 04/9/20 World 26,381,632
Deaths 877,288
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you
know that you would lie if you were in his place.
H. L. Mencken
For more on what the supercomputer found scroll down to
the Covvid-19 section.
In the stock casinos yesterday, a slip, a correction, or
the start of something ugly, a Biden win?
We will quickly find out next week, in a holiday shortened week.
Below, yesterday’s action that badly rattled the casinos gamblers.
Dow loses 800 points in worst day since June; Nasdaq, S&P 500 fall off record highs
Sept. 3, 2020 /
2:01 PM / Updated Sept. 3, 2020 at 4:41 PM
Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day
since June on Thursday, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell off
record highs.
The blue-chip index fell 807.77 points or 2.78%, its worst single-day
decline since June 11, while the S&P 500 dropped 3.51% and the Nasdaq ended
the day down 4.96% following what had been record-setting gains in stocks
despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Big-tech stocks took a rare beating snapping a 12-day winning streak as Apple stock fell 8% Microsoft recorded a 6.19% loss while Google's parent company, Alphabet fell 5.12%.
"Although there is no single driver for the weakness, it seems as if investors all of a sudden realized how overbought stocks are and sold. Someone yelled fire in a crowded theater and everyone left at once," Ryan Detrick, chief marketing strategist for LPL Financial, told CNN.
Detrick added that, given the rally markets have experienced over the summer, it is "perfectly normal" to see stocks readjust.
Stocks that would benefit from the widespread lifting of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose on Thursday, with Carnival Cruise Line gaining 5.21% and Macy's stock increasing 7.94%
The stock market appeared to have ignored the pandemic and economic struggles with the S&P 500 soaring up more than 55% since March and the Nasdaq jumping almost 70%. The Dow increased more than 50% over that time as well.
Back in the real world, our new depression is trying to
rally into a mere severe recession. Over the next two months, we will find out
if the summer bounce off the pandemic lows is real, or merely the pause before
more firings, bankruptcies, and evictions begin. Sadly, I suspect the latter.
August jobs report likely to point to a still-slow recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States keeps
regaining more of the jobs that vanished when the viral pandemic flattened the
economy early this spring. Yet so deep were the layoffs that began in March
that millions of Americans remain burdened by job losses that might prove
permanent.
Economists have forecast that employers added
1.4 million jobs in August and that the unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to
9.8%, according to a survey by data provider FactSet. That rate would still be
just below the peak unemployment level of the 2008-2009 Great Recession.
The Labor Department will issue the August jobs
report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.
While a monthly gain above 1 million would show
that some businesses are still willing to add workers, it would take many
months to return to pre-pandemic job levels even if that pace could be
sustained. And many economists think hiring is slowing. The economy still has
roughly 13 million fewer jobs than it did when the coronavirus struck in March.
Friday’s jobs data will be the second-to-last
employment report — for most voters, the most visible barometer of the economy
— before Election Day, Nov. 3. President Donald Trump faces the daunting task
of seeking re-election in the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. Yet
voters in surveys have generally given him higher marks on the economy than
they have on other aspects of his presidency.
The jobs report coincides with growing signs
that more companies are making permanent job cuts rather
than temporary furloughs. That trend could keep the unemployment rate
persistently high. It is typically harder for an unemployed worker to find a
new job at a new company or in a new industry than to return to a previous
employer.
More
US trade deficit surges in July to highest in 12 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit surged in July to $63.6
billion, the highest level in 12 years, as imports jumped by a record amount.
The Commerce Department reported that the July deficit, the gap between
what America buys and what it sells to foreigners, was 18.9% higher than the
June deficit of $53.5 billion. It was the largest monthly deficit since July
2008 during the 2007-2009 recession.
The July deficit increase was driven by a record 10.9% increase in
imports which rose to $231.7 billion. Exports were also up but by a smaller
8.1% to $168.1 billion.
When Donald Trump campaigned for president in 2016 he pledged to sharply
lower the country’s large trade deficits, especially with China, which for
years has been the country with the largest trade surplus with the United
States.
But despite a number of high-profile trade battles and a renegotiation
of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, America’s
trade deficits have remained stubbornly high.
For July, the deficit with China in goods totaled $31.6 billion, an
11.5% increase from the June imbalance.
The goods deficit with Mexico hit a record high of $10.6 in July. Trump
has claimed the new free trade deal he has negotiated with Mexico and Canada
will be a boon for American workers and businesses.
The United States ran a deficit in goods trade of $80.1 billion in July,
the highest on record. The U.S. surplus in services, such as banking and
insurance, declined to $17.4 billion, the smallest services surplus since
August 2012 and a reflection in part of the decline in airline travel during
the pandemic.
More
Euro zone July retail sales much worse than expected
September 3, 2020 / 10:13 AM
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone retail sales defied expectations of a
rise in July and fell against June despite the lifting of COVID-19-related
restrictions on economies, with clothes and shoes leading the decline with
double digit falls, data showed on Thursday.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the
19 countries sharing the euro fell 1.3% month-on-month for a 0.4% year-on-year
rise. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1.5% monthly gain and a 3.5%
annual increase.
Eurostat said sales of food, drinks and cigarettes were flat
month-on-month and 1.5% up year-on-year, but sales of non-food products fell
2.9% on the month and were only 0.5% higher on the year.
Sales of textiles,
clothes and shoes plummeted 10.6% on the month and 25.8% year-on-year.
Even sales on petrol at gas stations, which rose in double digits
month-on-month in May and June, were only 4.3% higher on the month in July and
plunged 10.8% year-on-year, despite the start of the holiday season.
UK job losses accelerate in August, PMI shows
September 3, 2020
/ 9:33 AM
LONDON
(Reuters) - Job losses at British companies accelerated in August despite an
upturn in demand, a survey showed on Thursday, in a bleak sign ahead of the
closure of the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme at the end of next
month.
The IHS Markit/CIPS Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a
monthly gauge of activity in services and manufacturing companies, rose to a
six-year high of 59.1 from 57.0 in July.
Still, that was revised down from a preliminary “flash” reading of 60.3,
hinting at a weaker end to activity last month.
Some economists view the current strength of the PMI with scepticism
because it reflects an inevitable increase in businesses reporting growth as
the economy reopens, rather than a recovery in output that could take years.
The survey’s index of employment declined for the first time in three
months - chiming with widespread reports of layoffs from major employers
grappling with the hit from the pandemic.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said
companies’ ability to cope with the withdrawal of economic support measures
like the furlough programme was now the “burning question”.
The government’s job retention scheme has supported almost 10 million
jobs in total since its launch in April.
“Worryingly, many companies are already preparing for tougher times
ahead, notably via further fierce job cutting,” Williamson said.
“Policymakers face a huge challenge in sustaining this recovery and
avoiding a ‘bounce and fade’ scenario.”
In positive news,
Brexit GB got a tiny vote of confidence. But in rainy, frosty GB, is there
really much of a market for electric trucks?
Swedish startup Volta unveils electric truck, to manufacture in UK
September 3,
2020 / 10:16 AM
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish startup Volta Trucks on Thursday unveiled
its Volta Zero, a 16-tonne electric truck, with plans to start production in
2022 in the United Kingdom.
Following the success of companies such as Tesla in popularising
electric cars, electric trucks have also been getting a lot of attention from
existing players such as Volvo and Daimler and startups like Rivian and Nikola.
Trials will start next year with parcel delivery companies such as
DPDgroup in the UK and other firms in Europe and Volta aims to put 500 vehicles
on the road by 2022, CEO Rob Fowler told Reuters.
“We are also well progressed with another seven or eight customers,” he
said.
The company said the first Volta vehicle was manufactured by Prodrive in
Warwick, England, and it is in discussion with a small number of suppliers for
contract manufacturing of its trucks.
It declined to give details about its current funding. Fowler said that
the company is interested in raising funds to fuel the capital-intensive
business.
Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might
be looking.
H. L. Mencken
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged
A closer look at the Bradykinin hypothesis
September 1, 2020.
Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National
Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000
genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. Summit is
the second-fastest
computer in the world, but the process — which involved analyzing 2.5 billion
genetic combinations — still took more than a week.
When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in
the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational
systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory
about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model
that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential
treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their
results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.
According to the team’s findings, a Covid-19 infection generally
begins when the virus enters the body through ACE2 receptors in the nose, (The
receptors, which the virus is known to target, are abundant there.) The virus then
proceeds through the body, entering cells in other places where ACE2 is also
present: the intestines, kidneys, and heart. This likely accounts for at least
some of the disease’s cardiac and GI symptoms.
But once Covid-19 has established itself in the body, things start
to get really interesting. According to Jacobson’s group, the data Summit
analyzed shows that Covid-19 isn’t content to simply infect cells that already
express lots of ACE2 receptors. Instead, it actively hijacks the body’s own
systems, tricking it into upregulating ACE2 receptors in places where they’re
usually expressed at low
or medium levels, including the lungs.
In this sense, Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your
unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house. Once inside,
though, they don’t just take your stuff — they also throw open all your doors
and windows so their accomplices can rush in and help pillage more efficiently.
The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) controls many aspects of the
circulatory system, including the body’s levels of a chemical called
bradykinin, which normally helps to regulate blood pressure. According to the
team’s analysis, when the virus tweaks the RAS, it causes the body’s mechanisms
for regulating bradykinin to go haywire. Bradykinin receptors are resensitized,
and the body also stops effectively breaking down bradykinin. (ACE normally
degrades bradykinin, but when the virus downregulates it, it can’t do this as
effectively.)
The
end result, the researchers say, is to release a bradykinin storm — a massive,
runaway buildup of bradykinin in the body. According to the bradykinin hypothesis,
it’s this storm that is ultimately responsible for many of Covid-19’s deadly
effects. Jacobson’s team says in their paper that “the pathology of Covid-19 is
likely the result of Bradykinin Storms rather than cytokine storms,” which had
been previously identified in Covid-19 patients, but that
“the two may be intricately linked.” Other papers had
previously identified bradykinin storms as a possible cause of Covid-19’s
pathologies.
More.
Much, much, more.
Vitamin D deficiency raises COVID-19 infection risk by 77%, study finds
Sept. 3, 2020 /
11:01 AM
Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Vitamin D deficiency increases a person's risk for catching COVID-19 by 77%
compared to those with sufficient levels of the nutrient, a study published
Thursday by JAMA Network Open found.As many as one in four of the nearly 500 participants in the study were found to have less-than-optimal levels of vitamin D, the data showed.
Among those found to be lacking the key nutrient, 22% contracted COVID-19, the data showed.
Of the 60% of study subjects with adequate vitamin D levels, just 12% were infected, according to the researchers.
"There is prior evidence from multiple sources that vitamin D can enhance both innate and adaptive immunity," Dr. David O. Meltzer, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, told UPI.
Innate immunity refers to the body's natural immune system response. Adaptive immunity describes how the immune system adjusts to a new pathogen -- like a virus -- that is able to evade its natural response.
"Vitamin D also ... may prevent the excess inflammation that is part of the challenge in managing severe COVID-19," Meltzer said.
More
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/09/03/Vitamin-D-deficiency-raises-COVID-19-infection-risk-by-77-study-finds/7001599139929/
Face shields not effective replacements for cloth masks, experts say
Rich Haridy September 02, 2020
A
new study from Florida Atlantic University has modeled how effective face
shields and face masks with exhaust-valves are in blocking the dispersal of
aerosol-sized droplets. The research suggests the growing use of these
alternative face coverings may not be helpful in curbing the spread of
COVID-19, and validate experts calling for the general public to primarily use
cloth or surgical masks for protection.
---- Due to ongoing supply chain considerations, surgical-grade and N95 masks are generally reserved for health care workers or those in high-risk environments. Triple-layer cloth masks are often suggested as effective enough for most people in general day-to-day life. However, lots of other facial coverings are being adopted. In some cases these are due to reasonable medical concerns inhibiting one from wearing a mask, but many wearing alternative face coverings do so simply because of comfort issues.
"There is an increasing trend of people substituting regular cloth
or surgical masks with clear plastic face shields as well as using masks that
are equipped with exhalation valves," says Siddhartha Verma, co-author on
the new study. "A driving factor for this increased adoption is better
comfort compared to regular masks.”
This
new study employed a technique called flow visualization to model the effect of
different facial coverings on droplet spread. The primary focus of this
research was to look at two commonly used, but potentially problematic, facial
coverings – large plastic face shields and face masks with exhaust valves.
---- "From this latest study, we were able to observe that face shields are able to block the initial forward motion of the exhaled jet, however, aerosolized droplets expelled with the jet are able to move around the visor with relative ease," says Dhanak. "Over time, these droplets can disperse over a wide area in both lateral and longitudinal directions, albeit with decreasing droplet concentration."
Looking at the results from the tests with the valved face mask, the
conclusions are even more concerning. These valved masks may offer reasonable
protection to the wearer, but the modeling showed the air a person was exhaling
essentially being thrust, unfiltered, back out into the environment.
More
Some useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
resource centre
Rt Covid-19
Covid19info.live
TV is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the
crazy crazier.
With apologies to H. L. Mencken
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.
Call me sceptical,
but waiting to see the results of their tests.
Prototype gravity-based energy storage system begins construction
Michael Irving August 31, 2020
As
renewable energy generation grows, so does the need for new storage methods
that can be used at times when the Sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
A Scottish company called Gravitricity has now broken ground on a demonstrator
facility for a creative new system that stores energy in the form of “gravity”
by lifting and dropping huge weights.
If
you coil a spring, you’re loading it with potential energy, which is released
when you let it go.
Gravitricity works on the same basic principle, except in
this case the springs are 500- to 5,000-tonne weights. When held aloft by
powerful cables and winches, these weights store large amounts of potential
energy. When that energy is needed, they can be lowered down a mineshaft to
spin the winch and feed electricity into the grid.
Gravitricity says that these units could have peak power
outputs of between 1 and 20 MW, and function for up to 50 years with no loss of
performance. Able to go from zero to full power in under a second, the system
can quickly release its power payload in as little as 15 minutes or slow it
down to last up to eight hours.To recharge this giant mechanical battery, electricity from renewable sources power the winches to lift the weights back to the top. In all, the system has an efficiency of between 80 and 90 percent.
Ultimately, this kind of system should be able to store energy at a lower cost than other grid-scale energy storage systems, such as Tesla’s huge lithium-ion battery in Australia. The concept sounds very similar to the one behind Energy Vault, which uses a crane to hoist concrete blocks into a tower.
That said, Gravitricity seems to be further ahead in development. The
company is now in the early stages of constructing a demonstrator facility to
test out the concept next year. The tower will stand 16 m (52.5 ft) tall,
lifting and dropping two 25-tonne weights in order to generate 250 kW.
“In one test we’ll drop the weights together to generate full power and
verify our speed of response,” says Miles Franklin, lead engineer at Gravitricity.
“We’ll then run tests with the two single weights, dropping one after the other
to verify smooth energy output over a longer period, alongside a program of
other tests to demonstrate and refine the full capabilities of the system.”
The custom-built winches and control system are being constructed by
Huisman in the Czech Republic, while Kelvin Power is fabricating the lattice
tower in Leicester, UK. The separate pieces will then be shipped to the port of
Leith in Edinburgh for construction of the demonstrator.
Testing of this facility is due to begin in (northern hemisphere) spring
2021, and a full-scale 4-MW project will begin later that year.
The Gravitricity system is described in the video below.
More
Another weekend and a
holiday weekend in the USA and Canada. Will it be another weekend of murder and
mayhem in Democrat run parts of the USA? Hopefully not. Have a great weekend
everyone. Below, when the going got tough, the Mayor got going.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler moving to avoid rioters targeting his home
By Lee Brown September 2, 2020
The Democratic mayor of Portland, Ore., is moving from his
$840,000 condo to avoid rioters
who have repeatedly targeted the building, according to a report.Ted Wheeler wrote to neighbors in his building to say it would be “best for me and for everyone else’s safety and peace” for him to move from the building that rioters tried to torch on his 58th birthday Monday, according to The Oregonian.
“I want to express my sincere apologies for the damage to our home and the fear that you are experiencing due to my position,” Wheeler reportedly wrote, according to a screenshot of the email.
“It’s unfair to all of you who have no role in politics or in my administration.”
The mayor bought his two-bedroom condo in the building with 114 units for $840,000 in 2017, the paper said, citing property records. It has regularly been a scene of protests, with fireworks lit and lights shone on the building as fires also get lit in the street.
More
US Politics Betting Odds
The Monthly Coppock Indicators finished August
DJIA: 28,430 Up. NASDAQ: 11,775 Up. SP500:
3,500 Up.
The NASDAQ
remained up. The DJIA and SP500 turned up in uly. With stock mania running
fueled by trillions of central bankster new fiat money programs, especially
tech stock mania in the NASDAQ, the indicators are essentially worthless after
all these years. I will discontinue this section at the end of the month.
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