SYDNEY (Reuters) -
Chinese stocks drove Asian markets higher on Monday, though sentiment was still
cautious ahead of a U.S. Presidential debate and as a spike in new coronavirus
cases undermined global economic recovery hopes.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
The index is set to end the month deep in
the red after three straight monthly gains as the pandemic continues to wreak
economic havoc around the world and raises investor anxiety about sky-high
valuations.
Chinese shares opened higher and helped to
underpin Asian markets after a tentative start, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index
.CSI300 .SSEC
Encouragingly, data over the weekend showed
profits at China’s industrial firms grew for the fourth straight month in
August buoyed in part by a rebound in commodities prices and equipment
manufacturing.
Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei .N225 .KS11
Australia's main share index .AXJO
The broad gains in Asia follow a Wall Street
rally on Friday though analysts expect the gains to be short-lived as
expectations for economic growth start to falter.
Particularly worrying is a resurgence of
COVID-19 cases in Europe, dousing earlier hopes that authorities might have
started to exert some control on the outbreak and raising further strains on
businesses already grappling with losses.
“Clouds have started to gather over the
developed world as political uncertainty increases in the U.S. and Europe
grapples with a resurgence in COVID-19 cases,” Kerry Craig, Global Market
Strategist, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets/chinese-stocks-underpin-asia-markets-wary-of-virus-spike-u-s-presidential-debate-idUKKBN26J02B
Grocers Stockpile, Build
‘Pandemic Pallets’ Ahead of Winter Resurgence
of Covid-19 cases and the impending holiday rush prompt retailers to sideline
lean-inventory strategies September 27, 2020
Grocery stores and food companies are preparing for a
possible surge in sales amid a new rise in Covid-19 cases and the impending
holiday rush.
Supermarkets are stockpiling groceries and storing them
early to prepare for the fall and winter months, when some health experts warn
the country could see another widespread outbreak of virus cases and new
restrictions. Food companies are accelerating production of their most popular
items, and leaders across the industry are saying they won’t be caught unprepared in
the face of another pandemic surge
Southeastern Grocers LLC secured holiday turkeys and hams
over the summer, months before it normally starts inventory planning, said
Chief Executive Anthony Hucker. And grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods
Inc. has loaded up on extra inventory of cranberry sauce, herbal tea and cold
remedies, said President Chris Testa.
“We started talking about Thanksgiving in June. That’s
earlier than we ever have,” he said.
Associated
Food Stores recently started building “pandemic pallets” of cleaning and
sanitizing products so it always has some inventory in warehouses, said Darin Peirce,
vice president of retail operations for the cooperative of more than 400
stores. The company is establishing protocols so it can better manage scenarios
of high demand.
We will never again operate our business as unprepared for
something like this,” he said.
These changes, a reaction to the sudden and massive
shortages grocers experienced in the spring, amount to a shift from the
just-in-time inventory management
Now, food sellers are stockpiling months, rather than
weeks, worth of staples such as pasta sauce and paper products to better
prepare for this winter, when people are expected to hunker down at home. Ahold
Delhaize USA, SpartanNash Co. SPTN -2.55%
They say they want to be ready for a potential Covid-19
surge that experts are warning could hit as soon as this fall, as daily
reported cases are increasing again in many states after falling in the summer.
More than 200,000
people have died
More
https://www.wsj.com/articles/grocers-stockpile-build-pandemic-pallets-ahead-of-winter-11601199000
In dirty tricks US Presidential campaign news, The New York,
Never Trump newspaper, has jumped in with both feet ahead of tomorrow’s first
presidential debate.
Trump frequently paid no federal
income taxes in years leading up to presidency - New York Times September 27, 202010:31
PM
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in
both 2016 and 2017, after years of reporting heavy losses from his business
enterprises to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, the New York
Times reported on Sunday, citing tax-return data.
In a report that Trump dismissed as “fake news,” the Times said the
Republican president also paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the previous 15
years through 2017, despite receiving $427.4 million through 2018 from his
reality television program and other endorsement and licensing deals.
The disclosure of previously private tax information came little more
than a month before the Nov. 3 election between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
Democrats were quick to seize on the report to paint Trump as a tax dodger and
raise questions about his carefully groomed image as a savvy businessman.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer took to Twitter to ask Americans
to raise their hands if they paid more in federal income tax than Trump.
Calling the report “total fake news” at a White House news conference,
Trump again cited an ongoing audit as his reason for not releasing his returns.
In a statement to the Times, Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization,
said Trump had paid millions of dollars in personal taxes over the last decade,
without weighing in on the specific finding of minimal income taxes.
---- The Times said it had obtained
tax-return data covering over two decades for Trump and companies within his
business organization. It did not have information about his personal returns
from 2018 or 2019.
The Times also reported that Trump was currently embroiled in a
decade-long Internal Revenue Service audit over a $72.9 million tax refund he
claimed after declaring large losses. If the IRS rules against him in that
audit, he could have to pay over $100 million, according to the newspaper.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-taxes/trump-frequently-paid-no-federal-income-taxes-in-years-leading-up-to-presidency-new-york-times-idUKKBN26I10N
Up next, is the “Old
Lady of Threadneedle Street” really flirting with negative interest rates? How
high do they want to see the Sterling price of gold go?
BoE's Tenreyro says evidence on
negative rates is 'encouraging' September 26,
20209:55 PM By Reuters Staff
LONDON
(Reuters) - The Bank of England’s investigation into whether negative rates
might help the British economy through its current downturn has found “encouraging”
evidence, policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said in an interview published late on
Saturday.
Tenreyro told the Sunday Telegraph that she did not expect Britain to
continue to enjoy a fast V-shaped recovery, due to headwinds from local
flare-ups in COVID-19, rising unemployment and a “very weak” global economic
outlook.
Britain’s central bank said in August that it was taking a closer look
at the case for cutting interest rates below zero, and in September it said it
would take a detailed look at the idea’s technical feasibility during the
fourth quarter.
However Governor Andrew Bailey said this did not mean the BoE was
committed to going ahead with the idea, which would potentially see people
charged for holding deposits with banks.
Tenreyro said evidence from the euro zone and Japan showed that cutting
interest rates below zero had succeeded in reducing companies’ borrowing costs
and did not make it unprofitable for banks to lend.
“The evidence has been encouraging,” she said, adding that cuts in
interest rates below zero had been almost fully reflected in reductions in
interest rates charged to borrowers.
“Banks adapted well – their profitability increased with negative rates
largely because impairments and loss provisions have decreased with the boost
to activity and the increase in asset prices,” she said.
So far, the BoE has responded to the coronavirus pandemic by cutting
interest rates to a record-low of 0.1% and expanding its asset purchase
programme by 300 billion pounds ($382 billion).
Tenreyro said she expected Britain’s rebound from the historic 20% slump
in output during the lockdown in the second quarter looked set to lose pace as
COVID-19 cases rose again.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-tenreyro/boes-tenreyro-says-evidence-on-negative-rates-is-encouraging-idUKKBN26H0ZH
In
man made climate change news, what went wrong? Why did “Mother Nature” go off
script?
Alps surprised by early snowfall,
Swiss town sees new record 26 September, 2020
BERLIN (AP) — Parts of Switzerland, Austria and Germany were surprised
by unseasonably early snowfall overnight, after a sharp drop in temperatures
and heavy precipitation.
The Swiss meteorological agency said Saturday that the town of Montana,
in the southern canton (state) of Valais, experienced 25 centimeters (almost 10
inches) of snowfall — a new record for this time of year.
Authorities were out in force across mountainous regions in the two
Alpine nations to clear roads blocked by snow and ice.
In parts of Austria, snowfall was recorded as low as 550 meters (1,805
feet) above sea level.
https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-austria-archive-043acd7ac31a67f2f109ff6f883be631
Finally, is the USA
following Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s Japan playbook? A playbook that ended in
war, and nuclear war at that.
U.S. tightens exports to China's
chipmaker SMIC, citing risk of military use September 26,
20202:23 PM By Reuters Staff
SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States has imposed restrictions on exports to China’s
biggest chip maker SMIC after concluding there is an “unacceptable risk”
equipment supplied to it could be used for military purposes.
Suppliers of certain equipment to
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation 0981.HK will now have to
apply for individual export licenses, according to a letter from the Commerce
Department dated Friday and seen by Reuters.
The latest move marks a shift in U.S. policy
from earlier this year, when applicants seeking “military end user” licenses to
sell to SMIC were told by the Commerce Department that the licenses weren’t
necessary, according to three people familiar with the matter.
SMIC said it had not received any official
notice of the restrictions and said it has no ties with the Chinese military.
“SMIC reiterates that it manufactures
semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial
end-users and end-uses,” SMIC said.
“The Company has no relationship with the
Chinese military and does not manufacture for any military end-users or
end-uses.”
SMIC is the latest leading Chinese technology company to face U.S. trade
restrictions related to national security issues or U.S. foreign policy
efforts. Telecoms giant Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] had its access to high-end
chips curtailed by its addition to a Commerce Department blacklist known as the
entity list.
“There’s been a lot of coverage on the Trump administration’s actions
regarding TikTok, but the more significant action - from a global economic
standpoint and that will have considerable ripple effects through global supply
chains - are the increasing restrictions on SMIC and other Chinese national
champions like Huawei,” said Nicholas Klein, a Washington lawyer who
specializes in international trade. He said these actions are more likely to
draw a retaliatory response from Beijing.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-china-smic/u-s-tightens-exports-to-chinas-chipmaker-smic-citing-risk-of-military-use-idUKKBN26H0LQ
"Anybody has the right to evade taxes if he can get away
with it. No citizen has a moral obligation to assist in maintaining the
government."
J. P. Morgan.
Covid-19 Corner This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
India Cases Top 6 Million; Deaths
Milestone Looms: Virus Update Bloomberg News September
28, 2020, 12:01 AM GMT+1 Updated on September 28, 2020, 6:10 AM GMT+1
Covid-19 infections topped 6 million in India, the new
epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The official global death toll neared
one million, though experts say the real tally
South Korea reported the fewest cases in seven weeks as it
brings its latest outbreak under control. Australia’s prime minister urged the
removal of further curbs
The U.K. is preparing to enforce a social lockdown across
much of northern Britain and potentially London amid a second wave, the Times
of London reported. Any vaccine is unlikely to fully immunize everyone, former
U.S. Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb said.
Key Developments: Global Tracker :
Cases top 32.9 million; deaths exceed 996,000Covid-19 death toll nears 1 million, but
real number may be double Germany has its own Dr. Fauci — and actually
follows his advice Less than 1% chance of
catching Covid-19 flying, says JetBlue Early Covid treatments could
be ‘bridge’ to vaccine, Fauci says Modi offers Indian vaccine production capacity to
help humanity Who’s succeeding against the
coronavirus and why: QuickTake https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-27/new-york-city-cases-still-alarming-in-some-areas-virus-update?srnd=coronavirus
Early Covid Treatments Could Be a
‘Bridge’ to Vaccine By Jason Gale September 27, 2020, 12:13 AM GMT+1
Monoclonal antibodies that stop the coronavirus from
spreading in the body are among promising strategies for averting severe
illness from Covid-19 before vaccines arrive, said Anthony Fauci, director of
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Antibody-based medications, other blood products from
recovered patients and antivirals are being investigated as early treatments,
Fauci said. The aim is to prevent patients from developing the serious lung
damage for which Gilead Sciences Inc. ’s remdesivir and the
anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone are
administered.
“We
are focusing very heavily now on treatment of early infection and, or
prevention of infection,” Fauci told the Journal of the American Medical
Association in an interview
Friday. “And that’s the bridge to the vaccine.”
Immunization
against SARS-CoV-2 could begin in the U.S. in November or December, Fauci said,
though it will probably take until at least the third quarter of 2021 for
enough Americans to have been protected against the pandemic virus to
significantly diminish its threat. Fauci said 100 million doses of vaccine may
be produced by December, with all six companies supplying the U.S. slated to
have made 700 million doses by next April.
----Blockbuster studies published by the journal Science on
Thursday showed about 14% of critical Covid-19 patients have impaired levels of
a substance called interferon that helps orchestrate the body’s defense against
viral pathogens.
Read
More: Covid Doctors Find a Turning Point in Life-Threatening Cases
The finding opens up new strategies for identifying
high-risk patients and treating them with interferon infusions or, in some
cases, removing interferon-blocking antibodies from their blood in a procedure
called plasmapheresis.
Interferon, which is already being studied in dozens of
clinical trials, might improve the effectiveness of antiviral drugs if they are
administered early in an infection, according to Stanley Perlman , a professor of
microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, who has
studied coronaviruses for 38 years.
More
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-26/early-covid-treatments-could-be-bridge-to-vaccine-fauci-says?srnd=premium-europe
U.S. Midwest sees surge in
COVID-19 cases as four states report record increases September 26,
20209:07 PM
(Reuters)
- Four U.S. states in the Midwest reported record one-day increases in COVID-19
cases on Saturday as infections rise nationally for a second week in a row,
according to a Reuters analysis.
Minnesota reported 1,418 new cases, Montana
343 new cases, South Dakota reported 579 and Wisconsin had 2,902 new cases.
In the last week, seven mostly Midwest
states have reported record one-day rises in new infections -- Minnesota,
Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Minnesota and Utah
reported record increases two days in a row.
The United States recorded 58,461 new cases
on Friday, the highest one-day increase since Aug. 7. The United States is
reporting nearly 46,000 new infections on average each day, compared with
40,000 a week ago and 35,000 two weeks ago. (Graphic: here )
All Midwest states except Ohio reported more
cases in the past four weeks as compared with the prior four weeks, according
to a Reuters analysis.
Some of the new cases are likely related to
an increase in the number of tests performed. In the last week, the country has
performed over 1 million coronavirus tests three out of seven days -- a new
record, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run
effort to track the outbreak.
However, hospitalizations have also surged in the Midwest and are not
influenced by the number of tests performed.
Wisconsin’s hospitalizations have set new records for six days in a row,
rising to 543 on Friday from 342 a week ago. South Dakota’s hospitalizations
set records five times this week, rising to 213 on Saturday from 153 last week.
“Wisconsin is now experiencing unprecedented, near-exponential growth of
the number of COVID-19 cases in our state,” Governor Tony Evers said in a video
posted on social media.
More
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-usa/u-s-midwest-sees-surge-in-covid-19-cases-as-four-states-report-record-increases-idUKKBN26H0YP?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/
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.
First Solar’s Thin-Film PV
Modules Chosen For Largest Urban Solar Power Plant In Europe September 25th, 2020 by Zachary
Shahan
A solar power plant being built in Bordeaux, France, on a
former landfill is expected to be the largest “urban” solar PV power plant in
Europe. The factory is using solar modules from American solar presenter
delivernment is firm First Solar (Nasdaq:FSLR).
“In the world of solar PV, there are conventional
crystalline solar PV modules, and there’s First Solar, which produces ‘thin
film’ solar modules using CdTe chemistry. As the price of crystalline solar PV modules has
fallen off a cliff
This week, First Solar JP Energie Environnement Series 6 DC Labarde solar power
plant
The Series 6 modules are some of the most reliable in the
solar industry. First Solar backs that up with a 25 year product warranty.
Additionally the company notes that “First Solar is one of only five modules in
the world to pass Atlas 25+, the Thresher and TUV Long-Term Sequential Tests.”
Also buried on the module product page is the news that First Solar’s thin-film
solar PV modules have “the best environmental profile
JPee, which is headquartered in Caen, France,
currently operates 263MWDC of wind and solar power plants that
create enough electricity for 230,000 average French homes.
“The land was designated as a wasteland, unfit for
residential or commercial buildings, or agricultural use. JPee, however,
secured a 35-year lease for the 600,000-square meter site and began developing
the Labarde solar project, which was selected under successive rounds of the PV
tenders organized by France’s Commission de Régulation De L’Énergie
More
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/25/first-solars-thin-film-pv-modules-chosen-for-largest-urban-solar-power-plant-in-europe/
US Politics Betting Odds https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics
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