By Andrew
Galbraith , Jessica DiNapoli
SHANGHAI/NEW
YORK (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Friday after robust U.S. housing data
supported a late tech-driven rally on Wall Street, with investors picking up
the pieces a day after a broad regional index posted its biggest daily loss in
more than three months.
U.S. stocks ended positive in choppy trade
on Thursday, led by a dogged comeback in the technology sector, having
initially sold off on higher-than-expected unemployment claims.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
was 0.66% higher in the morning session, after slumping 2.15% a day earlier,
its biggest daily drop since June 11.
But even after Friday’s rise, the index
remains on track to post its largest weekly drop since March, pulled lower by
fears that the global recovery from the novel coronavirus pandemic could be
running out of steam. Investors have also been uncertain about Washington’s
ability to pass a stimulus package after Fed officials indicated they expected
more fiscal support.
News that Democrats in the U.S. House of
Representatives are working on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package
that could be voted on next week, and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
reiterated she is ready to negotiate on it with the White House helped to assuage
some of those fears on Friday.
---- .CSI300 added 0.64% and South
Korean shares .KS11 were 0.52%
higher. Australian shares .AXJO
jumped 1.54%, with financials rising the most in more than three months on
plans to ease bank lending laws.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.62%.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets/asian-shares-rise-on-tech-rally-renewed-stimulus-hopes-idUKKCN26F3QE?il=0
870,000 U.S. workers file new
jobless claims; unemployment at 8.6% Sept. 24, 2020 /
8:49 AM
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Nearly 900,000 more U.S. workers have filed for new
unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday.
The report listed 870,000 new claims for the week ending Sept. 19, an
increase of 4,000 from the previous week. It listed the unemployment rate at
8.6%, a decrease of 0.1% from last week.
Thursday's report also revised up last week's claims by
6,000 filings.
Most economists expected about 840,000 new claims.
The department said there are about 12.6 million continuing
claims, which lag initial claims by a week.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/09/24/870000-US-workers-file-new-jobless-claims-unemployment-at-86/9251600951235/
In
US “dirty tricks” elections news, when is vote buying not vote buying. Does “President
Biden” really want to go down in history as “the felon’s president?”
Florida AG calls for probe into
Bloomberg donations allowing felons to vote Sept. 24, 2020 /
5:31 PM
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody called for an investigation
into donations from Michael Bloomberg to pay off legal fines and fees
for felons in the state to allow them to vote in November's election.
Moody sent a letter to the FBI and the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement on Wednesday requesting a probe into Bloomberg's efforts to raise $16
million along with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition for about 32,000
former prisoners who owed less than $1,500 in fees and had already registered
to vote.
In the letter, Moody states that Gov. Ron
DeSantis asked her to look into the matter and also copied Florida
prosecutor Nick Cox and U.S. attorney Maria Lopez.
The letter cites a Washington Post article detailing Bloomberg's fundraising
efforts, including a memo stating his team had "identified a significant
vote share that requires a nominal investment."
More
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/09/24/Florida-AG-calls-for-probe-into-Bloomberg-donations-allowing-felons-to-vote/6541600978804/
Next,
why do these crooked banksters still have banking licences? Why are they
forever bailed out by the central banksters? Why do we allow rigged markets?
Who gets paid off?
JPMorgan Is Set to Pay $1 Billion
in Record Spoofing Penalty By Benjamin
Bain , Tom
Schoenberg , and Matt
Robinson September 23, 2020, 1:14 PM EDT
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is poised to pay close to
$1 billion to resolve market manipulation investigations by U.S. authorities
into its trading of metals futures and Treasury securities, according to three
people with knowledge of the matter.
The potential record for a settlement involving alleged
spoofing could be announced as soon as this week, said the people who asked not
to be named because the details haven’t yet been finalized. The accord would
end probes by the Justice Department , the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether traders on
JPMorgan’s precious metals and treasuries desks rigged markets, two of the
people said.
A penalty approaching $1 billion would far exceed previous
spoofing-related fines. It would also be on par with sanctions in many prior
manipulation cases, including some brought several years ago against banks for
allegedly rigging benchmark interest rates and foreign exchange markets.
Spoofing typically involves flooding derivatives markets
with orders that traders don’t intend to execute to trick others into moving
prices in a desired direction. The practice has become a focus for prosecutors
and regulators in recent years after lawmakers specifically prohibited it in
2010. While submitting and then canceling orders isn’t illegal, it is unlawful
as part of a strategy intended to dupe other traders.
It couldn’t be determined whether New York-based JPMorgan
will face additional Justice Department penalties in court. Previous spoofing
cases have been resolved without banks or trading firms pleading guilty to
criminal charges. However, when prosecutors filed cases last year against
individual JPMorgan traders they painted a grave picture of its precious metals
desk, saying it operated as an illicit enterprise within the bank for almost a
decade.
Read
More: JPMorgan’s Metals Desk Was a Criminal Enterprise, U.S. Says
The government’s settlement with JPMorgan is not expected
to result in any restrictions on its business practices, said one person
familiar with the negotiations between authorities and the bank. It is
anticipated that JPMorgan will admit to wrongdoing.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department, CFTC, SEC and
JPMorgan all declined to comment.
In 2015, JPMorgan was among firms accused of manipulating
currencies. It pleaded guilty to an antitrust charge and paid a $550 million
fine to the Justice Department. The bank also paid penalties to U.S.
regulators.
The pending spoofing case against JPMorgan follows criminal
charges filed last year against several of its employees, including former head
of the precious metals desk, Michael Nowak. In that case, the Justice
Department used racketeering laws more commonly used in mafia and drug gang
prosecutions, alleging the precious metals desk effectively became a criminal
enterprise for eight years.
Nowak and three others accused in the case pleaded not
guilty and are seeking to have the charges dismissed. Two other former traders
have pleaded guilty to conspiracy claims and are cooperating.
Shortly after Nowak was charged, JPMorgan learned it was
the focus of a separate but related criminal investigation into the bank’s
trading of Treasury securities and futures, according to another person
familiar with the matter. JPMorgan, which disclosed that investigation earlier
this year, said it’s cooperating with authorities.
Cracking down on spoofing has been a priority for
prosecutors and the regulators since Congress outlawed it through the
Dodd-Frank Act. Authorities are concerned that the practice has proliferated in
the era of electronic trading, with market participants using computer
algorithms to submit a high number of bogus orders. A court ruling last year
paved the way for prosecutors to scrutinize trading going back a decade.
Read
More: Spoofing Is a Silly Name for Serious Market Rigging
More than two dozen individuals and firms have been
sanctioned by the Justice Department or the CFTC, including day traders
operating out of their bedrooms, sophisticated high-frequency trading shops and
big banks such as Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG.
Bank of Nova Scotia last month agreed to pay $127.4 million
to settle U.S. allegations that the company engaged in spoofing of gold and
silver futures contracts, and made false statements to the government. The bank
admitted to wrongdoing.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-23/jpmorgan-is-set-to-pay-1-billion-in-record-spoofing-penalty?cmpid=BBD092420_MKTEU&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=200924&utm_campaign=marketseurope
Finally, in other illegal news, Germany’s “success story”
Wirecard. But very small beer by the “standards” of the titans of Wall Street.
Despite that, was the auditor totally inept, or was the auditor in on it?
Wirecard’s
deceit went beyond its fraudulent Asian operations Report from court-appointed administrator
reveals the rest of the business was chaotic and unprofitable
23
September 2020
The
picture that emerges of the Wirecard businesses that did exist is a stark contrast
to the one painted by former chief executive Markus Braun, who hailed the group
as a highly profitable pioneer in the payments industry. It reveals the scale
on which the company, Germany’s biggest corporate fraud in decades, also misled
investors about its real businesses.
“Only
a few units of the group were actually involved in conducting operative
business that was customer-facing and generated revenue,” the administrator
Michael Jaffé wrote in his report, a copy of which was seen by the Financial
Times.
On
paper, the formerly high-flying company generated €1.9bn in pre-tax profits
between 2015 and the first quarter of 2020. However, if its fraudulent Asian
operations are excluded, the remaining businesses accumulated €740m in pre-tax
losses over the same period, according to the report. The losses were never
disclosed because Wirecard only reported numbers for the whole group rather
than its individual operations.
Prized
as a rare example of a world-beating German tech business, Wirecard was promoted
into the country’s Dax index of leading companies in 2018. Even on the verge of
insolvency three months ago, the group had a market capitalisation of €13bn.
However,
the administrator estimates that the real value of Wirecard’s assets is just
€428m, an amount dwarfed by the €3.2bn in debt that the company had at its
collapse.
Mr
Jaffé’s assessment of the group’s value is also at odds with internal estimates
by Wirecard. Days ahead of its insolvency filing on June 25, a preliminary
restructuring plan pulled together by Wirecard estimated that the group could
generate €560m by selling some operations, according to a presentation seen by
the FT.
The
forecast turned out to be optimistic, partly because many of its customers —
among them a large fintech that accounted for 40 per cent of Wirecard Bank’s
revenue — quickly abandoned the company. Formally appointed by a Munich judge
last month to oversee Wirecard’s unwinding, the administrator is trying to
carve out bits of the company that could be sold. Mr Jaffé declined to comment
on the report.
More
https://www.ft.com/content/04c77d71-c2ff-4340-8cf9-ee9c55b800e0
"Never have the world's moneys been so long cut off from
their metallic roots."
Murray M. Rothbard
Covid-19 Corner This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Mysterious Cases in China;
Korea’s Holiday Curbs: Virus Update Bloomberg News September
24, 2020, 11:33 PM GMT+1 Updated on September 25, 2020, 5:34 AM GMT+1
China detected its first local asymptomatic cases in more than a
month in two port workers responsible for unloading frozen seafood, stoking
concern that contaminated imports could be transmitting the virus.
South Korea will bolster social-distancing rules for two
weeks in an effort to prevent a resurgence in cases during national holidays,
while Indonesia is extending curbs in Jakarta by
another 14 days. Myanmar pushed its ban on foreign visitors to Oct. 31.
The U.K. set out a plan to rescue millions of jobs and
businesses, and France introduced new steps to fight a rapid resurgence. Both
countries reported their highest number of cases since the
start of the pandemic. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he didn’t trust the
Trump administration and that the state would review any vaccine authorized by
the federal government.
Key Developments:
· Global Tracker : Cases top 32
million; deaths exceed 980,000
· Who’s
succeeding against the coronavirus and why?: QuickTake
· Death
toll nears 1 million , but real number may be
double
· The
world’s car industry pins its hopes on China’s recovery
·
Chinese vaccine maker to offer shots first
to testing nations
· Covid
risk, online classes spur U.S. college enrollment drop
· Ibrahimovic’s positive test
highlights soccer’s virus uptick
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-24/n-y-to-review-vaccine-records-in-u-k-france-virus-update?srnd=coronavirus
Simple blood test predicts
patients most likely to die from COVID-19 By Rich Haridy
September 23, 2020
One of the big challenges healthcare workers
are facing in this global pandemic is identifying those COVID-19 patients most
at risk of severe illness and death. COVID-19 certainly is more dangerous, on
average, in the elderly or those with pre-existing health problems, but that
doesn’t preclude a 96-year-old from presenting with no symptoms , or a healthy 21-year-old losing her life. A team of researchers
from Massachusetts General Hospital have been trawling through hospital
admission data to find some way to help doctors better assess those patients
most at risk of suffering the worst effects of the disease.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from
1,641 patients admitted to Boston hospitals with COVID-19 earlier this year.
The plan was to closely study the samples to identify any particular molecular
patterns that could predict disease severity. Before looking at more
complicated blood-based biomarkers the researchers first looked at biomarkers
gathered in the most routine blood tests.
We were surprised to find that one standard test that quantifies the
variation in size of red blood cells – called red cell distribution width, or
RDW – was highly correlated with patient mortality, and the correlation
persisted when controlling for other identified risk factors like patient age,
some other lab tests, and some pre-existing illnesses," says co-author on
the new study, Jonathan Carlson.
RDW is a very common metric gathered in most standard blood count tests.
The new study found patients displaying an elevated RDW at time of admission
were 2.7 times more likely to die from COVID-19. Elevated RDW was also more
significantly associated with mortality in younger COVID-19 patients.
The study also notes that patients whose RDW was seen to
increase during hospitalization were more likely to suffer worse outcomes from
the disease. The researchers suggest this indicates RDW may be a useful
biomarker to track the progress of a patient while admitted in hospital.
RDW has been previously determined to be an effective
non-specific biomarker of illness, and the researchers do note it is unlikely
there is a direct causal relationship at play. But, what is important here is
the routine nature of RDW measurements gathered in common blood testing.
A number of similar studies have
been published over the past few months exploring blood-based biomarkers to identify patients most
as risk of death or severe illness from COVID-19. Many researchers have homed
in on particular blood biomarker patterns that can be associated with the worst
outcomes, however, not many of those blood measurements are as simple and
routine to collect as RDW measurements.
The finding needs further validation in broader cohorts of
patients, but if confirmed, this simple laboratory test may be a useful way to
detect those COVID-19 patients most in need of clinical care.
The new research was published in the journal JAMA Network Open
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/coronavirus-blood-test-predicts-mortality-disease-severity-rdw/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=d0f3401c12-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_24_08_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-d0f3401c12-90625829
Open letter from medical doctors
and health professionals to all Belgian authorities and all Belgian media. September 5th 2020
We, Belgian
doctors and health professionals, wish to express our serious concern about the
evolution of the situation in the recent months surrounding the outbreak of the
SARS-CoV-2 virus. We call on politicians to be independently and critically
informed in the decision-making process and in the compulsory implementation of
corona-measures. We ask for an open debate, where all experts are represented
without any form of censorship. After the initial panic surrounding covid-19,
the objective facts now show a completely different picture – there is no
medical justification for any emergency policy anymore. The current crisis management has become totally disproportionate and
causes more damage than it does any good. We call for an end to all measures and ask for an immediate restoration
of our normal democratic governance and legal structures and of all our civil
liberties.
‘A cure must not be worse than the problem’ is a thesis
that is more relevant than ever in the current situation. We note, however,
that the collateral damage now being caused to the population will have a
greater impact in the short and long term on all sections of the population
than the number of people now being safeguarded from corona.1
We believe that the policy has introduced mandatory
measures that are not sufficiently scientifically based, unilaterally directed,
and that there is not enough space in the media for an open debate in which
different views and opinions are heard. In addition, each municipality and
province now has the authorisation to add its own measures, whether
well-founded or not.
Moreover, the strict repressive policy on corona strongly
contrasts with the government’s minimal policy when it comes to disease
prevention, strengthening our own immune system through a healthy lifestyle,
optimal care with attention for the individual and investment in care
personnel.2
---- The facts about
covid-19
Gradually, the alarm bell was sounded from many sources:
the objective facts showed a completely different reality. 5
6
The course of covid-19
followed the course of a normal wave of infection similar to a flu season. As
every year, we see a mix of flu viruses following the curve: first the
rhinoviruses, then the influenza A and B viruses, followed by the
coronaviruses. There is nothing different from what we normally see.
The use of the non-specific PCR test, which produces many
false positives, showed an exponential picture. This test was rushed
through with an emergency procedure and was never seriously self-tested. The
creator expressly warned that this test was intended for research and not for
diagnostics.7 8
The test does not measure how many viruses are present in
the sample. A real viral infection means a massive presence of viruses, the
so-called virus load. If someone tests positive, this does not mean that that
person is actually clinically infected, is ill or is going to become ill.
Koch’s postulate was not fulfilled (“The pure agent found in a patient with
complaints can provoke the same complaints in a healthy person”).
Since a positive PCR test does not automatically indicate
active infection or infectivity, this does not justify the social measures
taken, which are based solely on these tests. 9 10
More
https://docs4opendebate.be/en/open-letter/
Seven Mutant Strains of
Coronavirus Identified in France But Less Dangerous The new strains
of Coronavirus found in France are less dangerous than the original strain,
claimed country's one of the leading research hospitals By Bhaswati Guha
Majumder September 20, 2020 19:03
+08
Mutant strains of novel Coronavirus, more contagious but
less serious, were identified in France and this could be the reason why Europe
is noticing a spike in COVID-19 cases. The chief of a French research hospital
has revealed the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 strains to the lawmakers last week.
Head of IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseilles Didier
Raoult, who is a microbiologist, told the French senators that the hospital's
infectious disease experts found seven mutations of the virus during an
analysis of COVID-19 tests during the summer.
According to him, one strain had entered the country via
people, coming from North Africa, after France lifted the lockdown restrictions
in June. As reported
by The Sunday Times, while the mutation has disappeared now, others have
emerged.
As
per the expert, the newly emerged strains of the novel Coronavirus are
"less severe," which indicates that "something is happening with
this virus, which makes it different." As per Raoult, the mutations
noticed by the French experts are "a rather degraded version of the initial
form. At least that is our impression."
More
https://www.ibtimes.sg/seven-mutant-strains-coronavirus-identified-france-less-dangerous-51707
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.
Mirror-like photovoltaics get
more electricity out of heat Date:
September 21, 2020
Source:
University of Michigan
Summary:
New heat-harnessing 'solar' cells that reflect 99% of the energy they can't
convert to electricity could help bring down the price of storing renewable
energy as heat, as well as harvesting waste heat from exhaust pipes and
chimneys.
New heat-harnessing "solar" cells that reflect 99% of the
energy they can't convert to electricity could help bring down the price of
storing renewable energy as heat, as well as harvesting waste heat from exhaust
pipes and chimneys.
The energy storage application, known informally as a "sun in a
box," stores extra wind and solar power generation in a heat bank.
"This approach to grid-scale energy storage is receiving widespread
interest because it is estimated to be ten-fold cheaper than using
batteries," said Andrej Lenert, an assistant professor of chemical
engineering.
The "sun" itself in this approach is already low cost: a tank
of molten silicon, for instance. The relatively expensive parts are the
photovoltaic panels that turn the stored heat back into electricity.
Compared to ordinary solar panels that turn light, rather than heat,
into electricity, thermal photovoltaics need to be able to accept lower energy
photons -- packets of light or heat -- because the heat source is at lower
temperature than the sun. To maximize efficiency, engineers have been looking
to reflect the photons that are too low-energy back into the heat bank. That
way, the energy gets reabsorbed and has another chance to get packaged into an
electricity-producing, higher-energy photon.
"It's a recycling job," said Steve Forrest, the Peter A.
Franken Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and the Paul G.
Goebel Professor of Engineering. "The energy emitted by the heat bank has
over 100 chances to be absorbed by the solar cell before it gets lost."
The conventional gold-backed thermophotovoltaic reflects 95% of light
that it can't absorb -- not bad, but if 5% of the light is lost with each
bounce, that light has on average 20 chances to be re-emitted in a photon with
enough energy to be turned into electricity.
Increasing the number of opportunities means one could potentially use
cheaper solar cell materials that are choosier about what photon energies
they'll accept. This has additional benefits: higher energy photons make higher
energy electrons, which means higher voltages and less energy lost while
getting the electricity out.
In order to improve the reflectivity, the team added a layer of air
between the semiconductor -- the material that converts the photons into
electricity -- and the gold backing. The gold is a better reflector if the
light hits it after traveling in air, rather than coming straight from the
semiconductor. To minimize the degree to which the light waves cancel each
other out, the thickness of the air layer must be similar to the wavelengths of
the photons
More
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200921111644.htm
Another weekend, and
another weekend of dirty tricks campaigning in America? Will America elect
another crook to the White House? But which one? Have a great weekend everyone.
US Politics Betting Odds https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics
The Battle of
Stamford Bridge 25 September 1066. The death of the King Edward the Confessor in January 1066
caused a succession struggle across northern Europe, with several contenders
willing to fight for the throne of England.
One such claimant was the King of Norway, Harold Hardrada,
who arrived off the north coast of England in September with a fleet of 300
ships packed with around 11,000 Vikings ,
all anxious to help him in his endeavour.
Hardrada’s Viking army was further strengthened by forces
recruited by Tostig Godwinson, bother of Harold Godwinson, who had been
selected as the next King of
England by the Witenagemot (King’s councillors) following Edwards death.
The Viking armada sailed up the River Ouse and after a
bloody encounter with Morcar, Earl of Northumberland at the Battle of Fulford,
seized York .
King Harold Godwinson now had a dilemma; whether to march north and confront
Hardrada before he could consolidate his hold on Yorkshire ,
or to remain in the south and prepare for the invasion he was expecting from
France by William Duke of Normandy, yet another contender for the throne.
A man of action, King Harold’s Anglo-Saxon army travelled
from London
to York, a distance of 185 miles in just 4 days.
Hardrada’s Vikings had no idea what hit them! Caught
completely by surprise, on the morning of 25 September the English army swept
swiftly downhill straight into the enemy forces, many of whom had left their
armour behind in their ships.
In the fierce fighting that followed both Hardrada and
Tostig were killed, and when the Viking shield wall finally broke the invading
army were all but annihilated. Only 24 ships from the original fleet of 300
were needed to carry the survivors back to Norway.
Just 3 days later, William the Conqueror landed his Norman
invasion fleet on England’s south coast.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Battle-of-Stamford-Bridge/
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