Stocks Crash Into Covid-19. Berlin’s Airport To Open.

 Baltic Dry Index. 1384 -29  Brent Crude 39.16

Spot Gold 1882 

Coronavirus Cases 29/10/20 World 44,570,259

Deaths 1,175,090

Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.

Oscar Wilde

In something of a overdue car crash, European and American stocks collided with surging Covid-19 infections in Europe and America, leading to a new lock down in France and a near lock down in Germany.

With snake bit timing, the almost new Berlin airport is finally set to open on Saturday, nine years late, many times over budget, and in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that’s killed off most airline travel. 

Gold and oil sold off aggressively too, as the stock casinos collapse led to a scramble to sell off anything in a desperate attempt to raise cash.

Other than that, yesterday was just another boring, northern hemisphere autumn day. 

Today, the brave will be out bottom fishing, trying to catch falling swords. But with European governments making the mistake of lock downs again, it’s hard to see today and tomorrow as anything more than a respite. 

Next week we get the November biggie. President Trump cashiered or the Democrat Socialists claiming theft.  How much will in person voting in America next week, spread Covid-19 infections in time for the US Thanksgiving holiday?

Asia's COVID control tempers global stock selloff, U.S. futures jump

October 28, 202011:36 PM By Tom Westbrook, Pete Schroeder

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Asian stock markets fell on Thursday but not as sharply as Wall Street’s rout overnight, while oil bounced off lows and U.S. futures jumped, as Asia’s brighter economic outlook offset investor worries about fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1%. Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.8% and drops in Hong Kong .HSI, Sydney .AXJO, Shanghai .SSEC and Seoul .KS11 were smaller than 1.5%.

That is heavy but much less than the S&P 500 index's 3.5% drop .SPX or the 4.2% fall by Germany's DAX .GDAXI which led European shares .STOXX to their lowest level since late May.

S&P 500 futures ESc1 and Dow futures YMc1 rebounded 1%, which traders attributed to heightened volatility and to the less gloomy mood around Asia as China's economy builds up steam.

“Asia is not really partaking in this second or third wave story because it’s got its COVID largely under control,” said Rob Carnell, chief economist in Asia at Dutch bank ING.

“As a result, domestic economies look reasonable. Exports will remain soft...but domestically they are still doing OK and doing a lot better relative to (Europe and the U.S.).”

Oil rose from a four-month low overnight and the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars rose about a quarter of a percent.

---- Central bank meetings and economic data are the main focus later on Thursday, with gathering uncertainty about the U.S. Nov. 3 election also keeping investors on edge.

The Bank of Japan is set to maintain its massive stimulus programme and vow to take further action if the virus’ economic fallout threatens a return to deflation.

Investors expect the European Central Bank to hold off on new measures and instead hint at action in December, which is likely to keep a lid on the euro.

---- German unemployment and inflation data, European confidence surveys and advance U.S. GDP figures will also be closely watched - with the U.S. figure likely to show record growth, but still leave the economy behind where it began 2020.

“Any disappointment in these numbers may have a magnified market impact, given the current weakness,” said CMC Markets’ Sydney-based strategist, Michael McCarthy.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets/asias-covid-control-tempers-global-stock-selloff-u-s-futures-jump-idUKKBN27D3D6

Global economic rebound at risk from rising coronavirus cases - Reuters poll

October 29, 202012:10 AM By Shrutee Sarkar

BENGALURU (Reuters) - There is a high risk the resurgence in coronavirus cases halts the global economic recovery by year-end, according to Reuters polls of around 500 economists, a majority of whom expected the rebound next year to be weaker than previously thought.

Governments and central banks around the world have pledged trillions of dollars of stimulus, helping most economies out of deep recessions. But a second wave of infections in places that eased lockdowns is now underway, leading to more restrictions.

That was a top risk repeatedly highlighted by Reuters surveys of economists, FX analysts, bond and equity strategists, as well as global fund managers since the start of the pandemic. [POLL/]

The Oct. 6-27 Reuters polls of economists across Asia, Europe and the Americas covering 46 economies showed scant sign of activity recovering to pre-COVID-19 levels anytime soon.

Nearly three-quarters of 150 analysts who responded to an additional question said the resurgence in coronavirus cases posed a high risk of halting the current global economic recovery as early as this year.

“Even before the renewed lockdowns there was already a broad acceptance that many countries will see a permanently lower level of GDP than they would have done in the absence of the pandemic,” noted Janet Henry, global chief economist at HSBC.

“Higher unemployment and higher debt appear inevitable but there are also implications for equality, long-term growth potential and financial stability.”

Median growth forecasts for over 65% of those 46 economies were downgraded or left unchanged for 2020 and nearly 60% of those for 2021. The range of forecasts also reveals mostly lower lows and lower highs.

---- In the meantime, there is no sign of the pandemic letting up anytime soon. The United States, Russia, France and many other countries have registered record numbers of cases in recent days, and European governments introduced new curbs.

The global economy was expected to grow 5.3% next year after shrinking 4.0% this year, a touch higher than the International Monetary Fund’s projection of 5.2% for 2021.

But nearly 80% of economists, or 119 of 150, said a weaker global recovery than previously thought was the greater risk in 2021, rather than a vigorous rebound or a renewed downturn.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-poll/global-economic-rebound-at-risk-from-rising-coronavirus-cases-reuters-poll-idUKKBN27E00T?il=0

This billionaire protégé of George Soros has returned about 30% a year for decades — here’s his gloomy take on what’s next

Published: Oct. 28, 2020 at 10:05 a.m. ET

That’s billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller talking about how a Democratic sweep of the White House and Congress in the upcoming elections could prove to be a headwind for the stock market for years to come. His comments, cited by Bloomberg, were made Tuesday at the virtual Robin Hood Investors Conference.

One way Druckenmiller, with a net worth of $5.8 billion, is reportedly playing the prospect of higher taxes and inflation is that he’s short the U.S. dollar DXY, 0.57%, sources at the conference told Bloomberg. He predicted that, in four years, inflation will top 4%, gold prices GOLD, -3.60% and bond yields will be higher, and the unemployment rate will be about 7%.

He’s not completely bearish on equities, however, saying that beaten-down stocks in this pandemic, such as airlines and cruises, could be profitable investments, particularly if a successful vaccine and another fiscal stimulus boost arrives. The technology high-fliers that have been leading this market, in turn, could see some selling, after their strong run, he warned.

Druckenmiller, who once served as chief strategist for George Soros, is one of the world’s top money managers, boasting returns of about 30% a year over the past three decades, Bloomberg reported.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-billionaire-protege-of-george-soros-has-returned-about-30-a-year-for-decades-heres-his-gloomy-take-on-whats-next-11603893924?mod=mw_latestnews

Central Banks Sell Gold for First Time in a Decade

By Eddie Spence

October 29, 2020, 5:00 AM GMT

Central banks became gold sellers for the first time since 2010 as some producing nations exploited near-record prices to soften the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

Net sales totaled 12.1 tons of bullion in the third quarter, compared with purchases of 141.9 tons a year earlier, according to a report by the World Gold Council. Selling was driven by Uzbekistan and Turkey, while Russia’s central bank also posted its first quarterly sale in 13 years.

While inflows into exchange-traded funds have driven gold’s advance in 2020, buying by central banks has helped underpin bullion in recent years. Citigroup Inc. last month predicted that central bank demand would rebound in 2021, after slowing this year from near-record purchases in both 2018 and 2019.

“It’s not surprising that in the circumstances banks might look to their gold reserves,” said Louise Street, lead analyst at the WGC. “Virtually all of the selling is from banks who buy from domestic sources taking advantage of the high gold price at a time when they are fiscally stretched.”

The central banks of Turkey and Uzbekistan sold 22.3 tons and 34.9 tons of gold, respectively, in the third quarter, the WGC said. Uzbekistan has been diversifying international reserves away from gold as the central Asian nation unwinds decades of isolation.

Gold rallied to a record during the quarter, even as overall bullion demand fell 19% year-on-year to the lowest since 2009, the WGC said. That decline came as Indian jewelry demand fell by half, while Chinese jewelry consumption was also weaker.

The fall off in jewelry was partially offset by 21% jump in demand from investors, according to the WGC, which draws data from both the International Monetary Fund and Metals Focus. Gold bars and coins made up most of the increase, as flows into exchange-traded funds slowed from preceding quarters. 

Total supply of gold declined 3% year-on-year as mine production remained depressed, even after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in producers like South Africa. A quarterly uptick in recycling softened the decline, with consumers cashing in on high prices. 

More 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-29/central-banks-sell-gold-for-first-time-in-decade-as-virus-bites?srnd=premium-europe 

Next, Boeing, Boeing, gone? 

Boeing posts fourth straight quarterly loss as sales slump 

October 28, 202011:42 AM 

(Reuters) - Boeing BA.N reported its fourth straight quarterly loss on Wednesday as the coronavirus crisis and the 737 MAX jet grounding hurt sales, while reaffirming its expectation that U.S. deliveries of the aircraft would resume before year-end.

 

Boeing said it was sticking with its deeply reduced widebody production rates announced in July, as well as the goal to hit a build rate of 31 narrowbodies monthly in early 2022.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has grounded air travel to a near halt, pushing major airlines to the brink of bankruptcy and forcing them to seek government aid, cut costs and defer aircraft deliveries. 

 

As a result, Chicago-based Boeing has slashed production, shed thousands of jobs and shifted its jet development strategy, while working to emerge from the depths of the crisis and the 19-month-old worldwide ban of its 737 MAX jets triggered by two fatal accidents. 

 

The company began a massive job-shedding campaign earlier this year and expects to cut 19,000 jobs by year-end out of the roughly 160,000 workers it had globally by end-2019. 

 

The company’s free cash outflow rose to $5.08 billion in the quarter, from $2.89 billion, a year earlier, while total debt jumped to $61 billion, from $19.2 billion. 

 

Excluding items, Boeing lost $1.39 per share in the third-quarter ended Sept. 30. 

 

Revenue fell 29% to $14.14 billion. 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-results/boeing-posts-fourth-straight-quarterly-loss-as-sales-slump-idUKKBN27D1OQ 

 

Finally, staying with the troubled airline industry, Berlin’s almost new airport gets to open, but in the midst of an accelerating coronavirus crisis who will use it?

Berlin's ill-fated new airport finally ready for take-off

Issued on: 28/10/2020 - 05:26

Nine years late and eye-wateringly over budget, the Berlin region's new international airport will finally open on Saturday -- in the middle of a global pandemic that has crippled air travel.

"We are ready for take-off!" insists the management team at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), set to replace the German capital's ageing Tegel and Schoenefeld airports.

But the mood is one of relief rather than celebration.

Ever since construction began on BER in 2006, the project has been dogged by one failure after another, becoming a financial black hole and a national laughing stock -- not exactly an example of German efficiency.

The airport, located in the south-east of the capital, was originally due to open in 2011.

Now it is opening its doors in the middle of the worst crisis the aviation industry has ever seen, as Covid-19 restrictions continue to suffocate air travel.

And as if that were not enough, there's also the climate crisis: pressure group Extinction Rebellion is planning acts of "civil disobedience" on the opening day to protest against the impact of aviation on global warming.

Against that backdrop, "We will simply open, we will not have a party," according to Engelbert Luetke Daldrup, president of the airport's management company.

Lufthansa and EasyJet will be the first two airlines to touch down on the tarmac of what will be Germany's third-largest airport, after Frankfurt and Munich.

A few days before the opening, around 200 staff were busy disinfecting the 360,000-square-metre Terminal 1.

Some 100 alcoholic hand gel dispensers have been installed and robot vacuum cleaners hum over the floors.

The "Magic Carpet", a huge, bright red artwork by American artist Pae White suspended from the ceiling, brings a touch of colour to the check-in hall.

The airport has been designed to welcome 27 million passengers a year, but in November it will see only 20 percent of usual air traffic thanks to the pandemic.

Terminal 2 won't open until spring 2021.

About 15 shops and restaurants out of just over 100 will remain shut, while the rest will be forced to keep "limited opening hours" because of low traffic through the airport, a spokesman told AFP.

None of this good news for BER, initially projected to cost 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) but already past the 6.5-billion-euro mark ($7.6 billion).

More

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201028-berlin-s-ill-fated-new-airport-finally-ready-for-take-off

One in Four European Airports Face Insolvency if Travel Fails to Recover

27 October 2020

Many European airports will struggle to stave off insolvency without state help unless travel recovers from its pandemic slump by the end of the year, according to the continent’s main industry group.

Airports Council International Europe predicts that 193 out of 740 airports in the region will soon struggle to pay their bills while government-imposed quarantine requirements remain in place, according to findings released Tuesday. The airfields in doubt are mainly smaller, regional hubs but still account for about 277,000 jobs, ACI said.

“The figures published today paint a dramatically bleak picture,” Director General Olivier Jankovec said in a statement. “Eight months into the crisis all of Europe’s airports are burning through cash to remain open, with revenues far from covering the costs of operations.”

Airlines and airports are among the companies hardest hit by the pandemic, and both industries are calling for an international testing agreement that prevents passengers from having to isolate for weeks at their destination -- a factor that’s putting off many people from traveling. Such a system, which would still require passengers to provide a negative test before departure, could reopen lucrative transatlantic routes and is soon set to reconnect Hong Kong and Singapore.

“Governments’ current imposition of quarantines rather than testing is bringing Europe’s airports closer to the brink with every day that passes,” Jankovec said.

European passenger numbers fell 73% year-on-year in September, meaning the region has lost 1.29 billion travelers since January.

In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, Paderborn airport has already filed for insolvency after passenger numbers fell 85%.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/one-in-four-european-airports-face-insolvency-if-travel-fails-to-recover/ar-BB1arx9g

Winter Watch.

The Arctic winter sea-ice expansion and northern hemisphere snow cover. From around mid-October, the northern hemisphere snow cover usually rapidly expands, while the Arctic ice gradually expands back towards its winter maximum.

Over simplified, a rapid expansion of both, especially if early, can be a sign of a harsher than normal arriving norther hemisphere winter. Perhaps more so in 2020-2021 as we’re in the low of the ending sunspot cycle, which possibly also influenced this year’s record Atlantic hurricane season.

Adding to this year’s winter concerns, a developing La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific. While the La Nina effect on the winter weather of western Europe is weaker than that of an El Nino pattern, which tends to make for a milder winter, a La Nina pattern tends to make for a colder winter.

The early take, Eur-Asia turned snowy fast in mid-October. North America is now playing catchup. The Arctic sea ice expansion is slow, and from a very low level at the end of September, but with the vastly expanded snow cover, sea ice formation will probably now speed up.

US National Ice Center.

https://www.natice.noaa.gov/ims/

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.

Oscar Wilde 

Covid-19 Corner                       

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

France and Germany thrust into lockdown as second COVID-19 wave sweeps Europe

October 28, 202011:09 AM  By Andreas Rinke, Sudip Kar-Gupta

BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered their countries back into lockdown on Wednesday, as a massive second wave of coronavirus infections threatened to overwhelm Europe before the winter.

World stock markets went into a dive in response to the news that Europe’s biggest economies were imposing nationwide restrictions almost as severe as the ones that drove the global economy this year into its deepest recession in generations.

“The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated,” Macron said in a televised address. “Like all our neighbours, we are submerged by the sudden acceleration of the virus.”

“We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first,” he said. “I have decided that we need to return to the lockdown which stopped the virus.”

Under the new French measures which come into force on Friday, people will be required to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or exercise for up to one hour a day. They will be permitted to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home. Schools will stay open.

As in the darkest days of spring, anyone leaving their home in France will now have to carry a document justifying being outside, which can be checked by police.

Germany will shut bars, restaurants and theatres from Nov. 2-30 under measures agreed between Merkel and heads of regional governments. Schools will stay open, and shops will be allowed to operate with strict limits on access.

“We need to take action now,” Merkel said. “Our health system can still cope with this challenge today, but at this speed of infections it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks.”

Her finance minister, Olaf Scholz, posted on Twitter: “November will be a month of truth. The increasing numbers of infections are forcing us to take tough countermeasures in order to break the second wave.”

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-europe/france-and-germany-thrust-into-lockdown-as-second-covid-19-wave-sweeps-europe-idUKKBN27D1J0

India's high use of antigen tests risks underestimating COVID-19 spread, says diagnostician

October 28, 202011:44 AM

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Fast but less accurate “rapid antigen tests” now account for 60% of all coronavirus tests in India, the head of a top diagnostic firm estimated on Wednesday, warning that such a high use could misrepresent the actual spread of the infection.

Antigen devices return results in about 15 minutes compared with several hours for the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method, a laboratory-based process which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls the "gold standard here" for COVID-19 detection.

Whereas antigen tests typically detect the virus around 80% to 90% of the time, lab-based tests detect the virus more than 95% of the time, say regulators and health experts in countries like the United States.

As a consequence of the reduced accuracy, India’s high use of antigen tests compared with a global use of around 10%, risked underestimating the spread of coronavirus, according to the founder of Mumbai-based Thyrocare Technologies Ltd, one of India’s top-three diagnostic chains.

“It’s a wrong scale used to assess” the extent of the spread of the virus, Arokiaswamy Velumani told Reuters in a phone interview.

Though the total number of coronavirus cases reached close to 8 million on Wednesday, India’s official tally shows daily new cases have dropped sharply since a mid-September peak.

Velumani said Thyrocare’s centres are now receiving only about 2,500 samples a day for RT-PCR tests, down from a high of about 7,000 in September.

The health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research did not immediately respond to emails from Reuters seeking comment on Velumani’s comments.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-india-tests/indias-high-use-of-antigen-tests-risks-underestimating-covid-19-spread-says-diagnostician-idUKKBN27D1O0?il=0

Over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency, study finds

Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in men

Date:  October 27, 2020

Source:  The Endocrine Society

Summary:  Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study.

Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body. Many studies point to the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially regarding protection against infections.

"One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19," said study co-author José L. Hernández, Ph.D., of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. "Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system."

The researchers found 80 percent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer.

More

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201027092216.htm

Study: Loss of smell in COVID-19 far more common than thought

Oct. 28, 2020 / 3:05 AM

Loss of smell is common in COVID-19, but fewer people say they have this symptom than objective tests reveal, a new study finds.

In fact, about 77% of COVID-19 patients who were directly measured had smell loss, but only 44% said they did, researchers found.

Direct measures of smell involve having patients smell and report on actual odors, while self-reporting includes getting data through patient questionnaires, interviews or electronic health records, the study authors explained.

"Objective measures are a more sensitive method to identify smell loss related to COVID-19," said study co-author Mackenzie Hannum, a postdoctoral fellow at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

Subjective measures, "while expedient during the early stages of the pandemic, underestimate the true prevalence of smell loss," said Vicente Ramirez, a doctoral student at the University of California, Merced, and summer intern at Monell.

The research suggests subjective measures underestimate the true extent of smell loss and that it may be an effective tool for diagnosing COVID-19 early, the authors said in a Monell news release.

For the study, the researchers reviewed previously published studies on COVID-19 and loss of smell.

Their findings were published online recently in the journal Chemical Senses.

Senior author Danielle Reed, associate director at Monell, suggested that "measuring people for smell loss may become as routine as measuring body temperature for fever."

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/10/28/Study-Loss-of-smell-in-COVID-19-far-more-common-than-thought/6611603835813/

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 other 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/

Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

 

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.

Today, something slightly different. Coming soon to an unsuspecting motorist near you. A driverless car rated 69 percent, if you’re lucky.

Tesla Autopilot 'a distant second' to GM's Super Cruise in hands-free test: Consumer Reports

October 28, 202010:09 AM

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co's GM.N Super Cruise once again edged Tesla's TSLA.O Autopilot in an evaluation of 17 vehicles equipped with active driving assistance systems (ADAS) by Consumer Reports, the testing organization said on Wednesday.

A Tesla Model Y fitted with Autopilot finished “a distant second,” the group said, to a Cadillac CT6 equipped with Super Cruise, which GM is rolling out to more than 20 vehicles - including its new Hummer electric pickup truck - over the next three years.

Safety and insurance researchers have frequently warned of the risks of consumers overestimating ADAS systems’ abilities, a misconception increased by some automakers calling their products Autopilot, ProPilot or Co-Pilot.

In 2018, the Cadillac CT6 with Super Cruise scored higher than a Tesla Model 3 with Autopilot, in a Consumer Reports test of just four vehicles equipped with ADAS.

In the latest test, conducted this summer on a track and on public roads, the Cadillac scored 69 points out of a possible 100, while the Tesla scored 57. A Lincoln Corsair equipped with Ford Motor Co's F.N Co-Pilot 360 system, finished third with 52.

The critical difference in the Super Cruise system is a driver-facing infrared camera to make sure he or she is paying attention to the road and is ready to take over manual control when necessary, said Kelly Funkhouser, head of connected and automated vehicle testing at Consumer Reports.

The group noted that Autopilot can shut off abruptly in some situations, while Super Cruise did a better job of notifying the driver when the system is disengaging.

In recent European safety testing, a Tesla Model 3 with Autopilot placed sixth out of 10 systems, getting high marks for performance and ability to respond to emergencies, but falling short on its ability to maintain a driver’s focus on the road.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-safety/tesla-autopilot-a-distant-second-to-gms-super-cruise-in-hands-free-test-consumer-reports-idUKKBN27D1B7

US Politics Betting Odds

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

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

Oscar Wilde