Oxen. Lunch. Impeachment 2.0. More.

 Baltic Dry Index. 1313 +10 Brent Crude 60.77

Spot Gold 1823

Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000

Deaths 53,100

Coronavirus Cases 12/02/21 World 108,298,441

Deaths 2,378,865

21^st century adage: Is that true, or did you hear it on the BBC?

With most of Southeast Asia off celebrating (or not this year,) the Lunar New year, starting today; much of northern Europe still digging out from record and near record snow; and America off experimenting with Impeachment 2.0 of a man already out of office, it’s a quieter, odder end to the week. But a fitting end of week for 2021.

The BBC World Service has managed to get itself banned in China, its largest audience. Lucky Chinese.

President Biden seems to think President Xi is about to eat his lunch.

Canada and China are each holding hostages after two years of stalemate in Trump’s trade war on China giant Huawei.

Below, what passes for normality in 2021.

Asian shares stuck in holiday lull, bitcoin powers higher

February 11, 2021  11:53 PM  By Stanley White, David Henry

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian shares hovered just below a record high on Friday as mixed U.S. economic data caused some investors to show restraint after a global stock market rally pushed many bourses to dizzying heights.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.03%, trading just shy of an all-time high reached in the previous session. Australian stocks lost 0.31%. Shares in Tokyo fell 0.32%, pulling back from 30-year highs.

Futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.12%.

Markets in Greater China and most of Southeast Asia are closed on Friday for the Lunar New Year holiday. China’s stock and bond markets, foreign exchange and commodity futures markets are closed through Feb. 17 for the holiday.

Bitcoin surged yet again to a new record high after BNY Mellon said it will offer custodian services for cryptocurrencies. The dollar headed for a weekly loss, stung by bitcoin’s assent and disappointing U.S. economic data.

Trading in the United States and Europe on Thursday did not move prices enough to provide much direction, said Tom Piotrowski, a market analyst at CommSec in Sydney.

“We didn’t get much of a lead-in from the northern hemisphere,” Piotrowski said. “Markets are in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for the next catalyst and it is just a question of whether that catalyst is going to be a positive one or a negative one.”

---- On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 eked out gains of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.02%.

Prices held near records as investors bet on more government spending, although enthusiasm was tempered when U.S. President Joe Biden said that China was poised to “eat our lunch,” raising fears of renewed strain on Sino-U.S. ties.

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/asian-shares-stuck-in-holiday-lull-bitcoin-powers-higher-idUSKBN2AB2V3

Deficit projected at $2.3 trillion for 2021, not counting additional stimulus, CBO says

Published Thu, Feb 11 20212:00 PM ESTUpdated Thu, Feb 11 20214:01 PM EST

Key Points

• The federal budget deficit is projected to be $2.3 trillion in fiscal 2021, the Congressional Budget Office said.
• That’s smaller than 2020 shortfall of $3.13 trillion but larger than anything the nation had seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Federal debt will swell to $35.3 trillion in 2031, it said, the largest debt-to-GDP ratio in U.S. history.

The federal budget deficit is projected to total $2.3 trillion in the 2021 fiscal year, a drop from last year but well ahead of anything the U.S. had seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday.

That total does not include the $1.9 trillion in relief spending that President Joe Biden has proposed, because the ultimate size of the package has not been determined.

While smaller than the $3.13 trillion shortfall in fiscal 2020, the red ink this year still will be the second-largest in the nation’s history either in total dollar terms or as a proportion of the $20.9 trillion U.S. economy.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/11/deficit-projected-at-2point3-trillion-for-2021-not-counting-additional-stimulus-cbo-says.html

U.S. House committee approves another $14 billion for pandemic-hit airlines

February 12, 2021  3:01 AM

(Reuters) - A U.S. House committee on Thursday approved a proposal to give airlines another $14 billion in payroll assistance as part of a broader COVID-19 relief package that is working its way through Congress.

It would be the third round of support for the pandemic-hit industry. American Airlines and United Airlines have warned of some 27,000 furloughs without an extension of the current package that expires on April 1.

The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on a 29-24 vote approved the $14 billion for airlines and $1 billion for contractors to cover payroll through September.

The funds will be included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill proposed by President Joe Biden, whose initial plan did not include new money for airlines. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she expects lawmakers to complete legislation based on the bill by the end of February.

American Airlines said in a statement after the committee vote that the payroll support program, which covers employee wages and bans job cuts, “has been a lifeline for our team members.”

U.S. airlines are burning through millions of dollars every day as the pandemic crushes travel demand.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilot union in the world, said the funds “would help prevent the additional financial devastation that would result from the aviation industry being forced to furlough tens of thousands of workers.”

Budget carriers Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Travel and Frontier Airlines, however, have said in recent weeks that they intend to resume pilot hiring later this year.

Reuters first reported many of the details of the plans to provide new assistance to U.S. airlines, transit systems, airports and passenger railroad Amtrak.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-airlines/u-s-house-committee-approves-another-14-billion-for-pandemic-hit-airlines-idUSKBN2AC07X

Dollar headed for weekly loss, bitcoin hits record $49,000

February 12, 2021  12:18 AM  By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar headed for its first losing week in three as new signs of weakness in the U.S. jobs market dented investor expectations about the pace of economic recovery from the pandemic.

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $49,000 on Friday after BNY Mellon became the latest firm to embrace cryptocurrencies, saying it will form a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets.

“With names like BONY getting in, it’s going to lay the groundwork for even more mainstream adoption of bitcoin,” said Jeffrey Wang, head of Americas at crypto finance service provider Amber Group.

“Medium term, the momentum is very strong and the market is going to want to test $50,000.”

The dollar remained on the back foot on Friday in Asia, pinned near two-week lows, after the release of weaker-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims data the previous day.

That added to recent concerns that the dollar’s previous rally had priced in too fast a pace of rebound for the U.S. economy.

The dollar index edged up less than 0.1% to 90.49 in holiday-thinned trade due to the Lunar New Year, and was on track to fall 0.6% for the week.

There has been a divergence in views among traders this year over just how U.S. President Joe Biden’s planned $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package will affect the dollar.

Some see it as bolstering the currency as it should speed a U.S. recovery relative to other countries, while others reckoned it would feed a global reflation narrative that should lift riskier assets at the dollar’s expense.

---- Bitcoin last traded 1.7% weaker at $47,170 after trading at a record high of exactly $49,000.00 on Bitstamp.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency is on course for a nearly 22% weekly advance, its biggest since the period ended Jan. 3.

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/global-forex/forex-dollar-headed-for-weekly-loss-bitcoin-hits-record-49000-idUSL4N2KI08P

China will 'eat our lunch,' Biden warns after clashing with Xi on most fronts

February 11, 2021  2:19 AM  By David Brunnstrom, Alexandra Alper, Yew Lun Tian

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first phone call as leaders and appeared at odds on most issues, even as Xi warned that confrontation would be a “disaster” for both nations.

While Xi has called for “win-win” cooperation, Biden has called China America’s “most serious competitor” and vowed to “out compete” Beijing.

On Thursday, Biden told a bipartisan group of U.S. senators at a meeting on the need to upgrade U.S. infrastructure the United States must raise its game in the face of the Chinese challenge.

Biden said he spoke to Xi for two hours on Wednesday night and warned the senators: “If we don’t get moving, they are going to eat our lunch.”

“They’re investing billions of dollars dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation, the environment and a whole range of other things. We just have to step up.”

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china/china-will-eat-our-lunch-biden-warns-after-clashing-with-xi-on-most-fronts-idUSKBN2AB06A

BBC World News barred in mainland China, dropped by HK public broadcaster

February 11, 2021 4:52 PM By Reuters Staff

BEIJING (Reuters) - China barred Britain’s BBC World News from airing on Friday and Hong Kong’s public broadcaster said it was dropping the channel, a week after Britain’s media regulator revoked Chinese state television’s UK broadcast licence.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration said an investigation found BBC World News’ China-related reports had “seriously violated” regulations, including that news should be “truthful and fair”, had harmed China’s interests and undermined national unity.

The channel, therefore, did not meet requirements for foreign channels broadcasting in China and its application to air for another year would not be accepted, it said.

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the publicly funded broadcaster in the former British territory, said separately on Friday it was suspending the relay of BBC news programming from Friday, following Beijing’s decision.

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-britain-bbc/bbc-world-news-barred-in-mainland-china-dropped-by-hk-public-broadcaster-idUSKBN2AB214

Finally, Asia. A Lunar New Year bust?

Asian businesses suffer Lunar New Year blues over travel curbs

February 11, 20216:41 AM  By Reuters Staff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - From a skyway operator in Australia to a tourist guide on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali and a lion dance troupe in Malaysia, Asia’s travel industry is hurting as coronavirus curbs keep most people home for the Lunar New Year.

The celebration, which begins on Friday, usually triggers the largest annual migration as people reunite with loved ones or go on holiday, but this year government curbs are spoiling plans, even as many nations roll out vaccines.

“In the last 10 months, there’s been no income, because there are no visitors,” said Bali tour guide Effendy, wearing traditional red headgear and batik-print sarong, as he stood in a deserted 60-hectare (148-acre) park.

Crowds of tourists from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan usually visit at this time of year, drawn by the park’s colossal 21-storey-tall statue of the Hindu god Vishnu riding the mythical eagle Garuda.

Also hit by the lack of foreign tourists is Bangkok, where a survey has predicted Lunar New Year spending faces its sharpest fall in 13 years.

Parked in rows in the Thai capital, with many gathering dust and cobwebs, are hundreds of “tuk tuk” motorised rickshaws, tour buses and boats.

“I will monitor the situation for another year,” said garage owner Kraisak Kulkiatprasert, who used to rent out more than 100 vehicles a day, but now manages to rent less than 10 despite slashing prices.

“If it doesn’t get better, I will have to shut down.”

In neighbouring Malaysia, a ban on public performances has kept a lion dance troupe from putting on its colourful, energetic show, with men in full costume leaping between poles, to the beat of drums, cymbals and gongs.

“We are badly affected because...our main income comes from Lunar New Year, which helps to cover our expenses for the year,” Lim Wei Khang, the deputy of the Kun Seng Keng dance group, told Reuters.

The traditional display has long formed part of the festivities in Malaysia, where Chinese form the largest ethnic minority, at just over a fifth of its 32 million people.

Unlike normal years in Australia, when throngs of tourists head for the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney, mere handfuls have come to gaze at the rock escarpments and shimmering waterfalls amid the forested slopes.

The operator of the world’s steepest railway and glass floored cable cars says its nature park is nearly empty as border closures to prevent virus spreading meant there would be no influx of tourists over the Lunar New Year.

“Normally, Chinese New Year we would be absolutely bustling with all our delightful visitors from across Asia,” said Anthea Hammon, the chief executive of privately-owned Scenic World, which is now open just four days a week, from seven formerly.

“We’ve seen a really significant, absolutely complete decline.”

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lunar-newyear/asian-businesses-suffer-lunar-new-year-blues-over-travel-curbs-idUSKBN2AB0J6

Covid-19 Corner                       

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

Common Blood Thinner Reduces Risk of Covid-19 Hospital Deaths

By Marthe Fourcade

12 February 2021, 00:01 GMT

Blood-thinning drugs reduced the risk of death from Covid-19 in a new study, pointing to one more promising tool as physicians scour their medicine cabinets for treatments to blunt the pandemic.

About 14% of patients who were given anticoagulants within 24 hours of hospital admission died from the coronavirus, compared with 19% of those who didn’t, according to a study published Friday in the British Medical Journal. The patients were treated with heparin, an injected blood-thinner sold by generic-drug makers including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Scientists have looked for existing, low-cost medications to help severely ill Covid-19 patients as more elaborate treatments disappoint. One of the biggest successes so far has been dexamethasone, a steroid that has been shown to reduce the risk of death by one-third for patients on ventilators.

The findings on blood thinners are based on data from more than 4,000 patients, mostly men, from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. They were hospitalized between March 1 and July 31 with Covid-19. The patients getting anticoagulants didn’t have an increased risk of bleeding, according to the study.

The study is based on observation, which means the results need to be confirmed by clinical trials and some are underway, the scientists said. The drugs may show a result because blood clots developing in major veins and arteries could be to blame for Covid deaths, according to the research.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-12/common-blood-thinner-reduces-risk-of-covid-19-hospital-deaths?srnd=premium-europe

Israeli drug that substantially alleviates serious Covid symptoms completes second phase trials

Trials found 90 per cent of patients who were seriously ill recovered after being treated with Allocetra

By James Rothwell 10 February 2021 • 7:53pm

A new Israeli drug that can substantially alleviate serious Covid symptoms in as little as two hours has successfully completed its second phase of trials.

The drug, Allocetra, treats the extreme overreaction of the body's immune system seen in some severe coronavirus patients, which can sometimes lead to organ failure and death. The phenomenon is known as a "cytokine" storm.

According to Israel's Channel 13, 90 per cent of a sample of 20 patients who were seriously ill recovered after they were treated with the drug during the trials. The drug is now commencing its third trial phase. 

Yair Tayeb, one of the recovered patients, told the Times of Israel that he felt much better only two hours after receiving the drug.

“I couldn’t breathe, I could barely speak. [I was in] very, very serious condition,” he said. “I went through an experience you can’t put into words.”

“They gave me the drug. Suddenly after two hours I started feeling something strange in my body. I stopped coughing, my breathing started to come back, I was feeling better. I stopped sweating. I couldn’t believe it. I was afraid to tell people I was okay, I was so excited.”

He added: "Two days ago I couldn’t stand on my legs… look at me now, going home.”

It is one of two drugs being developed in Israel which scientists hope will be a game changer in tackling serious Covid cases.

The other drug, EXO-CD24, was tested on 30 patients with moderate to severe Covid symptoms who all recovered, with 29 of them feeling better within five days.

It was developed at the Ichilov Medical Centre in Tel Aviv and was initially designed to treat ovarian cancer.

"Even if the vaccines do their job, and even if there aren't any new mutations, one way or another, the coronavirus will be staying with us," said Professor Nadir Arber, who designed the drug.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/10/israeli-drug-substantially-alleviates-serious-covid-symptoms/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1335495&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FAM_New_ES&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FAM_New_ES20210211&utm_campaign=DM1335495

CDC warns of antibiotic-resistant infection outbreaks in COVID-19 care units

Feb. 10, 2021 / 1:11 PM

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- At least 20 outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections have occurred in hospitals across the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

The outbreaks, which involved diseases that do not respond to treatment with currently available antibiotics, occurred in treatment and observation units that house patients infected with the coronavirus, according to the agency.

Several of the outbreaks were linked with changes in hospital infection and control practices due to the pandemic, including possibly the reuse of personal protective equipment by staff.

CDC officials said the incidents highlight the continued threat posed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens as COVID-19 spreads in many parts of the country.

RELATED Study: Combination antibiotics may fuel inappropriate use globally

"The last thing we want to see is patients who survive COVID succumb to an antibiotic-resistant [infection]," Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, the CDC's associate director for healthcare-associated infection prevention programs, said on Wednesday.

Srinivasan was speaking before the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria virtual meeting.

Antibiotic-resistant infections develop as a result of overuse or inappropriate use of these vital drugs. Increased exposure to antibiotics allows infection-causing pathogens to mutate and develop defenses against the drugs, according to the CDC.

More

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/02/10/CDC-warns-of-antibiotic-resistant-infection-outbreaks-in-COVID-19-care-units/4571612969955/

CDC: Double-masking can significantly reduce spread of COVID-19

Feb. 10, 2021 / 3:09 PM

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Double-masking, or wearing a cloth face covering over a medical procedure mask, increases a person's protection against exposure to COVID-19 virus particles by more than 90%, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, when two people in close contact are both double-masking or wearing properly fitted medical procedure masks over their nose and mouth, protection against coronavirus transmission increases by more than 95%, the data showed.

The findings highlight the importance of good fit to maximize overall mask performance, the agency researchers said.

"Controlling [COVID-19] transmission is critical not only to reduce the widespread effects of the ... pandemic on human health and the economy, but also to slow viral evolution and the emergence of variants," CDC researchers wrote in the analysis.

RELATED Experts: COVID-19 variants may stall herd immunity, but double-masking could help

"Until vaccine-induced population immunity is achieved, universal masking is a highly effective means to slow the spread of [the virus] ... [and] the data in this report underscore the finding that good fit can increase overall mask efficiency," they wrote.

Experts first proposed the use of double-masking approaches to reduce the amount of virus particles emitted from the nose and mouth of those infected when new strains of COVID-19 emerged and began to spread across the country.

Medical procedure masks, as well as N95 or N99 masks, are the most effective at limiting virus spread via respiratory droplets, according to recent studies.

More

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/02/10/CDC-Double-masking-can-significantly-reduce-spread-of-COVID-19/8121612982285/

Professor Tim Spector on the vaccines. Approx. 5 minutes.

Vaccines offer even more protection 3 weeks after first dose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vReTwfEithg

 

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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

The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)

https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national

 

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.

Fully foldable solar cell bends in half without breaking

By Michael Irving  February 10, 2021

Picture solar panels, and you’re most likely picturing a solid square slab. But the tech is becoming more flexible, and now engineers at Pusan National University in Korea have developed prototype solar cells that are fully foldable.

Rigid solar cells are great for sticking on rooftops and huge solar farms, but they could use a little more flexibility to make it easier to transport them, or get the tech into vehicles, phones, indoor devices, or even clothing.

In recent years, flexible solar cells have shown promise for all of these kinds of applications. They’re usually made of thin-film materials like graphene, tungsten diselenide, or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), deposited onto flexible substrates like polymers or even paper. The result is a solar cell that can bend to a limited degree, like a card.

But so far, they haven’t been able to fully fold in half without breaking. Other electronic devices are beginning to gain that ability, as seen with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold phones (among others) that can open and close like a book.

“Unlike merely flexible electronics, foldable devices are subject to much harsher deformations, with folding radii as small as 0.5 mm,” says Professor Il Jeon, corresponding author of the study. “This is not possible with conventional ultra-thin glass substrates and metal oxide transparent conductors, which can be made flexible but never fully foldable.”

To address that concern, the researchers turned to conductive films made of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). They embedded this film onto a polyimide substrate, then doped it with molybdenum oxide to improve its conductivity.

In the end, the researchers were able to make a solar cell just seven micrometers thick that could fold to a radius of just 0.5 mm. They were able to withstand over 10,000 folding cycles without breaking. They of course also functioned decently well as solar cells too, exhibiting a power conversion efficiency of 15.2 percent and 80 percent transparency.

“The obtained results are some of the best among those reported thus far for flexible solar cells, both in terms efficiency and mechanical stability,” says Jeon.

The research was published in the journal Advanced Science.

https://newatlas.com/energy/foldable-solar-cell/

Another weekend and what will the Chinese new Year of the Ox bring? Will as President Biden says, China will be eating America’s lunch?  Will ex-President Trump comment on impeachment 2.0 so far?  Will anyone comment on the Biden spend, spend, spend recovery plan to speed up the return of 1970s inflation?  More on Saturday. Have a great, safe weekend everyone.

The BBC, taxing poor people in Britain to pay astronomical sums to rich people, who then insult their British beliefs and views.