Baltic Dry Index. 2856 -83 Brent Crude 69.66
Spot Gold 1868
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 18/05/21 World 164,279,345
Deaths 3,404,457
“I don’t think there has been a greater engine of inequality than the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States”.
Stanley Druckenmiller.
The dollar falling, crude oil prices and precious metals prices rising, Argentina suspending beef exports for 30 days, if not extended longer.
The Magic Money Tree forests, discovered last year by central banksters everywhere, are not working out to the crooked central banksters tame , transitory, inflation script.
If you flood the global economy with trillions upon trillions of new fiat money created out of thin air at the push of a button in the central bank, rather than creating new wealth by increased manufacturing and more efficient commerce, you quickly arrive at where we stand today.
Too much money is now chasing a limited supply of goods, if not yet services. The limited supply of services comes later as we fully reopen the global economy after the pandemic eases.
In short, demand push inflation, is/has arrived.
A great big failure for the Biden-Powell probity challenged Fed.
Taiwan’s Taiex bounces back as it soars more than 3%; Asia-Pacific markets rise
SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific jumped in Tuesday morning trade, as investors reacted to the release of Japan’s first quarter gross domestic data.
The Taiex in Taiwan surged 3.28% in Tuesday morning trade. Those gains followed a nearly 3% drop on Monday amid fears of domestic coronavirus infections.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 also saw robust gains as it jumped 2.12% while the Topix index advanced 1.49%.
Japan’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 5.1% in January to March, government data showed Tuesday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, gross domestic product in January-March fell 1.3% quarter-on-quarter, slightly lower than expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2% decline. That came as resurgent Covid infections in the country snapped two quarters of consecutive growth.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 1.3%. Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.21% while the Shenzhen component gained 0.28%.
South Korea’s Kospi edged 1.1% higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.73%. Minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May monetary policy meeting released Tuesday showed the central bank’s board viewed the conditions for a rate rise as unlikely to be met “until 2024 at the earliest.”
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded around 1% higher.
On the coronavirus front, the World Health Organization warned Monday that the global pandemic isn’t over yet despite high Covid vaccination rates in some countries. In Asia, places such as Singapore and Taiwan have seen a recent resurgence in local infections, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions in a bid to stem the virus’ spread.
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/asia-markets-japan-gdp-data-covid-in-asia-currencies-oil.html
Gold extends rally as dollar weakness, inflation jitters lift appeal
(Bloomberg) -- Argentina’s government is limiting exports of beef, a staple in the country, in the latest unorthodox move to try to contain runaway inflation that’s approaching 50% annually.
President Alberto Fernandez told a key beef export association that they won’t be allowed to sell the product abroad for 30 days, according to a Production Ministry statement released late Monday. In that period, the government will determine a set of emergency measures for the sector.
The measure shows that the government is willing to sacrifice much-needed dollars from exports to appease local consumers ahead of a key midterm election later this year. The country’s beef exports in 2020 amounted to roughly $3 billion, but the government may be more focused on the political cost of falling domestic consumption.
“The president expressed his concern over the sustained growth in domestic beef prices over the last few months,” according to the statement. Discussion at the meeting also included “possible steps to restrict speculative practices” and fiscal evasion. Some of the measures will be adopted over coming days.
Fernandez added that the 30-day period could be shortened if the implementation of the measures leads to “positive results,” the note added.
Argentine beef exports have been surging for four years and reached a record in the first two months of 2021, according to beef group Ciccra. The suspension resembles similar policy decisions during 2003-2015 under the presidencies of Nestor Kirchner and his successor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, which led cattle numbers to plunge and the country losing market share in the international market.
The government last month formalized a registry to ensure domestic supplies of beef at accessible prices as well as monitor shipments and supplies at home.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/argentina-halts-beef-exports-30-010200477.html
The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything
‘It is anything but efficient or normal.’ Surging corporate demand is upending global supply chains.
By Brendan Murray, Enda Curran, and Kim Chipman 17 May 2021, 05:01 BSTA year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it’s companies furiously stocking up.
Mattress producers to car manufacturers to aluminum foil makers are buying more material than they need to survive the breakneck speed at which demand for goods is recovering and assuage that primal fear of running out. The corporate buying and hoarding is pushing supply chains to the brink of seizing up. Shortages, transportation bottlenecks and price spikes are nearing the highest levels in recent memory, raising concern that a supercharged global economy will stoke inflation.
Copper, iron ore and steel. Corn, coffee, wheat and soybeans. Lumber, semiconductors, plastic and cardboard for packaging. The world is seemingly low on all of it. “You name it, and we have a shortage on it,” Tom Linebarger, chairman and chief executive of engine and generator manufacturer Cummins Inc., said on a call this month. Clients are “trying to get everything they can because they see high demand,” Jennifer Rumsey, the Columbus, Indiana-based company’s president, said. “They think it’s going to extend into next year.”
More
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Tokyo medical association calls for cancellation of Tokyo Olympics due to spike in Covid cases
A top medical organization has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said hospitals in the Games host city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity” amid a surge in infections.
“We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,” the association said in a May 14 open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted to its website on Monday.
A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, promoting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.
“The medical institutions dealing with Covid-19 have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” the medical association said in its letter.
Doctors would soon face the added difficulty of dealing with heat exhaustion patients during the summer months and if the Olympics contributed to a rise in deaths “Japan will bear the maximum responsibility,” it added.
Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns about the Olympics, while an online petition calling for the Games to be cancelled was signed by hundreds of thousands of people.
More
World Economic Forum cancels 2021 meeting planned for Singapore
The World Economic Forum said Monday that it has canceled a summer version of its annual meeting that was due to take place in Singapore.
“Regretfully, the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants combine to make it impossible to realise a global meeting with business, government and civil society leaders from all over the world at the scale which was planned,” the organization said in a statement.
The event, which brings together politicians and business leaders from around the world, had already been rescheduled twice and had been moved to Singapore from its usual location of Davos, Switzerland. The summer event had been planned for the middle of August.
WEF said that the meeting will instead take place in the first half of 2022, with a final location and date to be determined later this year. Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of WEF called it a difficult decision.
“Ultimately the health and safety of everyone concerned is our highest priority,” he said in the statement.
Covid-19 cases in Singapore have climbed in the past few days. In a preliminary update on Monday, Singapore’s health ministry said it confirmed an additional 21 locally transmitted infections, 11 of which were not linked to previous cases. That takes Singapore’s cumulative Covid cases to more than 61,600 and 31 deaths, data by the health ministry showed.
More broadly, concerns have grown across the world over a new variant of the virus first discovered in India.
More
China supports intellectual property waiver for coronavirus vaccines
KYODO NEWS – 17 May 2021
China on Monday expressed support for waiving intellectual property protections for novel coronavirus vaccines in a bid to help developing nations suffering from the ongoing pandemic.
"China will continue to make a contribution to the fairness and accessibility of vaccines in developing countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
Zhao's remarks came after the U.S. trade representative said in a statement earlier this month that the administration of President Joe Biden will support the intellectual property waiver "in service of ending this pandemic."
The Biden administration has been facing calls from developing nations to share the technology behind the vaccines to help beef up production, but the pharmaceutical industry has resisted the idea.
Zhao said, "China fully understands and supports the request of developing countries to exempt the intellectual property rights for novel coronavirus vaccines."
China has touted its home-developed coronavirus vaccines as "effective and high-quality," after the World Health Organization earlier this month approved one developed by the nation's state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm.
With backing from the WHO, the Sinopharm vaccine would now be included in a U.N.-backed COVAX facility, an international vaccine distribution platform set up to ensure equitable access to shots for developing countries.
China, where the virus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, has been active in its "vaccine diplomacy" push, providing its coronavirus vaccines to other Asian nations and African countries, among other areas.
(3rd LD) New cases in 600s for 3rd day as cluster infections continue
19:00 May 17, 2021
SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the third consecutive day Monday, as infections from private gatherings, schools and military bases continued amid little progress in vaccinations.
The country reported 619 more COVID-19 cases, including 597 local infections, raising the total caseload to 132,290, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
There were three additional virus deaths, raising the total to 1,903.
Daily cases have typically fallen every Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend. Monday's tally is up from Sunday's 610 but down from the 681 on Saturday.
As of 6 p.m., health authorities and local governments reported 403 new cases, down by 105 from the same time a day earlier. The figure, however, was higher than 371 reported during the same time a week earlier, making it hard to say that the upward trend has subsided.
Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official, told a briefing that a recent rise in COVID-19 cases may be stalling, but the health authorities will look into the increase in Monday's cases.
South Korea started its vaccination program on Feb. 26, but its inoculation drive has been making little progress amid the tight supply of vaccines.
The country earlier announced its bold plan to vaccinate 13 million people by June and achieve herd immunity by November. South Korea is making efforts to keep the daily figure below 1,000 through end-June while speeding up inoculations of seniors.
As of Monday, 940,345 people, or 1.8 percent of the country's population, have been fully vaccinated, receiving both doses of two-part vaccines.
A total of 3,733,806 people, or 7.3 percent, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, up five from a day earlier.
AstraZeneca's vaccine has been given to 2.05 million people, while 1.69 million have received that of Pfizer.
A total of 22,199 cases of side effects after vaccinations have been reported, up 77 from a day earlier, although 95.8 percent of them were mild symptoms.
A total of 123 post-vaccination deaths have been reported, although the exact causes of the deaths remain unknown as health authorities could not determine causality.
More
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210517002353320?section=market/economy
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
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.
New atomically precise graphene nanoribbon heterojunction sensor developed
Date: May 12, 2021
Source: University of Cologne
Summary: A team of physicists and chemists has developed a highly sensitive sensor, which was made possible by a new heterostructure consisting of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons.
An international research team led by the University of Cologne has succeeded for the first time in connecting several atomically precise nanoribbons made of graphene, a modification of carbon, to form complex structures. The scientists have synthesized and spectroscopically characterized nanoribbon heterojunctions. They then were able to integrate the heterojunctions into an electronic component. In this way, they have created a novel sensor that is highly sensitive to atoms and molecules. The results of their research have been published under the title 'Tunneling current modulation in atomically precise graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions' in Nature Communications. The work was carried out in close cooperation between the Institute for Experimental Physics with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cologne, as well as with research groups from Montreal, Novosibirsk, Hiroshima, and Berkeley. It was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the European Research Council (ERC).
The heterojunctions of graphene nanoribbons are just one nanometre -- one millionth of a millimetre -- wide. Graphene consists of only a single layer of carbon atoms and is considered the thinnest material in the world. In 2010, researchers in Manchester succeeded in making single-atom layers of graphene for the first time, for which they won the Nobel Prize. 'The graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions used to make the sensor are each seven and fourteen carbon atoms wide and about 50 nanometres long. What makes them special is that their edges are free of defects. This is why they are called "atomically precise" nanoribbons,' explained Dr Boris Senkovskiy from the Institute for Experimental Physics. The researchers connected several of these nanoribbon heterojunctions at their short ends, thus creating more complex heterostructures that act as tunnelling barriers.
---- The researchers built a novel sensor for the adsorption of atoms and molecules from the nanoribbon heterostructure. The tunnel current through the heterostructure is particularly sensitive to adsorbates that accumulate on surfaces. That is, the current strength changes when atoms or molecules, such as those of gases, accumulate on the surface of the sensor. 'The prototype sensor we built has excellent properties. Among other things, it is particularly sensitive and can be used to measure even the smallest amounts of adsorbates,' said Professor Dr Alexander Grüneis, head of a research group at the Institute of Experimental Physics.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin.
Bourgeoisie
noun: bourgeoisie; plural noun: bourgeoisies
- the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.
o (in Marxist contexts) the capitalist class who own most of society's wealth and means of production.
No comments:
Post a Comment