Baltic Dry Index. 3292 +78 Brent Crude 74.66
Spot Gold 1811
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 02/08/21 World 199,022,838
Deaths 4,240,374
“Operator! Give me the number for 911!”
My apologies for today’s abbreviated and late update. After two hours of trying to get my laptop to start normally, who knew that simply removing the battery solved the problem? Why, well that’s a mystery known only to God and the laptop’s makers in China or wherever.
For more on how we’re all going to go “green” scroll down to today’s last section. We’re all going to do it the old fashioned way, apparently, smoke and mirrors, deceit, slight of hand and good old honest fraud come to mind.
Up first, Asia and a mixed bag.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumps about 2%; Afterpay shares in Australia surge after Square deal announcement
SINGAPORE — Shares in major Asia-Pacific markets rose in Monday trade, as data showed Chinese manufacturing activity growth slowed in July. Oil prices, meanwhile, fell over 1%.
Shares of Afterpay in Australia soared more than 20% after U.S. fintech firm Square announced it had agreed to buy the buy now, pay later giant. The broader S&P/ASX 200 in Australia also saw robust gains as it climbed 1.36%.
Elsewhere in Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.97% while the Topix index gained 2.11%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced around 0.5%.
Meanwhile, mainland Chinese stocks recovered from an earlier slip, with the Shanghai composite up 1.5% and the Shenzhen component advancing 1.439%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.92% higher. Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng saw its Hong Kong-listed shares jump more than 10% after the firm announced Monday a record monthly high for vehicles delivered in July.
Shares of HSBC in Hong Kong rose around 2% after the lender announced first-half 2021 earnings that beat expectations and announced its second dividend payout since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for July released Monday came in at 50.3, much lower than expectations by analysts in a Reuters poll for a reading of 51.1. The Caixin manufacturing PMI figure had come in at 51.3 in June.
China’s official manufacturing PMI released over the weekend also showed factory activity growth slowing in July, with the figure for the month coming in at 50.4 versus June’s reading of 50.9.
----Investors also monitored the Covid situation regionally. More areas in Japan entered a Covid-19 state of emergency on Monday due to a spike in virus cases, according to local news agency Kyodo News.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media reported that governments at various levels across the country have taken virus containment measures following a resurgence in infections that reportedly started in the city of Nanjing.
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/02/asia-markets-china-economy-covid-currencies-oil.html
Investors Lost Hundreds of Billions on China in July
China moves to reassure global investors who have been drawn to country’s strong growth, booming tech industry
July 30, 2021 2:32 pm ET
American investors are asking whether China Inc. is still worth the risk following a widening series of regulatory crackdowns that have wiped some $400 billion off the value of U.S.-listed Chinese companies.
Investors ranging from pension fund Orange County Employees Retirement System in California to money manager William Blair & Co. are rethinking their portfolios following Beijing’s decision last week to curtail the operations of China’s for-profit tutoring industry along with its ongoing campaign to rein in tech companies. The moves fueled large declines across sectors of China’s stock markets and hammered Asia-focused funds stateside.
The investor retreat sent tutoring firm TAL Education Group’s TAL 3.41% American depositary receipts down some 70% in a matter of days to $6.19 Friday morning. TAL traded above $90 in February. American depositary receipts, or ADRs, are certificates issued to U.S. investors that represent a specified number of shares in a foreign company.
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. EDU -1.81% has fallen roughly 66% since July 22 and was at $2.24 Friday morning.
It was the latest of regulatory crackdowns that have hit the value of Chinese firms as large as Tencent Holdings Ltd. , even as U.S. indexes have risen to records. Earlier regulatory moves that had rattled companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , its unlisted sister company Ant Group Co. and Didi Global Inc., which is considering going private again to placate authorities, had already caused concern among western investors.
----So far this month, China ADRs have lost more than $407 billion dollars in aggregate, according to FactSet, more than double their losses in March 2020 when the U.S. market plummeted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
China this week tried to reassure global financial firms that it wasn’t trying to decouple from U.S. markets. A top securities regulator told representatives of global banks and investment firms that Chinese authorities in the future would carefully consider the market impact of policy changes before making them.
Over the last decade, U.S. investors have been drawn to China because of its huge population, growing economy and booming tech industry. Despite tension between the Chinese and American governments, U.S. investors continued to see strong returns. Yet, the deteriorating political relationship between the two countries has bled into the markets.
More
SEC slaps new disclosure requirements on Chinese IPOs amid Beijing’s crackdown
Published Fri, Jul 30 2021 10:54 AM EDT Updated Fri, Jul 30 2021 11:17 AM EDT
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it will require additional disclosures from Chinese companies seeking a listing on U.S. stock exchanges, following Beijing’s intensified crackdown on oversea share issuance.
“In light of the recent developments in China and the overall risks with the China-based [variable interest entities] structure, I have asked staff to seek certain disclosures from offshore issuers associated with China-based operating companies before their registration statements will be declared effective,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement.
The so-called variable interest entities are a structure used by major Chinese companies from Alibaba to JD.com to go public in the U.S. while skirting oversight from Beijing as the country doesn’t allow direct foreign ownership in most cases. These variable interest entities allow China-based operating companies to establish offshore shell companies in another jurisdiction and issue stocks to public shareholders.
Gensler said he worries that “average investors may not realize that they hold stock in a shell company rather than a China-based operating company.”
The SEC will ask Chinese companies to clearly distinguish the shell company’s management services from the operating company, while stating any risk from future actions from the Chinese government.
The move came as Beijing stepped up its oversight on the flood of Chinese listings in the U.S. Ride-hailing app Didi became the latest victim of the clampdown. The stock tumbled nearly 30% this month after Beijing announced a cybersecurity investigation, suspending new user registrations.
More
Finally, more on that global chip shortage. No not the kind you eat but the kind that go into electronics.
Perhaps this article should be in the Global inflation section.
The chips are down: why there's a semiconductor shortage
Issued on: 01/08/2021 - 05:20
A shortage of semiconductors has sent shockwaves through the global economy, squeezing supplies of everything from cars to headphones.
The dearth of chips has exposed the modern world's reliance on these miniscule components, the basic building blocks of computers which allow electronic devices to process data. Why is the shortage happening, and what can be done about it?
- How is the shortage linked to the pandemic? -
The start of the Covid-19 crisis in early 2020 prompted a global spending spree on electronic items -- from extra monitors as people rushed to set up home offices, to televisions and games consoles for beating lockdown boredom.
Temporary factory closures due to the pandemic also put pressure on supplies.
And as plants reopened, electronic goods producers continued to place orders -- creating an ever-increasing backlog for the chips, which can be just a fraction of a millimetre long.
The pandemic isn't the only factor. A storm briefly halted production at several plants in Texas in February, and a fire ripped through a Japanese factory in March.
US-China tensions are also part of the story. Last August, the US banned foreign companies whose chips use American technology from selling to Chinese tech giant Huawei, over espionage allegations.
#photo1
Huawei began stockpiling semiconductors ahead of the sanctions coming into effect, and other companies followed their lead, further straining supplies.
Which industries have been hit?
The car industry has been the most visible victim so far, with many brands forced to slow their output in recent months.
As automakers slashed production early in the pandemic, their chip suppliers turned to clients from other sectors -- namely the makers of electronic goods in high demand due to the pandemic.
That has left car brands, from Volkswagen to Volvo, scrambling to get hold of semiconductors now that sales are revving up again.
Smartphone makers had been relatively protected so far as they had existing stockpiles of chips, but they too are starting to suffer.
Apple CEO Tim Cook warned this week that the shortages are set to hit the production of iPhones and iPads. Smaller phone-makers are likely to be worse affected, analysts say.
Games consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have also been in short supply.
So great is the clamour among gamers to get hold of chip-powered graphic cards needed for their playing, that they have been resorting to increasingly unusual strategies.
The die-hards are tuning into live-streams on YouTube and Twitch, which ring an alarm every time a card is listed for sale online.
- When will this end? -
Governments are hurrying to boost their chip-making capacities, meanwhile.
In May, South Korea announced a whopping $451 billion investment in its bid to become a semiconductor giant, while the US Senate last month voted through $52 billion in subsidies for chip plants, known as "fabs".
The European Union is seeking to double its share of global chip-manufacturing capacity to 20 percent of the market by 2030.
But factories cannot open overnight -- particularly those that make semiconductors, a delicate process that involves pressing layers of chemicals into silicon.
"Building new capacity takes time -- for a new fab, more than 2.5 years -- so most expansions that are starting now will not increase the available capacity until 2023," said Ondrej Burkacky, senior partner and co-leader of the global semiconductors practice at consultancy McKinsey.
More
Global Inflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
Home Prices Are Soaring. Is That the Fed’s Problem?
Low interest rates are one reason that the housing market has taken off. They are far from the only one.
July 31, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
Robert S. Kaplan, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, has been nervously eyeing the housing market as he ponders the path ahead for monetary policy. Home prices are rising at a double-digit pace this year. The typical house in and around the city he calls home sold for $306,031 in June of this year, Zillow estimates, up from $261,710 a year earlier.
Several of Mr. Kaplan’s colleagues harbor similar concerns. They are worried that the housing boom could end up looking like a bubble, one that threatens financial stability. And some fret that the central bank’s big bond purchases could be helping to inflate it.
“It’s making me nervous that you’ve got this incipient housing bubble, with anecdotal reports backed up by a lot of the data,” James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said during a call with reporters Friday. He doesn’t think things are at crisis levels yet, but he believes the Fed should avoid fueling the situation further. “We got in so much trouble with the housing bubble in the mid-2000s.”
Policymakers don’t need to look far to see escalating prices, because housing is growing more expensive nearly everywhere. Buying a typical home in Boise, Idaho, cost about $469,000 in June, up from $335,000 a year ago, based on Zillow estimates of local housing values. A typical house in Boone, N.C., is worth $362,000, up from $269,000. Prices nationally have risen 15 percent over the past year, Zillow’s data shows, in line with the closely watched S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of home prices, which rose a record 16.6 percent in the year through May.
Bidding wars are frustrating buyers. Agents are struggling to navigate frantic competition. About half of small bankers in a recent industry survey said the current state of the housing market poses “a serious risk” to the United States economy. Lawmakers and economic policymakers alike are hoping things calm down — especially because frothy home prices could eventually spill into rent prices, worsening affordability for low-income families just as they face the end of pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and, in some cases, months of owed rent.
Industry experts say the current home price boom emerged from a cocktail of low interest rates, booming demand and supply bottlenecks. In short, it’s a situation that many are feeling acutely with no single policy to blame and no easy fix.
More
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Health experts fear unlocked England could become an incubator for new Covid variants
LONDON — England’s relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions is risking the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous variants of the virus, scientists have warned.
England lifted most of it last remaining restrictions on July 19, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still have some restrictions in place.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously described the easing of restrictions as “irreversible.”
However, the reopening policy has been publicly criticized by a consortium of more than 1,200 scientists from around the world.
One concern is around the possible consequences of unlocking society amid high infection rates and a partially vaccinated population, and how unrestricted mixing under those circumstances could shape the way the virus evolves.
“If I were to design a massive experiment to create a more dangerous virus, one that is capable of blasting through our vaccines, I would do what the U.K. is proposing to do,” Michael Haseltine, a U.S. virologist and chair and president of ACCESS Health International, told news show Good Morning Britain on so-called “Freedom Day”.
“Half the population vaccinated in the midst of a rampant pandemic, which would allow the virus to learn how to avoid our vaccines. That’s what I would do, and the rest of the world is justifiably concerned.”
Each time a person is infected with Covid-19, they go from having a few copies of the virus to hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of copies in their system. When the virus makes a copy of itself, there’s a chance it might make a mistake in the new copy that could inadvertently give the virus an advantage.
“You’re rolling the dice every time someone’s infected,” Charlotte Houldcroft, a scientist working on virus evolution at the University of Cambridge, told CNBC via telephone.
More
Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released Saturday, as its theme park resorts again started asking visitors to wear masks indoors.
The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.
The latest numbers were recorded on Friday and released on Saturday on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. The figures show how quickly the number of cases is rising in the Sunshine State: only a day earlier, Florida reported 17,093 new daily cases. The previous peak in Florida had been 19,334 cases reported on Jan. 7, before the availability of vaccinations became widespread.
The state reported 409 deaths this week, bringing the total to more than 39,000 since its first in March 2020. The state’s peak happened in mid-August 2020, when 1,266 people died over a seven-day period. Deaths usually follow increases in hospitalizations by a few weeks.
DeSantis has blamed the surge on a seasonal increase — more Floridians are indoors because of the hot weather with air conditioning circulating the virus. About 60% of Floridians 12 and older are vaccinated, ranking it about midway among the states.
More
Why an Israeli company is developing an oral Covid vaccine
Issued on: 01/08/2021 - 03:50
Imagine a Covid-19 vaccine that came as a pill: no needles, no medical professionals required to administer it, potentially delivered directly to people's homes.
Israeli pharmaceutical Oramed is attempting to accomplish just that, and is poised to start its first clinical trial in early August, CEO Nadav Kidron told AFP in an interview.
With just 15 percent of the world's population fully vaccinated, the global fight to end the pandemic is far from over.
But they could also increase uptake in wealthy countries where needle aversion is an often missed factor in hesitancy.
A recent survey found nearly 19 million Americans who decline vaccines would take them if they had a pill option.
"In order for the vaccine to really work well, we need as many people to take it as possible," said Kidron.
Other benefits include reduced syringe and plastic waste, and potentially fewer side effects.
- Challenges for oral delivery -
Despite many theoretical advantages, there have been few successful oral vaccines because the active ingredients tend not to survive the journey through the gastro-intestinal tract.
Exceptions include vaccines for diseases that are themselves transmitted through the mouth and digestive system -- for example there is an effective oral polio vaccine.
Oramed, which was founded in 2006, believes it has overcome the technical hurdles by designing a capsule that survives the highly acidic environment of the gut.
It invented its technology for a previous product, an experimental oral form of insulin, the lifesaving drug required by diabetics that has until now been only administered by injection.
Developed with Nobel Prize winning biochemist Avram Hershko who is on Oramed's scientific advisory board, the company's capsule has a highly protective coating that makes it slow to degrade.
It also releases molecules called protease inhibitors that stop enzymes in the small intestine from breaking down the insulin, and an absorption enhancer to help the insulin cross into the bloodstream.
This drug has been dosed in hundreds of patients in late stage clinical trials in the US, with results expected in September 2022.
Oramed has now launched a new majority-owned company called Oravax, which takes the capsule technology from the oral insulin product and uses it for an oral Covid-19 vaccine.
- Virus-like particle -
To evoke an immune response, the company's scientists have designed synthetic coronavirus-like particles.
These mimic three key structures of the pathogen: the spike protein, the envelope protein and the membrane protein.
Most currently authorized vaccines, like Pfizer or AstraZeneca, are based on the spike protein alone, making them less protective over time as the spike protein of the coronavirus mutates.
More.
Broadway to require vaccinations, masks for audience members
NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway theatergoers will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 and masks will be required when theaters reopen in the coming weeks, producers announced Friday.
Audience members will have to wear face coverings and show proof they are fully vaccinated by a FDA or WHO authorized vaccine when they enter the theaters until at least the end of October, the Broadway League said in a news release.
“Get vaccinated, and we’ll see you in the fall,” tweeted Broadway and TV star Jeremy Jordan. Composer Jason Robert Brown also agreed with the move: “That’s right. That’s where we’re at.”
There will be exceptions to the vaccine rule for children under 12, who are not yet eligible for any of the approved shots, and for people with a medical condition or religious belief that prevents vaccination, the theater operators said. Those individuals will need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Masks are required for the audience except while eating or drinking in designated locations.
The League said theater owners anticipate a review of the safety policies in September and may include a relaxation of certain provisions if the science dictates after October.
More
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.
Today something a little different. Everyone’s going “green.” Greta would be proud. Whatever happened to her?
Hydrogen Goes Nuclear as U.K. Reactor Pivots Toward Renewables
Rachel Morison August 1, 2021, 2:00 AM EDT
· EDF would make hydrogen with excess electricity at Sizewell C
· Plan is first to combine nuclear and hydrogen in Europe
The $28 billion Sizewell C nuclear station is touted as an anchor for Britain reaching net-zero emissions, yet its reactors will compete with wind farms over the North Sea horizon. On gusty days, where will the plant’s excess power go? Toward making hydrogen.
Nuclear developers in Europe, North America and Russia are looking at the clean gas as an outlet for their low-carbon power to maximize revenue from one of the most expensive energy assets on the planet. They also want to capitalize on the $70 billion-plus pledged by governments to help develop the industry as a way to reach climate goals.
More
Mining industry’s ‘green metals’ are a fallacy, experts say
Niall McGee August 1, 2021
The mining industry is promoting a growing number of metals as green. The label is popping up everywhere: on the landing pages of company websites, in speeches from mining executives at conferences, and in pitch meetings with investors.
“Every nickel project is now green, every copper project is green,” said Doug Pollitt, analyst with Pollitt & Co. “The resource sector is making the most out of this.”
The green moniker, which implies the metals and mining methods are environmentally friendly, is generating fierce debate. Some call it appropriate, given the growing end use of minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite in alternative energy. Others, factoring in the full life cycle of metals from the ground to the customer, deem the framing deceptive and misleading.
“A lot of marketing fluff,” is what Mr. Pollitt calls it.
The green theme is being driven by the rage for environmentally and socially responsible investments, which experts say has put pressure on miners to improve their environmental footprints.
“Like every other industry, mining has to paint itself in an ESG cloth right now,” said Rick Rule, former CEO of Sprott U.S. Holdings, and a natural-resources investor. “ESG is part of the cost of capital.”
One of the earliest mentions of green metals came from mining executive Robert Friedland, founder of copper miner Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. In 2004, he referred to platinum, copper and nickel as green because of their growing use in hybrid cars.
He currently uses the term to promote his latest big-ticket venture, Ivanhoe’s newly constructed Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which he has said is one of the greenest in the industry, in part because Kamoa-Kakula’s electricity is sourced from clean hydro power.
More
Behind the Rise of U.S. Solar Power, a Mountain of Chinese Coal
Reliance on coal-fired electricity to produce solar panels raises concerns in the West
July 31, 2021 8:32 am ET
Solar panel installations are surging in the U.S. and Europe as Western countries seek to cut their reliance on fossil fuels.
But the West faces a conundrum as it installs panels on small rooftops and in sprawling desert arrays: Most of them are produced with energy from carbon-dioxide-belching, coal-burning plants in China.
Concerns are mounting in the U.S. and Europe that the solar industry’s reliance on Chinese coal will create a big increase in emissions in the coming years as manufacturers rapidly scale up production of solar panels to meet demand. That would make the solar industry one of the world’s most prolific polluters, analysts say, undermining some of the emissions reductions achieved from widespread adoption.
For years, China’s low-cost, coal-fired electricity has given the country’s solar-panel manufacturers a competitive advantage, allowing them to dominate global markets.
Chinese factories supply more than three-quarters of the world’s polysilicon, an essential component in most solar panels, according to industry analyst Johannes Bernreuter. Polysilicon factories refine silicon metal using a process that consumes large amounts of electricity, making access to cheap power a cost advantage. Chinese authorities have built an array of coal-burning power plants in sparsely populated areas such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia to support polysilicon manufacturers and other energy-hungry industries.
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To restart, press any key.
Where’s the any key?
Graeme, with apologies to Homer Simpson.
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