Christmas, Don’t Panic! - WH Official. China. If.

 Baltic Dry Index. 5378 -110 Brent Crude 83.28

Spot Gold 1762

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

Deaths 53,100

Coronavirus Cases 13/10/21 World 239,481,625

Deaths 4,881,595

"At the same time, a lot of these goods are hopefully substitutable by other things ... I don't think there's any real reason to be panicked, but we all feel the frustration and there's a certain need for patience to help get through a relatively short period of time."

Well, it’s official, “don’t panic” over the missing goods and treats at Christmas, says a senior White House official.

Well, I’ll bet he’s not senior to President Biden, who at 78 is unlikely to panic at all, even when wide awake.

Thus reassured, Americans of all parties and none, can safely rely on the Biden White House to tell them in advance, when it’s time to start panicking over a Christmas by Scrooge. 

‘Twas the night before Christmas and the children’s presents were still in a twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) anchored off Long Beach! Bah humbug!

Now back to the only thing that really matters to the White House, the Fedsters and Wall Street casino owners, pushing stocks higher. 

Asian shares edgy amid inflation fears, dollar at one-year high

October 13, 2021 3:02 AM BST 

HONG KONG, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Asian shares were on edge on Wednesday as worries about soaring power prices fuelling inflation weighed on sentiment and drove expectations the United States would taper its emergency bond buying programme, holding the dollar at a one-year high.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.1% in early trading, steadying after falling over 1% a day earlier, in what was its worst daily performance in three weeks.

Moves were muted in most markets. Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) were flat, Australia (.AXJO) eeked out a 0.06% gain, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) shed 0.2%.

Hong Kong's stock market was closed in the morning because of a typhoon.

Also contributing to the uneasy mood, investors are waiting for a raft of data releases due to be published Wednesday, including Chinese trade figures, U.S. consumer price inflation data, and minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's September policy meeting.

The looming start of company earnings season also deterred some investors from placing large bets.

"This week, inflation is overriding pretty much everything else, because that pushes Fed expectations one way or the other and that's just so dominant," said Stefan Hofer, chief investment strategist for LGT in Asia Pacific.

"This earnings season is also critical because in the previous one, earnings especially in the U.S., were very strong, partly because of the base effect. The third quarter may be a little more standard," he added.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is inching closer to starting to taper its pandemic relief massive bond purchase programme, a decision that is complicated by growing fears around the world that rising energy costs will stoke inflation while also curtailing the economic recovery.

Oil prices are currently near multi-year highs, but were steadier in Asian morning trading.

----Despite growing inflation worries, there is growing optimism about the state of the economic recovery. Three U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday said the U.S. economy has healed enough for the central bank to begin to withdraw its crisis-era support. read more

As a result, shares slipped on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 0.34%, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.24%, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 0.14%.

More

https://www.reuters.com/business/global-markets-wrapup-1-2021-10-13/

European markets head for subdued open amid jitters over growth, inflation

Published Wed, Oct 13 2021 12:33 AM EDT

LONDON — European stocks are expected to open slightly lower on Wednesday as concerns around global growth and inflation continue to rattle market sentiment.

The U.K.’s FTSE index is seen opening 14 points lower at 7,117, Germany’s DAX 3 points lower at 15,141, France’s CAC 40 down 2 points at 6,541 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 43 points lower at 25,621, according to data from IG.

The subdued open for European markets comes as global trade remains volatile amid uncertainties over inflation, economic growth and surging energy prices.

U.S. stock futures were muted in overnight trading on Tuesday as investors anticipate the start of earnings season and September’s consumer inflation report, which is expected to have flared at the same rapid pace as August. Economists expect to see a rise of 0.3%, or a 5.3% annualized rate, when the consumer price index is released Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/13/european-markets-trade-amid-global-growth-concerns-us-inflation-data.html

IMF warns on inflation, says the Fed and others should be prepared to tighten policy

Published Tue, Oct 12 2021 9:00 AM EDT

Central banks such as the Federal Reserve should be prepared to tighten policy in case inflation gets out of control, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.

While the IMF said it largely concurs with assessments from the Fed and other economists that the current global spate of price increases eventually will ease, it noted there is “high uncertainty” around those forecasts.

The cautionary tone mentioned the U.S., as well as the UK and other developed economies, as places where “inflation risk are skewed to the upside.”

“While monetary policy can generally look through transitory increases in inflation, central banks should be prepared to act quickly if the risks of rising inflation expectations become more material in this uncharted recovery,” Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s economic counselor and director of research, said in executive summary accompanying the report.

“Central banks should chart contingent actions, announce clear triggers, and act in line with that communication,” she added.

Fed officials have stated that the primary weapon to fight inflation is hiking interest rates. The U.S. central bank has not raised rates since 2018.

The warning was part of the IMF’s quarterly update on global economic conditions. The fund slightly downgraded the outlook for global growth this year, but slashed the U.S. GDP forecast by a full percentage point from its July outlook, albeit to a still robust 6% that is ahead of the 5.2% forecast for all developed economies.

With inflation running around a 30-year high in the U.S., the Fed has had to wrestle with when to start pulling back the extraordinary policy help it has provided since the Covid pandemic crisis began in early 2020.

Though the IMF did not single out the Fed, much of its assessment on inflation indirectly addresses a major policy adjustment the U.S. central bank made in September 2020, when it said it would be willing to allow inflation to run hotter than normal in the interest of generating full and inclusive employment.

That type of policy carries some danger with it if inflation expectations start to surge, the IMF said.

“In settings where inflation is rising amid still-subdued employment rates and risks of expectations de-anchoring are becoming concrete, monetary policy may need to be tightened to get ahead of price pressures, even if that delays the employment recovery,” the report said.

Waiting for employment to rebound more strongly “runs the risk that inflation increases in a self-fulfilling way,” which then would undermine Fed policy, the IMF said.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/12/imf-warns-on-inflation-says-the-fed-and-others-should-be-prepared-to-tighten-policy.html

Up next, the bad news out of China. How many more China developer liabilities are about to exit via bondholder hell?

China developers' bonds, shares hit again by Evergrande contagion worries

October 13, 2021 5:19 AM  By Reuters Staff

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shares and bonds of Chinese property companies fell further on Wednesday after China Evergrande Group missed a third round of interest payments on its dollar bonds in three weeks, and as others warned of defaults.

In the clearest sign yet of global investors’ worries of spreading debt contagion, the option-adjusted spread on the ICE BofA Asian Dollar High Yield Corporate China Issuers Index surged to a fresh all-time high of 2,337 basis points on Tuesday evening U.S. time.

On Wednesday morning, Shanghai Stock Exchange data showed onshore bonds issued by developers Shanghai Shimao Co Ltd and Country Garden Properties Group were among the biggest losers on the day, falling between 1% and 4.2%.

A sub-index tracking A-shares of property firms fell 1.58% against a 0.31% rise in the blue-chip CSI300 index.

Markets in Hong Kong were closed on Wednesday morning due to a typhoon affecting the city.

Evergrande did not pay nearly $150 million worth of coupons on three bonds due on Monday, following two other missed payments in September. While the company has not technically defaulted on those payments, which have 30-day grace periods, investors say they are expecting a long and drawn-out debt restructuring process.

The company’s main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group Co, faces a 121.8 million yuan onshore bond coupon payment on Oct. 19 and Evergrande has another $14.25 million dollar bond coupon due on Oct. 30.

Debt pressures extend far beyond Evergrande. Chinese property developers have $555.88 million worth of high-yield dollar bond coupons due this month, and nearly $1.6 billion due before year-end, and Refinitiv data shows at least $92.3 billion worth of Chinese property developers’ bonds maturing next year

Evergrande’s mid-sized rival Fantasia has also already missed a payment and Modern Land and Sinic Holdings are trying to delay payment deadlines that would still most likely be classed as a default by the main rating agencies.

“These stories have challenged the notion that Evergrande is one of a kind,” analysts at Capital Economics wrote in a note.

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/china-evergrande-debt/china-developers-bonds-shares-hit-again-by-evergrande-contagion-worries-idUSL1N2R903Z

Next, some good China news, sort of. Was that the cost of shipping top, or merely a pause before the next surge? The simple answer, no one knows.

China port congestion falls sharply, trans-Pacific shipping rates retreat

Ships at anchor off Shanghai/Ningbo down nearly 50% over the past 18 days

Monday, October 11, 2021

Trans-Pacific spot container rates have plateaued and in some cases pulled back, spurring speculation that container investors’ bull run has peaked and relief is on the way for U.S. importers.

The case for calling the top: Chinese container port congestion has dramatically declined over recent weeks, Chinese factories are being plagued by power outages that constrain export capacity, and U.S. consumer sentiment is faltering.

The counterargument: U.S. port congestion remains historically high, rates were only temporarily reduced by China’s Golden Week holiday, data on declining rates is ambiguous because different indexes give different numbers, and there is a huge inventory restocking mountain to climb even after consumer sales slow.

The big change on the congestion front is in China. As of Sept. 24, there were 153 container ships at anchor off the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, according to data from Denmark-based eeSea. On Monday, eeSea data showed 81 container ships at anchor off the two ports, a decline of 47% in just two-and-a-half weeks.

One explanation is that the earlier congestion was linked to the passage of Typhoon Chanthu and was quickly resolved. Another possibility: Golden Week allowed terminals to catch up. A more bearish theory: Factory power outages are already affecting Chinese export flows.

Consultant Jon Monroe reported that his team in China now sees “very little delay — one to three days max.” He noted that Chinese ports “pretty much work around the clock” and “moving export containers is much faster and efficient than handling import containers.” Hence, China can clear backlogs quicker.

It’s a very different story in Los Angeles/Long Beach. Over the same period when Shanghai/Ningbo anchorage numbers declined 47%, Southern California anchorage numbers haven’t budged. There were 61 container ships at anchor or drifting on Monday, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. The count back on Sept. 24 was 62. (The record was set on Sept. 19, when 73 container ships were anchored or drifting off Los Angeles/Long Beach.)

The sharp reduction in congestion off Shanghai and Ningbo over the past 18 days implies that more ships have been loaded and more cargo is moving toward its final destination, including U.S. ports.

Different indexes, different rates

According to the Freightos Baltic Daily Index (FBX) — which does include premium surcharges in its calculations — Asia-West Coast spot rates were down to $13,025 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) on Friday. While that’s 3.4 times last year’s rate, it’s down 37% from the all-time high of $20,586 assessed by the FBX on Sept. 15.

The FBX put Friday’s Asia-East Coast rate at $19,392 per FEU, down 13% from the record high of $22,289 per FEU on Sept. 15.

But different indexes provide very different numbers, depending on which port pairs they cover and whether or not they include various surcharges and fees. Other indexes do not show the same steep trans-Pacific drop as the FBX.

More

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/china-port-congestion-falls-sharply-trans-pacific-rates-retreat

China Sept trade surplus with the United States at $42 billion

October 13, 2021 4:28 AM 

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s trade surplus with the United States stood at $42 billion in September, Reuters calculations based on Chinese customs data showed on Wednesday, up from $37.68 billion in August.

For the first nine months of the year, the surplus was $280 billion, up from $237.99 billion during the first eight months of 2021.

Last week, top trade officials from the United States and China reviewed the implementation of the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Agreement.

The United States has been pressing China to hold its commitments under a ‘Phase 1’ trade deal which has eased a long running tariff war between the world’s two largest economies.

https://www.reuters.com/article/china-economy-trade-usa/china-sept-trade-surplus-with-the-united-states-at-42-billion-idUSKBN2H3068

Finally, Europe goes cap in hand to Russia for natural gas this winter, as the USA can’t deliver LNG exports in anywhere near promised capacity or price.

Macron, Merkel and Putin in talks as Europe’s gas prices climb

By James Crisp October 12, 2021 — 10.17am

London: Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel held talks with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), as it emerged the EU could buy emergency gas supplies from Russia in an effort to drive down energy prices.

Vladimir Chishov, the Kremlin’s ambassador to the EU, earlier suggested Europe could have more gas if it stopped treating Russia as “an adversary”.

Britain’s Treasury minister, Lord Agnew of Oulton, told Parliament that spiralling energy costs were nothing to do with supply shortages, but were due to a “geopolitical move” by Russia to put pressure on Europe to clear the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Record-breaking gas prices hit a new high last week, before falling after Putin suggested the Russian state-owned company Gazprom could increase supplies.

His deputy prime minister earlier said that supplies could be expedited if German regulators approved Nord Stream.

----France, Spain, Romania, Greece and the Czech Republic have called for EU joint procurement of emergency gas supplies from Russia but those plans are at a very early stage.

The French president and German chancellor ordered their foreign ministers to work with their Russian counterparts to set up a meeting to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The meeting would take place in the “Normandy Four” system, which usually brings together officials from Moscow and Kiev under the mediation of Paris and Berlin.

----EU sources said the idea that the bloc could buy emergency gas reserves from Russia was among several being looked at. The common purchase of gas reserves would be similar to the joint procurement strategy for buying coronavirus vaccines at a better price by negotiating as a bloc.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, said on Monday that Spain was among the member states pushing for joint procurement and common gas storage.

France, Romania, Greece and the Czech Republic also support the plans.

“We continue to have a need for Russian gas and we will probably need more than that contracted. That is why Spain proposes, quite rightly, that the negotiation be done not country by country, but as a whole, as has been done with vaccines,” Borrell told the newspaper El Pais.

https://amp.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/europe/macron-merkel-and-putin-in-talks-as-europe-s-gas-prices-climb-20211012-p58z87.html

“Please, sir, I want some more.”

Emmanuel Macron  Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Global Inflation Watch.

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,  inflation now needs an entire section of its own.

If you can keep your head when all about you
 Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

You probably panicked early enough and got the jump on everyone else. With apologies.

Americans may not get some Christmas treats, White House officials warn

October 12, 2021 11:11 AM BST

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - White House officials, scrambling to relieve global supply bottlenecks choking U.S. ports, highways and railways, warn Americans may face higher prices and some empty shelves this Christmas season.

The supply crisis, driven in part by the global COVID pandemic, not only threatens to dampen U.S. spending at a critical time, it also poses a political risk for U.S. President Joe Biden.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows the economy continues to be the most important issue to Democrats and Republicans alike.

The White House has been trying to tackle inflation-inducing supply bottlenecks of everything from meat to semiconductors, and formed a task force in June that meets weekly and named a "bottleneck" czar to push private sector companies to ease snarls.

Still, supply chain woes are weighing on retail and transportation companies, which recently issued a series of downbeat earnings outlooks. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve last month predicted a 2021 inflation rate of 4.2%, well above its 2% target.

American consumers, unused to empty store shelves, may need to be flexible and patient, White House officials said.

"There will be things that people can't get," a senior White House official told Reuters, when asked about holiday shopping.

"At the same time, a lot of these goods are hopefully substitutable by other things ... I don't think there's any real reason to be panicked, but we all feel the frustration and there's a certain need for patience to help get through a relatively short period of time."

Inflation is biting wages. Labor Department data shows that Americans made 0.9% less per hour on average in August than they did one year prior.

More

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/americans-may-not-get-some-christmas-treats-white-house-officials-warn-2021-10-12/

'Desperate for tires.' Components shortage roils U.S. harvest

October 12, 202112:16 PM BST

CHICAGO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Dale Hadden cannot find any spare tires for his combine harvester. So the Illinois farmer told his harvest crew to avoid driving on the sides of roads this autumn to avoid metal scraps that could shred tires.

New Ag Supply in Kansas is pleading with customers to order parts now for spring planting. And in Iowa, farmer Cordt Holub is locking up his machinery inside his barn each night, after thieves stole hard-to-find tractor parts from a local Deere & Co (DE.N) dealership.

"You try to baby your equipment, but we're all at the mercy of luck right now," said Holub, a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Buckingham, Iowa.

Manufacturing meltdowns are hitting the U.S. heartland, as the semiconductor shortages that have plagued equipment makers for months expand into other components. Supply chain woes now pose a threat to the U.S. food supply and farmers' ability to get crops out of fields. read more

Farmers say they are scrambling to find workarounds when their machinery breaks, tracking down local welders and mechanics. Growers looking to buy tractors and combines online are asking for close-up photos of the machine's tires, because replacements are expensive and difficult to find, said Greg Peterson, founder of the Machinery Pete website which hosts farm equipment auctions.

"As harvest ends, we will see farmers at equipment auctions not for the machinery - but for parts," Peterson said. "We're already hearing from guys talking about buying a second planter or sprayer, just for parts."

For some farmers, the shortages are forcing them to reuse - or repair - old parts.

At their small welding shop in western Washington, Rami and Bob Warburton can barely keep up with all the orders from farmers needing something repaired from fittings for irrigation systems to a cracked bulldozer bucket.

"We were in the middle of a drought up here," Rami Warburton said. "At that time, they couldn't wait to water their fields for a month. The crops will be dead by then."

More

https://www.reuters.com/world/the-great-reboot/desperate-tires-components-shortage-roils-us-harvest-2021-10-12/

Dutch data centres feel the pinch of electricity price surge

October 11, 20216:57 PM BST

AMSTERDAM, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Surging electricity prices are hurting smaller data centre operators in the Netherlands, an industry association said on Monday as it called for financial support from the government.

The Dutch Data Center Association asked political leaders to cap electricity prices, provide corporate tax breaks or introduce subsidies in support of businesses investing in cleaner energy, amid a global energy crisis. read more

"Nearly every business relies on a data centre, so they shouldn't take this lightly," the association's spokesperson, Stijn Grove, said. "This is a sector of critical importance. We should not wait too long to do something about these prices because there could be a knock-on effect."

Roughly 60 data centre operators in the Netherlands make up around 2.3 percent of national electricity consumption, making them highly exposed to recent price spikes.

While larger companies are less vulnerable to price fluctuations, Grove said smaller companies generally do not hedge against energy costs. They are now being forced to pass them along to clients and scale back investments.

"A price increase of nearly tenfold is causing cashflow problems and is also problematic for investments in sustainable energy projects. They are coming under pressure at these levels because you need to have that cash," Grove said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-data-centres-feel-pinch-electricity-price-surge-2021-10-11/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology-roundup&utm_term=Technology%20Roundup%20-%202021%20-%20Master%20List

Carbon dioxide: British meat industry starts to report CO2 shortage again amid warnings for pork sector

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) said it was “actually quite concerned” that the Government has not yet renewed a temporary deal to ensure continued carbon dioxide supply

October 8, 2021 6:51 pm(Updated October 9, 2021 11:46 am)

Britain’s meat industry has begun to report shortages of carbon dioxide again, meaning pork products could soon start disappearing off supermarket shelves, i can reveal.

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), the leading trade body in the UK meat sector, said Britain could be “back to square one” next week, with several of its slaughterhouses and meat processing plants reporting dwindling supplies of CO2.

“We are actually quite concerned that things aren’t settled,” a spokesperson told i, following crunch talks on Friday over the sector’s carbon dioxide supply.

“We’re getting reports that our members are starting to run short of supplies again. Part of the problem has been the shortage of HGV drivers, but also that supplies are starting to run out again.”

The food industry warned of a nationwide crisis last month as a shortage of CO2 threatened to halt slaughterhouses, abattoirs and meat production lines across the country. 

It comes after two fertiliser factories in northern England, responsible for 60 per cent of Britain’s carbon dioxide supply, paused production in mid-September after soaring natural gas prices meant CO2 manufacture was no longer viable. 

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was hailed as narrowly averting chaos in the food sector as he secured a deal a week later with CF Industries, which runs the two factories, to reopen its Billingham plant in Teesside for a three-week-period.

However, the BMPA told i it has received no updates on whether the temporary contract will be renewed, with the current deal due to expire on Tuesday. 

The BMPA said failure to strike a fresh deal over the next few days would result in carbon dioxide production grinding to a halt once more. “Essentially we would be back to square one,” the spokesperson added.

Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of the fertilising process, and is crucial to the entire food supply chain. It is used in the food packaging process, fizzy drinks, beer, cheese, fruit, vegetables and crumpets, and also to stun animals for slaughter.

Industry figures warned last month that any CO2 shortage would be particularly felt across the pork and poultry sectors, which rely heavily on the gas for the slaughter process.

While sheep and cattle are still mostly killed using a captive-bolt stun pistol, pigs and poultry are now more often stunned using carbon dioxide before they head to slaughter. 

Trade bodies said there may be as little as just one week’s delay in between carbon dioxide production slowing and customers starting to notice certain meat products disappearing off supermarket shelves, with most companies running on just a few days’ worth of CO2 supply. 

The BMPA has previously said that any shortages caused by low carbon dioxide supplies would likely result in price hikes of products such as pork and chicken.

More

https://inews.co.uk/news/british-meat-industry-starts-to-report-carbon-dioxide-shortages-again-1240537

 

Covid-19 Corner

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

Why Some Nations Have Deadlier Outbreaks With the Same Vaccines

October 12, 2021

(Bloomberg) -- It’s one of the great puzzles of the pandemic. Most developed economies are now highly vaccinated with some of the most effective shots on offer, so why are the latest Covid-19 outbreaks more deadly in some places than in others?

While it’s clear vaccines led to a drop in fatalities during the most recent delta variant-driven waves compared with earlier bouts with the virus, some countries saw deaths fall to a greater degree than others, an outcome scientists still don’t have answers for. 

Countries like Germany, Denmark and the U.K. have seen Covid deaths fall to roughly a tenth of previous peaks, according to Bloomberg calculations using data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In Israel, Greece and the U.S., fatalities fell but remained more than half of the previous peaks. 

A number of countries -- mostly developing economies with less capable healthcare systems -- relied on Chinese or Russian vaccines that have proven less effective than the mRNA shots used in the U.S. and throughout Europe. Those places have experienced an increase in both cases and deaths since July, when delta started wreaking havoc globally, compared to outbreaks that occurred before widespread vaccination was an option.

We lensed in on the economies that have vaccinated more than 55% of their populations and relied on a mix of western shots from Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE to AstraZeneca Plc, which have effectiveness rates of about 60 to 90% against symptomatic cases of the delta variant.

One thing is clear: it’s not just the type of shots nor the extent of vaccination that counts in bringing down the death toll.  

More

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/why-some-nations-have-deadlier-outbreaks-with-the-same-vaccines/ar-AAPr6Ho

Coronavirus: Israel is reaching herd immunity – Health official

Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis also said that avoiding major restrictions through the fourth wave came at the price of 1,400 deaths.

By ROSSELLA TERCATIN   OCTOBER 12, 2021 14:54

Israel is once again close to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus, Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said at the Jerusalem Post Conference on Tuesday.

“When we looked at the third wave, we left it behind although a third of our population – mostly children – were not vaccinated,” she recalled. “At the time we did not know it, but in retrospect, our numbers were down because there were enough vaccinated people to get to herd immunity. This protected the children.”

After the Delta variant became dominant, the situation changed.

“The infectiousness of Delta is higher and therefore the level needed for herd immunity is higher,” Alroy-Preis said. “We do not know what the exact number is but I believe that what we are seeing now is that Israel is again getting to a place where enough people are vaccinated or recovered to reach herd immunity.”

During the fourth wave which started around mid-June, more than half (55%) of the cases have been among children too young to be vaccinated and cases of serious post-COVID syndrome symptoms among the young have increased.

Alroy-Preis said that this characteristic of the fourth wave has represented the biggest challenge for health authorities.

“We want to have children back in school with in-person learning and back to their normal lives, but at the same time they are the ones who are not protected,” she noted. “Therefore, we need to be cautious and not run into decisions about isolations without testing if this would not increase infection among them.”

The official appeared to be referring to the Green Class outline, under which children who are exposed to a verified patient are not required to quarantine but rather to be tested every day and can continue to attend school provided they are not infected.

More

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/coronavirus-israel-is-reaching-herd-immunity-health-official-681746

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

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/

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.

And then one day the wind didn’t blow and a million homes went dark. Later, too much wind blew, and the whole giant wind turbine fell over?

World's largest offshore wind turbine starts operating at 14 MW

By Paul Ridden October 06, 2021

More than three years after revealing plans to build a monster offshore wind turbine called the Haliade-X, GE Renewable Energy has announced that the prototype of the latest and most powerful member of the family has started operating at 14 MW in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The first version in the Haliade-X platform became the first offshore wind turbine to operate at 12 megawatts (MW) in November 2019. The uprated Haliade-X 13 model launched in 2020 and received its type certification in January of this year, and now GE Renewable Energy has become the first in the industry to run a turbine at 14 MW.

Essentially an enhanced version of the other turbines in the platform, each of the Haliade-X 14's blades measures 107 m (351 ft) long, it stands 260 m (853 ft) high and the company reckons that the turbine has the potential to produce up to 74 GWh of energy each year.

The flagship of the Haliade-X platform will make its commercial debut at the Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm some 130 km (80 miles) off the North East coast of England, where 87 turbines will be installed. Each of the three phases of the project is expected to have a generation capacity of 1.2 GW, with all three reported capable of powering some six million homes when the "world's biggest offshore wind farm" is up and running in 2026.

GE Renewable Energy has now started the process to get the 14 MW model ready for certification.

Of course the Haliade-X 14 might not be the world's largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine for long, with Denmark's Vestas already nipping at its heels with the – still in development – V236-15.0 MW model, which is due to be built next year and enter serial production in 2024, and the 16-MW MySE 16.0-242 from China's MingYang Smart Energy also due to begin commercial production in 2024.

https://newatlas.com/energy/haliade-x-14-prototype-offshore-wind-turbine-operational/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=83aab5fb62-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_10_08_06_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-83aab5fb62-90625829

The most important thing to remember is that inflation is not an act of God, that inflation is not a catastrophe of the elements or a disease that comes like the plague. Inflation is a policy.

Ludwig von Mises.