Baltic Dry Index. 2217 Brent Crude 79.30
Spot Gold 1805
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 04/01/22 World 292,990,870
Deaths 5,465,951
It is not for its own sake that men desire money, but for the sake of what they can purchase with it.
Adam Smith.
Omicron? Forget about it. For stocks, commodities, inflation, it’s Magic Money Tree fiat money boom time like never before.
Because like never before, our central banksters discovered the Magic Money Tree forests in March 2020, that make “no billionaire left behind” possible like never before.
Shame about the Great inflation though, rapidly turning aging President Biden into another one term President.
Below, to
infinity and beyond. What could possibly go wrong? [Omicron?]
Wall Street downplays worries in wishful start to 2022
January 4, 2022 5:26 AM GMT
BOSTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street's New Year optimism overpowered concerns about the coronavirus and inflation on Monday, with U.S. and European equity markets advancing in parallel with rising oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 246.76 points, or 0.68%, to 36,585.06; the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 30.38 points, or 0.64%, to 4,796.56; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 187.83 points, or 1.2%, to 15,832.80.
Leading the way were Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which on Monday became the first company with a $3 trillion stock market value, and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), whose shares were up more than 13.5% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly deliveries of its electric cars. read more
The S&P index surged nearly 28% last year, driving MSCI's 50-country index of world stocks (.MIWD00000PUS) to its third consecutive year of double-digit gains. read more
European shares ended at all-time highs on Monday on hopes of steady economic recovery despite a surge in COVID-19 cases. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) ended 0.5% higher at a record close of 489.99 points. read more
The benchmark U.S. 10-year yields hit a six-week high to yield 1.6384%, with investors expecting a series of interest rate raises this year to combat rising inflation. read more
"How central banks - particularly the Fed - respond to inflation will be the key story for 2022," BlackRock Investment Institute strategists wrote in a note Monday.
"We see the higher inflation regime and solid growth as positive for risk assets but bad for bonds for a second consecutive year," they added.
The commodity markets were also quickly back in the swing of things after their nearly two-year resurgence to close out 2021.
Oil rose to nearly $79 a barrel on Monday, supported by tight supply and hopes of a further demand recovery in 2022, despite OPEC+ looking set to agree to a further increase in output. read more
"Oil markets start the new year on firmer footing than they did in 2021," Peter McNally, global sector lead at investment research firm Third Bridge, wrote in an email. "Inventory levels have fallen dramatically over the past 12 months as demand recovered, OPEC+ constrained output, and US oil supply was slow to respond."
The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Monday, the first trading day of the new year, in sync with government bond yields as investors expect the Federal Reserve will stay on its path of interest rate hikes in 2022. read more
More
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/global-markets-wrapup-2-pix-2022-01-03/
Asian stocks track Wall St higher in upbeat start to 2022
January 4, 2022 5:52 AM GMT
HONG KONG, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Asian stocks were firmer on Tuesday following Wall Street's record highs on its first trading day of 2022, despite worries that the widespread Omicron COVID-19 variant could put the brakes on global economic recovery.
MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.67% in the morning sessions.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (.AXJO) climbed 1.15%, boosted by energy and mining stocks while Japan's Nikkei 225 (.N225) gained 1.25%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and China's benchmark CSI300 Index (.CSI300) opened up 0.5% and 0.25%, respectively.
"As we start 2022, markets seem to have retained memories of 2021 and put Omicron in the backdrop with focus on Fed rate hikes leading to higher UST yields and underpinning USD strength alongside continued buoyancy in equities," said Mizuho Bank in a Tuesday note.
Major Wall Street indexes scored record closing highs on Monday, even as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus pushed COVID-19 cases to fresh peaks in the world's largest economy. read more
"Markets are focusing more on the likely positive earnings numbers from U.S. in the fourth quarter. We are firmly of the view the U.S. is seeing boom conditions and a very tight labour market which will boost household incomes," said John Milroy, an Ord Minnett advisor in Sydney.
"...investors are keeping a close watch on inflation and how the Fed may respond if it proves to be other than transitory," he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 0.68%, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 0.64% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 1.2%.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Monday became the first company to reach a $3 trillion stock market value while Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), rose more than 13.5% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly deliveries of its electric cars. read more
The S&P index surged nearly 28% last year, driving MSCI's 50-country index of world stocks (.MIWD00000PUS) to its third consecutive year of double-digit gains. read more
The benchmark U.S. 10-year yields hit a six-week high to yield 1.6384%, with investors expecting a series of interest rate raises this year to combat rising inflation. read more
The commodity markets were also quickly back in the swing of things after their nearly two-year resurgence to close out 2021.
Brent oil rose 0.57% to nearly $79.43 a barrel Tuesday, building on Monday's gains, which were supported by tight supply and hopes of a further demand recovery in 2022, despite OPEC+ expected to further increase output. U.S. crude was up 0.34% to $76.34 a barrel. read more
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/global-markets-wrapup-1-2022-01-04/
Global economy: Asian factories take Omicron risks in stride, for now
January 4, 2022 5:33 AM GMT
TOKYO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Asia's factory activity grew in December as companies took rising global cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in stride, though persistent supply constraints and rising input costs clouded the outlook for some economies.
The rising rate of global infections have raised eyebrows among policymakers, with outbreaks in China forcing some firms to suspend production and threatening to disrupt output for memory chip giants like Samsung Electronics (005930.KS).
For now, however, the direct hit from Omicron on output appeared subdued, according to surveys released on Monday and Tuesday.
China's factory activity grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed earlier in the day.
The findings from the private survey, which focuses more on small firms in coastal regions, tally with those in China's official PMI that pointed to an uptick in factory activity.
Other parts of Asia also fared well with factory activity expanding in countries ranging from Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
"Manufacturing PMIs and timely trade data reveal that Asia's export-focussed industry gained momentum at the turn of the year," said Alex Holmes, emerging Asia economist at Capital Economics.
"While the Omicron variant presents a key threat to the outlook, it is unlikely to cause nearly as much disruption to industry as Delta did in Q3," he said.
In Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, manufacturing activity in December grew for an 11th straight month. And bellwether exporter South Korea saw its main factories gauge enjoy the fastest pace of expansion in three months, the surveys showed.
"We expect Asia's exports and capex upswing to be sustained by continued global recovery, and Asia's manufacturing PMIs will remain moderately strong over the coming months," analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a research note.
More
Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
Biden unveils plan to boost competition in U.S. meat industry
January 3, 2022 10:33 PM GMT
Jan 3 (Reuters) - The United States will issue new rules and $1 billion in funding this year to support independent meat processors and ranchers as part of a plan to address a lack of “meaningful competition” in the meat sector, President Joe Biden said on Monday.
The initiative comes amid rising concerns that a handful of big beef, pork and poultry companies have too much control over the American meat market, allowing them to dictate wholesale and retail pricing to profit at the expense of their suppliers and customers.
“Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. It’s exploitation," Biden said. "That’s what we’re seeing in meat and poultry industries now.”
A recent White House analysis found that the top four meatpacker companies - Cargill (CARG.UL), Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), JBS SA , and National Beef Packing Co (MRFG3.SA) - control between 55% and 85% of the market in the hog, cattle, and chicken sectors.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) will spend the $1 billion from American Rescue Plan funds to expand the independent meat processing sector, including funds for financing grants, guaranteed loans, and worker training, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was speaking at an event with Biden.
USDA will also propose rules this year to strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and to clarify the meaning of "Product of USA" meat labels, which domestic ranchers have said unfairly advantage multinational companies that raise cattle abroad and only slaughter in the United States.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, also speaking at the event, said “too many industries have become too consolidated over time,” and that the antitrust division of the Department of Justice has been chronically underfunded.
The Biden administration issued an executive order last year that advocated a whole of government approach to antitrust issues. read more
A central concern in agriculture has been meat prices, which have risen at a time when the White House is fighting inflation. An analysis in December by the White House economic council found a 120% jump in the gross profits of four top meatpackers since the pandemic began. read more
The meat industry has said the White House analysis was inaccurate and criticized the new plan.
National Chicken Council President Mike Brown called the plan “a solution in search of a problem.”
North American Meat Institute spokesperson Sarah Little said staffing plants remains the biggest issue for meatpackers and that the White House plan would not address it.
More
Higher roaming bills for millions of Brits from this week as Brexit allows EE and Vodafone to slap steep new fees on trips to Europe
Monday 03 January 2022 9:59 am
Two of the UK’s four biggest networks – EE and Vodafone – are reintroducing roaming charges for customers travelling to Europe from this month, with Three also set to reintroduce them in May 2022.
Since Saturday, customers who joined or upgraded with EE after July 7 2021 will face a £2 daily charge for using their data, making calls, or sending text messages in EU countries, while the same fee will apply to Vodafone customers who joined the network after August 11 2021, or upgraded or renewed their contract.
Three will bring in the £2 daily charge on May 23, applicable to customers who joined the network or upgraded after October 1 2021.
Both EE and Vodafone will offer alternatives to avoid the fee, with EE customers able to buy a 30-day Roam Abroad Pass for £10 and Vodafone users able to pay £1 a day for an eight or 15-day multipass.
Brexit effect
The return of roaming fees follows the UK’s departure from the EU, with the bloc having removed roaming charges for people moving around Europe in 2017.
Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com, said: “Many mobile users who are travelling to Europe in 2022 will have to endure the added cost of roaming charges, with EE and Vodafone reintroducing their fees from January.
“If you’re an existing customer of EE, Vodafone or Three, check your contract to see whether these charges apply to you. If you signed up prior to specific dates, you should be safe.
“When it comes to travelling, don’t leave it until the last minute to check the roaming charges for your destination, and use hotel and cafe wifi when on holiday where possible, ensuring any public access points are safe and secure before logging on.”
Strict new Brexit transport rules make UK businesses ‘give up’ on EU imports: ‘Simply not worth the hassle’
Monday 03 January 2022 9:16 am
Many British businesses may “give up importing” as a result of new strict rules that have come into force yesterday, on 1 January, a former senior civil servant in charge of Brexit planning has warned.
Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between 2017 and 2019, said the changes that came into play on January 1 will cause “teething problems”, with some sectors hit harder than others.
With the introduction of new barriers to trade with the bloc, Rycroft said businesses may decide it “is simply not worth the hassle”.
The news comes as Boris Johnson vowed to “maximise the benefits of Brexit” in 2022.
The Prime Minister, marking a year since the post-Brexit free trade deal with the European Union came into force, said the Government would “go further and faster” to take advantage of the “enormous potential that our new freedoms bring”.
The changes in place from January 1 mean that importers must make a full customs declaration on goods entering the UK from the EU or other countries.
Traders are no longer able to delay completing full import customs declarations for up to 175 days, a measure that was introduced to cope with the disruption of Brexit.
There are separate provisions in place for trade with the island of Ireland.
---- “There will be teething problems… but the big question is, how many businesses ultimately think: ‘Do you know what? This is just too much hassle’, and give up importing? Just as some businesses have already given up exporting because it’s not worth it.”
He added: “Businesses exporting to the EU from the UK have already faced these rules, obviously, for the best part of a year. So it’s now going to be those businesses in the UK that import from the EU (that) have got to deal with this, essentially, new Brexit bureaucracy.
“This is what taking back control of our borders means. It will hit some sectors harder than others. The rules are more complicated for animal products, in particular food products that contain bits of animals, because of all the requirements around that.”
More
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Virus leaves antibodies that may attack healthy tissues; B cell antibodies weakened, not defeated by Omicron
Mon, January 3, 2022, 8:42 PM
(Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.
Coronavirus leaves survivors with self-attacking antibodies
Months after recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection, survivors have elevated levels of antibodies that can mistakenly attack their own organs and tissues, even if they had not been severely ill, according to new findings.
Among 177 healthcare workers who had recovered from confirmed coronavirus infections contracted before the availability of vaccines, all had persistent autoantibodies, including ones that can cause chronic inflammation and injury of the joints, skin and nervous system. "We would not normally expect to see such a diverse array of autoantibodies elevated in these individuals or stay elevated for as long six months after full clinical recovery," said Susan Cheng of the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles. Patterns of elevated autoantibodies varied between men and women, the researchers reported on Thursday in the Journal of Translational Medicine .
"We don't yet know how much longer, beyond six months, the antibodies will stay elevated and/or lead to any important clinical symptoms," Cheng said. "It will be essential to monitor individuals moving forward." Her team is investigating whether autoantibody elevations are linked with persistent symptoms in people with long COVID and planning to study autoantibody levels after infections with newer variants of the virus.
B cells' effects weakened but not defeated by Omicron
The effects of antibodies produced by the immune system's "memory B cells" against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, while weakened, could still be significant, researchers believe.
More
https://www.yahoo.com/news/virus-leaves-antibodies-may-attack-204240584.html
Omicron evades immunity better than Delta, Danish study finds
January 3, 2022 1:48 PM GMT
COPENHAGEN, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The Omicron coronavirus variant is better at circumventing vaccinated peoples' immunity than the Delta variant, according to a Danish study published last week, helping explain why Omicron is spreading more rapidly.
Since the discovery of the heavily mutated Omicron variant in November, scientists have been racing to find out whether it causes less serious disease and why it appears more contagious than the previously dominating Delta variant.
A virus can be more transmissible due to a number of reasons, such as the time it lingers in the air, its ability to latch onto cells, or its evasion of the body's immune system.
Investigating nearly 12,000 Danish households in mid-December, the scientists found that Omicron was 2.7 to 3.7 times more infectious than the Delta variant among vaccinated Danes.
The study, conducted by researchers at University of Copenhagen, Statistics Denmark and Statens Serum Institut (SSI), suggests the virus is mainly spreading more rapidly because it is better at evading immunity obtained from vaccines.
"Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron (variant) primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility," the researchers said. The study has yet to be peer-reviewed.
More
Fast-spreading Omicron to test Beijing Winter Games bubble
Mon, January 3, 2022, 4:09 AM By Gabriel Crossley and Martin Quin Pollard
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's meticulous plans to prevent an Olympics-seeded COVID-19 outbreak by sealing all participants inside a "closed loop" for the upcoming Winter Games will be tested by the emergence of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The country has reported only a handful of Omicron cases and has largely succeeded in containing COVID-19 since it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan two years ago, thanks to a zero-tolerance policy that includes rigorous contact tracing, strict targeted lockdowns, and travel curbs that have drastically cut international arrivals.
But more than 2,000 international athletes are set to come to China for the Games that start Feb. 4, plus 25,000 other "stakeholders", a large number from overseas. Organisers did not say how many of those people would be in the closed loop.
Organisers believe their measures "can ensure the Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games can be held safely and on schedule," Yan Jiarong, a spokesperson for the organising committee, told a news conference last Thursday.
Restrictions at Games venues in Beijing and Zhangjiakou in neighbouring Hebei province will be much tighter than those during last summer's Tokyo Olympics.
Core to the planning is the rigidly-enforced closed loop that physically separates Games-related personnel from the local population, with overseas participants flying directly into and out of the bubble, which includes dedicated transport.
In Tokyo, which took place when Delta was surging globally, a bubble was strictly enforced, although local residents such as journalists and volunteers were able to enter and exit at will and some overseas visitors could leave it after being in the country for 14 days and repeatedly testing negative.
But Omicron, which appears to be much more transmissible than earlier variants, is now driving global COVID-19 infections to record highs and disrupting the sporting calendar.
North America's National Hockey League, which has postponed 90 games, announced that it will not send its players to the Olympic ice hockey tournament due to COVID-19-induced scheduling problems. The CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee told a broadcaster on Friday that he is increasingly concerned whether the Games can go ahead as planned.
More
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fast-spreading-omicron-test-beijing-040926429.html
Passengers leave COVID-hit cruise ship after 5 days stuck in Lisbon
Mon, January 3, 2022, 11:21 AM
LISBON (Reuters) - Disconsolate passengers stuck on a cruise ship moored in Lisbon's port for five days due to a COVID-19 outbreak began disembarking early on Monday, focused on clearing the final hurdle of a negative test before boarding homebound flights.
The AIDAnova, carrying 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew, had docked in Portugal's capital on Wednesday.
The ship was en route to the island of Madeira for New Year's Eve celebrations, but its German operator decided to cut the cruise short after COVID-19 was detected among what it said was a fully vaccinated crew, 52 of whom tested positive between Wednesday and Friday.
By Monday 68 positive cases, including a handful among the passengers, had been detected, port captain Diogo Vieira Branco told the Lusa news agency.
Passengers who had tested negative in the past 48 hours started to disembark before dawn and were being transported by bus to the city's airport in an operation expected to last most of the day.
"We're living in this situation and it can always happen. Of course it's not nice, we imagined something else," one calm but disappointed passenger said as he disembarked.
"We all want this to end. We're going home," added another.
The company, AIDA Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Covid is rampant among deer, research shows
The findings are a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and that inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic.
Jan. 2, 2022, 9:30 AM GMT / Updated Jan. 3, 2022, 12:33 AM GMT
By
Humans have infected wild deer with Covid-19 in a handful of states, and there’s evidence that the coronavirus has been spreading among deer, according to recent studies, which outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic.
Scientists swabbed the nostrils of white-tailed deer in Ohio and found evidence of at least six separate times that humans had spread the coronavirus to deer, according to a study published last month in Nature.
About one-third of the deer sampled had active or recent infections, the study says. Similar research in Iowa of tissue from roadkill and hunted deer found widespread evidence of the virus.
The research suggests that the coronavirus could be taking hold in a free-ranging species that numbers about 30 million in the U.S. No cases of Covid spread from deer to human have been reported, but it’s possible, scientists say.
It’s a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and that inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic and complicate the quest to control Covid.
Widespread, sustained circulation of the virus in deer could represent a risk to people if mutations in deer create a new variant. A population of wild animals harboring the virus could also retain variants that are no longer circulating among humans now and allow them to return later.
“The sheer possibility that these things are happening and it’s unknown makes this very unsettling,” said Suresh Kuchipudi, a virologist at Pennsylvania State University. “We could be caught by surprise with a completely different variant.”
More
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/covid-rampant-deer-research-shows-rcna10181
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
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.
No update today, normal service tomorrow.
The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess ... It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.
Adam Smith.
No comments:
Post a Comment