Baltic Dry Index. 3085 -19 Brent Crude 113.90
Spot Gold 1824
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 17/05/22 World 523,243,732
Deaths 6,290,658
The emerging W.H.O. Pandemic Treaty That Threatens Everyone’s Freedom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q5ONoGufQA
Here is the UK petition to stop this dangerous nonsense at the W.H.O. As of this morning over 103,000 petitioners.
Do not sign any WHO Pandemic Treaty unless it is approved via public referendum
We want the Government to commit to not signing any international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness established by the World Health Organization (WHO), unless this is approved through a public referendum.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/614335
Who in their right mind wants to put the unelected, unaccountable, China dependent, World Health Organisation in charge of planet Earth when the next pandemic or mere “health scare” occurs. Mandatory vaccination, mandatory isolation, culling the elderly, the unproductive, and more. Trudeauism on a massive “we know best” scale.
In the stock casinos, more Twitter Top in the USA, more exit rally in Asia.
More sign of stagflation arriving.
US Equity Futures Rise, China Tech Bolsters Asia: Markets Wrap
16 May 2022, 23:22 BST Updated on17 May 2022, 04:39 BST
Asian stocks rose Tuesday amid a jump in some technology firms and as investors assessed China’s efforts to stamp out Covid.
An Asian share index rose for a third day -- it’s longest winning streak since mid-March. US and European futures bounced back after a Wall Street drop.
China’s tech companies jumped on optimism Beijing may ease up on a yearlong clampdown following a meeting between regulators and corporate giants.
Meanwhile, Shanghai reported three days of zero community transmission, a milestone that could lead officials to start unwinding a punishing lockdown. Flareups elsewhere in China showed how hard it is to tackle the omicron strain.
A challenging global economic outlook amid elevated food and fuel costs and tightening monetary settings continues to shape sentiment. Oil has jumped to about $114 a barrel and an index of agricultural prices is at a record high.
----US data Monday showed New York state manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in May for the second time in three months. That followed Chinese figures revealing a collapse in economic activity due to Covid-linked curbs.
The economic reports have fanned concerns of a downturn in the global economy alongside persistent price pressures that are forcing the Federal Reserve and a slew of other central banks to tighten monetary policy.
“With inflation showing little sign of letting up, the Fed is under pressure to accelerate the pace of tightening,” Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said in a note. Taken together with the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s Covid struggles, this backdrop “suggests global growth may be decelerating more quickly than forecast.”
More
Stock futures are flat after S&P, Nasdaq start the week in the red
U.S. stock index futures were flat during overnight trading on Monday, following a volatile session that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite continue their march lower.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat. S&P 500 futures were slightly higher, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.13%.
During regular trading the S&P dipped 0.39%. In a volatile session the benchmark index at one point gained 0.56%, while shedding about 1% at the session low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a similar swing, although the 30-stock index eked out a 0.8% gain at the closing bell, pushed higher by Chevron and UnitedHealth.
The Nasdaq Composite, meantime, was the session’s underperformer as the carnage in tech stocks continued. The tech-heavy index finished the day 1.2% lower, and is now 28% below its intraday all-time high from Nov. 22.
“In a sense, the poor performance this year for tech and growth companies is somewhat of a payback for the impressive returns these market segments had recently enjoyed,” UBS said Monday in a note to clients.
----Investors will also be watching key economic data out Tuesday, with retail sales numbers hitting at 8:30 a.m. ET followed by industrial production numbers later in the morning.
Inflation concerns have been a mounting headwind for stocks, with some investors worried the economy could ultimately tip into a recession.
“We see clear late-cycle indicators, and while the risk of economic growth contraction or recession has risen steadily through the first four-and-a-half months of this year, we are now beginning to cross over a probability level that makes recession a base case for the end of this year and beginning of next,” Darrell Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute wrote in a note Monday.
The firm added that ultimately it should be a “relatively mild economic growth contraction and a short-lived one.”
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html
Musk reportedly says Twitter deal at lower price ‘not out of the question’
Elon Musk hinted that he could seek to renegotiate the price of his Twitter takeover, saying a deal at a lower price wasn’t “out of the question,” Bloomberg reported Monday.
Musk reportedly made the comments while speaking at a summit hosted by Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg for their “All-In” podcast.
The stock closed down more than 8% as investors fear Musk will walk back on his agreement to acquire the social media company for $44 billion.
Twitter shares have also erased all gains made since Musk disclosed his investment in the company on April 4, in part thanks to a sell-off late last week. Musk said Friday that the acquisition was “on hold” while he researches the proportion of fake and spam accounts on the platform, which he believes Twitter has misstated.
Musk on Monday estimated that fake users make up at least 20% of all users, according to the Bloomberg report. Twitter, meanwhile, has said the accounts made up fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users in the past quarter.
Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
U.S., Europe race to improve food supply chains after India bans wheat exports
Published Mon, May 16 2022 1:40 AM EDT
PARIS — The United States and the European Union are looking at how to improve food supply chains with export restrictions from India and other nations accentuating global problems, the EU’s trade chief told CNBC.
G-7 foreign ministers warned over the weekend that the war in Ukraine is increasing the risk of a global hunger crisis. This is because Ukraine has been unable to export grains, fertilizers and vegetable oil, while the conflict is also destroying crop fields and preventing a normal planting season.
This has increased the reliance on nations from other parts of the world for these products. But some of these countries, concerned about supplies for their own citizens, have imposed restrictions on exports. This is the case in India, for example, which announced Saturday a ban on wheat sales “to manage the overall food security of the country.”
“That’s something which is very much of concern,” Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade chief, told CNBC Sunday about these new export measures.
“We agreed with the United States to cooperate and coordinate our approaches in this area, because ... as a response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and a corresponding increase in food prices and concerns about food security, countries are starting to take export restrictive measures. And we think that this is a tendency which can only actually aggravate the problem,” Dombrovskis said.
He added that these measures, such as Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports, “make matters worse.”
Limits on exports are likely to drive up commodity prices, and therefore food costs too. For the EU, this is a matter of food affordability, Dombrovskis explained.
The U.S. and the EU are having talks in France on Monday for their joint Trade and Technological Council, or TTC. The group was put together back in 2021 to restore transatlantic ties, after the Trump-era trade tariffs and disagreements.
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/us-europe-to-improve-food-chains-after-india-bans-wheat-exports.html
British baker Greggs warns of increasing cost pressures
May 16, 2022 9:52 AM GMT+1
LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - British baker and fast food chain Greggs (GRG.L) warned on Monday of increasing cost pressures but said markets were so uncertain that it had given up on providing forecasts for cost inflation.
Greggs, known for its sausage rolls, steak bakes, vegan snacks and sweet treats, said that while expected cost inflation for 2022 had increased from a March forecast of 6% to 7%, it was not providing a new prediction.
"The combination of restricted supply, war (in Ukraine) impact and demand recovery post-COVID is taking us into territory we've not encountered before," he said.
Other companies in the sector, including Associated British Foods (ABF.L), Tesco (TSCO.L) and Sainsbury's (SBRY.L), have all highlighted increasing cost pressures. read more
More
https://www.reuters.com/business/british-baker-greggs-says-cost-pressures-increasing-2022-05-16/
Below, why a “green energy” economy may not be possible, and if it is, it won’t be quick and it will be very inflationary, setting off a new long-term commodity Supercycle. Probably the largest seen so far.
The “New Energy Economy”: An Exercise in Magical Thinking
https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-0319-MM.pdf
Mines, Minerals, and "Green" Energy: A Reality Check
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/mines-minerals-and-green-energy-reality-check
"An Environmental Disaster": An EV Battery Metals Crunch Is On The Horizon As The Industry Races To Recycle
by Tyler Durden Monday, Aug 02, 2021 - 08:40 PM
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Europe drops mask mandate for flights and airports, loosening Covid rules further
Published Mon, May 16 2022 1:22 AM EDT
The European Union is set to drop its mask mandate for passengers on flights and in airports from Monday, following an update to guidelines for the aviation industry.
The recommendation for mandatory wearing of medical masks in airports and on board a flight is being lifted on May 16, EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said last week, while noting that a face mask is still one of the best protections against the transmission of Covid-19.
The updated guidance takes into account the latest developments in the pandemic, “in particular the levels of vaccination and naturally acquired immunity, and the accompanying lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries,” the EASA said in a statement.
The move is a big step forward and broadly aligns with public transport rules across Europe, according to EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky.
“For passengers and air crews, this is a big step forward in the normalisation of air travel. Passengers should however behave responsibly and respect the choices of others around them. And a passenger who is coughing and sneezing should strongly consider wearing a face mask, for the reassurance of those seated nearby.”
Meanwhile, the ECDC’s Director Andrea Ammon said that “while risks do remain, we have seen that non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccines have allowed our lives to begin to return to normal.”
There are hopes that the removal of mask-wearing mandates will be a shot in the arm to an aviation and tourism industry hit hard over the last two years, as a significant number of people have put off travelling while there have been extra layers of Covid requirements, from Covid tests and vaccinations to passenger locator forms and mask wearing on board aircraft.
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/eu-drops-mask-mandate-for-flights-and-airports.html
Young Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients More Likely to Get Infected After 5 Months
By May 14, 2022 Updated: May 14, 2022
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine turned negatively effective after five months, according to a new study.
Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed test results from sites across the United States and determined that the vaccine was 60 percent effective two to four weeks after 12- to 15-year-olds got the second of the two-dose primary regimen.
But the effectiveness, measured against symptomatic illness, quickly plummeted, hitting 20 percent around month two and zero around month five.
After that, recipients in the age group were more likely to be infected by the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus causes COVID-19.
Vaccine effectiveness “was no longer significantly different from 0 during month 3 after the second dose,” the researchers wrote in the study, which was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Pfizer, its partner BioNTech, and the CDC didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The analyzed tests were performed between Dec. 26, 2021, and Feb. 21, 2022. Some 47,700 tests among 12- to 15-year-olds were included, with about half being unvaccinated. The testing data was on the Increasing Community Access to Testing, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that contracts with pharmacy chains to perform drive-through testing. The testing data was supplemented by information in questionnaires filled out by adults with the adolescents.
Limitations of the study included vaccination being self-reported.
The study was funded by the U.S. government.
The study also found that vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection plunged quickly for those 5 to 11 years old, starting at 60 percent but hitting 23 percent just one month later.
More
Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada.
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
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, among other things, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.
Self-charging battery generates electricity from moisture in the air
Loz Blain May 11, 2022
Half of the solar energy that bathes the Earth in warmth goes into a single process, according to some researchers: evaporating the water that covers some 71 percent of our fragile blue marble. Australian company Strategic Elements wants that energy back, and it's working with the University of New South Wales and the CSIRO to develop a flexible, self-charging battery technology that harvests electrical energy from moisture in the air to directly power devices without ever needing to plug them in.
The company's shares leapt more than 40 percent on the Australian stock exchange today after it announced what it calls a "step-change" in this self-charging technology, increasing its electrical charge capability from the milliamp-hour range up into the ampere hours. Strategic Elements calls this tech "Energy Ink," and says it's non-flammable, created from safe, green and sustainable materials, and that it can be printed onto flexible plastic.
One immediate market it's targeting: battery-powered fitness wearables. The human body produces plenty of moisture over the course of a day, you'll have noticed – particularly when you're exercising. The company says this humidity-powered technology already makes more than enough power to run "most existing devices in the large US$10 billion Electronic Skin Patch market," and that it expects to have a technology demonstrator up and running by Q3 this year to prove it can do the job, powering devices that never need to be put on a charger other than your own sweaty skin.
How does it work? Well, Strategic Elements doesn't elaborate much on its website, other than to say it uses graphene oxide, and it's under development in conjunction with UNSW and CSIRO. Getting our Google-Fu on, we managed to dig up a recent study on flexible, printable graphene oxide-based moisture-electric generators (MEGs), authored by a team mainly from the UNSW's Materials Science and Engineering school and a Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO, published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Nano Energy. One of the authors is Dr. Dewei Chu, who the company mentions as the leader of the team it's working with. So while this isn't necessarily the exact tech Strategic Elements is working to commercialize, it seems very likely that it's related.
The prototype MEG units in this study have already proven capable of reliably powering calculators and small sensors.
More
Finally, how our freedoms can so easily be lost.
Invasion. Canada & Scotland’s Animal Farm.
https://londonirvinereport.blogspot.com/2022/02/invasion-canada-scotlands-animal-farm.html
“Comrades!' The Great Leader Trudeau cried. 'You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples and vaccines. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink the milk and eat those apples and force you all to get vaccinated.”
With apologies to George Orwell, Animal Farm.
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