Baltic Dry Index. 1213 +35 Brent Crude 91.53
Spot Gold 1713 US 2 Year Yield 3.56 +0.08
Coronavirus
Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 12/09/22 World 613,869,961
Deaths 6,516,684
Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
Oscar Wilde.
This week in the stock casinos, it’s all likely to depend on tomorrow’s US inflation numbers.
Good numbers will encourage the bulls into thinking the Chairman Powell and the Fed will blink sooner rather than later and stop raising interest rates.
Bad numbers will guarantee more large interest rate hikes to come.
However, by the end of the week, events in Ukraine might be trumping all other news, if reports of a Russian rout are correct.
Asia
stocks rally, dollar restrained before inflation test
September 12, 2022 4:09 AM GMT+1
SYDNEY, Sept 12
(Reuters) - Asian share markets rallied on Monday on hopes a key reading on
U.S. inflation will show some cooling, while the U.S. dollar was restrained by
the risk of higher European interest rates and Japanese intervention.
Holidays in
China and South Korea made for slow trading, while traders were unsure what
implications Ukraine's surprising success against Russian forces might have. read more
MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.5%, having
bounced modestly from a two-year low hit last week. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) added
another 1.1%, after rallying 2% last week.
Chinese blue
chips (.CSI300) firmed 1.3% ahead of retail and
industry data due later in the week that may show some improvement in August
after a disappointing July.
Wall Street
looked to extend Friday's bounce and S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1%, while
Nasdaq futures gained 0.2%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures gained 0.7% and FTSE futures
0.3%.
Bulls are hoping
Tuesday's reading on U.S. consumer prices will hint at a peak for inflation as
falling petrol prices are seen pulling down the headline index by 0.1%,
according to a Reuters poll.
The core is forecast to rise 0.3%, though some analysts see a
chance of a softer report.
More
Asia
stocks rally, dollar restrained before inflation test | Reuters
European stocks
head for higher open as global markets await more U.S. inflation data
UPDATED MON, SEP 12 2022 12:21 AM EDT
European stocks are expected to open higher on
Monday, following a positive trend set at the end of last week and overnight in
Asia-Pacific markets.
Global markets are
gearing up for the latest reading of U.S. inflation, with the August data set
to be released Tuesday.
The report is one
of the last pieces of data on inflation the U.S. Federal Reserve will see ahead
of its September meeting, where the central bank is expected to deliver its
third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate hike in an effort to combat high
inflation.
Fed Chair Jerome
Powell reiterated last week that he is “strongly committed” to bringing down
inflation.
U.S. stock futures
were flat Sunday night while shares in the Asia-Pacific rose in overnight
trading on improved risk sentiment. Mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea
markets are closed for a holiday.
European stocks open to close, news data and earnings (cnbc.com)
Stock futures
flat as Wall Street looks ahead to key inflation data
UPDATED SUN, SEP 11 2022 9:53 PM EDT
Stock
futures were flat Sunday night as Wall Street looks ahead to key inflation data
to be released this week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures rose 46 points, or 0.15%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.14% and Nasdaq
100 futures gained 0.18%.
The moves came after a winning
week for U.S. stocks, as all three major averages snapped
a three-week losing streak. The Dow added 2.66% on the week, while
the S&P 500 gained 3.65%. The Nasdaq Composite was 4.14% higher.
Stocks have been volatile ahead
of the September meeting of the Federal Reserve, where the central bank is
expected to deliver its third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate hike in an
effort to combat high inflation.
Wall Street investors had been
looking for signs that the size of future rate hikes might be smaller as
inflation cools off, Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week reiterated that he is
“strongly committed” to bringing down inflation.
This week, investors are looking
ahead to the
August consumer price index report, scheduled to be released
Tuesday. The report is one of the last pieces of data on inflation the Fed will
see ahead of its September meeting. Retail sales and industrial production
reports will be released Thursday.
“With the expectation for another
0.3% increase in the core rate for August, if the number is higher this will be
a negative for stocks and bonds. If the report is less, it will be a catalyst
for a market rally,” David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private
Wealth U.S. “Retail sales is also expected to be flat for the month of
August, as it was for the prior month.”
Stock futures flat as Wall Street looks ahead to key inflation data (cnbc.com)
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its
own.
Did US inflation ease again in August?
September
11, 2022
Did US inflation ease for the second month in a row?
Lower
petrol prices should have helped slow the pace of inflation in the US in August
for the second month in a row. But the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be swayed
from implementing a steep interest rate rise later in September, as inflation
remains well above its target with persistent growth in services prices.
Economists polled by Reuters forecast that the
US consumer price index fell 0.1 per cent month-on-month in August, after
remaining flat in July. They expect a year-on-year reading of 8.1 per cent for
August, down from 8.5 per cent a month earlier.
Lower
energy prices were largely responsible for driving down inflation in July, and
the same trend is likely to have continued the following month as petrol costs
fell further.
Some economists said that consumers have
started to spend less on goods, while businesses have increased supply of their
products to match demand, which may also contribute to a decrease in price
growth.
“Inflationary pressure on goods prices has
clearly eased and some overheated prices, for example used cars, are starting
to fall in absolute terms,” said Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer for
the Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management.
But
despite the expected moderation in the August report, the Fed has still
signalled that it will continue to tighten monetary policy, as inflation
remains well above the central bank’s target. Chair Jay Powell and vice-chair
Lael Brainard vowed last week to keep raising rates, fuelling expectations that
a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point increase will be implemented later
this month.
Demand
for services has strengthened, which Marcelli said has caused more “persistent
pressure” on this component of the consumer price index.
Core
inflation, which excludes energy and food prices, is forecast to have edged up
0.4 per cent month-on-month in August, following a reading of 0.3 per cent in
July.
Housing
costs are a large contributor to the services component of the index and
shelter costs are expected to continue rising, led by rental price growth.
“The
biggest single contribution to the month-to-month core CPI print will come from
housing rents,” said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics. “But we see a
decent chance that the pace of rent increases has now peaked, though the
uncertainty here is still great, given the unprecedented conditions in the
rental market.” Alexandra White
Did UK inflation pick up pace in August?
UK
inflation data for August are expected to offer no respite. Economists polled
by Reuters forecast that the annual pace of consumer price growth accelerated
from a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in July to 10.4 per cent last month.
A consumer price index reading at that level
would confirm that the UK is the only G7 economy with a double-digit inflation
rate. It would also intensify pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest
rates again, having already implemented six consecutive increases to 1.75 per
cent.
The
inflation outlook for the UK and the rest of Europe worsened over the summer,
reflecting surging European wholesale gas prices following a squeeze on Russian
energy flows to the rest of the continent. Even before the gas price peaked in
late August, the BoE had forecast that inflation would soar to 13 per cent in
January, causing a prolonged economic recession.
However,
the medium-term inflation forecast has been mitigated to an extent by an energy
package announced last week by new UK prime minister Liz Truss, which included
a freeze on average annual household energy bills at £2,500 over the next two
years.
More
Did US inflation
ease again in August? | Financial Times (ft.com)
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.
With Covid-19 starting to become only endemic,
this section is close to coming to its end.
Scientists find COVID-19
antibodies that can make boosters unnecessary
Researchers
at Tel Aviv University found two antibodies that neutralize all known strains
of COVID-19 with up to 95% efficiency.
Published: SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 15:18 Updated: SEPTEMBER
7, 2022 19:20
In a major
breakthrough in the battle with the COVID-19
pandemic, Tel Aviv University
researchers have isolated two antibodies that neutralize all known strains of
COVID-19 – including Omicron – with up to 95% efficiency and will strengthen
the immune systems of people at risk.
Targeted
treatment with antibodies and their delivery to the body in high concentrations
may serve as an effective substitute for vaccines, especially for at-risk
populations and those with weakened immune systems, according to the
researchers. By using antibody treatment, there is a possibility that the need
to provide repeated booster shots to the entire population every time a new
variant emerges will be eliminated.
The
research was led by Dr. Natalia Freund and doctoral students Michael Mor and
Ruofan Lee of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at Tel
Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The study was conducted in
collaboration with Dr. Ben Croker of the University of California at San Diego.
Also taking part in the study were Prof. Ye Xiang of Tsinghua University in
Beijing, Prof. Meital Gal-Tanamy and Dr. Moshe Dessau of Bar-Ilan University.
The study
was published in the journal Communications Biology under
the title “Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by
naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.”
The new
research is a continuation of a preliminary study conducted in October 2020 at
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Freund and her colleagues sequenced
all the B immune system cells from the blood of Israelis who had recovered from
the original COVID strain and isolated nine antibodies that the patients
produced. The researchers now found that some of these antibodies are very
effective in neutralizing the new coronavirus
variants, Delta and Omicron.
----“In
the current study, we proved that two other antibodies named TAU-1109 and
TAU-2310 that bind the viral spike protein in a different area from the region
where most of the antibodies were concentrated until now (and were thus less
effective in neutralizing the original strain) are actually very effective in
neutralizing the Delta and Omicron variants.
“According
to our findings, the effectiveness of the first antibody, TAU-1109, in
neutralizing the Omicron strain is 92% and in neutralizing the Delta strain it
is 90%. The second antibody, TAU-2310, neutralizes the Omicron variant with an
efficacy of 84%, and the Delta variant with an efficacy of 97%,” said Freund.
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.
T-Omega re-thinks floating offshore wind turbines for
huge cost savings
Loz Blain September 08, 2022
All the world's greatest wind power
resources are offshore – often a long way offshore, where the water's so deep
that it's impractical to build typical fan-on-a-stick wind turbines with bases
sunk deep into the sea floor. Floating wind, at this stage, is so vastly
expensive to build, deploy and maintain that it ends up costing two to three
times as much per kilowatt-hour of energy as fixed-bottom offshore
installations.
There's a huge opportunity here for
technological advancement, and companies like Norway's
World Wide Wind are proposing some pretty
radical ideas in the space. A lot of the energy cost
comes down to the size, weight and materials involved in the structure of the
turbine, along with the logistical issues and specialized equipment needed to
build, install and maintain the things.
Boston startup T-Omega Wind says it's
prototyped and tested a unique floating offshore wind turbine design that can
withstand massive storms and hundred-foot waves, but at 20% the weight and
around 30% the price of conventional designs – not to mention super-simple
deployment and installation – unlocking an affordable way to exploit the
world's best wind resources.
"All offshore floating turbines except
ours are like icebergs," says T-Omega Co-Founder and Chief Engineer Jim
Papadopoulos over a video chat. "Whatever they've got above the water,
they've got four times as much below the water. If they've got 1,500 tons above
the water, they've got 6,000 tons under the water. That's a big expense. We put
almost nothing under the water. That's one of the big differences in cost, and
movability, and launching."
----T-Omega's approach is completely different,
starting at the turbine and generator itself, which mount to a double-sided
axle shaft that's rigidly supported at both ends. Thus, rather than a single,
heavyweight pole, the turbine is supported by four much slimmer legs, reaching
down to lightweight, wide-spaced floating base platforms. It's much like the
way a Ferris wheel is suspended; there's a reason why they don't build those on
a single pole.
----The floating base is tethered to the sea floor, and as
the wind changes, the base rotates freely around its pivot point on the sea
bed, such that it's always facing directly into the wind – but without needing
any sensors, motors and pivoting mechanisms to achieve that end. The materials
cost savings are enormous, says Papadopoulos.
"Suddenly, the
weight of the tower can be something like 10% of the weight of a normal tower.
And instead of dealing with two- or three-inch thick steel – and all the
equipment and time and logistics that entails – you're dealing with half-inch
steel or less, and anybody can cut and weld it."
More
T-Omega re-thinks
floating offshore wind turbines for huge cost savings (newatlas.com)
The old believe
everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.
Oscar Wilde.
No comments:
Post a Comment