Baltic Dry Index. 1650 -73 Brent Crude 81.71
Spot Gold 1819 US 2 Year Yield 4.24 +0.03
Coronavirus
Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,103
Coronavirus Cases 23/12/22 World 660,386,036
Deaths 6,681,110
"I'm
doing 'God's Work.'
Lloyd
Blankfein, former CEO,Goldman Sachs, aka Mr. Goldman Sacks, 2009.
After a
40 year break, inflation is back in Japan. Will Japan now join in the global
interest rate hike race to the 2023 top?
The
overpriced stock casinos seem to think so and money managers are busy dumping
losing stocks from their year-end books.
Too
little to late. From Tesla to Bitcoin, from Tokyo to New York, 2022 will be
remembered as a year of what not to do.
The
central banks stoked up inflation thinking it would only be “transitory.” Well
at least that’s what they pretended.
A new war
broke out in Europe adding to food and energy inflation. By year-end the second
largest crypto-exchange blew up in a massive fraud. Who’s next is the great
fear in cryptoland.
Below, a bad start to the Christmas holiday week.
Asia markets fall
as Japan’s core inflation marks highest in over 40 years
UPDATED FRI, DEC 23 2022 12:02 AM
EST
Asia-Pacific
shares traded lower, taking the lead from losses
on Wall Street ahead of the release of some economic data in
the region.
Core consumer prices in Japan rose 3.7% in November on an annualized
basis, marking the fastest pace since December 1981. The Nikkei 225 fell
0.92% while the Topix shed 0.52%. The Japanese yen stood
at 132.62 against the U.S. dollar, around the strongest levels it’s seen in
four months.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped
0.5% as investors digested the growing number of Covid cases in China. The Shanghai Composite was
flat and the Shenzhen Component gained
marginally.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was
down 0.81% and South Korea’s Kospi also fell 1.49%.
Singapore and Malaysia will also
be releasing their inflation data for November.
Asia markets fall as Japan's core inflation marks highest in over 40 years (cnbc.com)
Japan's
consumer inflation hits fresh 40-year high, eyes on BOJ policy
December 23, 2022 2:09
AM GMT
TOKYO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Japan's core
consumer inflation hit a fresh four-decade high as companies continued to pass
on rising costs to households, data showed, a sign price hikes were broadening
and could keep the central bank under pressure to whittle down massive
stimulus.
Months before
Tuesday's surprise tweak to its yield control policy, Bank of Japan (BOJ)
policymakers had discussed the potential market impact of a future exit from
ultra-low interest rates, minutes of their October meeting showed on Friday.
While many retailers plan further hikes
for food products next year, the outlook for inflation and the timing of any
further BOJ policy tweaks are muddled by the risk of global recession and
uncertainty over the pace of wage hikes, analysts say.
"The hurdle for
policy normalisation isn't low. The global economy may worsen in the first half
of next year, making it hard for the BOJ to take steps that can be interpreted
as monetary tightening," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at
Norinchukin Research Institute.
Japan's core consumer price index
(CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes energy costs, rose 3.7%
in November from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, matching market
forecasts and perking up from a 3.6% gain in October.
It was the biggest
rise since a 4.0% jump seen in December 1981, when inflation was still high
from the impact of the 1979 oil shock and a booming economy.
More
Japan's
consumer inflation hits fresh 40-year high, eyes on BOJ policy | Reuters
In
cryptoland, alleged massive fraudster gets massive bail.
FTX founder Sam
Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bail, will live with his parents
FTX founder Sam
Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bond while awaiting
trial for fraud and other criminal charges, a New York federal
judge ruled Thursday.
Bankman-Fried stepped
out of U.S. District Court in Manhattan, flanked by his parents, his legal
team, and court security at 2:19 local time.
The terms of his
personal recognizance bond were agreed to by prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s
lawyers. The 30-year-old will face his next hearing, presided over by Judge
Ronnie Abrams, in New York City on Jan. 3., where he’ll enter his plea and be
arraigned.
A recognizance bond
is a written commitment from the accused to appear in court when ordered. In
return, Bankman-Fried’s camp would not be required to meet the full collateral
requirements on the bail.
The bond was secured
by equity in his family home, and by the signatures of his parents and two
other individuals with “considerable” assets.
In addition to the
$250 million package, which prosecutors called “the largest-ever pretrial
bond,” the former crypto billionaire would also be required to wear an
electronic monitoring bracelet, submit to mental health counseling and restrict
himself travel within and between the Northern District of California and the
Southern & Eastern Districts of New York.
Judge Gabriel
Gorenstein said Bankman-Fried would require “strict” supervision following his
release to his parents’ home in California.
His parents, both
Stanford Law professors, were present in the courtroom. Bankman-Fried was
flanked by two U.S. marshals, dressed in a blue suit and brown shoes.
Bankman-Fried entered in ankle shackles as well, but traded them for his ankle
monitor while in the courtroom.
---- Bankman-Fried stands accused of perpetrating
a multibillion-dollar fraud on his investors, using customer
funds to purchase properties, fund political donations and backstop trades at
his hedge fund Alameda Research.
Federal regulators allege over
$8 billion in customer funds is missing. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in
Delaware on Nov. 11. Bankman-Fried’s successor, CEO John Ray, said he’d never
seen such a “complete failure of corporate control.”
Two of his top lieutenants,
Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, pleaded
guilty to related fraud charges and are cooperating with law
enforcement. Wang’s and Ellison’s plea deals were revealed Wednesday.
More
FTX collapse shows
crypto is 'too dangerous' not to regulate - Bank of England
December 22 2022
Cryptocurrency trading
is "too dangerous" to remain outside mainstream financial regulation
and could pose "a systemic problem" without action, the deputy
governor of the Bank of England has warned.
Speaking for the first time since the founder of the crypto
trading platform FTX was arrested and charged with massive fraud,
Sir Jon Cunliffe told Sky News the
Bank is considering regulation to protect retail investors
in the "casino" of crypto trading, as well as the wider financial
system from potential crypto shocks.
---- The collapse of FTX left more than one million customers
unable to withdraw assets worth an estimated $8bn.
Prosecutors allege he used FTX's
customers' money to cover losses in his private crypto hedge fund Alameda
Capital in what the company's new chief executive told Congress was
"old-fashioned embezzlement".
An estimated 80,000 of FTX's
customers are based in the UK, with individual liabilities as high as £5m in
life savings according to a lawyer acting for dozens of victims.
Louise Abbott, a crypto-fraud
specialist, told Sky News: "These individual investors have invested
anything from a couple of thousand pounds up to about £5m, so massive amounts
of money, all completely frozen, I'm going to use the word frozen rather than
lost, because hopefully there is going to be something given back to them at
some point. But this is huge money, huge money lost or stuck, or frozen in
time."
Crypto credibility
The episode is a huge blow to the
credibility of cryptocurrencies, digital assets that draw their value not from
state backing, but from relative scarcity and the willingness of other
investors to trade in them.
Mr Bankman-Fried had cultivated links
in Washington and on Wall Street, making millions of dollars in political
donations and attracting high-profile investors to his platform.
His fall has emphasised the
volatility of crypto investment and the lack of regulation in an industry that,
despite widespread scepticism, is attracting growing attention from the
financial mainstream.
More
FTX
collapse shows crypto is 'too dangerous' not to regulate - Bank of England
(msn.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.
UK
economy contracts by more than first thought in third quarter as it heads for
recession
THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2022
7:19 AM
The UK economy contracted by more than first
thought in the third quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) dropping by a
higher revised amount.
GDP fell by a revised 0.3 per cent, compared to an
initial estimation of a 0.2 per cent decline, fresh figures from the Office for
National Statistics revealed on Thursday.
It comes as the country is headed for a recession,
with a protracted downturn forecast for the second half of this year by the
Bank of England.
The services sector grew its output by 0.1 per cent
while the production sector dropped by 2.5 per cent, during the July to
September period.
Statisticians now believe the level of real GDP in
the third quarter is 0.8 per cent below its pre-coronavirus level in the fourth
quarter of 2019, lower than a previous estimate of 0.4 per cent below.
It is also now thought that the economy grew less
than initially estimated throughout the first half of the year.
Revisions from the ONS have revealed the UK’s
growth to be 0.6 per cent in the first quarter, compared to an initial
estimation of 0.7 per cent.
Growth was put down as 0.1 per cent in the second
quarter, versus an earlier estimation of 0.2 per cent.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at
the ONS, said: “Our revised figures show the economy performed slightly less
well over the last year than we previously estimated, with manufacturing and
electricity generation notably weaker.
“Household incomes continued to fall in real terms,
albeit at a slower rate than in the previous two quarters, while – taking
account of inflation – household spending fell for the first time since the
final Covid-19 lockdown in the spring of 2021.”
Turkey hikes
minimum wage by 55% as inflation and living cost crisis bite
Turkey announced a
hike of its minimum wage by 55% Thursday, amid a cost of living crisis that has
plunged millions into financial hardship, hammered small businesses and
rendered many unable to afford basic goods.
The move is aimed at
easing the impact of surging living costs, but economists worry it will further
increase inflation. The country’s official rate of inflation is currently at a
24-year high of 84.4%.
Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a televised speech from Ankara Thursday, said that the
monthly minimum salary would be brought to 8,500 lira ($455) starting in 2023.
More than 30% of Turkey’s workforce is on the minimum wage, according to
Turkish officials.
There is also a
political angle, country analysts say: Turkey’s general election is due to be
held in June 2023.
Timothy Ash, an
emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, told CNBC in an email:
“Motive = win the election. Impact = higher inflation.”
The country’s rate of
inflation slowed for the first time in more than 18 months in November, up
84.4% annually, a slight decrease from 85.5% the month prior.
More
Turkey
hikes minimum wage by 55% as inflation and living cost crisis bite (cnbc.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.
WHO calls on China to share COVID-19 data
DEC. 21, 2022 / 3:40 PM
Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Leaders
from the World Health Organization expressed concern over the recent COVID-19 outbreak in China, calling on the country to share its data and
studies.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the organization is
"very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing
reports of severe disease."
"We continue to call on China to share the data and
conduct the studies we have requested, and which we continue to request."
Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing. "In order to make a
comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, WHO needs more
detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions and requirements
for ICU support."
China loosened its stringent COVID-19 controls for the
first time in three years after widespread protests against the draconian
policies broke out across the country and escalated into calls for greater
freedom.
More
WHO
calls on China to share COVID-19 data - UPI.com
Unvaccinated Blood Is Now in Very High Demand
Dec 20 2022
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
·
A
growing number of people in need of blood transfusions are requesting blood
that comes from people who haven’t received COVID-19 shots
·
Pathologist
Dr. Ryan Cole compared the current unknowns regarding “vaccinated blood” with
HIV-tainted blood that was used for transfusions in the 1980s
·
Directed
donations and autologous donations, or self-donation, are options for receiving
blood free of mRNA, but in both cases you’ll need your doctor to submit a Red
Cross Special Collections Order form
·
A
“Safe Blood” donation campaign has also been formed to match blood donors and recipients
who have not had COVID-19 shots
It’s unknown whether blood
donated by people who’ve received mRNA COVID-19 shots poses a risk to those who
receive it. A growing number of people aren’t willing to take any chances,
however, and are requesting blood that comes from unvaccinated patients. One
high-profile case involves a 4-month-old baby, Will Savage-Reeves, in New
Zealand, who needs surgery for a heart valve disorder.
His parents, Samantha and Cole,
requested the infant receive blood only from donors who have not received
COVID-19 shots. While unvaccinated blood is available, the doctors and hospital
refused to grant the request. The case was heard before a New Zealand court,
which sided with the doctors and took guardianship of the child to proceed with
the surgery using vaccinated blood.1,2
Hospital Refuses Family’s
Request for Unvaccinated Blood
The outcome of baby Will’s case
may serve as a harbinger of things to come. The hospital argued that the
surgery should proceed using unvaccinated blood because of the importance of
finding a quality match. A large pool of donor blood raises the possibility of
finding the highest quality match.
In addition, according to Steve
Kirsch, executive director of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation, another
of their arguments is, “If there were a safety signal from using vaccinated
blood for transfusions, it would have surfaced by now.” They also want to keep
up appearances, and allowing one patient to use unvaccinated blood may open the
floodgates to others requesting the same. Kirsch noted:3
“If they agree to use
unvaccinated blood, it could be interpreted as an admission that vaccinated
blood is not safe and could lead to everyone requesting unvaccinated blood
which would then create severe blood shortages for a dubious benefit.”
Further, the New Zealand Blood
Service (NZBS) manages blood donations and collections in New Zealand. Only a
specialist doctor can request directed donation for the baby to received
unvaccinated blood.
More
Unvaccinated Blood
Is Now in Very High Demand (theepochtimes.com)
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.
DECEMBER 21, 2022
Team develops graphene-based
nanoelectronics platform
---- Walter de Heer, Regents'
Professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has
taken a critical step forward in making the case for a successor to silicon. De
Heer and his collaborators have developed a new nanoelectronics platform based
on graphene—a single sheet
of carbon atoms. The technology is compatible with conventional
microelectronics manufacturing, a necessity for any viable alternative to
silicon.
In the course of their research, published in Nature
Communications, the team may have also discovered a new quasiparticle. Their discovery
could lead to manufacturing smaller, faster, more efficient and more
sustainable computer chips, and has potential implications for quantum and
high-performance computing.
"Graphene's power lies in its flat, two-dimensional structure
that is held together by the strongest chemical bonds known," de Heer
said. "It was clear from the beginning that graphene can be miniaturized
to a far greater extent than silicon—enabling much smaller devices, while
operating at higher speeds and producing much less heat. This means that in
principle, more devices can be packed on a single chip of graphene than with
silicon."
---- To create the new nanoelectronics
platform, the researchers created a modified form of epigraphene on a silicon
carbide crystal substrate. In collaboration with researchers at the Tianjin
International Center for Nanoparticles and Nanosystems at the University of
Tianjin, China, they produced unique silicon carbide chips from
electronics-grade silicon carbide crystals. The graphene itself was grown at de
Heer's laboratory at Georgia Tech using patented furnaces.
The researchers used electron beam
lithography, a method commonly used in microelectronics, to carve the
graphene nanostructures and weld their edges to the silicon carbide chips. This
process mechanically stabilizes and seals the graphene's edges, which would
otherwise react with oxygen and other gases that might interfere with the
motion of the charges along the edge.
More
Team develops
graphene-based nanoelectronics platform (phys.org)
“We’re very important,”
Blankfein is quoted as saying in The Times of London. “We help companies to
grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This,
in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth.
It’s a virtuous cycle.”
He goes on to admit
to being the focus of public outrage--"I know I could slit my wrists and
people would cheer"--but then blows the attempt to reconciliation by
saying he is "doing God's work."
http://www.businessinsider.com/lloyd-blankfein-says-he-is-doing-gods-work-2009-11?IR=T
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