Baltic Dry Index. 1145 +46 Brent Crude 84.65
Spot Gold 1842 US 2 Year Yield 4.89 unch.
Coronavirus
Cases 01/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,103
Coronavirus Cases 03/03/23 World 680,356,620
Deaths 6,802,911
England has had its driest February in 30 years with experts warning that there could be a potential drought across the country. This month was the eighth driest second month since 1836 with an average of just 15.3mm of rainfall. The south and east of England were the driest in the UK, with only 3.5mm of rain in Essex (8% of the UK average).
This weekend, its all about China. Or in reality, Communist China consolidating Xi Jinping’s near absolute power.
But what’s not to like? Western firms are fawning at the prospect of massive opportunities in Communist China.
Our stock casinos boom on the back of the CCP consolidating its hold on power.
Asia markets rise
as private survey shows sharp recovery in China services
UPDATED THU, MAR 2 2023 11:41 PM
EST
Asia-Pacific
markets mostly rose on Friday, following Wall Street’s gains overnight after
Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic said he’s “firmly”
in favor of sticking with quarter-point hikes.
China’s services sector saw a
jump in activity, according to the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing
manager’s index, with a reading of 55 in February from 52.9 in January.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose
0.7%, while the Hang Seng Tech index gained 1.6%. In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component fell
0.2% and the Shanghai
Composite climbed 0.2%.
The Nikkei 225 rose
1.53%, leading gains in the region and the Topix climbed 1.24% as inflation in
Japan’s capital showed easing in February from the previous month.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose
0.44% and the South Korean Kospi advanced
0.15%, with the Kosdaq rising 1.36%.
Overnight in the US, stocks were
initially under pressure as the trading day started, but rallied in the
afternoon after Bostic’s remarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led
gains among the major U.S. indexes, rising 1.05%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed
0.76% and 0.73% higher respectively.
Asia
markets, U.S. Federal Reserve, Tokyo inflation, China Caixin services, India
(cnbc.com)
Chinese stocks
often gain after the country’s annual congress meeting. Here’s what strategists
expect this year
China’s onshore
stocks often see a modest rally after the country’s party congress sessions,
but economists and strategists are mixed on whether that pattern will carry on
this year.
This year’s “Two
Sessions” annual parliamentary gathering in Beijing including the National
People’s Congress may see smaller gains in the MSCI China index, which captures
large and mid-cap stocks – and the CSI 300, which tracks the largest stocks
listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
“The market tends to
have reasonable performance pre- and after-twin sessions,” Hao Hong, chief
economist of Grow Investment Group told CNBC. But there’s been fluctuation
ahead of this year’s sessions: He pointed to a recent decline after Hong Kong
stocks rallied roughly 50% and China’s mainland stocks rose by 15%.
He expects the indexes to move between gains and
losses of 3%, “unless there are policies unexpected by the market,” he said.
“It’s a narrow range unless there
is a big stimulus announcement,” he said, which he predicted was unlikely given
the strength of recent economic data.
China’s latest factory
data recently saw the highest reading in more than a decade.
Economists have also raised its forecasts for
China’s gross domestic product for the year.
“The goal this year
will likely be steady growth and stimulate consumption. While many are calling
for a consumption coupon, on national scale it is unlikely,” Hong said.
BNP Paribas’ head of
East Asia strategy Jason Lui said that over the last decade, markets have seen
a modest, average rise of 3% before and a month after the NPC. But that average
has been skewed higher by big rallies in 2015 and 2019.
---- Pointing
to data that tracks the MSCI China index’s performance between 2011 and 2022,
Goldman Sachs economists said the index tends to have positive returns in the
month following an NPC meeting.
More
Chinese
stocks usually gain after congress meeting – what to expect (cnbc.com)
China is rolling
out the red carpet to attract foreign executives
BEIJING — China is pulling out all the stops to
keep multinationals like Apple and
its supplier Foxconn in
the country.
Such efforts to attract foreign
investment come as the pandemic and geopolitical tensions push companies to
diversify their supply chains away from China.
For the first time in 25 years, the
American Chamber of Commerce in China found that less than half the respondents
to its annual survey ranked China as a top three investment priority. The
number of companies which are considering or starting to relocate their
manufacturing and sourcing outside of China rose by 10 percentage points from a
year ago, the survey found.
The majority of
respondents don’t plan to relocate their supply chains, the AmCham report said.
The survey was
conducted last fall, and results hadn’t changed significantly since China ended
its stringent Covid controls, AmCham said. China’s Commerce Ministry didn’t
respond to a request for comment.
After such a drop in
sentiment, China is working hard to keep foreign businesses investing — and
supporting domestic growth. The Commerce Ministry said Thursday that for the
first time, it would launch events for an “Invest in China Year.”
In a sign of how hard local governments are trying
to attract foreign dollars, top officials from Henan province in central China
personally welcomed Foxconn Chairman Young Liu last week during his visit to
his company’s factory there, the
province announced.
Foxconn operates the world’s
largest iPhone manufacturing facility in Henan’s capital, Zhengzhou.
The party secretaries of both
Zhengzhou city and Henan province met with Foxconn — along with the mayor and
governor, state media said. In China, the ruling Chinese Communist Party takes
the lead in decision making, and such high-level participation in the meeting
with Foxconn indicates any matters discussed can be implemented more quickly.
During a Covid outbreak and subsequent lockdown
last year, Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou became a hotspot of attention when
some of its roughly 200,000 workers
decided to leave and walk home.
Apple later said the Zhengzhou
factory disruptions would delay deliveries of some iPhone 14 models.
China ended its stringent Covid
controls in December. By February, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory was producing at
full capacity, with staff working two shifts to meet high client demand,
factory manager Wang Xue told local media.
More
China
is rolling out the red carpet to attract foreign executives (cnbc.com)
Xi Jinping to tighten Communist party’s grip with
overhaul of China’s government at key meeting
The NPC, China’s rubber-stamp
parliament, will gather this weekend to approve far-reaching changes, and Xi’s
unprecedented third term as president
Fri 3 Mar 2023 01.53 GMT
Xi Jinping is preparing a profound overhaul of China’s
government and party institutions at this year’s National People’s
Congress (NPC), China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which begins
its annual session on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Communist party (CCP)
trailed changes of “far-reaching significance” that are expected to include a
reorganisation of the bodies tasked with managing the financial and technology
sectors, as well as state security. The changes will all have one goal in mind:
to strengthen the party’s control.
For posts not held by Xi, the two-term
limit still applies. Li Keqiang, the premier, is expected to be replaced by Li Qiang, who was elevated to the number two position of
the Standing Committee of the CCP in October. Li Qiang, a close ally of Xi and
his former chief of staff, was the party secretary for Shanghai during the
gruelling lockdown that was imposed on the city for two months in 2022.
The sudden promotion of a cadre who did not previously
hold a senior government position is indicative of the extent to which Xi
values loyalty above convention and experience.
He Lifeng, another Xi ally, is
expected to be appointed as vice-premier responsible for economic policy, as
well as being considered for the role of party chief of the People’s Bank of China. One of
the rumoured changes is the establishment of a new party committee that would
oversee the central bank and other financial institutions. Such a change, with
He at the helm of the government and the central bank, would centralise
decision-making under Xi.
“Under Xi the party and government have been
pushed together. The government has become less distinct and less effective,”
said Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute thinktank, and
author of a book about the CCP.
Another rumoured change is that the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of State Security could be removed from the State
Council’s portfolio, and placed under the oversight of a newly created,
party-controlled, internal affairs committee. “By moving so many of these core functions
away from the oversight of the state, it would arguably weaken the state while
greatly strengthening the power of the party’s Central Committee and, of
course, Xi Jinping himself,” said Patricia Thornton, a professor
of Chinese politics at Oxford University.
Last week the CCP and the State
Council published a joint opinion on legal education. The document calls on
state institutions to “persist in following Xi Jinping Thought”
on the rule of law and that schools should “oppose and resist western erroneous
views” such as “constitutional government” and “independence of the judiciary”.
More
Finally,
after the driest February in 30 years, add England to Europe’s drought
problems. More food price inflation to come probably.
Italy, France confront 2nd year of western Europe drought
Italy,
France and other nations in western Europe are grappling with a second year of
too little rain and snow
March 1, 2023, 6:41 PM
ROME
-- Bracing for Italy's second consecutive year of drought for the first
time in decades, Premier Giorgia Meloni huddled with ministers Wednesday to
start mapping out an action plan, joining France and
other nations in western Europe grappling with scant winter rain and snow.
Meloni
and her ministers decided to appoint an “extraordinary commissioner with
executive powers” to carry out the government's drought battle plan once it's
devised. Italy appointed someone to a similar position to implement strategies
against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Experts
say the last time the nation experienced two back-to-back years of drought was
1989-90 but that conditions are more severe now.
With
scant winter snowfall translating into vastly insufficient snowmelt to supply
streams and tributaries that flow into Po River, farmers in Italy's
Emilia-Romagna region worry they might have to abandon traditional crops like
corn and soy and plant sunflowers instead.
The region is
one of Italy’s most productive agricultural areas. The lack of water could also
affect the supply of animal feed for Emilia-Romagna's cows and pigs, whose milk
and meat are essential to producing Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and prized prosciutto.
France
recorded 32 days without rain this winter — the longest such winter drought
since record-keeping began in 1959. Snow levels in the French Alps, the
Pyrenees and other French mountain ranges are also much lower than usual for
this time of year, according to the national weather service.
Since
snowmelt is crucial to filling rivers and reservoirs, weather watchers are
worried about depleted water supplies later this year. Around France, residents
are sharing images of dried-up riverbeds and shrunken lakes — shocking sights
in the depths of winter.
French
President Emmanuel Macron promised his government would devise an urgent “water
plan” in mid-March.
The
last two summers in France also were exceptionally dry, prompting some farmers
to consider switching to new crops.
Italy
last year reeled under its worst drought in 70 years, and the Po, its longest
river, turned into a long stretch of sand. The drought battered the rice plants
that supply the main ingredient for risotto.
More
Italy, France
confront 2nd year of western Europe drought - ABC News (go.com)
England has driest
February in 30 years and is 'one hot dry spell' from drought
2 March, 2023
England has had its driest February in 30 years
with experts warning that there could be a potential drought across the
country.
This month was the eighth driest second
month since 1836 with an average of just 15.3mm of rainfall.
The south and east of England were the driest in the
UK, with only 3.5mm of rain in Essex (8% of the UK average).
England is one hot dry spell away from widespread
drought conditions, according to the National Drought Group which issued the
warning.
Its chair John Leyland told Sky
News: ‘While most water levels have returned
to normal across much of the country, low rainfall in recent weeks highlights
the importance of remaining vigilant.
‘We cannot rely on the weather alone, which is why
the Environment Agency, water companies and our partners are taking action to
ensure water resources are in the best possible position both for the summer
and for future droughts.’
Some agricultural areas are already under drought
status including East Anglia, Devon and Cornwall.
More
England has driest February in 30 years and is 'one hot dry spell' from drought (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.
Surprise jump in
German inflation after surge in food prices
2 March
2023
German inflation
surprisingly accelerated in February amid rising food and service costs.
Consumer
prices advanced 9.3pc from a year ago, up from January's 9.2pc gain.
Food prices
showed above-average growth of 21.8pc compared with the same month of the
previous year, according to federal statistics agency Destatis.
Energy prices
eased slightly after the German government brought in a third relief package to
limit household heating bills that have rocketed because of Russia's war in
Ukraine.
However,
energy prices were still 19.1pc higher in February than in the same month in
2022.
The readings
for Europe's largest economy puts more pressure on the European Central Bank
after French inflation hit a euro-era record this week and Spanish price growth
defied estimates.
KfW chief
economist Fritzi Koehler-Geib said prices for goods and services "still
have room to rise", suggesting the ECB should "stay on course"
with its rate rises.
Bruno
Schneller, managing director at Invico Asset Management, said: "The
surprises in January inflation releases have challenged hopes for a smooth
return to target inflation."
Markets have
for the first time to price a 4pc peak in the ECB's deposit rate, which
currently stands at 2.5pc.
Surprise jump in
German inflation after surge in food prices (msn.com)
India braces for
another heatwave amid concerns over wheat exports
March
1, 2023
India is
set to face yet another heatwave this year after record-breaking temperatures in 2022, raising concerns not just about the country’s
preparedness to tackle extreme weather but also the global implications
for wheat crops
and energy supplies.
India’s weather office raised
an alert on Tuesday warning that the country would likely experience heatwaves
between March and May this year after recording its hottest February since
records began in 1901
A similar alert was sounded
in 2022 sounded for a heatwave that struck with unprecedented temperatures in
March, but this year it the alarm has been raised considerably earlier.
The alert comes amid a new
study warning that there is a higher possibility of an El Nino phenomenon taking place this year, which could
increase global temperatures even beyond what was witnessed in the last few
years.
The world has been inching
closer to the 1.5C heating threshold and India is one of the hottest places on Earth.
Recent studies caution that the country could be one of the first ones to see
unsurvivable temperatures.
While India is highly
vulnerable to climate crisis-induced
extreme weather events, back-to-back heatwaves have raised concerns about its
ability to cope.
More
India braces for another heatwave amid concerns over wheat exports (msn.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
One of the deadliest
Covid-19 variants can be transmitted between dogs, scientists find
March 2, 2023
Certain variants of Covid-19, including the severe Delta, can be transmissible between dogs, a study by a South Korean research team has found more than two years after the pandemic crippled the world.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been
driven mainly by human-to-human transmission, however, zoonotic viral
infections from animals to humans have been reported worldwide.
The joint study led by professor Song
Dae-sub of Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and
researcher Yoo Kwang-soo of Jeonbuk National University, is the first that
found transmission among dogs.
The team infected Beagle dogs with
the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus by introducing it through their
noses. After 24 hours, the infected dogs were kept with virus-naive dogs in
large animal isolators.
The researchers couldn't detect any
visible symptoms in either of the infected and virus-naive dogs after observing
them for over a week.
After 10 days of cohousing, the lung
tissue of the dogs was collected for histopathologic examination and viral load
measurement. An analysis of the lungs showed microscopic lesions were in both
the infected and transmission canines.
"Among the blood chemistry parameters,
creatine kinase levels were markedly increased in Omicron-infected dogs,"
the study found.
It also found that
proliferative viruses can be spread through dogs’ nasal discharge.
"Our results demonstrate that the dogs
were susceptible to infection with and could transmit both strains to other
dogs through direct contact," the study found.
According to the study, Sars-CoV-2 or Middle
East respiratory syndrome (Mers-CoV) can be transmitted to other species. The
research team has suggested that pet vaccinations should be actively considered
to prevent animal-to-human infection.
“If infection between species and individuals
is repeated, the possibility of another variant increases,” professor Song was
quoted by the Korean Herald as saying.
“It is time to consider the use of animal
vaccines to prevent the reverse zoonosis of pets.”
The early release of the study, funded by the
Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, was published by the United
States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
One of the
deadliest Covid-19 variants can be transmitted between dogs, scientists find
(msn.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.
Tata demands £500m
from UK to build battery factory
March 1, 2023
The government will have to cough up £500m in taxpayer funds if it
wants Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors to build a new battery factory in
Britain.
The Indian car giant is close
to choosing between Spain and the UK for its new plant and has given
ministers just weeks to make a decision, according to the Financial
Times.
The £500m in public funds
would include grants, assistance for energy costs and research funding.
Tata’s demands reflect the
challenge the government faces over how much support to give the industry,
as the UK scrambles to make the transition from petrol and diesel cars to
mass-market electric vehicles.
JLR is the largest employer
in the UK car manufacturing sector, and it would be a huge blow for the UK’s
burgeoning battery ambitions if it opted against sourcing batteries in the
country.
The industry is still
recovering from the collapse and resale of Britishvolt to Aussie group
Recharge, which has scrapped plans to produce hundreds of thousands of
lithium-ion batteries every year for mainstream motor vehicles, and will instead use the plant to develop clean
energy storage and batteries for luxury, high-end sports cars.
Tata is weighing up a partnership with Chinese
battery maker Envision – which would involve the Asian group building and
running a factory in Somerset to supply JLR’s new range of electric cars.
Despite new investments by Nissan, Stellantis
and Ford in electric vehicle technology, the UK has struggled to attract big
battery companies to set up factories.
More
Tata demands £500m
from UK to build battery factory (msn.com)
Another weekend and a Spring weekend
in the northern hemisphere. Normally a time of the planting of Spring crops.
Food prosperity ahead. But this year a second year of war in Ukraine, sky high fertiliser
costs and a western Europe drought, cast major concerns on the chance of food
prosperity in 2023.
But continued food price inflation
risks global social disorder or worse. A year of worry lies ahead. Have a great
weekend everyone.
The urge to save
humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.
H. L. Mencken.
No comments:
Post a Comment