Baltic Dry Index. 1186 +45 Brent Crude 90.54
Spot Gold 1927 US 2 Year Yield 4.98 +0.04
“Because the
lenders sold many—though not all—of the loans they made to other investors, in
the form of mortgage bonds, the industry was also fraught with moral hazard.
“It was a fast-buck business,” says Jacobs. “Any business where you can sell a
product and make money without having to worry how the product performs is
going to attract sleazy people.”
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine.
In the global stock casinos, something of a crowded week. On Wednesday and Thursday the US releases its latest inflation figures, both of which might affect the upcoming Fed meetings on the 19th and 20th.
But those meetings will be overshadowed if America’s auto union goes on strike on September 14th.
In Asia, the stock casinos will be busy digesting the economic news out of India and on Friday, China. The casinos will be looking for signs that China’s property crisis is abating.
But China has a growing news crisis in manufacturing. For more on that scroll down to the next section.
Finally, in Asia, was President Biden just
jet lagged in his press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, or something more? A worrying development for an octogenarian hoping
to run for President again in 2024’s November Presidential election.
Asia stocks start
the week mostly lower, ahead of key data from China and India this week
UPDATED MON, SEP 11 2023 12:19 AM
EDT
Most Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower at
the start of a week where key economic data from major economies will take
center stage.
On Tuesday, India
will release its inflation and industrial output figures for August, while
China will announce its industrial output, retail sales, and most notably,
house sale prices on Friday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled
1.68%, leading losses in Asia, but mainland Chinese markets were in positive
territory, with the CSI 300 rising 0.31%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose
marginally, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was
down 0.46% and the Topix fell 0.1%.
South Korea’s Kospi hovered
just below the flatline, while the Kosdaq was down 0.37%.
On Friday in the U.S., stocks rose slightly, but
logged a losing week amid renewed worries that the Federal Reserve may raise
rates more than previously expected.
The S&P 500 edged
up 0.14% on Friday to snap a three-day losing streak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added
0.22% and while the Nasdaq
Composite eked out a 0.09% gain.
Asia
stock markets today: Live updates-China, India economic data (cnbc.com)
Shares of
Alibaba tumble over 3% after outgoing CEO unexpectedly quits cloud business
Shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba fell
3.5% on Monday, after the company said in a surprise move that outgoing CEO Daniel Zhang will also be stepping down as
chairman and CEO of its cloud business.
The move comes months after Alibaba said in
June that Zhang
was departing as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group to focus on
the cloud intelligence unit.
Eddie Wu, who was set to take over from Zhang
as CEO and director of Alibaba Group from September, will
now also be chairman and CEO of the cloud business on an interim basis, the company said in a statement to the Hong
Kong exchange on Sunday.
Co-founder Wu would become CEO and director, while another co-founder, Joseph Tsai, will be chairman from September, the e-commerce giant said at that time.
Zhang was Alibaba Group CEO since
2015 and the group chairman since 2019. He has also been chairman and CEO of
the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group since 2022.
More
Alibaba
shares tumble after Daniel Zhang unexpectedly quits cloud business (cnbc.com)
Stock futures are
little changed ahead of key inflation data: Live updates
UPDATED SUN, SEP 10 2023 7:02 PM
EDT
Stock futures were little changed Sunday night
as investors awaited a batch of economic data in the week ahead and earnings
from two major tech companies.
Futures
tied to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average ticked lower by 2 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500
futures and Nasdaq 100 futures edged
higher by 0.06% and 0.1%, respectively.
On Friday stocks finished
a down week on a high note. The Dow gained
75.86 points, or 0.22%, to close at 34,576.59, while the S&P edged
higher by 0.14% to snap a three-day losing streak and finish at 4,457.49. The Nasdaq Composite eked
out a 0.09% gain and settled at 13,761.53. All three indexes posted a losing
week, however. It was the first negative week in three for the S&P and
Nasdaq.
Investors are looking forward to
key inflation data in the
week ahead after a string of stronger-than-expected economic
data points last week renewed worries that the Federal Reserve could raise
rates more than previously expected. Traders are pricing in a roughly 4 in 10
chance of an increase in November after an anticipated pause in September,
according to CME Group’s Fed Watch tool.
“Overall, the market will be
looking for direction amid recent choppiness and concern that the economy is
set to slow down in the coming quarters,” Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment
strategist at BMO Wealth Management, told CNBC.
Wednesday and Thursday bring the
latest consumer price index and producer price index readings, respectively.
Investors are hoping for low readings, although both are expected to jump due
to energy cost pressures.
“Both CPI and PPI inflation
reports will highlight the importance of oil price, which has pushed toward the
upper end of its one-year trading range,” Ma said. “A break above $90/barrel
for WTI would start to cause concerns for future price pressures in the
economy.”
Retail sales data is also
expected Thursday and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Survey
will be released on Friday, which should give insight on how well spending
could hold up for the rest of the year.
More
Stock futures are little changed ahead of key inflation data: Live updates (cnbc.com)
In other news:
Biden Announces ‘I’m Going to Bed’
Before Being Cut Off Mid-Sentence After Several Weird Outbursts at Troubling
Vietnam Presser
President Joe Biden delivered remarks and took
questions at a presser in Vietnam on Sunday and, among several remarks that
sent social media spinning, randomly stated that he was “going to bed” after
tapering off during a question about President Xi Jinping of China. And that is just
one of several odd moments that took place.
The President was in
India for the G20 summit and held a presser in Hanoi, Vietnam during
which the pre-selected reporters he called on all had at least one thing in
common.
Toward the end he was asked about U.S.-China relations by
VOA correspondent Anita Powell, and specifically that he hasn’t spoken with Xi in 10 months.
Biden’s answer went on about how Xi is facing many crises at home, and
he said he doesn’t see the lack of recent communication as having a negative
impact on relations.
“As a matter of fact,” he said. “I think it’s less likely to cause that
kind of conflict.”
“And look, nobody likes having celebrated international meetings, if you
don’t know what you want at the meeting. If you don’t have a game plan. He may
have a game plan. He just hasn’t shared it with me,” said Biden haltingly. “But
I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed.”
The odd comment went viral on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, but it
wasn’t the only Biden comment that did so.
More
Biden
Cut Off Mid-Ramble At Vietnam Presser Where He Announced 'I'm Going to Bed'
(mediaite.com)
Country Garden faces
fresh test for onshore bond extensions
By Xie Yu September 11, 20233:51 AM GMT+1
HONG KONG, Sept
11 (Reuters) - Embattled developer Country Garden faces a new round of voting
by creditors to extend several debt maturities on Monday, after having avoided
default at the last minute twice this month to bring some respite to the
crisis-hit Chinese property sector.
The
voting, due to conclude by 10 p.m. Hong Kong time (1400 GMT) on Monday, will
have onshore creditors decide on approving a proposal by Country Garden (2007.HK) to
extend repayments of eight onshore bonds by three years.
The latest voting
comes after the country's largest private developer on Sept. 1 won approval
from creditors to extend payments by three years for a 3.9 billion yuan ($533
million)onshore private bond.
That
voting was delayed by two times before Country Garden's proposal won support
from 56.08% of participating creditors. It also managed to avoid
default in the offshore market, with a last-minute bond coupon payment
last week.
Country Garden's
bondholders on Monday will vote separately on proposals to extend maturities of
eight onshore bonds, which were issued by the developer and a subsidiary and
were set to mature and be puttable in 2023 and 2024.
Country Garden
did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Country Garden,
one of the few large Chinese developers that have not defaulted on debt
obligations, has been facing liquidity pressure with reduced available funds as
sales plunged, its interim financial statements show.
It faces 108.7
billion yuan ($14.9 billion) worth of debts due within 12 months, while its
cash level are around 101.1 billion yuan as of end-June, according to the
company's interim financial statement.
In
the offshore market, Country Garden has at least five
coupon payments due this month, including two relatively sizable
dollar bond coupons worth $15 million due on Sept. 17, and $40 million on Sept.
27, each with a 30-day grace period.
Any default by
Country Garden would exacerbate the country's spiralling real estate crisis,
put more strain on its struggling banks and could delay the recovery of not
only the property market, but the overall Chinese economy.
More
Country Garden faces fresh test for onshore bond extensions | Reuters
Tropical storm rains
batter China for seventh day
September 11,
20235:50 AM GMT+1
BEIJING, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Heavy
rains from former typhoon Haikui, now a tropical storm, kept southern China
drenched for the seventh day as slow-moving storm clouds drifted from Guangdong
on the coast to Guangxi, flooding low-lying areas, blocking roads and trapping
residents.
In the rural county of Bobai in
Guangxi region, rescuers on assault boats have scrambled to pull people to
safety since Sunday night as water more than 2 metres (6.6 feet) deep stranded
residents in low-rise homes, state media reported on Monday.
In hillier areas, landslides destroyed
roads and bridges collapsed. At one weather station in Bobai, local records
were shattered when rainfall reached 511.2 mm (20 inches), more than a quarter
of the region's annual precipitation.
Haikui has weakened
from a typhoon to a tropical storm since making landfall in Fujian province on
Sept. 5, but its residual vortex has continued to wreak havoc in southern
China, with the populous city of Shenzhen deluged by the heaviest rain since
records began in 1952. Neighbouring Hong Kong was pelted by the worst
storm in 140 years.
Scientists warn that typhoons hitting
China are becoming more intense and their paths growing more complex,
escalating risk of disaster, even in coastal cities such as Shenzhen that
regularly brave tropical cyclones and already have strong flood defence capabilities.
"Typhoons that move far inland
affect regions historically less exposed to heavy rainfall and strong wind,
often with lower disaster resilience, leading to more severe losses," said
Shao Sun, a climatologist at the University of California, Irvine.
"In this case of Shenzhen, the
disaster was mainly due to the slow westward movement of Haikui's residual
circulation, which nearly stagnated in its spatial position from the afternoon
of Sept. 7 to the early hours of Sept. 8, and a "train effect" of
heavy rainfall occurred, causing the event to exceed its expected
intensity."
A so-called "train effect"
refers to the cumulative effect of multiple convective cloud systems passing
over an area in succession, resulting in a significant accumulation of rainfall
accumulation and sharply raising the potential for heavy or even extreme
rainfall.
Heavy rain is expected to persist in
Guangxi over the next few days.
Tropical
storm rains batter China for seventh day | Reuters
Finally,
the IMF needs more other people’s money. Not to worry though, it’s not real
money, convertible metallic money, with intrinsic value, it just more fiat
money with no intrinsic value, created out of thin air at the push of a
computer button in any one of the G-20 central banks.
IMF urges pact to
boost its resource quota, strengthen world economy
By Swati Bhat September 10, 202310:09 AM GMT+1
NEW DELHI, Sept 10 (Reuters) - It is
vital to increase quota resources for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
before year-end, its chief, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Sunday, while urging
members of the G20 bloc to deliver on a promise of $100 billion a year in
climate funds.
In a declaration at
its summit in New Delhi this weekend, the grouping vowed to tackle debt
vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries "in an effective,
comprehensive and systematic manner", but offered no fresh plan of action.
"G20 members must lead by example in delivering on the promises of $100
billion per year for climate finance, supported by strengthening the
multilateral development banks," Georgieva said in a statement at the end
of the two-day summit.
"Countries also need to mobilise
domestic resources to finance and manage the green transition through tax
reforms, effective and efficient public spending, strong fiscal institutions,
and deep local debt markets."
She urged the grouping to strengthen
the global financial safety net.
"To make the global economy
stronger and more resilient in a more shock-prone world, it is vital to reach
an agreement to increase the IMF's quota resources before the end of the
year," she said.
Such a pact would secure resources
needed for the Fund's interest-free support to the poorest countries through
the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, she added.
The G20 summit also pledged to
strengthen and reform multilateral development banks, while accepting a
proposal to regulate cryptocurrencies more tightly worldwide.
"More work lies ahead, including
in the realm of digital money and crypto assets," Georgieva said
IMF urges pact to boost its resource quota, strengthen
world economy | Reuters
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.
More
sign a global recession is fast arriving. But global inflation is still a
problem. Approx. 11 minutes.
No More Foreign Orders, as the Global Supply Chain Exits: The End of ‘Made in China’ Has Come
Egypt inflation hits record high of nearly 40%
Sun, 10 September 2023 at
9:59 am BST
Annual inflation in Egypt hit 39.7
percent in August, official figures showed Sunday, an all-time high for the
country as it grapples with a punishing economic crisis.
It comes immediately after the
previous record of 38.2 percent was recorded in July, and over a year into an
unrelenting economic crisis that has seen the currency shed half its value
against the US dollar since early last year.
Food and drink prices alone
registered a 71.9 percent increase compared to August 2022, state statistics
agency CAPMAS announced on Sunday, adding to the burden of families who have
been struggling to make ends meet.
The economic crisis in the
import-dependent country was catalysed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last
year, which destabilised crucial food supplies and unsettled global markets.
Investors pulled billions out of Cairo's
foreign reserves, which remain buoyed by deposits from wealthy Gulf allies
whose promises to purchase Egyptian state assets have fallen short of
government targets.
Even before the current crisis, 30
percent of Egyptians were living below the poverty line, according to the World
Bank, with another 30 percent vulnerable to falling into poverty.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous
country, has been dependent on bailouts in recent years, from both Gulf allies
and the International Monetary Fund.
Last year, the IMF approved a $3
billion loan for Egypt conditioned on "a permanent shift to a flexible
exchange rate regime".
The country's external debt bill has
tripled over the past decade, rising to a record high of $165.4 billion this
year, according to Ministry of Planning figures.
Egypt inflation hits record high of nearly 40% (yahoo.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
A Deeper Dive Into the Role of
Spike Protein in Myocarditis and Blood Clotting After COVID-19 Vaccination
Promise or Peril: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine
Issues Series (Part 4)
September 5, 2023
In this series, “Promise or Peril:
Alarming COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Issues,” we explore how the introduction of mRNA technology lacked an
adequate regulatory framework, setting the stage for serious adverse events and
other concerns related to inadequate safety testing of lipid nanoparticles,
spike protein, and residual DNA- and lipid-related impurities, as well as
truncated/modified mRNA species.
Previously: In Part 1, we introduced how the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) relaxed the rules for mRNA vaccines compared to mRNA
therapies and discussed the available data regarding LNP distribution
throughout the body based on animal testing, the fact that human testing was
not done, and the lack of mRNA or spike protein biodistribution data. In Parts
2 and 3, we explored how the LNPs are constructed and how they behave in the
body and affect health.
Now we turn to another problem—the cargo contained in the
LNP capsules: the mRNA and its encoded spike protein. We introduce the
inflammatory response to the spike protein and one of its subunit proteins and
how they may contribute to serious adverse events such as myocarditis and blood
clotting.
Rochelle Walensky, former director of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stated on “Good Morning America” in June 2021 that myocarditis cases are “really quite
rare … minor, self-limited, they generally resolve with rest and standard
medications.” However, this assertion was made based on a preliminary review of
300 cases and before conducting long-term follow-up.
A study published on Aug. 1 followed 40 adolescents in Hong Kong for up to a year. Follow-up testing performed in 26
patients with initial abnormal findings revealed that 58 percent of those
with vaccine-associated myocarditis had persistent heart muscle scarring. The
authors concluded: “There exists a potential long-term effect on exercise
capacity and cardiac functional reserve during stress.”
This series demonstrates how exposure to the spike
protein results in downstream cardiovascular issues. Given that vaccination
causes the body to produce more spike protein, it is clear that additional
research was needed to understand the health impacts of vaccination prior to
licensure.
Summary of Key Facts
·
The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its S1 subunit have known
impacts on the cardiovascular system, such as an increased risk of blood
clotting.
·
The vaccine-induced spike protein and its S1 subunit
have been found in the blood following vaccination.
·
In lab studies, the spike protein activates white blood cells
and may trigger an inflammatory response or clotting.
·
Free spike protein was found in the blood of adolescents
and young adults with post-mRNA vaccine myocarditis but not in healthy control
subjects without myocarditis.
·
The S1 subunit can interact with ACE2, platelets, and fibrin and
may be what leads to an inflammatory response driving serious adverse events,
including clots, myocarditis, and neurological problems.
·
As discussed in Part 3, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) act as
adjuvants, stimulating the immune system. This innate immune response peaks
within six hours of vaccination and returns to baseline by about day nine,
temporally corresponding to the onset of myocarditis, which typically
occurs within the first seven days following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.
·
Studies have not been done to evaluate how vaccination affects
those who have already been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
·
The spike protein was implicated in small vessel microclots
during COVID-19 illness; thus, postvaccination cardiovascular effects should
have been anticipated.
·
The first deadline for FDA-mandated post-authorization safety
studies has passed, yet to the best of our knowledge, the full report has not
been made available to the public.
More
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.
Dangling strings slash the time and space needed for
lithium harvesting
Ben Coxworth September 08, 2023
Although
lithium can be found in hard mineral ores, it's more often
extracted from very salty (aka briny) groundwater. The latter task could soon
be much quicker and eco-friendlier, thanks to a new string-based extraction
technique.
Currently,
lithium-rich brine must be pumped into surface-located manmade ponds, where
it's left to sit for anywhere from several months to a few years. Throughout
this period, the water itself evaporates into the atmosphere, leaving
concentrated salts behind. Lithium is then harvested from those salts.
Besides
taking a long time, this process also requires a lot of land
for the large evaporation ponds. Additionally, in order to make such huge
operations economically feasible, most of them must be located in the few
places that have large and plentiful underground lithium brine deposits. These
locations must also have arid climates that boost evaporation.
With such
drawbacks in mind, Prof. Z. Jason Ren and colleagues at Princeton University
have devised a new lithium-extraction process. It yields usable lithium within
less than one month, occupies about 10% as much land as the ponds, and is
worthwhile utilizing in a wide variety of locations where even modest amounts
of lithium brine are present.
The technique
incorporates strings made from inexpensive twisted cellulose fibers. Each of
those porous fibers has a hydrophilic (water-attracting) core, surrounded by a
hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface.
Arrays of these
strings are hung over brine-filled reservoirs, with the bottom end of each
string immersed in the liquid. Capillary action draws the liquid up the cores
of the strings' fibers, while the surfaces of those fibers push the liquid out
into the air where its water content quickly evaporates.
As a result, each string ends up covered in lithium chloride
and sodium chloride crystals that can be harvested by hand. Fortunately, the
lithium and sodium aren't intermixed. Because lithium salts are highly soluble,
they crystalize toward the top of each string, while the less-soluble sodium
salts (which are also useful) crystallize toward the bottom.
The scientists have already demonstrated a 100-string setup,
and are now working on boosting the efficiency of the technique. They have also
formed a spinoff company, PureLi Inc, to commercialize the technology.
"Our process is like
putting an evaporation pond on a string, allowing us to obtain lithium harvests
with a significantly reduced spatial footprint and with more precise control of
the process," said study co-author Dr. Sunxiang (Sean) Zheng. "If
scaled, we may open up new vistas for environmentally friendly lithium
extraction."
A paper on the research was
recently published in the journal Nature
Water.
Source: Princeton University
Dangling strings slash the time and space needed for
lithium harvesting (newatlas.com)
“The markets in the long run are no doubt
driven by fundamental economic laws—if the United States runs a persistent
trade deficit, the dollar will eventually plummet—but in the short run money
flows less rationally. Fear and, to a lesser extent, greed are what make money
move.”
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