Baltic
Dry Index. 2094 Fri. Brent Crude 79.75
Spot Gold 2087 US 2 Year Yield 4.20 -0.06
The more I made the more I spent.
Jesse Livermore.
In the stock casinos, boom on till the end of 2023 and then boom, a new global recession arriving?
More bets on US falling interest rates. Gold
about to make new highs?
Asia-Pacific
markets mostly higher as China stocks rise, Aussie shares hold near two-year
highs
UPDATED WED, DEC 27 2023 8:48 PM EST
Asia-Pacific
markets mostly rose on Thursday, with Australia stocks hovering near two-year
highs and China markets extending gains to the second straight day, though
Japan shares took a breather after rallying the day before.
Markets including Australia
and Hong Kong resumed trading Wednesday after a Christmas
break, both ending higher, while China stocks were buoyed by a rebound in
online gaming stocks.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index
rose 0.33%, holding at its highest level since late April 2022. The index is
set to end the year decidedly higher at 7.7%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell
0.49%, after closing more than 1% higher in the previous session. The broader
Topix index shed 0.25%, cooling off after four straight sessions of gains.
Retail
sales data from Japan showed a 5.3% growth in November, higher
than a Reuters poll forecast of 5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened
0.65% higher, rising for the second day. Hong Kong is still the worst
performing large Asia-Pacific market in 2023, down some 16%.
China’s CSI 300 index opened
0.32% higher, also extending gains to the day.
South Korea’s Kospi was
0.49% higher, clinging on to gains from the previous session. The small-cap
Kosdaq turned positive by the second hour of trading, rising 0.19%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks finished higher Wednesday
as traders kept an eye on the S&P 500′s march toward record levels.
The S&P 500 inched
up 0.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite added
0.16%. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average rose
111.19 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 37,656.52.
The Dow notched a fresh closing
high, while the S&P 500 finished less than 0.5% off of its closing record
of 4,796.56 set in January 2022. Along with the Dow and Nasdaq, the S&P is
also enjoying an eight-week winning streak — its longest since 2017.
Live
updates: China, Aussie stocks gain, Japan shares take a breather (cnbc.com)
S&P 500
futures are little changed as index inches closer to all-time high: Live
updates
UPDATED WED, DEC 27 2023 7:12 PM
EST
S&P
500 futures are
near flat Wednesday night as the benchmark index closed in on a new all-time
high.
Futures tied to the benchmark
index and Nasdaq 100 were
both little changed. Dow Jones
Industrial Average futures slipped
6 points, also near flat.
The action follows a modestly
winning day on Wall Street. The S&P 500 ended
up 0.1%, rising closer to record levels. The Nasdaq Composite added
nearly 0.2% in the session, while the 30-stock Dow finished
0.3% higher.
While the moves were muted, they
come as investors look toward to end of what’s been a strong year for stocks.
With just two sessions left in
the trading year, the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 are poised to finish
higher by more than 13% and 24%, respectively. The latter is within 0.5% of its
highest closing level, which was set in January 2022
Meanwhile, the technology-heavy
Nasdaq is on track for its best year since 2003, climbing more than 44%. That
outperformance has been driven by the artificial intelligence craze and a
rebound among mega-cap tech names.
The three major indexes are also
all on track to notch their ninth straight winning weeks. That underscores the
market’s late 2023 rally, rebounding off a negative third quarter.
“2023 was ... good for investors
to really test their patience,” said Michael Mullin, chief market strategist at
Claro Advisors. “There’s a lot that happens in the middle, but at the end of
the day, you can look back and be satisfied that you were an investor.”
Stocks are now in the middle of a
period dubbed the “Santa Claus rally,” which refers to the last five trading
days of an ending year and first two of a new one. The S&P 500 has risen
about 1.3% over this timeframe on average, per data going back
to 1950 from the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
Traders will monitor economic
data on jobless claims and pending home sales Thursday morning.
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
In other
news, AI is about to get tested by the US tort bar. Never under estimate a US
tort lawyer, or do so at one’s peril.
New York
Times sues Microsoft, ChatGPT maker OpenAI over copyright infringement
The New
York Times on
Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and
OpenAI, creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, accusing the companies of
copyright infringement and abusing the newspaper’s intellectual property
to train large language models.
Microsoft both invests in and
supplies OpenAI, providing it with access to the company’s Azure cloud
computing technology.
The publisher said in a filing in
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that it seeks to
hold Microsoft and OpenAI to account for the “billions of dollars in statutory
and actual damages” it believes it is owed for the “unlawful copying and use of
The Times’s uniquely valuable works.”
The Times said in an
emailed statement that it “recognizes the power and potential of GenAI for the
public and for journalism,” but added that journalistic material should be used
for commercial gain with permission from the original source.
“These tools were
built with and continue to use independent journalism and content that is only
available because we and our peers reported, edited, and fact-checked it at
high cost and with considerable expertise,” the Times said.
“Settled copyright
law protects our journalism and content,” the Times added. “If Microsoft and
OpenAI want to use our work for commercial purposes, the law requires that they
first obtain our permission. They have not done so.”
“We respect the
rights of content creators and owners and are committed to working with them to
ensure they benefit from AI technology and new revenue models,” an OpenAI
representative said in a statement. “Our ongoing conversations with the New
York Times have been productive and moving forward constructively, so we are
surprised and disappointed with this development. We’re hopeful that we will
find a mutually beneficial way to work together, as we are doing with many
other publishers.”
A representative for
Microsoft didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The Times is
represented in the proceedings by Susman Godfrey, the litigation firm that
represented Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation suit against Fox News
that culminated in a $787.5 million million settlement.
Susman Godfrey is
also representing author Julian Sancton and other writers in a separate lawsuit
against OpenAI and Microsoft that accuses the companies of using copyrighted
materials without permission to train several versions of ChatGPT.
More
New York Times sues Microsoft, ChatGPT maker OpenAI over copyright infringement (cnbc.com)
Finally, Red Sea disappointment and hope. But
the safety of the crews is important.
Hapag Lloyd:
situation still too dangerous to pass Suez Canal
December
27, 2023 10:22 AM GMT
BERLIN, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE) still
considers the situation too dangerous to pass through the Suez Canal, a
spokesperson for the German container shipper said on Wednesday, adding that it
would continue to reroute its vessels via the Cape of Good Hope.
"We
continuously assess the situation and plan a next review on Friday," the
spokesperson said.
Hapag Lloyd: situation still too dangerous to pass
Suez Canal | Reuters
Maersk schedules
dozens of vessels to travel via Suez Canal
December 27, 2023 12:21 PM GMT
OSLO,
Dec 27 (Reuters) - Denmark's Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) said on Wednesday it has scheduled several dozen
container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the next
several weeks, after pausing voyages in the area earlier this month due to the
risk of attacks.
The schedule
remains subject to change based on specific contingency plans that may be
formed over the coming days, the company added.
The
container shipping giant on Dec. 24 said it was preparing a return to the Red Sea, citing
the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation to protect vessels against
attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants.
Among the vessels
listed in an advisory to clients on Wednesday was the Maren Maersk, which
departed Tangiers on Dec. 24 and would "continue via Suez Canal" with
an estimated time of arrival in Singapore on Jan. 14.
Maersk
has since Dec. 19 rerouted ships around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to
avoid attacks, charging customers extra fees and adding weeks to the time
it takes to transport goods from Asia to Europe and to the east coast of North
America.
Maersk schedules dozens of vessels to travel via Suez
Canal | Reuters
Oil prices stabilise
as Red Sea transport disruptions ease
By Yuka Obayashi December 28, 2023 4:46 AM GMT
Dec 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied
on Thursday after falling sharply in the previous session, as concerns eased
about shipping disruptions along the Red Sea route even as tensions in the
Middle East continued to rise.
Brent crude futures inched up 10
cents, or 0.1%, to $79.75 a barrel by 0424 GMT, while U.S. WTI crude futures
were trading 5 cents lower at $74.06 a barrel. Prices dropped nearly 2% on
Wednesday as major shipping firms began returning to the Red Sea.
"Concerns about shipping in the
Red Sea have eased, but continued worries about tensions in the Middle East,
especially on Iran's involvement in the region, make it difficult to sell
further," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of
Nissan Securities.
"The market is likely to try the
upside again... maybe in the early new year, also on expectations of a recovery
in fuel demand thanks to monetary easing in the United States and higher
kerosene demand during the winter in the northern hemisphere," he said.
Danish shipping
company Maersk said it has scheduled several dozen container vessels to travel
via the Suez Canal and Red Sea in the coming weeks after
calling a temporary halt to those routes this month after attacks by Yemen's
Iran-backed Houthi militia.
But the prospect of a prolonged
Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the spillover of the conflict to attacks
on ships in the Red Sea remain major drivers of market sentiment.
More
Oil prices stabilise as Red Sea transport disruptions ease | 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.
Inflation has created a dark cloud over how everyday
Americans view the economy
December 26, 2023
When Kyle Connolly looks back at
2023, she sees it as a year defined by changes and challenges.
The newly single parent reentered the
workforce, only to be laid off from her job at a custom home-building company
in November. At the same time, Connolly has seen prices climb for everything
from her Aldi's grocery basket to her condo's utility costs.
In turn, she's cut back on everyday
luxuries like eating out or going to the movies. Christmas will look pared down
for her three kids compared to years prior.
"I've trimmed everything that I
possibly can," said the 41-year-old. "It sucks having to tell my kids
no. It sucks when they ask for a little something extra when we're checking out
at the grocery store and having to tell them, 'No, I'm sorry, we can't.'"
Economic woes have seemed more
apparent within her community in Florida's panhandle. Connolly has noticed
fewer 2022 Chevy Suburbans on the road, replaced by older Toyota Camry models.
The waters typically filled with boats have been eerily quiet as owners either
sold them or tried to cut back on gas costs. Fellow parents have taken to
Facebook groups to discuss ways to better conserve money or rake in extra
income.
The struggles among Connolly and her
neighbors highlight a key conundrum puzzling economists: Why does the average
American feel so bad about an economy that's otherwise considered strong?
By many accounts, it has been
a good year on this front. The annualized rate of price growth is sliding closer to a
level preferred by the Federal Reserve, while the labor market has
remained hot. There's rising hope that
monetary policymakers have successfully cooled inflation without tipping the
economy into a recession.
Yet closely watched survey
data from the University of Michigan shows consumer sentiment, while improving,
is a far cry from pre-pandemic levels. December's index reading showed
sentiment improved by almost 17% from a year prior, but was still nearly 30%
off from where it sat during the same month in 2019.
"The main issue is that
high prices really hurt," said Joanne Hsu, Michigan's director of consumer
surveys. "Americans are still trying to come to grips with the idea that
we're not going back to the extended period of low inflation, low interest
rates that we had in the 2010s. And that reality is not the current
reality."
Still, Hsu sees reason for
optimism when zooming in. Sentiment has largely improved from its all-time low
seen in June 2022 — the same month the consumer price index rose 9.1% from a year earlier — as people started noticing
inflationary pressures recede, she said.
One notable caveat was the
drop in sentiment this past May, which she tied to the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations. The 2024 presidential election has added to
feelings of economic uncertainty for some, Hsu said.
More
Inflation has created a dark cloud over how everyday Americans view the economy (msn.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Top 10 COVID Events of the Year: Revealing the Facts Unspoken and
Unknown
Here
are the top 10 major events that took place in relation to COVID in 2023.
By Marina Zhang Dec 26, 2023 Updated: Dec 26, 2023
COVID-19 in
2023 has been full of revelations and controversy.
Most health
leaders involved in the U.S. pandemic response have resigned or been replaced,
with one leaving his agency with a study that received much fanfare for a
somewhat controversial take on vaccines.
Compared to
2022, the science on the effectiveness and risks of masking and vaccinations
has become increasingly clear with the release of highly authoritative studies
this year.
Let us review the top 10 major events that
took place in relation to COVID in 2023.
1. FDA and CDC
Find More COVID Vaccine Adverse Events, Including Stroke
Beginning in January, documents released
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) found that the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detected hundreds of safety signals for Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. This included
adverse reactions of myocarditis, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children
(MIS-C), ventricle dysfunctions in the heart, and many more.
On Jan. 13, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and the CDC released a joint statement
declaring they detected stroke as a new safety signal in older people who
took the Pfizer bivalent boosters. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente also
reported in October that people who took the COVID boosters with the influenza
vaccine were at a greater risk of stroke.
Days
later, researchers affiliated with the FDA published a preprint finding that
older people who received the Pfizer booster shot had a higher rate of
Bell’s palsy, a type of facial paralysis.
In a statement released in May, the FDA
determined that "the current evidence does not support the existence of a
safety issue," as findings of stroke among the elderly decreased. They
added that agencies will continue to evaluate new data as they become
available.
2. Vaccines Cannot
‘Effectively’ Control COVID: Fauci After Resigning
The resignation of Dr. Anthony Fauci,
former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), was noteworthy given his role in leading the United States
pandemic response and his actions soon after resigning.
Dr. Fauci
was very vocal in encouraging vaccine uptake and regularly appeared on
television programs motivating people to get vaccinated.
“It’s as simple as black and white. You’re
vaccinated, you’re safe. You’re unvaccinated, you’re at risk. Simple as that,”
Dr. Fauci said on an MSNBC program during the Delta
wave.
Before the Delta wave in the United
States, Dr. Fauci compared vaccinated people to “dead ends” for the virus on CBS’s Face the Nation.
However, on Jan. 11, weeks after his
resignation at the end of 2022, Dr. Fauci and two other researchers published a paper in
Cell Host & Microbe that gained traction due to their comments on the
effectiveness of vaccines in controlling respiratory viruses.
“SARS-CoV-2,
endemic coronaviruses, RSV, and many other ‘common cold’ viruses … have not to
date been effectively controlled by licensed or experimental vaccines,” the
authors wrote in their introduction.
More
Top 10 COVID Events of the Year: Revealing the Facts Unspoken and Unknown | The Epoch Times
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.
US company claims a 99 percent recovery rate with old
solar panels
December 26, 2023
We Recycle Solar, a startup based in
Arizona, shows how old and out-of-service solar panels could be used in the
future. The startup works directly with businesses, helping them dispose of
solar waste responsibly and make some money.
The world is currently focused on
phasing away fossil fuels and ushering in a carbon-less way of generating
energy. Much of this plan rests on solar panels, which can trap sun rays and convert
them into electricity. The technology has been improving over the years but
also presents a problem now that the first wave of solar installations has come
to the end of its life cycle.
Solar panels are estimated to have a lifespan
of 30 years, after which they can no longer generate power efficiently. In
countries like the US, the user bears the cost of removing and recycling these panels, making it easier to dump them at a local landfill.
Arizona-based We Recycle
Solar aims to offer customers a better option than to dump the panels. It has
partnered with various solar panel manufacturers, contractors, and utility
companies to source older solar panels.
The
startup gives a new lease of life to new solar panels that might have a
production defect or be damaged during installation by refurbishing them. Such
panels often find a market outside the US. But many more panels in the US are
currently being phased out, which will only increase soon.
The startup gives owners of
these panels an option to recycle the components by offering money as an added
incentive.
CEO Adam Saghei says that the startup has found treasure in the decrepit
solar panels after its engineers perfected the process after more than three
years of effort. Saghei calls the process "urban mining" and has used
it to recover silver, copper, aluminum, glass, and silicone from these unwanted
solar panels.
On its website,
the startup claims to have recovered 495 tons of aluminum, 147 tons of copper,
and over 10,000 tons of glass. It is easy to gauge the interest in metals since
they can be put back into manufacturing.
The organization's brilliance
has been finding suitable uses for items like silicone and glass. "You can
use it for sand traps on golf courses, you can refine it for sandblast mix, you
can also use it for the stones or the glass mix that you get for outdoor
fireplaces," Saghei told AFP.
At a facility in Yuma,
Arizona, the startup is processing 7,500 panels a day while being able to
recover 99 percent of materials and putting them back to kickstart a circular
economy.
Few organizations are willing
to take up this role right now, given the labor and energy-intensive nature of
the business. However, Saghei is confident that as more panels begin to go out
of service, the industry will scale, and many more companies will join the fray
for urban mining.
US company claims a 99 percent recovery rate with old
solar panels (msn.com)
I did exactly the wrong thing. The cotton showed me a loss and I
kept it. The wheat showed me a profit and I sold it out. Of all the speculative
blunders there are few greater than trying to average a losing game. Always
sell what shows you a loss and keep what shows you a profit.
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