Baltic Dry Index. 1473 -45 Brent Crude 79.59
Spot Gold 2025 US 2 Year Yield 4.31 -0.06
Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
John
Kenneth Galbraith.
In the great global gambling casinos, the Great (Final) Stock Mania Bubble, bubbles on. In the real world economy, where people work for a living, more sign of a global economy rolling over.
When the Great 2024 Global Bust finally hits,
economic carnage if not worse, will roll out on the five or six continents,
depending on how you count them.
Alibaba pops 6% pushing Hong Kong share
higher; Asia markets mostly lower
UPDATED WED, JAN 24 2024 12:43 AM EST
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged as much as
2.67% before paring gains on Wednesday, powered by tech stocks as other
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell.
The Hang Seng Tech index gained
almost 3%, before moderating later in the day in a surge led by Alibaba. The
Chinese tech giant jumped as much as 6.57% after founder Jack
Ma reportedly bought $50 million of Alibaba shares listed in
Hong Kong. The mainland Chinese CSI 300 was down 0.45%.
Investors are also assessing
economic data out of Japan, as well as factory activity data from Australia.
Japan’s December exports beat
expectations, with its trade balance turning in a $62.1 billion surplus
compared with a $122.1 billion deficit expected by a Reuters poll of
economists. The data comes a day after the Bank
of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged.
Australia also saw flash PMI
surveys from Juno Bank, which showed an expansion in manufacturing activity in
January after 11 straight months of contraction. Business activity in the
country also saw a softer contraction in January compared to December.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched
up marginally after the announcement and ended at 7,519.2, marking four
straight days of gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid
0.26%, extending its losses from Tuesday, while the Topix saw a smaller loss of
0.15%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell
0.43%, with heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix recording the largest
losses among the top 10 stocks on the benchmark index. The small-cap Kosdaq
also fell 1.35%
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 gained
0.29% to set a fresh all-time high of 4,864.60 as traders assessed the latest
batch of corporate earnings.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced
0.43%, but the blue-chip Dow Jones
Industrial Average snapped
a three day winning streak and fell 0.25%, retreating below the 38,000 level
that was crossed
for the first time on Monday.
Asia markets live
updates: Alibaba, Japan PMI, Australia PMI, Japan trade (cnbc.com)
Nasdaq 100
futures rise after Netflix posts subscriber jump: Live updates
UPDATED WED, JAN 24 2024 12:08 AM EST
Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100
climbed Wednesday morning after Netflix reported its subscriber count reached a new
record in the fourth quarter.
Nasdaq
100 futures rose
0.34%, while S&P 500
futures gained
0.21%. Dow Jones
Industrial Average futures oscillated
near the flat line.
Netflix shares
surged 8.6% in extended trading. The streaming company added more than 13
million new subscribers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total subscriber
count to an all-time high of 260.8 million. Revenue also topped analysts’
estimates, and the company issued earnings guidance for the current quarter
that beat Wall Street’s forecasts.
Netflix’s subscriber increase
“indicates the ongoing strength in the scaling of the ad-tier business,
particularly scaling up at the end of last year, and also the momentum the
company’s building and its crackdown on password sharing,” Jamie Lumley, senior
analyst at Third Bridge Group, said on “Closing Bell: Overtime” on
Tuesday.
The streaming giant’s gains build
upon mega-cap tech’s strong gains in 2024, which have fueled the S&P 500 to
record highs and confirmed a new bull market.
To be sure, the Dow pulled
back 0.25% during Tuesday’s main trading session following disappointing
earnings reports and guidance from several blue-chip companies. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 gained
0.29% to reach an all-time closing high. The Nasdaq Composite added
0.43%.
Earnings reports expected on
Wednesday include telecom giant AT&T and Freeport-McMoRan before the bell.
Tesla, Las Vegas Sands and IBM will issue results after the close.
On the economic front, traders
will be looking toward U.S. manufacturing and services data for January. Fourth
quarter gross domestic product will also be released later in the week.
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
Back in
the real world far from “Bidenomics” and central bank free money. Layoffs and another
setback for snake bit Boeing.
EBay to eliminate about 1,000 jobs, or 9% of
full-time workforce
EBay said
Tuesday that it plans to lay off 9% of the company’s workforce, equal to about
1,000 full-time jobs, as the tech industry continues to downsize to start 2024.
The stock rose more than 3% in extended trading.
Jamie Iannone, eBay’s CEO, told
employees in a letter published on a corporate blog, that the company will also “scale back
the number of contracts we have within our alternate workforce over the coming
months.”
Iannone said the job cuts are necessary because eBay’s “overall headcount
and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business.”
“To address this, we’re
implementing organizational changes that align and consolidate certain teams to
improve the end-to-end experience, and better meet the needs of our customers
around the world,” Iannone said. “Shortly, we will begin notifying those
employees whose roles have been eliminated and entering into a consultation
process in areas where required.”
Following hefty job cuts last year,
tech companies have continued to eliminate positions in January as concerns
about consumer and business spending persist. Amazon, Alphabet and Unity have
confirmed cuts this month, and SAP said
on Tuesday that it aims to carry out voluntary buyouts or
enable job changes for 8,000 employees as part of a restructuring program for
2024.
More
EBay
to slash about 1,000 roles, or 9% of full-time employees (cnbc.com)
Boeing 757 loses nose
wheel while preparing for takeoff in Atlanta
January 24, 2024 4:31 AM GMT
Jan
23 (Reuters) - The nose wheel of a Boeing 757 passenger jet operated by Delta
Air Lines popped off and rolled away as the plane was lining up for takeoff
over the weekend from Atlanta's international airport, according to the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
Boeing was not immediately
available to comment outside regular business hours.
The nose gear mishap on
Saturday came amid heightened scrutiny of the aircraft manufacturer by federal
regulators following the mid-air blowout of a fuselage
panel that left a gaping hold in an 8-week-old Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet flown by
Alaska Airlines.
Nobody
was seriously injured in the blowout, but the FAA grounded 171 MAX 9s after the
Jan. 5 incident.
The agency has since
recommended that airlines operating Boeing 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs on
those jets to ensure they are properly secured after some carriers reported
loose hardware during inspections of grounded MAX 9 planes. read more
According to a preliminary
FAA notice filed on Monday documenting the 757 nose gear detachment, none of
the 184 passengers or six crew members aboard was hurt in the incident, which
took place at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The report said the aircraft was
lining up and waiting for takeoff when the "nose wheel came off and rolled
down the hill."
The plane had been scheduled for a
flight to Bogota, Colombia, when the mishap occurred, and a Delta spokesperson
said the passengers were put on a replacement flight, according to the New York
Times, which broke the story late on Tuesday.
The newspaper said Boeing declined
comment and directed questions to the airline. The FAA told the newspaper it
was continuing its investigation of the incident.
Boeing
757 loses nose wheel while preparing for takeoff in Atlanta | Reuters
Next, will China do a “Greenspan” and come to
the rescue of its stock markets? Even if China does, it’s too late for some.
China weighs stock
market rescue package backed by $278 bln - Bloomberg News
January 23, 2024 6:19 AM GMT
Jan 23 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are
considering measures to stabilise a slumping stock market, Bloomberg News reported, opens new tab on Tuesday citing people familiar
with the matter, drawing a sceptical response from underwhelmed
investors.
Policymakers
are seeking to mobilise about 2 trillion yuan ($278.53 billion), mainly from
offshore accounts of state-owned enterprises, as part of a stabilisation fund
to buy shares onshore through the Hong Kong exchange link, Bloomberg News
reported.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission
did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
Chinese
stocks rose immediately after the report but reversed course later to slip
lower and were last broadly flat. The bluechip CSI300 Index (.CSI300), opens new tab was rooted near a five-year low,
while the Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC), opens new tab remained below the psychologically
key 2,800-point mark.
China's
stock markets have had a wretched start to the year,
with patchy economic growth and a renewed slump in home sales last week
solidifying foreign investors' resolve to steer clear.
The report came after the cabinet, following a meeting chaired by
Premier Li Qiang, on Monday said it would step up mid- and long-term fund
injection in the capital market to strengthen stability and promote healthy
development.
"China's stock market package is a welcome measure and shows
increasing responsiveness from the authorities. But at under 2% of its GDP, we
fear this is still inadequate," said Aninda Mitra, head of Asia macro and
investment strategy at BNY Mellon Investment Management.
Global money managers - who have been sellers of Chinese stocks as the
post-pandemic recovery sputtered - said it will take a long time or major
stimulus to repair the property sector, which at one time accounted for a
quarter of the economy, and change their minds.
Overseas funds have sold roughly $1.6 billion in Chinese equities so far
this year, driven mainly by European active funds and Hong Kong passive money,
Morgan Stanley said in a report last week.
Chinese investors are also shunning stocks.
More
China weighs stock market rescue package backed by
$278 bln - Bloomberg News | Reuters
Singapore's Asia
Genesis closes hedge fund after losing bets on China, Japan
By Summer Zhen January
23, 2024 5:34 AM GMT
HONG
KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Singapore-based Asia Genesis Asset Management is
liquidating its hedge fund after a "significant and unprecedented
drawdown" following missteps in Chinese and Japanese bets.
The
Asia Genesis Macro Fund lost 18.8% in the first weeks of January, Chief
Investment Officer Chua Soon Hock said in a letter to investors seen by
Reuters. He said he decided to close the fund to prevent further loss and
return money.
The fund, which hedge fund veteran Chua launched in
2020, manages about $300 million.
Asia Genesis did not respond to a request for
comment. A person close to the matter confirmed the decision.
The closure comes amid an unprecedented stock rout
in China and sustained rally in Japan.
"We made big mistakes in the recent sharp
Nikkei and Hong Kong moves which went in opposite directions," said Chua
in the letter. "I have reached the stage whereby my confidence as a trader
is lost."
The fund increased long
positions in Hong Kong and China and was short in Japan, based on the
prediction that China would outperform Japan this year after being sold off for
the past three years, whereas Japan would be muted after a 30% rally last year.
The fund's predicament was exacerbated by the absence of major
economic stimulus in China including interest rate cuts, Chua said. China
maintained rates on Monday.
Chua said he was disappointed by the
"inconsistency of China policy makers not fighting against deflation,
leading to continued loss of market confidence and prolonged bear market."
The Asia Genesis Macro Fund generated positive
returns in 2020, 2021 and 2022, Asia Genesis' website showed. It gained 6.5% in
2023 up to November, said a person familiar with the performance.
Chua previously ran a Japan macro fund which
returned 18.7% annually from 2000 through 2009.
Many long-term China bulls have been caught
off-guard by the prolonged stock market decline.
In a Linkedin post in December, Chua said 2024
would be the beginning of a multi-year bull market for Chinese stocks.
More
Singapore's Asia Genesis closes hedge fund after losing bets on China, Japan | Reuters
Finally, more on EV reality.
Battery-powered electric cars will never dominate the
market, says Toyota chairman
January
23, 2024
Battery-powered electric vehicles
will never dominate the car market, making up no more than 30 per cent of
global sales, according to the world’s biggest car manufacturer.
In a stark warning that raises fresh
concerns about the push to go green, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said
combustion engines as well as hybrids and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells
will play a major role in the future.
Toyoda, whose grandfather founded
Toyota in Japan in 1937, said the shift to battery electric vehicles – known in
the industry as BEVs – was not the answer when a billion people worldwide live
without electricity.
‘We also supply vehicles to these
regions, so a single BEV option cannot provide transportation for everyone,’ he
said in remarks published on the Toyota website.
‘No matter how much progress BEVs
make, I think they will still only have a 30 per cent market share.’
He said the remaining 70 per cent
would be other types of greener vehicles and added: ‘Engine cars will
definitely remain.
I think this is something that
customers and the market will decide, not regulatory values or political
power.’
Pushing back against the focus on
BEVs at the expense of alternatives, Toyoda said: ‘The enemy is CO2. So, let’s
all think about reducing CO2.’
Governments around the world are
pressing drivers to ditch petrol and diesel cars.
But some drivers are reluctant
because of the cost of electric cars and a lack of infrastructure such as
charging points.
Battery-powered
electric cars will never dominate the market, says Toyota chairman (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.
50,000 companies
face collapse as ‘debt storm’ breaks
23 January 2024 •
6:53am
Tens of thousands of businesses
are on the brink of collapse as higher borrowing costs and taxes pile pressure
on the economy.
Nearly 50,000 companies are on
the edge of failure as they grapple with a “double whammy” of steeper interest
rates and consumer gloom, new figures from a leading insolvency practice show.
Hikes to corporation tax and the
National Living Wage are also adding to costs for debt-laden businesses.
Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert
warned that 47,477 companies were in “critical” financial distress at the end
of 2023, an increase of 10,000 since September.
The 26pc surge from the third
quarter is the second consecutive period where critical financial distress has
grown by more than a quarter.
Many companies on the list are
expected to go bust, leaving workers unemployed and creditors out of pocket.
Begbies Traynor partner Julie
Palmer said: “Any company which is consumer facing is feeling the effects of
the cost of living crisis and the days of cheap money are over.
“Consumer confidence is very low
and they’re having to pay more for their debt. It’s going to be a hard year.
It’s a double whammy.”
Companies who borrowed to stay
afloat during Covid are also having to repay their bounceback loans,
compounding to the financial distress, Ms Palmer said.
More
Nearly 50,000 companies face collapse as ‘debt storm’ breaks (telegraph.co.uk)
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
How COVID-19 Vaccines
and Infections Are Tweaking Our Immunity
Mon,
22 January 2024 at 9:23 pm GMT
Your immune system may be getting
smarter every time you encounter COVID-19, a new study suggests. After getting
vaccinated and infected, the immune system generates broader defenses against
the virus, including against new variants.
In a paper published Jan. 19 in Science
Immunology, researchers in
South Korea compared immune cells in the lab from people with a variety of
vaccine and infection histories throughout the different Omicron waves, which
began in late 2021 with BA.1. People who had been vaccinated with the original
Pfizer-BioNTech series and then got infected with any Omicron variant showed
good levels of memory immune cells—called T cells—that defended not only
against the variants causing the infection, but also related ones in the
Omicron family that came later. For example, people who were vaccinated with
three doses of the original COVID-19 shot and then got infected with the BA.2
variant generated T cells that could target not just BA.2 but also BA.4/5 and
XBB viruses, which didn’t emerge until later.
“This is evidence of cross
adaptation between the virus and human beings overall,” says Dr. Eui-Cheol
Shin, professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and
senior author of the paper. “It also means we are on the way to an endemic era
for COVID-19.”
Shin and his team found that the
T cells—which are more durable than antibodies and are designed to retain
memory of the viruses they encounter—generated against Omicron variants
recognized the parts of the virus that remained conserved, as opposed to portions
that had changed among the different variants. This, in part, helps people to
not get as sick from reinfections.
The fact that the immune system is able to concentrate on
these consistent parts of the virus could be an encouraging sign that the virus
is evolving in a way to co-exist with humans, says Shin. There’s precedent for
viruses becoming endemic in this way, since a handful of coronaviruses that
started off as deadly now cause the common cold.
More
How COVID-19 Vaccines and Infections Are Tweaking Our
Immunity (yahoo.com)
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.
Quantum physicist uses graphene ribbons to build
nanoscale power plants
January 20, 2024
When Mickael Perrin started out on his
scientific career 12 years ago, he had no way of knowing he was conducting
research in an area that would be attracting wide public interest only a few
years later: Quantum electronics. "At the time, physicists were just
starting to talk about the potential of quantum technologies and quantum
computers," he recalls.
"Today there are dozens of
start-ups in this area, and governments and companies are investing billions in
developing the technology further. We are now seeing the first applications in
computer science, cryptography, communications and sensors." Perrin's
research is opening up another field of application: Electricity production
using quantum effects with almost zero energy loss. To achieve this, the
36-year-old scientist combines two usually separate disciplines of physics:
thermodynamics and quantum mechanics.
In the past year, the quality of
Perrin's research and its potential for future applications has brought him two
awards. He received not only one of the ERC Starting Grants that are so highly
sought-after by young researchers, but also an Eccellenza Professorial
Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNS)F. He now leads a
research group of nine at Empa as well as being an Assistant Professor of
Quantum Electronics at ETH Zurich.
---- A year after
completing his doctorate, Perrin obtained a post at Empa in the laboratory of
Michel Calame, an expert in integrating quantum materials into nano devices.
Since then, Perrin—a French and Swiss national—has lived in Dübendorf with his
partner and two daughters. "Switzerland was a good choice for me for
several reasons," he says. "The research infrastructure is
unparalleled."
Empa, ETH Zurich and the IBM Research
Center in Rüschlikon provide him with everything he needs in order to produce
nanostructures, as well as the measuring instruments to test them. "Also,
I'm an outdoor type. I love the mountains, and often go walking and skiing with
my family." Perrin is a keen rock climber, too. He sometimes takes himself
off climbing in remote valleys for weeks at a time, often in France, which is
his family's country of origin.
At Empa this young researcher had the
freedom to continue experimenting with nanomaterials. A certain material soon
attracted his particular attention: Graphene nanoribbons, a material made from
carbon atoms that is as thin as the individual atoms. These nanoribbons are
manufactured with the greatest precision by Roman Fasel's group at Empa. Perrin
was able to show that these ribbons have unique properties and can be used for
a whole raft of quantum technologies.
At the same time, he began to take a
close interest in converting heat into electrical energy. In 2018 it was in
fact proved that quantum effects can be used to efficiently convert thermal
energy into electricity. Up to now, the problem has been that these desirable
physical properties appear only at very low temperatures—close to absolute zero
(0 Kelvin; -237°C). This is of little relevance to potential future
applications such as in smartphones or minisensors.
Perrin had the idea of circumventing
this problem by using graphene nanoribbons. Their specific physical properties
mean that temperature has a much smaller impact on the quantum effects—and thus
the desired thermoelectric effects—than is the case with other materials. His
group at Empa was soon able to demonstrate that the quantum effects of graphene
nanoribbons are largely preserved even at 250 Kelvin, i.e. -23°C. In the
future, the system is expected to work at room temperature, too.
More
Quantum physicist uses graphene ribbons to build
nanoscale power plants (msn.com)
If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.
John
Maynard Keynes.
No comments:
Post a Comment