Baltic Dry Index. 2041 +142 Brent Crude 83.64
Spot Gold 2037 US 2 Year Yield 4.64 -0.06
"I would not like to be a
Russian leader. They never know when they're being taped."
President Richard Nixon.
In the stock casinos, a 50:50 day. Will the US Fed’s favourite inflation measure come in red or black.
With terrible timing, this PCE inflation release is coming on the last trading day of the month.
So dress up the closing stock indexes becomes something of a 50:50 bet, assuming of course, that the PCE hasn’t been rigged in favour of the stock casino bulls.
They wouldn’t do that, would they? Of course not.
Still, according to western propaganda media, Ukraine/NATO is winning, Russia is defeated. Covid “vaccines” prevent victims from catching covid or spreading covid to others. Inflation was “transitory”. Communist Vietnam attacked the US Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Asia markets mixed as investors await key
U.S., China economic data
UPDATED WED, FEB 28 2024 9:51 PM EST
Asia-Pacific
stocks traded mixed Thursday as investors awaited U.S. personal consumption
expenditures price index data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate
path.
The U.S. personal
consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred
inflation gauge — is due later in the day, while China’s manufacturing
purchasing managers’ index reading is scheduled to be released Friday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose
0.64%, while China’s CSI 300 jumped 1.3%.
Hong Kong on Wednesday said
it would do away with property curbs in an effort to buoy its
real estate sector and forecast economic growth in a range of 2.5% to 3.5% for
2024.
Separately, Walt Disney and
Indian conglomerate Reliance will
merge their Indian businesses. The combined entity was valued
at roughly $8.5 billion on a post-money basis, excluding
synergies.
apan’s Nikkei 225 fell
0.65%, while the Topix declined 0.62%. The Nikkei 225 had hit a record high
earlier in the week.
South Korea’s Kospi pared
earlier declines and was last down 0.37%, while the small cap Kosdaq turned
positive to trad 0.14% higher.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also
turned positive by afternoon trading in Sydney to trade about 0.1% higher.
U.S. stock markets slid Wednesday as investors
awaited the Fed’s preferred inflation report.
The S&P 500 fell
0.17%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell
0.55%. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average shed
23.39 points, or 0.06% to clock a third straight day of losses.
Asia markets mixed as
investors await key U.S., China economic data (cnbc.com)
European markets head for higher open ahead of
key inflation reports from the U.S. and Europe
UPDATED THU, FEB 29 20241 2:21 AM EST
European
markets are heading for a higher open Thursday as investors look ahead to key
inflation reports in both the U.S. and Europe.
Stateside, personal consumption
expenditures price index data (the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of
inflation) for January is due, and will be watched closely to see how it could
affect the Fed’s interest rate path. German, Spanish and French inflation data
for February is also set to be released in Europe.
It’s a busy day for regional
earnings, with AF-KLM, Veolia, Adecco Group, EDP, IAG, Ocado, ITV, Man Group,
Schroders, Covestro and Anheuser-Busch InBev all reporting.
U.S.
stock futures fell overnight as Wall Street weighed the latest
earnings results and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation
gauge. Asia-Pacific
stocks traded mixed.
European
markets live updates: stocks, data and inflation reports (cnbc.com)
Stock futures fall as Wall Street awaits
the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge: Live updates
UPDATED WED, FEB 28 2024 7:14 PM EST
Stock
futures fell as Wall Street weighed the latest earnings results and looked
ahead to the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average slipped
78 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500
futures and Nasdaq 100 futures edged
down 0.16% and 0.17%, respectively.
Salesforce slipped 1% on weak
revenue guidance, while Snowflake shed
20% after announcing the retirement
of its CEO and sharing disappointing product revenue guidance. Okta popped
23% on strong results.
All the major averages declined
during regular trading. The 30-stock Dow lost
0.06% and fell for a third consecutive session, while the S&P 500 inched
down 0.17%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped
0.55%.
Wall Street anxiously awaits Thursday’s
personal consumer expenditures reading for January. Economists
are bracing for a 0.3% monthly gain and a 2.4% year-over-year move. A
higher-than-expected print could dent equities and signal that recent hot
consumer price index and producer price index releases were on trend.
“Investors have already
backtracked dramatically from previous hopes for early rate cuts, and a
disappointing PCE report could reinforce “higher for longer” concerns regarding
Treasury yields,” said Joe Mazzola, Charles Schwab’s director of trading and education.
Thursday’s session caps off
February trading and another positive month for the three major averages,
despite a string of declines raising questions around the sustainability of the
AI-driven rally. The Nasdaq is leading the pack with a 5.2% gain. The S&P
500 has jumped 4.6%, while the Dow has added 2.1%. This would mark the Dow’s
first four-month winning streak since May 2021.
The back end of earnings season
continues Thursday with results from Best Buy, Hewlett Packard Enterprises and
Bath & Body Works.
Other key economic figures are
due out, including personal income data for January, Chicago purchasing
managers index data for February and the pending home sales index for January.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO John Williams is also slated to
moderate a discussion in the evening.
Stock market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
In other news, China’s property sector nightmare grows and grows.
Explainer: Country
Garden: How bad are its debt problems?
By Xie Yu February 28, 2024 6:33 AM GMT
HONG KONG, Feb 28 (Reuters)
- Chinese developer Country Garden said on Wednesday a liquidation
petition has been filed against it for non-payment of a $205
million loan, clouding its debt revamp prospects and undermining Beijing's
effort to restore confidence in the property sector.
Country Garden (2007.HK), opens new tab said in a regulatory
filing it would "resolutely" oppose the petition, which was filed by
a creditor, Ever Credit Limited, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Kingboard
Holdings (0148.HK), opens new tab, opens new tab.
The petition is set to
revive homebuyer and creditor concerns about the Chinese property sector's debt
crisis at a time when Beijing is trying to boost confidence in the industry
that accounts for a quarter of China's GDP.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT COUNTRY GARDEN?
Until 2023, Country Garden was the largest Chinese developer by
sales. The company was considered financially sound compared with peers like
China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), opens new tab, which defaulted on its
debt in 2021.
While Country Garden's
liabilities are only 59% of those at Evergrande, it has 3,103 projects across
China, compared with around 800 for Evergrande - making the company matter to
systemic stability while also fueling contagion fears as it shows signs of financial
stress.
A liquidation of Country Garden would exacerbate the
real estate crisis, put more strain on its onshore lenders, and could delay the
prospect of a recovery of not only the property market, but the overall Chinese
economy.
Country Garden's total liabilities were about $194
billion at the end of June last year, unchanged from the end of 2022.
It faces 108.7 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) worth
of debts due within 12 months, while its cash levels are around 101.1 billion
yuan.
The company's liquidity stresses became public last
August after it missed two dollar coupon payments.
Country Garden Chairperson Yang Huiyan said last
month the market did not recover as expected in 2023 and was still in
correction.
More
Explainer: Country Garden: How bad are its debt problems? | Reuters
"This is a great day for France!"
President Richard Nixon, while
attending the funeral of French President Charles de Gaulle in 1970
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.
Grocery price inflation falls to two-year low
February 27, 2024
Grocery price inflation has
fallen to a two-year low as fierce competition among supermarkets offset the
cost of disruption to Red Sea shipping routes, figures show.
Supermarket prices were 5.3%
higher than a year ago in February, the lowest rate since March 2022 and a
decrease marking the lowest rate since March 2022 and a significant drop from
January’s 6.8%, according to analysts Kantar.
In an indication of the
intensifying competition between retailers, Morrison’s became the latest
retailer to launch a price match scheme with Aldi and Lidl, after Asda made the move in January.
Promotions
increased again over the month after a post-Christmas slowdown, and consumers
spent £586 million more on them than in February last year.
However, Britons still found
room within their budgets to celebrate Valentine’s Day, with spending on steak
and boxed chocolate up by 12% and 16% compared with last year.
The end of ‘Dry January’ saw
total alcohol sales jumping by 18% in volume terms on the previous month, with
consumers buying 28% more wine and 16% more beer and lager. Red wine was
particularly popular, with eight million more bottles bought this month than in
January.
Tom
Steel, strategic insight director at Kantar, said: “Things are looking up for
shoppers this February.
“Consumers have been navigating a
grocery inflation rate of more than 4% for two years now, so this latest easing
of price rises is especially welcome.
“Though there’s been lots of
discussion about the impact the Red Sea shipping crisis might have on the cost
of goods, supermarkets have been pulling out all the stops to keep prices down
and help people manage their budgets.”
Lidl was the fastest growing
supermarket for the sixth month running with sales up by 10.9% over the 12
weeks to February 18.
Fellow discounter Aldi also grew
ahead of the market, boosting sales by 5.7% and maintaining its 9.4% share.
Sainsbury’s and Tesco increased their share of the market with sales up 7.6%
and 6.2% respectively.
Grocery price inflation falls to two-year low (msn.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
What does Queensland’s Covid-19
mandates ruling mean for other vaccines and other states?
The
state’s supreme court found the vaccine rules for police were unlawful and
those for paramedics were ineffective. Here’s what the judgment means
Wed 28 Feb 2024 06.34
GMT
The Queensland supreme court has thrown out the
state’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate for paramedics and police, on the basis of the
Human Rights Act.
Guardian Australia spoke to a range of human rights
experts to understand the ramifications of Tuesday’s decision.
What does the decision mean?
It means 74 named applicants to the court, who are
current employees of the ambulance and police services, cannot be fired or
otherwise disciplined as a result of not following the vaccine mandate.
What was the basis for the decision?
There were essentially two different reasons for the
decision, depending on whether applicants worked for the police force or
Queensland health.
Senior judge administrator Glenn Martin ruled that police commissioner, Katarina Carroll,
didn’t follow the right process under the Human Rights Act and “failed to give
proper consideration to human rights relevant to those decisions. As a result,
those decisions were unlawful”.
The court’s decision was even more technical with regard
to the ambulance service. That application succeeded because the health service
was unable to provide sufficient evidence to show that the order was a power
contained in an employment contract. The ambulance service order was not
unlawful, just ineffective.
Griffith University human rights law professor Sarah
Joseph described it as a “procedural” rather than “substantive” breach of the
act, and a narrow decision.
Is the decision final?
Not necessarily. It could be appealed in the supreme
court of appeal. Both Queensland health and the Queensland police said on
Tuesday they were considering their legal options.
How did this happen in the first place?
The applicants challenged two decisions in 2021 and 2022
by the commissioner of police, and the then director general of Queensland
health, Dr John Wakefield, that staff must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or
else face disciplinary action or even sacking. Both mandates were quashed, in
December 2022 and September 2023, respectively.
After a 21-month wait, a joint judgment was handed down
on Tuesday at the Queensland supreme court. It’s the first time a vaccine
mandate has failed in court in Australia.
What does this mean for other states?
The decision is very narrow and based on the state Human
Rights Act, which only applies in
Queensland. It is also based entirely on the way Queensland decision-makers
issued that specific mandate.
The only other state with a Human Rights Act is
Victoria, which has a similar requirement for government to consider human rights when making
decisions. The ACT also has a Human Rights Act.
Theoretically, lawyers in those jurisdictions could make
out a similar case that their state decision-makers failed to consider human
rights properly before imposing vaccination mandates.
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.
Beyond silicon: How graphene can help reinvigorate Moore’s Law
February 27, 2024
How using graphene could allow for smaller and faster electronic devices and extend Moore's Law yet further.
When Intel co-founder Gordon Moore made the observation that came to be known as Moore's Law, he projected that transistor density would continue doubling in density every two years... for another ten years.
Since
then, transistor density has increased by 600,000 times, according to IEEE,
with modern technology packing close to a whopping 200 million transistors into
1 square millimeter. High-end desktop processors peak at 64 multithreaded cores
and include more memory than entire personal computers had 15 years ago.
It's
getting harder though. The smaller the transistor the easier it is for
electrons to tunnel through them, and higher density also packs more heat into
a smaller area, which is another challenge. In the Pentium4 era process
engineers used new strategies such as changing the doping material, Silicon on
Insulator, and strained silicon. As the artefact sizes dipped down into the
nanometer scales, engineers started using Field Effect Transistors (FETs),
using electrical fields to help block that leakage current. And, as shrinking
continued, they started making the transistors three dimensional – hence the
FinFET.
Because
of these more complex transistor designs, the transistor counts are not
increasing as much as they used to with new process nodes, so the engineers
have also been working on new ways to put more gates in the same area by
building upward. This is not only difficult to do engineering wise, but also
hampers heat dissipation. AMD's 3D VCache models reflect this with their lower
peak clock speeds, because the extra layer of silicon impedes heat transfer out
of the CPU itself.
Now, as semiconductor manufacturers are reaching below the 5nm threshold, they are working on even more exotic transistor designs, such as vertical transistor designs called FTFETs (Vertical-Transport Nanosheet Field Effect Transistor). These allow for denser packing, but they are more complex to manufacture and, like 3D stacked gates, harder to cool than current designs.
These vertical transistor designs hold out the promise for keeping Moore's Law alive yet again, but what happens when the transistors reach the point where they are just atoms across?
To solve this, researchers have been trying new materials, and one that holds some promise is graphene, a carbon crystal. Graphene has made a mark in battery technology because it's more stable than lithium ion and lithium polymer, has higher charge density, and is based on carbon rather than lithium. Because it conducts heat so well, graphene is also a good candidate as it doesn’t heat up as much, allowing for electrons to move at higher speeds.
What graphene does not have is a band gap, meaning that while great for wires it does not work for gates.
Working
with Tianjin University in China, though, researchers at Georgia Tech have made
a breakthrough in this department by growing graphene on doped silicon carbide
wafers, introducing impurities into the graphene that give it a usable band
gap, enabling the researchers to create graphene transistors the size of a
carbon atom.
These switches can reach into the teraHertz range and run cooler than silicon transistors, potentially breathing new life into the aging Moore's Law.
Here’s a great video overview of
all this from vlogger Anastasi in Tech.
Beyond silicon: How graphene can help reinvigorate Moore’s Law (redsharknews.com)
"I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue."
President Richard Nixon, reflecting on the Watergate scandal in 1978
