Baltic Dry Index. 2203 +90 Brent Crude 83.55
Spot Gold 2082 U S 2 Year Yield 4.54 -0.10
"In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like
individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of
excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that
whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its
pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one
delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly
more captivating than the first."
Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
In
the stock casinos, more AI mania, even as a new US banking crisis looms, more countries
drop into recession and the USA attempts
to become the North American Argentina.
European
markets close higher as euro zone inflation falls less than expected; Daimler
Truck up 18%
UPDATED
FRI, MAR 1 2024 11:54 AM EST
LONDON
— European markets closed higher on Friday to start the new trading month after
a winning February, as investors assessed fresh inflation data out of the euro
zone.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended
the session up 0.6%. Tech stocks led gains, adding 1.6%, while insurance fell
0.7%.
February’s
flash euro zone inflation reading showed the headline consumer
price index fell to 2.6% from January’s 2.8%. Economists polled by Reuters had
forecast a headline reading of 2.5%.
The European Central Bank will
be monitoring Friday’s reading closely as it charts its course of future
interest rate cuts, with economic growth remaining stagnant
across much of the bloc. The market expects the ECB to begin cutting
in June, alongside the Fed.
Earnings were the key driver of
individual share price action in Europe, with Grifols, Daimler Truck and ITV all
posting double-digit gains on the back of strong results.
In Asia-Pacific, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed
at a fresh record high on Friday, just short of the 40,000 level, while Chinese
markets rose on the back of fresh manufacturing data from the mainland.
Stateside, U.S.
stocks were higher after Wall Street wrapped a fourth
consecutive winning month, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite
reaching its first closing record since November 2021.
Europe
markets open to close: U.S., euro zone inflation data in focus (cnbc.com)
Nasdaq
surges more than 1% to take out 2021 record, S&P 500 closes above 5100 for
the first time: Live updates
UPDATED
FRI, MAR 1 2024 4:24 PM EST
The Nasdaq Composite rose
to an all-time high Friday, surpassing its 2021 record, as investors bet that
megacap technology stocks were the best way to play slowing inflation and a
coming artificial intelligence boom.
The tech-heavy
Nasdaq advanced 1.14% to 16,274.94, notching a new high of 16,302.24 during the
session. A day earlier, the index closed at its first record since November
2021. The S&P 500 added
0.80% to 5,137.08 for its first close above the 5,100 threshold. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained
90.99 points, or 0.23%, to 39,087.38.
Chipmaking giant Nvidia, which
has led the tech rally by surging more than 260% over the last 12 months, was
up another 4% Friday. Meta also
jumped more than 2% for the day.
On a weekly
basis, the Nasdaq added 1.74%, while the S&P 500, which also popped to a
record close on Thursday, advanced 0.95%. Both indexes notched their seventh
positive week over the last eight. The 30-stock Dow is the laggard, down 0.11%.
The Nasdaq was
the last of the major U.S. stock benchmarks to reach a record close this year,
when it achieved the milestone Thursday. Enthusiasm over AI has lifted mega-cap
tech stocks – and the broader market – through 2023 and into this year. Slowing
inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s ensuing pivot toward rate cuts forecasted
for later in 2024, have also contributed to the Nasdaq’s recovery from a
difficult 2022.
We’re
seeing this big run up in tech because there’s a massive emphasis on what it
might be — there’s so much emphasis on AI and this big sort-of redux of the
late 90s,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
“People [now] just completely
disregard the rest of the market. And that’s generally does not turn out well,”
Cox added.
Stocks gained even as troubled
regional bank New York Community
Bancorp declined
25.9% after the lender announced
a leadership change and disclosed issues with its internal
controls. The bank is already down more than 65% in 2024, with some investors
concerned it is a sign of a wider real estate shakeout ahead.
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
Finally,
get gold and anything with intrinsic value. The end of the Great Nixonian Error
of Fiat Money approaches.
The
U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days
The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker
clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.
The nation’s debt permanently
crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec.
29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the
Treasury. It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June
15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move
higher from $31 trillion took about eight months.
U.S. debt, which is the amount of money the federal government borrows to
cover operating expenses, now stands at nearly $34.4 billion, as of Wednesday.
Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett believes the 100-day
pattern will remain intact with the move from $34 trillion to $35 trillion.
“Little wonder ‘debt debasement’ trades closing in
on all-time highs, i.e. gold $2077/oz, bitcoin $67734,” he wrote in a note
Thursday.
Spot gold is currently hovering
around $2,084 an ounce, while bitcoin was
recently around $61,443. The cryptocurrency in February closed out its best
month since 2020, briefly trading above $64,000
on Wednesday before pulling back. Inflows into crypto funds are
on course for a “blowout year,” with an annualized inflow of $44.7 billion so
far this year, Hartnett noted.
Moody’s Investors Service lowered
its ratings outlook on the U.S. government to negative from
stable in November due to the rising risks of the country’s fiscal strength.
“In the context of higher interest rates, without effective fiscal
policy measures to reduce government spending or increase revenues,” the agency
said. “Moody’s expects that the US’ fiscal deficits will remain very large,
significantly weakening debt affordability.”
The
U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days (cnbc.com)
Biden signs stopgap spending bill to avert government
shutdown, White House says
March 1, 2024 8:35
PM GMT
March 1 (Reuters) - U.S.
President Joe Biden has signed into law a short-term stopgap spending bill to
avert a partial government shutdown, the White House said on Friday.
The bill was approved by the
Democratic-majority U.S. Senate on Thursday after the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives backed it with less than 36 hours before funding would
have begun to run out.
Biden
signs stopgap spending bill to avert government shutdown, White House says |
Reuters
Fitch downgrades NY Community Bancorp to BB+, outlook
negative
March 1, 2024 11:55
PM GMT
March 1 (Reuters) - Fitch
Ratings has downgraded New York Community Bancorp (NYCB.N) and its bank subsidiary
Flagstar Bank to 'BB+'/'B' from 'BBB-'/'F3'.
Fitch earlier in February had already downgraded long-term
issuer default ratings (IDRs) for New York Community Bancorp to 'BBB-' from
'BBB'.
Fitch said its decision came from reassessing NYCB's risk
profile, following NYCB's announcement of a material weakness in the company's
internal controls related to an internal loan review. The agency added its
rating outlook on the bank is negative.
Several other firms have
downgraded the embattled lender, including Morningstar DBRS that downgraded the
bank's credit rating due to "outsized" exposure to commercial real
estate (CRE). Moody's has already cut their ratings.
Fitch said it positively viewed Thursday's appointment of Alessandro Dinello as CEO, given
his tenure as CEO of Flagstar Bancorp.
Fitch downgrades NY Community Bancorp to BB+, outlook negative | Reuters
Global
Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation/recession now needs an entire
section of its own.
Consumers fended off a recession —
but keep spending like there's no tomorrow
February 29, 2024
- Defiant consumer spending has helped the US economy dodge a
recession.
- Yet consumers are saving less, raiding their piggy banks, and
racking up record credit-card debt.
- Experts say their spending will inevitably falter, tanking the
economy.
American consumers have staved off a recession by
relentlessly spending despite soaring inflation, surging interest rates,
multi-industry turmoil, and wider economic jitters.
Yet several experts have
warned they can't resist those pressures forever. Here's a closer look at the
economy's saviors and why they may be nearing the point of capitulation.
Consumer spending is the
lifeblood of the economy, accounting for about 70% of US GDP.
Households
have been squeezed hard in recent years, with headline inflation spiking as
high as 9.1% as the cost of food, fuel, housing, and other essentials soared.
The Federal Reserve reacted
by hiking its benchmark interest rate from almost zero to more than 5% between
early 2022 and mid-2023. That raised many people's monthly payments on their
car loans, credit cards, mortgages, and other debts.
Leading investors,
economists, and business leaders have been predicting for years now that
consumers will eventually be forced to stop spending — but that hasn't happened
yet.
For
example, in the first half of 2022, Michael Burry of "The Big Short"
fame warned
on Twitter that cash-strapped Americans were saving less, borrowing
more, and blowing through the extra cash they stashed away from stimulus checks
and their cheaper lifestyles during the pandemic.
The Scion Asset Management
chief noted that the personal saving rate had slumped to 2008 lows, personal
savings had shrunk to 2013 levels, and the amount of revolving credit-card debt
had rebounded to its pre-pandemic peak.
Burry predicted that
dwindling savings and ballooning debts would choke consumer spending, eroding
corporate earnings and sparking a wider recession.
Similarly, Elon Musk flagged consumers' challenges on
a Tesla earnings call in October.
"A large number of
people are living paycheck to paycheck and with a lot of debt," he said,
adding that credit-card payments had jumped to "extremely punishing"
levels.
Carl Weinberg, the chief economist at High Frequency
Economics, said in December that consumers were "waking up" to the
fact that the interest payments on their credit cards were "over the top,
out of control, off the hook." He said that was "going to lead to a
retrenchment in consumer spending as we get into the new year."
---- Consumers may have prevented a recession last year, but
as Burry warned, their spending came at a cost.
The personal
saving rate — or the percentage of
people's disposable income they put away monthly — slowed to 3.7% in December,
close to its lowest level since the financial crisis.
The volume of personal
savings also shrunk to around 2017
levels, while the amounts owed on credit
cards and other consumer loans have
steadily climbed to record levels.
David Rosenberg, the
president of Rosenberg Research who was a chief North American economist at
Merrill Lynch, called out excessive debt reliance this
month.
"Not even a 500 basis point interest rate shock could manage to
derail a consumer still addicted to debt," he wrote. "A recession
averted as Main Street took a feather out of Wall Street's cap —
leverage!"
Rosenberg pointed out in a February 15 note that monthly retail sales
dropped 2.4% in the 12 months to January, signaling a spending slowdown. He
said that "brings us just a little closer to the consumer recession that
nobody believes is going to happen."
More
Consumers fended off a recession — but keep spending
like there's no tomorrow (msn.com)
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Medicines regulator failed to flag Covid vaccine side effects and must be investigated, say MPs
All-party group believe MHRA were aware of heart and clotting issues in February 2021 but did not highlight the problems for several months
The medical regulator failed to
sound the alarm over Covid vaccine side effects and should be investigated, MPs
have said.
More, subscription required.
UK Medicines Regulator a "Serious
Risk" to Patient Safety
| Disclosures | 19 February 2024
The All-Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) on pandemic response and recovery has raised "serious patient
safety concerns" about the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA), along with other aspects of a system that, "far from
protecting patients, continues to put them at serious risk".
In a letter to Health Secretary Steve Brine, APPG co-chairs Esther McVey and Graham Stringer, with
26 cosignatories, highlighted the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices
Safety (IMMDS) investigation of Primodos, sodium valproate, and pelvic
mesh scandals, which found the
response of the healthcare system was not sufficiently robust, speedy, or
appropriate, causing some patients to suffer life-changing or fatal, avoidable
harm.
MHRA at "the Tip of a Sizeable
Iceberg of Failure"
Subsequent evidence
"leads us to believe that serious patient safety concerns persist beyond
even the findings of the IMMDS review", the APPG signatories wrote.
"The MHRA is at the heart of these far wider endemic failings," and "those
cited in this letter merely represent the tip of a sizeable iceberg of
failure."
Medscape News UK has reported increasing concern worldwide about the
degree to which medicines regulators are captured by the drug industry. A 2022 BMJ investigation found serious
conflicts of interest potentially
influencing health policy and approval decisions. Regulatory agency members and
expert advisers had financial interests in products being licensed, including
several experts on COVID-19 vaccine advisory committees with financial
ties to vaccine manufacturers that
regulators did not always disclose.
More
UK Medicines Regulator a "Serious Risk" to
Patient Safety (medscape.co.uk)
Technology Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Car tyres next?
Elevating Cycling Performance: The
Impact of Graphene-Enhanced Tires
February 29, 2024
In 2022, Haydale and Italian manufacturers Vittoria announced
a joint venture to supply functionalized graphene for use in their
graphene-enhanced bicycle tires after successfully co-developing improved
rubber compounds.
As the leading manufacturer
of performance bicycle tires, Vittoria has been at the forefront of integrating
graphene into bicycle tire rubber since 2015.
This partnership with Haydale
has yielded remarkable results, resulting in the creation of bicycle tires that
surpass existing ones in terms of strength, weight reduction, durability,
improved grip, and minimized rolling resistance.
The graphene-enhanced
tires have set a new standard for
performance and durability and have helped improve the overall riding
experience for cyclists.
This partnership has also
benefited both companies by combining Haydale’s functionalized graphene
knowledge with Vittoria’s tire design and production knowledge. It is a great
example of how collaboration between companies with complementary expertise can
lead to innovation and success.
Elevating Cycling Performance: The Impact of
Graphene-Enhanced Tires (msn.com)
Breakthrough allows for dramatically
better batteries with one change, researchers say
February 29, 2024
A new battery breakthrough could allow for dramatically faster charging
and better performance at low temperatures, according to the engineers who made
it.
A new material made up of small molecules could be included in batteries
to allow them to perform dramatically better: charging up much more quickly and
working even at extreme temperatures, all the way down to -80 degrees Celsius.
----In the new research, however, scientists
suggest using organic solvents to upgrade the electrolyte in the battery.
Changing that solvent to a material known as fluoroacetonitrile, made up of
small molecules, appears to dramatically improve how they operate.
----The
new research “opens up avenues of research for developing the next generation
of lithium-ion batteries”, according to an article written by researchers away
from the breakthrough. What’s more, the breakthrough could allow for new kinds
of energy-storage systems unlike our current lithium-based technology, relying
instead on sodium, potassium and other kinds of ions.
The
work is described in a new paper, ‘Ligand-channel-enabled ultrafast Li-ion
conduction’, published in Nature.
Breakthrough allows for dramatically better batteries
with one change, researchers say (msn.com)
This weekend’s music diversion. Haydn’s keyboard concerto, largo second movement. Approx. 7 minutes.
Keyboard
Concerto in F Major, Hob. XVIII:3: II. Largo
Keyboard Concerto in F Major, Hob. XVIII:3: II. Largo
(youtube.com)
This weekend’s chess
update. Approx. 10 minutes.
The
King Is Getting Checkmated Here
The
King Is Getting Checkmated Here (youtube.com)
Finally, cement. What
is it and how is it made. Approx. 8 minutes.
How
CEMENT is Made | in FACTORIES
How
CEMENT is Made | in FACTORIES (youtube.com)
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be
seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly,
one by one."
Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
No comments:
Post a Comment