Baltic
Dry Index. 1804 -78 Brent Crude 88.50
Spot Gold 2327 US 2 Year Yield 4.86 -0.11
Neither a state nor a bank ever have had unrestricted power of issuing paper money without abusing that power.
David Ricardo.
In the stock casinos, especially the US stock casinos, the Great Disconnect from reality is back.
Nowhere better displayed by Tesla, where the
stock rallied after announcing, falling profits, deliveries and sales. But not
to worry, Tesla CEO Musk promised a new cheap EV for next year plus a Full Self
Driving option. I wonder what he means
by “cheap?”
Nikkei leads
Asian markets as Wall Street continues rally; Australia inflation slows for
fifth straight quarter
UPDATED WED, APR 24 2024 12:31 AM EDT
Japan’s Nikkei 225 led
gains in Asia as markets in the region rose across the board, following Wall
Street’s continued rally for a second straight day.
The Japanese benchmark jumped
2.3%, while the broad based Topix was up 1.56%.
First-quarter inflation figures from Australia on Wednesday showed the
consumer price index rose 3.6% year-over-year, slightly above a Reuters poll
expectation of a 3.5% rise. Still, that marked its fifth straight quarter of
slowing inflation.
The S&P/ASX 200 pared
earlier gains to rise 0.06% after the CPI reading.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed
1.91%, powered by a 4% gain in heavyweight Samsung Electronics, while the small
cap Kosdaq was 1.94% higher.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose
1.67%, while the Hang Seng Tech index gained 2.6%. Shares of Sensetime soared
31.2% before trading was halted at 11:15 a.m.
China’s CSI 300 was flat.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes
climbed for a second straight session on Tuesday as a strong batch of corporate
earnings assuaged concerns over higher rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed
0.69%, to mark a four day winning streak. The S&P 500 gained
1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite saw
the largest gain of 1.59%.
Asia markets live
updates: Wall Street earnings, Australia CPI (cnbc.com)
Dow closes more
than 250 points higher, S&P 500 pops 1% as strong earnings propel stocks:
Live updates
UPDATED TUE, APR 23 2024 4:21 PM EDT
Stocks
ripped higher for a second session on Tuesday as a strong batch of corporate
earnings assuaged concerns over higher rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed
263.71 points, or 0.69%, to close at 38,503.69. The S&P 500 gained
1.2% to finish the session at 5,070.55, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked
up 1.59% to end at 15,696.64.
Spotify surged
11.4% after surpassing Wall Street’s first-quarter estimates and issuing rosy
second-quarter guidance. UPS shares
edged 2.4% higher after the delivery giant surpassed expectations for earnings.
Shares of GE Aerospace added
8.3% after the company reported an earnings beat. PepsiCo,
meanwhile, dipped 2.9% after reporting that recalls and a weaker
lower-income consumer hurt demand in the U.S.
Tesla is
slated to report earnings after the bell, followed by Meta Platforms on
Wednesday afternoon. Google parent company Alphabet and Microsoft round
out the technology-heavy earnings week on Thursday.
Roughly 20% of the S&P 500
has reported earnings through Tuesday. Of those companies, 76% have beaten
analysts’ expectations, FactSet data shows.
Tuesday’s moves come after an
upbeat session on Wall Street. Investors bought the dip in tech stocks after a
recent sell-off in key names such as Nvidia,
which had been dinged recently amid fears of higher inflation and the prospect
of elevated interest rates.
More
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
JPMorgan CEO Dimon
says US economy is booming
By Nupur Anand April 23, 2024 7:56 PM GMT+1
April 23 (Reuters) -
JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon expressed
confidence in a robust U.S. economy backed by strong employment and healthy
consumer finances.
The U.S. economic boom is "unbelievable," Dimon said
at an Economic Club of New York event on Tuesday. "Even if we go into
recession, the consumer's still in good shape."
Still, he warned about the potential economic effects of the
rising national debt, inflation and geopolitical conflicts.
Dimon, who has run the largest U.S. lender for more
than 18 years, has cautioned that inflation could be more persistent than
expected, keeping interest rates higher for longer.
Turning to public policy, the 68-year-old said the
government would be better off with more "practitioners" at the
table. His name has been floated for senior economic roles.
"I want to help my country," Dimon, one
of corporate America's most prominent executives, said in a wide-ranging
interview with Marie-Josee Kravis, chair emerita of the Economic Club of New
York.
"I want the next president, whoever it is, to
put the other party (members) in their cabinet. That is what I would like to
see. I would like to see practitioners go back to the government."
JPMorgan has previously declined to comment on
speculation about Dimon joining the government, or said that he had no plans to
run for office.
More
JPMorgan CEO Dimon says US economy is booming | Reuters
Finally, Tesla.
Tesla shares
jump 13% after Musk says company aims to start production of affordable new EV
by early 2025
Tesla reported
a 9% drop in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, the biggest decline since 2012,
and missed analysts’ estimates, as the electric vehicle company weathers the
effect of ongoing price cuts.
The stock jumped in extended
trading after CEO Elon
Musk told investors that production of new affordable EV models
could begin sooner than expected.
Here’s what the company reported
compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by
LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 45
cents adjusted vs. 51 cents expected
- Revenue: $21.30 billion vs.
$22.15 billion expected
Revenue declined from $23.33
billion a year earlier and from $25.17 billion in the fourth quarter. Net
income dropped 55% to $1.13 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $2.51 billion,
or 73 cents a share, a year ago.
The drop in sales was even steeper
than the company’s last decline in 2020, which was due to disrupted production
during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tesla’s automotive revenue declined 13% year over
year to $17.38 billion in the first three months of 2024.
Musk said on the call that the
company plans to start production of new models in “early 2025, if not late
this year,” after previously expecting to begin in the second half of 2025.
Musk also touted Tesla’s investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure,
and said the company is in talks with “one major automaker” to license its
driver assistance system, which is marketed in the U.S. as the Full
Self-Driving, or FSD, option.
More
Tesla (TSLA) earnings Q1 2024 (cnbc.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.
Chocolate and discount-loving Brits drive food
inflation down for 14th straight month
April
23, 2024
Brits splurged out on
chocolate and sought discounts at the supermarket, as grocery price inflation fell to 3.2 per cent over the four weeks to 14 April, marking the
fourteenth monthly drop in a row.
The decline was driven by
a “significant” increase in discount spending, new figures by Kantar show, with
items bought on offer making up 29.3 per cent of supermarket sales – the
highest level outside of Christmas since June 2021.
This will factor into the Bank of England’s considerations when deciding when and by how much it should be cutting
interest rates, in a bid to control sticky inflation. It came down to 3.2 per cent in March which
was higher-than expected.
Fraser
McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel by Kantar, said:
“We’ve been monitoring steady annual growth in promotions over the past 11
months as retailers respond to consumers’ desire for value. Deals helped
shoppers save a massive £1.3bn in the latest four weeks, almost £46 per
household.
“This emphasis on offers,
coupled with falling prices in some categories like toilet tissues, butter and
milk, has helped to bring the rate of grocery inflation down for shoppers at
the till.”
Supermarkets and other
retailers were helped by a busy Easter as demand for chocolate eggs helped
drive sales.
----Fruit has also bumped up
the list of Britain’s snack choices – 314 million more pieces of fruit were
eaten between meals in 2023 than in 2013.”
Despite grocery inflation
also edging down a fierce rivalry between supermarkets remains with many
ramping up use of loyalty cards and price matching schemes to retain their
customer base.
Middle class favourite Ocado was again the
fastest growing grocer this month, improving sales by 12.5 per cent in the 12
weeks to 14 April, ahead of the total online market which grew by 6.8 per
cent.
Ocado accounted for 1.9 per
cent of take-home grocery sales, up from the 1.7 per cent it held a year
ago.
The retailer – which operates
as a joint online venture with Marks and Spencer –
has turned around its fortunes by constantly lowering its prices.
More
Chocolate and discount-loving Brits drive food
inflation down for 14th straight month (msn.com)
BOJ will hike rates if trend inflation accelerates, gov Ueda says
April
23, 2024
TOKYO
(Reuters) -The Bank of Japan will raise interest rates again if trend inflation
accelerates toward its 2% target as expected, governor Kazuo Ueda said, keeping
alive market expectations of a further withdrawal of monetary support later
this year.
"If our
price forecasts change, that would also be a reason to change monetary policy.
But we don't have any preset idea on the specific timing and pace" of rate
hikes, Ueda told parliament on Tuesday.
The remarks
come ahead of the BOJ's two-day policy meeting that ends on Friday, when the
board is set to keep interest rates unchanged and announce fresh quarterly
growth and inflation forecasts.
The BOJ is
likely to project inflation will stay around its 2% target for the next three
years, sources have told Reuters, which would cement expectations the central
bank will raise interest rates again this year from current near-zero levels.
The central
bank ended eight years of negative rates and other remnants of its unorthodox
policy last month, making a historic shift away from decades of massive
monetary stimulus that was aimed at quashing deflation and revitalising growth.
More
BOJ will hike rates if trend inflation accelerates, gov Ueda says (msn.com)
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Today, Greed v Greed in the UK High Court Chancery Division. Dewey, Cheatam & Howe v Grabbit & Runne?
This may hurt: English High Court set for Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid battle starting today
April 23, 2024
The English part of a global
dispute billion dollar legal case involving
big pharma giants
Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech over Covid patents, kicks off today.
Back in 2020 when Covid was
spreading around the world, US pharma giant Modern’s mRNA vaccine was approved
and issued for emergency use throughout the US.
The company made headline news after
it said it wouldn’t enforce its patents related to
Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic, in an effort to not deter other
companies and researchers from making similar vaccines. It later changed that
position, limiting it to vaccines manufactured for low and middle-income
countries.
The
Massachusetts-based pharma company issued a lawsuit against US Pfizer and
German BioNTech over allegedly breaching its patents. Commenting at the
time, Moderna said it believed that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid
vaccine infringed patents Moderna
filed between 2010 and 2016 covering its mRNA technology.
Moderna claim suggests that
it doesn’t want to remove Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s vaccines from the market, but
instead, it wants compensation and damages.
This comes after the American
company made more than $6bn (£5.7bn) in revenue during the pandemic. The company saw its turnover
shoot up to $6.1bn (£7.6bn???) for the Q1 of 2022, compared to $1.9bn (£1.5bn)
for the same period in 2021.
Both Pfizer and BioNTech
fired back and launched a counterclaim against Moderna claiming its patents are invalid and should be
revoked.
The lawsuit has also been
filed in the US, Germany and the Netherlands. Earlier this month, Pfizer won a pause on the
litigation in the Massachusetts Federal Court, as the parties await a decision
from the US Patent Office.
While the US is on hold,
England is going full stream ahead. The trial kicks off on Tuesday and is set
to last under four weeks at the Chancery Division of the High Court in London.
The hearing will be split
into two parts, first will be the technical part which will look at the
patents, while the second part will be looking at Moderna’s 2020 pledge.
The trial is in front of Mr
Justice Meade at the Rolls Building. US giant Moderna has enlisted a team from
magic circle law firm Freshfields, while, Pfizer has called on Taylor Wessing
and BioNTech has instructed Powell Gilbert for their defence (and counterclaim).
People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
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.
Interesting, but who will cover the
fire risk if/when something goes wrong? JLR, Allye Energy or some independent
insurance company? Who pays their premiums?
JLR powers up zero emissions charging on the go with first battery energy storage system using second-life Range Rover batteries
JLR
has developed a new portable Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) using
second-life Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEV batteries
April 23, 2024
Dubai, United Arab
Emirates – JLR has partnered with energy storage start-up, Allye
Energy, to create a novel Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to provide zero
emissions power on the go.
A single Allye MAX
BESS holds seven second-life Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEV battery
packs that are simply removed from the vehicles and slotted into customised
racks, without unnecessary additional processing. Each BESS can store 270kWh of
energy at full capacity, enough to power the average UK household for nearly a
month*.
The BESS, which is
the first to use JLR’s second life Range Rover batteries, can charge up to nine
Range Rover PHEVs at any one time, and is designed to be easily charged by
simply plugging it into any CCS-capable Vehicle Charger using the same input as
JLR’s existing PHEV and BEV product portfolio. In addition, multi-input
connectivity via powerlock connections enable it to be connected to renewable
power at fixed or off-grid sites.
The MAX BESS can be
used to replace diesel generators, historically relied on by the automotive
industry, to power off-grid vehicle launches, events and vehicle tests in
remote areas. JLR’s Engineering team are the first to utilise the new BESS,
providing zero emissions power during testing of the new Range Rover Electric,
due to launch later this year.
The average Diesel
generator would typically use 16L of fuel per hour, equivalent to a daily total
of 129.12kg of CO2 for three hours’ usage***. JLR’s Engineering team will use
the BESS to power over 1000 hours of testing, saving more than 15,494kg of CO2
during the course of a year - equivalent to one passenger taking seven
round-trip flights from London to New York.
The versatile BESS
weighs less than 3.5 tonnes, allowing it to be fully portable or stationary, to
provide energy storage for retailers or JLR sites. This would help JLR’s
network of over 3000 retailers better leverage renewable energy such as solar
and act as energy buffers to support fast charging where the local grid
connection may be restricted. The unit will also be commercially available for
use outside of JLR.
As part of its
Reimagine strategy, JLR is investing £15bn into electrification by building a
comprehensive EV ecosystem. This includes considering the full lifecycle of EV
batteries, one of the new circular business models JLR is exploring in energy
storage and beyond.
One example of how
the BESS is being used practically in the development of Range Rover Electric
is through the Engineering team’s prolonged endurance testing at remote
off-road sites where only low power connections are available which would only
enable a slow charge. The engineers can top up the BESS from a low power supply
during testing and then transfer the power to the Range Rover Electric via fast
charging from the BESS, much more quickly than directly charging the vehicle
from the supply. Working in this way allows the testing to be completed in a
much quicker time frame than would normally be possible.
Battery value chains
are predicted to grow 30 percent annually from 2022 to 2030, to reach a value
of more than $400 billion. Second-life battery supply for stationary
applications is predicted to exceed 200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030, creating
a global value over $30 billion****.
Engineered to the
highest standards, JLR’s batteries can be safely deployed in low-energy
situations once their health falls below electric vehicle requirements, which
typically leaves a 70-80% residual capacity. Following these
second-life use cases, JLR will recycle the batteries so that raw materials can
be recovered for re-use as part of a true circular economy
More
Finally,
our latest new section, the world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP
compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Experience, however, shows that neither a state nor a bank ever have [sic] had the unrestricted power of issuing paper money without abusing that power; in all states, therefore, the issue of paper money ought to be under some check and control; and none seems so proper for that purpose as that of subjecting the issuers of paper money to the obligation of paying their notes either in gold coin or bullion.
David Ricardo.
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