Baltic
Dry Index. 1711 -03
Brent Crude 89.59
Spot Gold 2299 US 2 Year Yield 4.68 -0.02
When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe.
Frederic Bastiat.
Are stocks “rotating” or is the bubble bursting? Did stocks just run out of hype and greater fool buyers?
Is the smart money “rotating” out of the dollar and into commodities with real intrinsic value?
With
Uncle Scam, under President Biden Joe Biden wracking up a trillion of
new US debt every 100 days, are we in the beginning of the end of the fiat
currency dollar reserve standard? Is
that why every country is rushing towards Central Bank Digital Currencies?
Are
today’s EVs the 21st century Ford Edsel?
Japan leads gains
in Asia as investors assess Powell’s comments; Hong Kong, China and Taiwan
markets closed
UPDATED WED, APR 3 2024 10:28 PM EDT
Asia-Pacific
markets rebounded following a sell-off in the previous session, as investors digest
comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Powell said it would take a while
for policymakers to evaluate the current state of inflation, keeping the timing
of potential interest rate cuts uncertain.
In Asia, investors will assess
March service sector activity data from India, as well as retail sales numbers
from Hong Kong.
Markets in Hong Kong, mainland
China and Taiwan are closed for a public holiday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose
0.49%, after clocking losses for two days.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained
1.34% and was hovering near the 40,000 mark, while the broad-based Topix rose
1.05%
South Korea’s Kospi also
gained 1.22%, powered by expectations that heavyweight Samsung
Electronics will post a near nine-fold increase in its first-quarter profit
from a year earlier. Samsung shares climbed 1.55% on its open.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow
Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%, to mark its third straight negative day.
The S&P 500 inched higher by 0.11% in its first winning session of
the week, and the Nasdaq
Composite traded up by 0.23%.
Oil climbs to highest
level since October 2023, gold scales a fresh peak
Crude oil prices on
Thursday climbed to their highest level since October 2023 on investor concerns
about supply disruptions due to conflict in the Middle East.
Brent futures were
trading 0.21% higher at $89.53 per barrel, while West Texas
Intermediate futures were
up 0.25% at $85.62 per barrel.
Separately, spot gold hit
a fresh high before giving up some gains. It was last trading at $2,300.2 per
ounce.
Asia markets live
updates: Powell inflation, India PMI (cnbc.com)
Stock futures
tick higher following third straight day of losses for the Dow: Live updates
UPDATED WED, APR 3 2024 7:58 PM EDT
U.S. stock
futures inched higher Wednesday night after the Dow Jones Industrial Average
registered its third straight losing session.
Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow rose
41 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500
futures gained
0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added
0.3%.
During Wednesday’s main trading
session, the Dow slipped 0.1% to post a three-day negative streak. Meanwhile
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite inched
up just 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
Investors’ fears that the Federal
Reserve may keep rates higher longer weighed on stocks. Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell said on
Wednesday that policymakers will need more proof that inflation
is moving toward the central bank’s 2% guideline before rates can come down.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic also told CNBC that he thinks one cut
might be in the cards.
As a result, Wall Street has
adjusted its expectations for rate reductions. Fed funds futures trading data
now suggests a 62.3% likelihood of a cut at the Federal Reserve’s June meeting,
down from about 70% last week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
In addition, companies added
184,000 workers in March, according to ADP. The result trounced
Dow Jones’ estimate of 155,000 and spurred investors’ fears that rates may
indeed stay higher longer. The 10-year Treasury note briefly topped
4.4% and touched a high for 2024.
“There’s a lot of short-term
volatility and nervousness in the bond market,” said Larry Tentarelli, chief
technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. “I don’t think that the
Fed really has any reason to cut rates. The economy is so strong and we still
have not beaten inflation yet.”
Meanwhile, he thinks the equity
market is showing signs of a “bullish rotation,” or a diversification of growth
beyond the megacap tech names that have powered the market rally since last
fall.
More
Stock market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
Next, EVs. Was that it?
Not even Elon can save EVs from disaster
Wed, April 3, 2024 at 1:18 PM GMT+1
Never was the old adage “don’t buy the prototype, buy the redesign” more appropriate. Motorists who bought an electric vehicle in the belief that it would hold its value better than a petrol or diesel must be feeling a little sore. According to the AA, the secondhand values of the 20 most popular electric and hybrid cars was down 12 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the first quarter of 2023. That is the drop in value of like-for-like cars, not what buyers can expect to lose in depreciation over the first year.
In some cases the fall has been
far greater. According to a recent survey by Cap Hpi, the value of a one year
old Peugeot e-2008 with 10,000 miles on the clock fell 38.7 per cent between
January and December 2023.
The tide has turned for Tesla,
too, as it runs out of well-off, eco-conscious motorists interested in buying
its vehicles. In the three months to March it sold 386,810 vehicles, down from
422,875 in the same period in 2023. Tesla
shares plunged seven per cent on the news – although given that
the company’s market valuation is still nearly twice that of the world’s second
most valuable carmaker, Toyota, no one should be confident of a rebound any
time soon.
I have nothing against electric
cars, which have already found a niche as city cars for people with the good
fortune to have private driveways. If battery technology develops to the point
at which electric cars can travel 500 miles on a single charge and take 10
minutes to recharge they will start to sell themselves, without motorists being
forced to buy them through government mandates.
Indeed, that will be the point at
which I will happily dump my diesel and go pure electric. But the promotion of
electric cars over the past few years has been a triumph of hype over reality –
which not even Elon Musk has been able to overcome.
EVs have been pushed at us on a
promise that they have been unable to fulfil. A surge in interest from wealthy
people who like to show off their environmental credentials was mistaken for an
inexorable market trend towards EVs. As it happens, the share of the market
held by pure electric cars has stalled at around one in six.
The result has been an awful lot of
burned fingers – and not just among motorists. Western governments continue to
try to subsidise their way to a native mass-market in EV battery production,
when it is quite clear that China has cornered that market and it is not coming
back. It isn’t big battery plants that Europe should be investing in, but
research and development facilities where we can work on better battery
technology. If successful, they can be licensed around the world.
More
Not
even Elon can save EVs from disaster (yahoo.com)
Noted Tesla bear
says Musk’s EV maker could ‘go bust’ and stock is worth $14
Tesla could
“go bust” while its stock could fall to $14, Per Lekander, a hedge fund manager
who has been shorting Elon
Musk’s electric car maker since 2020, told CNBC on Wednesday.
His comments come after Tesla
reported 386,810 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of the year, significantly
below even the lowest market estimates.
“This was really the beginning of
the end of the Tesla bubble, which probably, arguably was the biggest stock
market bubble in modern history,” Lekander, managing partner at
investment management firm Clean
Energy Transition, said on “Squawk
Box Europe.”
“I actually think the company could
go bust.”
Tesla was not immediately available
for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Lekander was a former portfolio manager at
investment firm Lansdowne Partners who successfully called a 2018 rally in
carbon prices. Since 2020, Clean Energy Transition has been short Tesla’s
stock, meaning Lekander’s firm will profit if the automaker’s shares fall.
In a March 2021 interview with
CNBC, Lekander called for Tesla’s stock to go down. At the time of the
interview, Tesla’s shares closed at $233.94. On Tuesday, the stock closed at
$166.63. But Lekander also called for a comeback of the traditional automakers,
singling out Volkswagen.
Shares of Volkswagen have fallen around 53% since that call, though they
rallied at the start of this year.
Lekander has taken his bearish
Tesla call further, suggesting the stock could fall to $14 per share. He said
his call is based on an estimate that the company’s full-year earnings per
share this year would be $1.40. Lekander contends that Tesla is a “no growth”
stock and should be valued on 10 times forward earnings, versus around 58 times
forward earnings currently. Forward earnings are an important metric used by
traders to gauge the value of a stock.
If Tesla’s stock hit
$14, that would represent around 91% downside from Tuesday’s close. Tesla’s
shares have already fallen more than 30% this year.
“I think however
Tesla cannot be at $14. If it falls under a certain level because of everything
that’s been going on, it’s going to go bust.”
More
Tesla
bear says Elon Musk's EV maker will 'go bust,' stock worth $14 (cnbc.com)
Finally, are IDF “mistakes,” mistakes, or given
their record of “mistakes” does the IDF practise “mistakes?”
Chef Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers
'systematically, car by car'
By Jeff Mason
April
4, 2024 12:23 AM GMT+1
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Celebrity chef Jose
Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that an Israeli
attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them
"systematically, car by car."
Speaking via video, Andres said the World Central
Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli
military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.
"This was not just a bad luck situation where
‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres said.
"This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a
very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very
colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of," he said. It's “very
clear who we are and what we do.”
Andres said the IDF was aware of the convoy's whereabouts. He called for investigations of the incident by the U.S.
government and by the home country of every aid worker that was killed.
"They were targeting us
in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They knowing that it was
our teams moving on that road ... with three cars," he said.
The aid workers were killed when their convoy was hit shortly
after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea.
Israel's military expressed "severe sorrow" over
the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it unintentional.
Andres said there may have been more than three
strikes against the aid convoy. He rejected Israeli and U.S. assertions that
the strike was not deliberate.
"Initially, I would say categorically
no," Andres said when asked if he accepted that explanation.
"Even if we were not in coordination with the
(Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting
civilians and humanitarians," he added.
More
Chef
Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers 'systematically, car by car' |
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.
Euro zone
inflation unexpectedly slows to 2.4% in March, with core print also below
forecast
PUBLISHED WED, APR 3 2024 5:04 AM
EDT
Inflation in the 20-nation euro zone eased to 2.4%
in March, according to flash figures published on Wednesday, boosting
expectations for interest rate cuts to begin in the summer.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the rate
would hold steady against the previous month at 2.6%.
The core rate of inflation, excluding energy,
food, alcohol and tobacco, cooled from 3.1% to 2.9%, also coming in below
expectations.
However, inflation in services — a key watcher for
the European Central Bank — remained stuck at 4% for a fifth straight month,
pointing to continued pressure from wage growth.
Another indicator for the ECB released Wednesday,
the euro area unemployment rate, stood at 6.5% in February, stable against
January but down from 6.6% in February 2023.
Price rises in France and Spain came in lower than forecast last week. On Tuesday,
headline inflation in the bloc’s biggest economy, Germany, was
estimated at a three-year low of 2.2%.
Markets expect the euro zone’s central bank will
begin lowering borrowing costs in June — a position reflected in the recent messaging of
ECB decision-makers. They are next set to hold a monetary policy meeting on
April 11.
Even Austrian central bank head Robert Holzmann,
an ECB hawk who previously said it was possible that
no cuts at all would take place in 2024, told Reuters this week that he did not have an “in-principle
objection to easing in June.”
“The current narrative is clearly pointing to a
first rate cut in June,” Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, said in
a note on Wednesday. That is due to the March inflation print as well as the
data on wage growth and ECB staff forecasts on gross domestic product and
inflation that will be released by then, he said.
Kamil Kovar, senior economist at Moody’s
Analytics, said the release of Wednesday “poured cold water on the idea that
the last mile in defeating inflation will be hardest,” and reiterated a call
for five rate cuts this year.
“Inflation has declined despite a jump in energy
inflation, and a boost from an early Easter. Even if the good headline number
masked some less favorable details, such as services coming in hot while food
prices tumbled, inflation overall is still on course to dip below 2% sometime
during the summer,” Kovar said.
Euro zone inflation March 2024 (cnbc.com)
Covid-19
Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Cause
of teen's death unable to be 'satisfactorily determined' - coroner
April 2, 2024
It is impossible to tell if a
13-year-old boy died from his Covid-19 vaccine or a virus, a coroner has ruled.
The teenager had his second Pfizer
vaccine 10 days before his sudden death at home in October 2021 - he had gone
to bed in the evening and never woke up.
Coroner Robin Kay ruled the teenager
died after suffering cardiac arrhythmia causing acute myocarditis - but could
not conclude how that myocarditis was caused.
Reporting restrictions mean that
identifying details of the person - such as their name - cannot be reported on.
On the afternoon of 27 October, the
teenager had a normal afternoon doing chores, playing cards and watching a
movie.
He went to bed around 8.30pm saying
he felt warm. He was found in his bed on the morning of 28 October and
ambulance staff pronounced him dead at his home.
Coroner Kay noted the teenager was
fit and active, without any significant medial issues.
He had received the Covid-19 Pfizer
vaccine 10 days' before his death, and had not displayed any adverse reaction
to it in the days following.
This is one of four deaths which had
been reported to the Covid-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board as
being possibly linked to the vaccine as of 2024.
Overall, more than 13 million
vaccines have been administered to people in New Zealand, and 3923 people have
died as a result of the virus.
Myocarditis is inflammation of the
heart muscle. It can be caused by different things, most commonly from viral
infections. In rare cases, it is a side effect of Covid-19 vaccines.
Dunedin man Rory Nairn's death was
one that was ruled as being caused by the Covid-19 vaccine - the 26 year old
experienced heart flutters in the days after receiving the vaccine.
In this case, Coroner Kay considered
reports from two forensic pathologists and from the Covid-19 Independent
Monitoring Board in coming to his conclusions.
He found that the cause of the
teenager's death was probable cardiac arrhythmia due to myocarditis, but that
the cause of the myocarditis could not be "satisfactorily
determined".
He referred to one of the
pathologist's evaluations that this was a complicated case, where death was
caused by a tiny amount of inflammation that occurred in a "crucial
part" of the heart which helps it beat.
More
Cause of teen's death unable to be 'satisfactorily
determined' - coroner (msn.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.
EU and Japan team up to develop new advanced materials
April 2, 2024
The EU aims to create
a platform for sharing information with Japan on advanced materials such as
graphene, along with potential research collaborations.
The EU and Japan are
strengthening their research relationship with the launch of an enhanced
dialogue on advanced materials.
Under this agreement,
the EU and Japan will work on developing new materials that are used in
critical sectors of the economy, such as renewable energy, batteries,
zero-emission buildings and semiconductors. It aims to create a platform for
sharing information on policy developments and exploring collaborative research
opportunities.
The EU said these
materials are also important for both the green and digital transitions and are
a “vital part of economic sovereignty and strategic independence”.
The EU describes
advanced materials as those that are engineered to display superior performance
or special functions. A key example is graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of
carbon that has many potential applications due to its flexibility and
conductivity.
The EU expects the
demand for advanced materials to increase significantly in the coming years and
believes itself – and Japan – have a global lead in this technology. The
agreement follows a recent strategy proposed by the European Commission to move
towards “EU industrial leadership” in advanced materials.
The new agreement
builds on the success of the EU’s collaboration with Japan in material
sciences, which included the development of new materials for the substitution
of critical metals and advanced materials for power electronics. EU
commissioner Iliana Ivanova said the new dialogue on advanced materials
“strengthens our cooperation with Japan in research and innovation”.
“These materials are
critical for our transition to a green future, and by joining forces, we can
get there faster,” Ivanova said. “I look forward to seeing the results of this
new cooperation with Japan.”
The EU and
Japan have worked together in various sectors of research. Last year, the two
entities strengthened their partnership in space research by agreeing to share Earth observation
data with each other.
EU and Japan team up to develop new advanced materials
(siliconrepublic.com)
Finally,
our latest new section, the world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP
compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
When plunder becomes a way of life, men create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
Frederic Bastiat.
No comments:
Post a Comment