Baltic
Dry Index. 1894 -46 Brent Crude 84.40
Spot Gold 2369 US 2 Year Yield 4.62 unch.
I am not an economist. I am an honest man!
Mark Twain.
US stock casinos soar to new Federal debt fuelled, new highs, but in the real US economy, a heavily indebted, out of cash, credit and buy now pay later debt traps, the US consumer is cutting back ahead of a looming recession.
Meanwhile
in Washington, District of Crooks, is a desperate, fragile President Joe
Biden and NATO planning World War Three?
Japan’s Nikkei nears all-time intraday high as
other Asia markets slip; China inflation weaker than expected
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday, even
as key Wall Street benchmarks rose following dovish comments from U.S. Federal
Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell overnight.
Powell signaled caution over
leaving interest rates at too high a level, saying that “reducing policy
restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and
employment.”
Over in Asia, investors will assess
inflation data from China and Japan, with China releasing its consumer and
producer prices data for June.
Inflation in China narrowly missed expectations, with
the consumer price index posting a 0.2% rise in June, softer than the 0.4% rise
expected from economists polled by Reuters and down from 0.3% in May.
The country’s PPI fell 0.8% year on year, in
line with expectations and a softer fall of 0.8% from May’s 1.4% decline.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index was
up 1.01%, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was 0.4% down after the CPI
announcement.
Separately, Reuters reported that
China’s largest insurer, Ping An Insurance, is considering issuing convertible
bonds worth up to $5 billion, according to sources with direct knowledge of the
matter.
Japan’s corporate goods price index rose to 2.9% in June from a year earlier, in
line with expectations and climbing at a faster pace compared to a revised 2.6%
in May. The CGPI measures the price changes of goods traded within the
corporate sector.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 extended
gains from Tuesday, up 0.25% and nearing its all-time intraday high. The
broad-based Topix rose 0.34%.
South Korea’s Kospi was
down 0.25%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.2% lower.
On Wednesday, the National Samsung
Electronics Union, the largest workers’ union of electronics giant Samsung
Electronics called for an indefinite strike, following news that it was
initially going on strike from Monday to Wednesday.
Shares of Samsung Electronics were
up 0.11% despite the announcement.
Separately, South Korean defense
manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace announced a 1.38
trillion won ($1 billion) order from Romania to supply K9 howitzers to the
country.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was
down 0.47%.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 climbed
to a fresh record Tuesday after Powell’s comments, gaining 0.07% to
5,576.98 and marking its 36th record close of the year.
The Nasdaq Composite added
0.14% to close at 18,429.29, also ending the day at a record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked
down 0.13%.
Asia markets: Powell
inflation, China CPI, PPI; Japan CGPI (cnbc.com)
Stock futures are little changed after S&P
500 notches another record close: Live updates
UPDATED WED, JUL 10 2024 7:41 PM EDT
Stock
futures were little changed in overnight trading Tuesday after the S&P 500 notched
a fresh record close.
Futures connected to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average dipped
3 points. S&P 500
futures and Nasdaq-100 futures
were near the flatline.
Wall Street is coming off a mixed
session that pushed the Nasdaq Composite and
S&P 500 to new records as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned
that keeping
rates elevated for too long could stunt economic growth. The
S&P 500 edged up 0.07%, while the Nasdaq added 0.14%. The 30-stock Dow ticked
down 52.82 points, or 0.13%.
“Reducing policy restraint too
late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment,” said
Powell, speaking to the Senate Banking Committee as part of his semiannual
address to Congress on Tuesday. He continues his testimony Wednesday before the
House Financial Services Committee. “More good data would strengthen our
confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%,” Powell added.
Wednesday marks a light day for
economic data, with a final wholesale inventories reading for May due ahead of
the June consumer price index reading on Thursday. The June producer price
index will follow on Friday.
Many view the upcoming CPI print
as a key test for the market and the outlook for rate cuts.
“If we get a cooler print on CPI
this week and if get a cooler print on PPI, September will get priced in as a
lock,” Liz Young Thomas, SoFi’s head of investment strategy, said on CNBC’s
“Closing Bell” on Tuesday, cautioning that at some point, cooler data may
become too cool.
Stock
market today: Live updates (cnbc.com)
Fed Chair Powell says holding rates high for too
long could jeopardize economic growth
Federal Reserve Chair {sofa, deck chair,
settee, pouffe, stool,} Jerome Powell on Tuesday expressed
concern that holding interest rates too high for too long could jeopardize
economic growth.
Setting the stage
for a two-day appearance on Capitol Hill this week, the central bank leader
said the economy remains strong as does the labor market, despite some recent
cooling. Powell cited some easing in inflation, which he said policymakers stay
resolute in bringing down to their 2% goal.
“At the same time, in light of the progress made
both in lowering inflation and in cooling the labor market over the past two
years, elevated inflation is not the only risk we face,” he said in prepared
remarks. “Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken
economic activity and employment.”
The commentary
coincides with the approaching one-year anniversary of the last time the
Federal Open Market Committee raised benchmark interest rates.
The Fed’s overnight
borrowing rate currently sits in a rage of 5.25%-5.50%, the highest level in
some 23 years and the product of 11 consecutive hikes after inflation hit its
highest level since the early 1980s.
Markets expect the
Fed to begin cutting rates in September and likely following up with another
quarter percentage point reduction by the end of the year. FOMC members at
their June meeting, however, indicated
just one cut.
‘Strengthen our confidence’
In recent days,
Powell and his colleagues have indicated that inflation
data has been somewhat encouraging after a surprise jump to
start the year. Inflation as judged by the Fed’s preferred personal
consumption expenditures price index was at 2.6% in May after
peaking above 7% in June 2022.
“After a lack of progress toward our 2 percent
inflation objective in the early part of this year, the most recent monthly
readings have shown modest further progress,” Powell said. “More good data
would strengthen our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2
percent.”
The statement is
part of congressionally mandated semiannual updates on monetary policy. After
delivering the remarks, Powell will face questioning from Senate Banking
Committee members on Tuesday, then the House Financial Services Committee on
Wednesday.
In past
appearances, Powell has veered away from making dramatic policy announcements
while having to dodge politically loaded questions from committee members. The
questioning could get contentious this year as Washington is on edge amid a
volatile presidential campaign.
Several Democratic
committee members urged Powell to lower rates soon.
More
Fed
Chair Powell says holding rates high for too long could jeopardize economic
growth (cnbc.com)
Cox: Used-vehicle wholesale prices
fall 8.9% in June from a year ago
Used-vehicle
wholesale values fell 0.6 percent in June from May, Cox said July 9. A Cox
expert also gave an outlook on diminishing lease maturities.
July 09, 2024 01:34 PM
Subscription
required.
Cox: Used-car wholesale prices down again in June | Automotive News (autonews.com)
Ukraine will stop Putin, Biden tells NATO in forceful
speech
July
10, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to forcefully defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion at the NATO summit in Washington on Tuesday, using the global stage to try to show allies at home and abroad that he can still lead.
Biden, 81, has endured 12 days of
withering questions about his fitness for office as some of his fellow
Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaign donors fear that he will lose the Nov. 5
election after a halting debate performance on June 27.
"(Vladimir) Putin wants nothing
less, nothing less, than Ukraine's total subjugation ... and to wipe Ukraine
off the map," Biden said in his welcome to NATO member states to the
summit, referring to the Russian president. "Ukraine can and will stop
Putin."
The White House is hoping he can turn the page
on a difficult period in his presidency with his highest profile policy speech
since the debate, although some diplomats at the summit said the damage was
hard to erase.
More
Ukraine will stop Putin, Biden tells NATO in forceful speech (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.
Stocks will struggle and a recession is on the table
if the Fed fails to cut rates by September, Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel
says
July 8, 2024
The rally in stocks and the strength of the economy is at risk if the Fed doesn't start cutting interest rates soon, according to Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel.
The top economist, who's been making the case for the Fed to loosen monetary policy for months, pointed to more evidence of a weakening
economy in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
GDP has
slowed from its rapid pace of expansion in 2023, with the Atlanta Fed estimating
1.5% growth in the second quarter.
The job market, while resilient, is also beginning to stumble, with unemployment ticking
up to 4.1% last month.
More job losses have pushed
the economy closer to triggering a highly accurate recession indicator known as
the Sahm Rule, Siegel noted. The indicator signals the
start of a downturn once the three-month moving average of the unemployment
rate rises 0.5 percentage points above its cycle low. The indicator ticked higher to 0.43 last month, according to Fed
data.
That, combined with other recession warnings, is creating a more
convincing case that the Fed should dial back interest rates, Siegel said,
pointing to the inverted
Treasury yield curve and the slowing
money supply, two additional warnings that a downturn is on the horizon.
"We are in a slowing
economy," Siegel said. "I think it's really time for Chairman Powell
to really tee up in the July meeting a cut in September, and maybe another one
in November. I think inflation is definitely under control, and I don't want to
see this slowing economy turn into something worse."
---- No rate cut in September could put a recession on the
table, Siegel warned, in addition to endangering the trajectory for stocks.
Investors have been ambitiously pricing in rate cuts all year long, with
markets now expecting at least 1-2 cuts by the end of the year, according to
the CME FedWatch tool.
"So although I think
stocks are still in an uptrend and the growth stocks are still certainly
walloping the value stocks, I think Powell has to take note," Siegel said.
Fed officials will meet at
the end of July, but investors are looking at key releases of economic data in
the week ahead, which could shape the trajectory of rate cuts later this year.
All eyes will be on the consumer price index to
roll out on Thursday, which will give central bankers a better idea of whether
high rates are still needed to control inflation.
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Cow flu
virus takes 'dangerous step towards infecting humans through respiration'
July 8, 2024
The cow flu virus that has spread through US dairy herds may
have taken a "dangerous" step towards being able to infect humans
through respiratory infections, scientists have warned.
The H5N1 virus, more commonly found in birds, has so far been confirmed in cattle on
more than 100 farms in 12 states, with inactivated fragments of the strain
being found in pasteurised milk on supermarket shelves.
Four people working with
animals have so far been infected, though symptoms were mild and they did not
pass the virus on to anyone else.
Now detailed analysis by scientists
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US shows viral samples taken from
cows were able to attach to receptors found on cells in the human respiratory
tract.
The version of H5N1 found in birds is
unable to do that, suggesting the bovine virus has mutated.
Further tests on ferrets, which are
commonly used in flu research, found the cow virus could not spread easily by
breathing.
However, Dr Ed Hutchinson, from the
Medical Research Council and University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research,
said there were still "reasons to be concerned".
'Urgent' action
needed
"When they compared their cow
flu isolate to bird flu they found that it had already begun to gain some of
the properties that would be associated with the ability to spread effectively
through respiratory infections in humans," Dr Hutchinson, who was not
involved in the study, said.
"To be clear, it does not appear
to be doing this yet, and none of the four human cases so far reported have
shown signs of onward transmission.
"However, this new H5N1
influenza virus would be even harder to control, and even more dangerous to
humans, if it gained the ability for effective respiratory spread.
"Although it is good news that
cow flu cannot yet do this, these findings reinforce the need for urgent and
determined action to closely monitor this outbreak and to try and bring it
under control as soon as possible."
Unlike normal human flu, which is
contained within the respiratory tract, H5N1 is able to spread to other organs
in the body, with as-yet unknown effects.
The US government recently gave COVID
vaccine manufacturer Moderna £139m to develop an H5N1 jab.
Cow flu virus takes 'dangerous step towards infecting
humans through respiration' (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.
Residents
voice concern over battery storage facility plans amid fear of fires
It’s
the second battery storage site that has been earmarked for the area.
July
8, 2024
Fearful Aberdeen residents are worried that a
proposed battery storage facility could be “dangerous for the whole area”
should it go up in flames.
Danestone Community
Council in Bridge of Don said it is scared that a blaze at the site could cause
a “major disaster”.
Their concerns come
after a similar development in Liverpool took hours to extinguish following a
fire four years ago.
But despite this,
they argue that many locals living just metres away have no idea about the
proposal.
Anesco wants to
construct a 70MW battery energy storage system (BESS) next to the Persley waste
water treatment plant.
It’s the second
battery storage site that has been earmarked for the area.
Persley Croft BESS
Ltd has lodged plans for a similar development at the former piggery next to
the RGS Hutchison and Sons scrapyard.
Both
sites would connect to the existing SSEN Persley Grid substation on Station
Road and could be in operation for 40 years.
Danestone Community
Council member Sarah-Jane Foxen said the potential fire risk was a big concern
for the group. They are especially worried about a gas pipe that runs under the
site.
She said: “Anesco
say that if there is a fire they will just let this burn which is very
concerning considering we’ve got a gas pipe, water pipe and petrol station
nearby.
“The whole road
would be shut down.”
Fellow community
councillor Kathryn Duncan added: “I fear it is dangerous for the whole area. It
won’t be manned so no-one will be there to stop a fire.
“Who is going to
raise the alarm?”
Ms Duncan also
voiced her concern about “toxic fumes” that could potentially be created during
a blaze.
More
Aberdeen residents voice concern over battery storage
facility plans amid fear of fires | STV News
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Consider
the average intelligence of the common man, then realize 50% are even stupider.
Mark Twain.
No comments:
Post a Comment