Baltic
Dry Index. 1495 +44 Brent Crude 73.87
Spot
Gold 2685 U S 2 Year Yield 4.26 +0.05
Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get
agreement and then the people who disagree come to think they have a right to
be persuaded. However, they are indispensable when you don't want to do
anything.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
In
the stock casinos, what’s not to like, looking at DJT’s spectacular presidential
victory over the deep state and overwhelming media candidate favourite, VP Harris.
So
this weekend, a look at what Trump World 2025 – 2028 might mean.
Assuming,
DJT actually tries to implement his proclaimed flagship policies.
In 2016 he promised to build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants and make Mexico pay for it.
He didn’t and Mexico never paid for the tiny attempts at building,
not a wall but more like a fence, so maybe or maybe not DJT’s flagship policies
will happen, but here is my guess as to what happens if some of them actually
happen
But
first, the Trump World relief US stocks casino bubble 2024.
Dow tops 44,000 for first time, S&P 500
closes at record high to cap election week rally: Live updates
Updated Fri, Nov 8 2024 6:35 PM EST
The stock market
climbed to another round of records on Friday, as the Dow and S&P 500
wrapped up their best week in a year after Donald Trump’s election win.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose
259.65 points, or 0.59%, to close at 43,988.99. The blue chip average traded
above 44,000 for the first time ever during the session. The S&P 500 gained 0.38% to
close at 5,995.54, after briefly trading above 6,000 for its own milestone. The
tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lagged,
up just 0.09% to 19,286.78, but set an intraday record high as well.
All three
averages finished the week at record closing levels.
It was a strong
week across the board for equities, due in large part to Wednesday’s huge rally
following Trump’s victory. The S&P 500 finished up 4.66% for the week, as
the Dow was higher by 4.61%. Both indexes notched their best week since
November 2023. The Nasdaq outdid even those moves, toting a 5.74% advance,
while the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 surged 8.57%.
“Equities are
eager to price in Trump’s domestic growth policies (via small-caps) and hopes
for easier regulation relative to the Biden administration,” Barclays
strategist Venu Krishna said in a note to clients.
“Whether these
moves are sustainable remains to be seen; momentum is extending lofty gains as
‘winners keep winning’, and the sharp post-Election Day moves have pushed major
gauges near (or into, in the case of [Russell 2000]) technically overbought
territory,” Krishna added.
Investors
generally view a Republican-controlled government as more favorable on
expectations for deregulation, the potential for more mergers and acquisitions
and proposed tax cuts. However, concerns over the large federal deficit and
increased tariffs have also sparked fears of an uptick in inflation.
Some stocks
associated with Trump performed well again on Friday. Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk
campaigned with the president-elect, rose 8.2% and was on track for its fourth
straight positive session. The automaker’s market cap surpassed the $1 trillion
mark. Law enforcement tech stock Axon Enterprises jumped more
than 28% after the company raised its full-year revenue guidance. Trump Media jumped 15% after
the president-elect said he had no
plans to sell his shares in the social media company.
Stocks also got
a boost from the Federal Reserve this week, as the central bank lowered
interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Thursday. Fed Chair
Jerome Powell noted he is “feeling
good” about the economy during a press conference following the change.
While some on
Wall Street are worried about the valuations for the stock market, the strength
of this week’s move has bolstered confidence that there could still be room to
move higher in the final months of the year.
“When everything
seems like it’s all working well, it’s like, ‘what’s going to hit us?’” Keith
Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Wealth, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Friday.
“There’s
probably something from left field. Sentiment’s getting a little bit stretched,
maybe some choppiness after this round number. But all in all, we still think
you want to stick with that primary uptrend,” he continued.
Stock
market news for Nov. 8, 2024
Tesla was the top ‘Trump trade’ of the
week, along with some energy and financial stocks
Published Fri, Nov 8 2024 12:27 PM EST Updated
Fri, Nov 8 2024 2:35 PM EST
Tesla and a handful of other
so-called Trump trades led the market rally this week as investors welcomed the
Republican’s victory in the presidential election.
The S&P 500 has climbed more
than 4% since Monday began, touching above 6,000 and on track to notch its best
week in about a year. These gains came as traders focused in on the outcomes of
Tuesday’s presidential
election and Thursday’s interest
rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
Excluding stocks
that reported earnings this week, some of the best performers were those viewed
as tied to Donald Trump’s
win. Trump trades can earn that title by being part of sectors such as
financials or energy viewed as beneficiaries of his expected shifts away from
regulation, among other things.
CNBC screened
for the Trump trade names that led the index higher this week and did not
report earnings. Here are the top performers, as of Friday before the bell:
Tesla led the
way with a gain of 19.3%. The electric vehicle maker is one of the best-known
Trump trades given CEO Elon Musk’s advocacy
for the president-elect on the campaign trail.
The stock, which
touched new 52-week highs this week, is now up more than 27% in 2024. This
week’s rally propelled the Texas-based company’s market cap above
$1 trillion on Friday.
Many on Wall
Street expect a pullback, with the typical price target of analysts polled by
LSEG implying shares can tumble more than 29%. But Bank of America analyst John
Murphy raised his price target to $350 from $265, which now suggests upside of
17.9%.
Murphy cited
Musk’s connection to Trump as one reason for the change. He also reiterated his
buy rating, putting him in the majority on the Street.
“Our analysis
has shown that TSLA should be relatively indifferent directly to most policies
discussed in our recent election note, but may benefit from a shift to a
federal regulation of autonomous vehicles/full self-driving (FSD) nationwide,”
Murphy wrote. “In addition, it is difficult to judge how Elon Musk’s
increasingly close public relationship with President Trump could benefit
Tesla, but this needs to be monitored closely.”
More
Tesla
was top ‘Trump trade’ of week, along with some energy and financial stocks
Now
back to Trump World 2025 -2028.
We
start with his promise to deport one million illegal immigrants (II).
If it
happens, a labour shortage quickly hits the US economy. Deporting the II who
comes round once a week for $20 to wash your windows is no big deal, but
deporting the II car mechanics, slaughter house workers, nurses, care home and
hospital cleaners, etc., will have a big impact.
They
will either be replaced by higher priced US legal workers, or more likely won’t
get replaced at all. One is inflationary, the other means a drop in living
standards. Both are liveable, but not without economic consequences.
Next,
that promise of 60 percent tariffs on China and 20 percent tariffs on everyone
else, friend or foe.
Once
existing stocks of imports run out, higher priced imports will either not be
imported at all, or reduced in availability, with most, if not all of the extra
cost passed on to the US consumer. Higher
inflation for longer, and barring recession or depression, higher wage demands
for all.
But,
most affected countries and trading blocks, friend or foe, will likely retaliate
with tariffs on US exports, their imports. Most likely on US agriculture
exports, wines, motor vehicles, and eventually financial services.
I could
go on, but I think you get the drift.
The
global economy is in for a shock, a slow down and massive drop in the velocity
of money circulation. A rise in global unemployment. Hard times.
To this
old commodities dinosaur, a 1930s type of depression looms. Warren Buffett is
right to be offloading stocks and raising cash, (350 billion as last reported,)
for use in the coming stock casinos crash.
In
other news, to dinosaur Graeme, the global economy already seems to be rolling over from boom to bust.
German
carmakers suffering worst sales slump since lockdown
8 November 2024
Germany’s car industry is suffering its biggest
sales slump since the pandemic, in a fresh blow to the eurozone’s largest
economy and to Olaf Scholz, its embattled Chancellor.
More than two fifths of businesses in the sector are
struggling with order shortages, according to a survey by the Institute for
Economic Research (Ifo). That was the highest share since July 2020 when the
world was still in the grip of Covid lockdowns.
Expectations for future orders also continue to
fall, which Antia Wölfl at the Ifo said was in-part caused by stiff competition
from other nations’ manufacturers.
“Intensifying competition, especially from outside
Europe, seems to be increasingly taking its toll on the German automotive
industry. The crisis in the German car industry is continuing,” she said.
German carmakers are struggling to compete with a wave of cheaper Chinese electric vehicles. Last year half of
all electric vehicles (EVs) imported into the EU came from China, which has
been seeking to capitalise on the European desire to move away from petrol and
diesel cars.
The EU has imposed tariffs on imports of Chinese EVs
after concluding that unfair subsidies from Beijing let the country’s
manufacturers undercut Europe’s industry. However, German carmakers still face
challenges from high energy costs and the need to fund the transition to
electric manufacturing.
Volkswagen is preparing to close three factories in Germany and slim down other plants, with the potential loss of tens of
thousands of jobs. Audi is also reportedly preparing to cut thousands of jobs.
German car part supplier Schaeffler earlier this week announced 4,700
redundancies, blaming weak demand and oversupply in the market.
The woes of the German car industry have been
central to the country’s wider economic troubles. Germany has been flirting
with recession ever since the pandemic and its economy has barely grown beyond
its pre-Covid size.
A reliance on cheap Russian energy left it exposed
when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Exports to China were also an engine of
growth for Germany and China’s failure to regain its old momentum since the end
of lockdowns has been a blow.
Problems may yet get worse. Germany is also braced
for new tariffs from the United States, as President-elect Donald Trump threatens to tax all imports.
Economists predict that Germany would be among the
hardest-hit in a new trade war, as the traditional strength of its industrial
heartlands is based on exports. As well as losing direct sales to the US,
Germany would be hurt by American tariffs on Chinese goods. The impact would
ripple through supply chains, which include German manufacturers.
Taxes on cars traded between the US and Germany were
a major point of friction in discussions between Angela Merkel, the
then-chancellor, and Mr Trump during his first term in the White House.
Economic troubles have given rise to political ones
too. The coalition Government of three parties under Mr Scholz fell apart this week amid a rift over the country’s strict rules limiting public
borrowing.
The situation is unlikely to be resolved soon. Mr
Scholz has indicated elections may only be held in March of next year.
German carmakers suffering worst sales slump since lockdown
Europe
markets end the week lower with mining stocks leading losses; UK homebuilder
Vistry plunges 15%
Updated
Fri, Nov 8 2024 11:58 AM EST
European
markets closed lower on Friday, as investors digested corporate results and
quarter-point interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of
England.
The
pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session 0.66% lower, with most sectors and
major bourses in closing in the red. Mining stocks led the losses, shedding
4.2%, while travel and leisure stocks ticked up 0.8%.
The
index ended down 0.19% on the week.
The
losses in Europe come as market participants continue to assess political
upheaval in Germany and President-elect Donald Trump’s historic victory this
week.
Germany’s DAX index closed 0.8%
lower, paring gains from the previous session, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz
sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Wednesday evening and appointed
his successor on Thursday.
The
move, which brought a dramatic end to the country’s three-way coalition
government, raises the possibility of an immediate no-confidence vote and new
elections. Scholz has said he does not want to call a vote of confidence before
mid-January.
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets were
mixed on Friday. In a highly anticipated announcement, China said the
central government would allocate an additional 6 trillion yuan ($840 billion)
to local governments to help tackle hidden debt issues.
On
Wall Street, U.S.
stocks broadly ticked up after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched
fresh records in a post-election rally.
Luxury
goods stocks shifted lower in afternoon deals following a disappointing set of
results for Switzerland’s Richemont.
Kering led losses, shedding
7.4%, while Burberry ticked
6.4% lower. Richemont, meanwhile, traded down 5.7% lower and Hermes lost 4%.
Richemont,
owner of the esteemed Cartier brand, had until now been an outlier in a broader
luxury downturn, reporting record full-year
sales in May. However, in announcing its half-year results Friday, the
company — like its peers — pointed to weakness in China as weighing on wider
global sales.
Investors
will now be looking ahead to earnings from struggling
British luxury line Burberry next week.
Europe
markets live updates: U.S. election reaction, data and earnings
In
“green” energy news, a warning from crazy Europe.
Europe’s Dark, Windless Days Show Risk of
Renewables Rollout
- Power prices
spiked to energy crisis levels this week
- Clean energy
expansion needs to be matched by storage
By Eamon Farhat November 7, 2024 at 7:00 AM GMT
Updated
on November 7, 2024 at 11:26 AM GMT
Europe’s power
prices soared to levels last
seen during the energy crisis this week. Only it wasn’t a war or other
geopolitical events that caused it, but the dark, windless weather that is all
too common during winter.
The continent
has rapidly expanded its capacity to generate wind and solar power, but still
relies on costly hydrocarbons as a back up. For instance, while Germany gets
more than 49 gigawatts of wind power on the gustiest days, only around 1% of
that record was being generated on Wednesday, with expensive fossil fuels
plugging the gap.
More,
subscription required.
Europe Energy: Dark, Windless Days Show Risk of Its Renewables Rollout -
Bloomberg
Finally,
only in crazy Europe, as they say.
The
beautiful European country with a tiny coastline that's only 12 miles long
4
October 2024
A
huge European country spanning almost 20,000 square miles has one of the
smallest coastlines on earth.
At
first glance Bosnia
and Herzegovina,
a southeastern European nation situated on the Balkan Peninsula, looks to be
sat on the coast of the Adriatic.
But
if you look more closely, you'll see that the vast majority of the coast is
actually in Croatia.
Croatia curves along
the seafront before meeting the Neum Coridoor, the comparatively tiny strip
of Bosnian land. This
then splits Croatia in two, separating the southernmost Croatian enclave from
the rest of the country.
The
country was divided into two when the Yugoslav Federation broke up in the early
1990s, with Bosnia claiming its
right to coastal access dating back to 1699.
Before
then, there were no internal borders between the six republics, which
included Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia,
Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
Unfortunately,
it meant those in Croatia wanting to
pass through Neum - to visit the stunning medieval city of Dubrovnik for
example - had to cross two international borders just 5.6 miles apart.
In
a bid to address the issue, both Croatia and Bosnia signed the
Neum Agreement in 1996, which granted Croatia passage
through Neum - though the deal was never ratified.
In
the years that followed, security was said to be loose and tour buses were able
to go through without being stopped, but this changed when Croatia joined the
EU in 2013.
Becoming
a member of the bloc, and meant tighter border security, and congestion at
borders during the summer months.
But
Croatia has since built
a massive 2,400-metre bridge from Komarna on the northern mainland across to
the southeastern semi-exclave, the Peljesac peninsula. Drivers are now
able to completely bypass Neum and avoid any border checks.
Bosnia had
initially complained that the project would affect its access to the sea, until
Croatia agreed to increase the height of the bridge to 181ft.
This
infrastructure and its access roads cost Croatia some £448million, £305m of
which was secured as a grant from the European Union.
The
bridge was designed by Slovenian structural engineer Marjan Pipenbaher and
built by China Road and Bridge Corporation - a subsidiary of the state-owned
China Communications Construction Company.
But
though the 12-mile gap looks striking on the map due to Bosnia's size, it's not
nearly the smallest coastline in the world.
That
title, a Guinness
World Record in
fact, is claimed by Monaco which has a coastline of just 3.5 miles excluding
piers and breakwaters.
However,
its perhaps not all that suprising given Monaco is also the second smallest
independent state in the world behind Vatican City, measuring 0.8 square miles.
Other
honourable mentions include Tuvalu which comprises three reef islands and six
atolls that amount to 15 miles of coastline, and Jordan, which has 16.2 miles
of shoreline along the Gulf of Aqaba,, according to Daily
Passport.
The
longest coastline globally is claimed by Canada, measuring more than 151,000
miles (including the mainland coast and the coasts of offshore islands), as
per Statistique
Canada.
This
is followed by Indonesia (33,998 miles), Russia (23,396 miles), the United
States (12,380 miles) and China (9,009 miles), Canada's national stats agency
reports.
The beautiful European country with a tiny coastline that's only 12 miles long
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.
Global
food prices rise to highest level in 18 months
8 November 2024
Higher prices for staples such as vegetable oils,
wheat, cheese and sugar have pushed food commodity costs to their highest level
in 18 months, signalling more pain ahead for grocery shoppers and central
banks.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s food
price index rose to 127.4 in October — the highest level since April 2023. The
figure, published on Friday, was up 5.5 per cent from October last year.
Prices for food commodities have risen steadily
since the start of the year.
Although food costs remain well below levels reached
in March 2022, consumers are already having to pay more for groceries as
increases are passed on from food manufacturers to shoppers.
Food price pressures across the G7 major advanced
economies ticked up for the first time in two years in September, complicating
rate-setters’ attempts to cut rates to support growth and jobs.
Tomasz Wieladek, chief European economist at T Rowe
Price, said the movements in commodity costs would stoke “food price inflation,
which is a significant challenge for central banks”.
All of the G7 central banks, bar Japan, have cut
rates this year on the back of signs that the worst bout of inflation in a
generation is finally under control.
But Wieladek noted that the impact of the rise in
food prices on households’ perceptions of inflation would be exacerbated by
wholesale costs being priced in dollars, a currency that has strengthened
following Donald Trump’s decisive win in this week’s US presidential election.
FAO economist Monika Tothova said that the figures
suggested “a tighter market situation” for many commodities.
“While not reaching the levels of previous peaks,
any shock — be it weather-related, a change in trade policy, or other factors —
could exacerbate the situation in already tight markets,” Tothova said. “This
could have significant implications for price levels and availability,
affecting food import bills and food security.”
The UN recorded increases among most food
categories, including a 7.3 per cent month-on-month increase for vegetable
oils, a 2.6 per cent rise for sugar, and a 1.9 per cent increase for dairy
products. Many of the rises were related to weather events, which reduced
output.
More
Global food prices rise to highest level in 18 months
Businesses
warn of £400m in extra costs after Reeves’s Budget tax raid
Friday 08 November 2024 12:00
am | Updated: Friday 08 November 2024 3:48 pm
Businesses across the UK are sounding the alarm over
rising costs after Rachel Reeves raised taxes by some £40bn at the Budget last week.
The Chancellor announced that employer’s national
insurance contributions (NIC) will increase by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent, and
the threshold at which businesses start paying the levy will be lowered. The
move is expected to raise around £25.7bn for the Treasury.
While Reeves’ has argued she kept her promise to
avoid taxing “working people”, businesses have warned the move will
dramatically increase costs and they will be forced to pass these on to the
public.
---- This was echoed at its rival M&S, with chief executive Stuart Machin stating
that that the budget’s “long-term impact on the company’s customers and
suppliers was uncertain”.
Machin expects payroll expenses to rise by £60m for its 65,000 UK staff, as a result of change
in the national insurance levy and rise in the living wage.
---- The pub sector’s lobby group, the British
Beer and Pub Association, warned of a ‘tsunami’ of cost increases and a £310m
bill following the budget. Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said he expects costs
to increase by around £60m, but added the group “will, as always, make
every attempt to stay as competitive as possible.”
Fuller’s, the brewing and pubs company, also warned
that the Budget backlash would trigger an avalanche of costs, leaving the
company no choice but to increase prices.
This was also repeated by Greene King, who
acknowledged that this layering of costs will leave pubs with an array of
difficult decisions around prices and hiring.
Budget
set to push tax burden to record levels
Despite claiming she had no plans to be a “tax
raising Chancellor” last year, Reeves unveiled the second biggest package of
tax hikes on record and will push the tax burden to record levels. The
majorities of the charges have been targeted at businesses and the wealthy.
Alongside an additional £25bn bill from changes to
national insurance payments, businesses are facing a 6.7 per cent rise in the
national minimum wage to £12.21 an hour.
It’s not just retail, these added costs spread
across all sectors with telecoms giant BT’s boss revealing its employment bill will expand by
£100m. Chief executive Allison Kirkby said the group would go ‘harder and
faster’ with cost-cutting efforts ahead of the levy change.
BT is already in the midst of a cost-cutting programme as its
strategy is to reduce headcount from 130,000 to between 75,000 to 90,000 by
2030.
Outsourcing giant Serco warned its shareholders on Friday
the tax changes will drive up costs by as much as £20m across the group. The
FTSE 250 company has over 400 sites and employs 30,000 people in the UK alone.
The business stated it is now “actively exploring
ways to offset these costs” before the changes take effect from April 2025.
More
Businesses warn of £400m in extra costs after Reeves's Budget tax raid -
City AM
Price rises loom as Budget hits Sainsbury’s
with £140m costs
Thursday 07
November 2024 3:12 pm | Updated: Thursday 07
November 2024 3:13 pm
Sainsbury’s
chief executive Simon Roberts has cautioned that new government measures will
hit shoppers with higher prices by adding £140m to the supermarket’s costs.
These include
a National Insurance hike, and a rise in
the UK minimum wage.
The increased
National Insurance contributions, as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in
her Autumn Budget, will surge from 13.8 per cent, to 15 per cent, on
earnings above £175.
“The impact on
National Insurance was unexpected and is coming fast”, Roberts said.
“It will have a
very significant impact on our cost base… and our supplier’s cost base”, he
continued.
While the rise
of minimum wage wasn’t priced, Mr Roberts acknowledged the impact it would also
have on overall prices.
For staff,
Roberts said that it was “too early to be specific” about his workforce.
Yet, the tax
hikes and minimum wage will undoubtedly squeeze profit for the leading
supermarket chain.
With operating
margins of just three per cent, Roberts stressed that Sainsbury’s “just doesn’t
have the capacity to absorb this barrage of costs”.
“When you think
about the £140m in our business”, he continued, “I don’t think you can shy away
from the fact that it is going to beat through into higher inflation”.
Roberts
acknowledged concerns echoed by the office for Budget responsibility.
With pressures
mounting, he claimed: “we’ll do everything we can to mitigate this, but given
the margins of the industry, there’s a lot of pressure in the pipe already”.
Price rises loom as Budget hits Sainsbury's with £140m costs - City AM
Asda set to raise prices after Budget blow
as boss declares 'we don’t have a magic money tree'
8 November 2024
Supermarket
giant Asda warned its shoppers will be hit with higher prices because of a
£100million Budget tax raid -
declaring “we don’t have a magic money tree”.
Bosses cautioned
that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax blow could also impact on staff numbers and
wages. Leeds-based Asda, which employs
130,000 people, became the latest in a wave of firms to put a bill on Ms
Reeves’ decision to raise national insurance rates and lower the threshold on
which it is paid as she bids to plug a black hole in the public finances.
Stuart Rose,
Asda’s chairman, said national insurance made up the bulk of the £100million in
added costs from the Budget. He explained: “It has taxed more heavily than we
thought and in more places which may not give them the resources they want. We
are a very heavily taxed industry and retail is the largest employer in the
private sector, three million people. They are taxing us right the way through
and that will affect our ability to compete and our ability to give our
customers the same prices this year as they had last year.
"We will
have to look at what we can afford, how much we can’t afford and in which case
how much we have to pass to the customers and that will go right through to the
numbers of people we employ and salaries we paid and all the rest of it. “It is
inflationary. You cannot absorb £100milion of cost. We don’t have a magic money
tree in Leeds.” Asked bluntly if it will lead to price rises, Lord Rose said:
“yes”.
Michael Gleeson,
Asda’s finance director, echoed that, saying: “It will undoubtedly lead to some
price rises.” Lord Rose went on: “Our industry is very efficient but we work on
incredibly tight margins. You are dealing with very large numbers and very high
sensitivity.”
Arch rival
Sainsbury’s also warned of price rises to come after its national insurance
bill jumps by £140million from next April. Primark and BT are among others that
have spelt out the hit, and the possibility of higher prices.
Lord Rose, a
former boss at Marks & Spencer, called on the government
to bring forward Labour’s promised shake-up of business rates, which has been
earmarked for 2026, in the hope it lower Asda’s currently more than £300million
a year bill for the property tax. “Come on fellas, get on with it,” was his
message to ministers. “Someone has got to get a grip.”
More
Asda set to raise prices after Budget blow as boss declares 'we don’t
have a magic money tree'
Covid-19
Corner
This section will
continue until it becomes unneeded.
This weekend, some of
the other winter goodies around and what to do if you catch them.
'Stay home for five days' alert as variant drives
virus cases soaring
7 November 2024
People have been urged to
isolate at home for five days if they contract a contagious illness as a new
variant is sweeping across the country - driving cases up 16% in two weeks.
Rates of the winter vomiting bug norovirus have surged and the UK Health Security
Agency says a Japanese variant known as Kawasaki is responsible for 70% of
cases.
The latest figures from
the UKHSA show 447 lab-confirmed cases in the last two weeks of October, a 16%
increase on the two weeks before. The number of people in hospital with
norovirus is 26% above the five-year average.
The numbers only cover
lab-confirmed cases, meaning many more people may be suffering from the virus
but have not been tested. When people go to hospital with norovirus they are
placed in isolated rooms to stop the virus from spreading.
The UKHSA has put the
surge down to the cold weather and the variant GII.17 - known as Kawasaki after the city where it
was first detected.
A UKHSA spokesman said:
"The increase of the variant has been observed in other countries and is
being closely monitored." The virus, which causes sickness and diarrhoea
as well as chills, muscle aches and headaches, can be passed from person to person, picked
up on surfaces or spread via food.
It usually lasts up to
three days and people have been told to stay home for two days after they
recover to stop the spread - a total of five days.
Gauri Godbole, deputy
director of gastrointestinal infections at the UKHSA, said: 'If you have
diarrhoea and vomiting, do not return to work, school or nursery until 48 hours
after your symptoms have stopped and don't prepare food for others in that time
either. If you are unwell, avoid visiting people in hospitals and care homes to prevent passing on the
infection in these settings."
People who fall ill with
norovirus are advised to rest, get plenty of fluids and take paracetamol.
Norovirus is a highly
contagious virus that causes gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach
and intestines. It’s sometimes referred to as the "stomach flu,"
although it’s not related to the influenza virus. Norovirus is the leading
cause of foodborne illness and outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness worldwide,
especially in places like hospitals, cruise ships, schools, and nursing homes,
where people are in close quarters.
More
'Stay home for five days' alert as variant
drives virus cases soaring
Technology Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Blade-coated perovskite solar cells achieve 31.2% power conversion
efficiency
3 November 2024
Saudi and German researchers have
developed a new solar cell with an impressive 31.2% efficiency. The cell,
consisting of a perovskite-silicon tandem composite, could provide the
foundation for higher-efficiency solar cells than currently exist.
The cell was developed by a
collaboration between the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
(KAUST) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). According to the researchers
behind the cell, it achieves efficient charge extraction and interface
passivation.
The team enhanced the performance of
blade-coated tandems by incorporating 2D perovskite layers at the bottom interface. These modifications
reportedly increased the blade-coated tandem performance to a certified PCE of
31.2%.
This work highlights the potential
efficiency of scalable ink-based fabrication, focusing on stability and
manufacturability. Such work is vital for the widespread adoption and
commercial success of this promising photovoltaic (PV) technology.
High-efficiency
perovskite solar cell
“Perovskite-silicon tandems have
convincingly proven their high-performance potential with many groups now
achieving efficiencies higher than 30%,” the research’s lead author, Stefaan De
Wolf, explained to pv magazine.
“However, translating these results from
a lab-scale environment towards techniques that are relevant to the industry
requires attention, especially for solution processing techniques. Here, we
show certified efficiencies above 31% using blade-coated perovskites. The
devices show improved performances thanks to contact passivation using 2D
perovskites,” he added.
The researchers explained that they employed blade coating instead of spin coating
because the latter has scalability challenges due to its limited throughput.
Specifically, blade coating was used to deposit a 3D perovskite layer onto a 2D
perovskite layer in a perovskite top device featuring a p-i-n inverted
configuration.
“By tuning the targeted dimensionality
(n) of the 2D perovskite film, which is made prior to the 3D perovskite, we
minimize the energy level mismatch at the bottom interface, achieve efficient
hole extraction, and reduce performance losses in our blade-coated p-i-n
devices,” the scientists said. This configuration enabled the leading
perovskite device to achieve a power conversion efficiency of 22.6%, an
open-circuit voltage of 1.23V, and a fill factor (FF) of 82%.
To this end, the research group
developed a 0.16 squared-inch (1 cm²) encapsulated tandem device using a
substrate made of indium tin oxide (ITO). The device consists of several
layers, including amorphous silicon (a-Si), a crystalline silicon absorber, and
a transparent back contact made from indium zinc oxide (IZO).
It also features a two-dimensional (2D)
perovskite layer and a blade-coated three-dimensional (3D) perovskite layer,
along with a layer of p-phenylenediaminium iodide (PDAI).
More
Blade-coated perovskite solar cells achieve 31.2% power conversion
efficiency
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
This
weekend’s music diversion. Approx. 9 minutes.
Johann
Christoph Förster (1693-1745) - Concerto ex Dis dur
Johann Christoph
Förster (1693-1745) - Concerto ex Dis dur
This
weekend’s chess update. Approx. 14 minutes.
He
Did It!!! - 16th Player Ever to Break the 2800 Barrier!
He Did It!!! -
16th Player Ever to Break the 2800 Barrier!
This
weekend’s final diversion. Approx. 18
minutes.
The
African Queen - True WW1 Story Behind The Film
The African Queen
- True WW1 Story Behind The Film - YouTube
Finally, there is the meeting which is called not because there
is business to be done, but because it is necessary to create the impression
that business is being done. Such meetings are more than a substitute for
action. They are widely regarded as action.
John Kenneth Galbraith.
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