Baltic
Dry Index. 1785 -29 Brent Crude 73.43
Spot Gold 2622 US 2 Year Yield 4.29 -0.02
If a government resorts to inflation, that is, creates money in order to cover its budget deficits or expands credit in order to stimulate business, then no power on earth, no gimmick, device, trick or even indexation can prevent its economic consequences.
Henry Hazlitt.
In the stock casinos, rising unease. What if Warren Buffett’s right to be selling out at the top?
What if the horrified extreme far left and deep state want a crash as payback for Donald Trump crushing their Kamal Harris dreams?
What if lame duck, semi senile, President Biden was just “blank cheque” rolled into meandering into World War Three?
What if the “nifty fifty” that crumbled down to the “magnificent seven” has collapsed into the lonely Tesla?
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise as key Chinese
policymakers gather for investment summit
Updated Tue, Nov 19 2024 12:47 AM EST
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher
on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains buoyed by a Tesla rally, and as
investors parse Chinese financial policymakers’ speech at an investment summit
in Hong Kong.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.89%
higher to close at 8,374. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.72%,
while the Topix rose 0.78%. South Korea’s Kospi traded 0.29% higher.
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.33%, while the mainland’s CSI 300
slipped 0.42%.
At a meeting earlier this month, members
of Australia’s central bank maintained that while there was no immediate need
to adjust interest rates, it is important to remain “forward looking” and ready
to adjust as economic conditions develop.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said at a
global financiers summit in Hong Kong that China will support Hong Kong
innovation and financial reform, enhancing the city’s “financial
competitiveness.” He, who oversees
a top-level economic and financial policy-making body, reiterated Beijing’s
commitment to “explore and implement” measures aimed at building Hong Kong as
an “international financial center.”
Li Yunze, the head of China’s National
Financial Regulatory Administration, will join Wu Qing, Chairman of the China
Securities Regulatory Commission, and Zhu Hexin, Deputy Governor of the
People’s Bank of China, for a panel discussion on mainland China’s financial
developments, the HKMA summit’s agenda revealed.
Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite rose
following a rough week, as Tesla shares advanced and Wall Street looked ahead
to some major market-moving earnings reports.
The Nasdaq advanced 0.6% to
settle at 18,791.81, while the S&P
500 added about 0.4% to close at 5,893.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
55.39 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 43,389.60.
Monday’s movements come after a
challenging week for the three major benchmarks, which have now pulled back
from the peaks reached following Donald Trump’s election win. The decline was
fueled by concerns over the direction of interest rates after Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell stated that the central bank is
not “in a hurry” to cut rates.
Asia markets live: RBA minutes, Hong Kong summit
Nasdaq closes higher as Tesla rally helps start
week on an upbeat note
Updated Mon, Nov 18 2024 4:39 PM EST
The Nasdaq Composite rose Monday
following a rough week, as Tesla shares surged and Wall Street looked ahead to
some major market-moving earnings reports.
The Nasdaq advanced 0.6% to
settle at 18,791.81, while the S&P
500 added about 0.4% to close at 5,893.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell
55.39 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 43,389.60.
Tesla spearheaded
the tech-heavy index’s rally, popping 5.6% amid a Bloomberg
News report, citing people familiar with the matter, that President-elect
Donald Trump’s team is working on ways to ease regulation on self-driving
vehicles. Elsewhere, Apple and Netflix gained 1.3% and 2.8%,
respectively, while Advanced
Micro Devices surged 3%.
Wednesday’s report from artificial
intelligence chip darling Nvidia remains
top of mind for investors, and could serve as the next major catalyst as Wall
Street searches for signs of resilient demand for its Blackwell AI chips.
Shares slipped 1.3% after The Information reported that the chips overheat when
connected in servers, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“The star this week is our friend Nvidia,”
said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners,
highlighting its importance to all the key indexes with its recent inclusion in
the Dow. “Unless some information comes out before then, the market is going to
wait and see what’s going on with Nvidia.”
Beyond Nvidia, investors await a batch of
earnings from key retailers, which could offer greater insight into the health
of the economy and consumer spending. About 93% of S&P 500 companies have
reported results so far. More than 74% have topped earnings expectations and
62% have surpassed revenue estimates, according to FactSet.
Monday’s moves follow a tough week for the
three major benchmarks, now off the highs seen in the aftermath of Trump’s
election victory. That sell-off was driven by concerns about the path for
interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central
bank is not “in a hurry” to cut rates given the economy’s strong
growth and a solid labor market.
In other news, CVS Health shares popped 5%
after agreeing to add four new board members. Super Micro Computer skyrocketed
about 16% following a Barron’s report that the AI server maker intends to file
a plan for its annual report to avert a Nasdaq delisting.
Stock market news for Nov. 18, 2024
Kremlin brings up nuclear doctrine day after
Biden’s arms decision on Ukraine
Published Tue, Nov 19 2024 1:01 AM EST
Changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine have
been drawn up and will be formalized as necessary,
the Kremlin said on Tuesday, signaling again Moscow’s concern over
the latest U.S. decision on missile strikes from Ukraine.
“They (the changes) have already been
practically formulated. They will be formalized as necessary,” Dmitry Peskov,
the Kremlin’s press secretary, told the TASS state news agency in remarks
published on Tuesday.
The Kremlin called on Monday
the reported decision by President Joe Biden’s administration to
allow Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia reckless and
it warned that Moscow will respond.
Russia, which started its full-scale
invasion of Ukraine 1,000 days ago, has repeatedly cautioned that the
West is playing with fire by probing the limits of what a nuclear power might
or might not tolerate.
In September, President Vladimir Putin
said that Western approval of Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles would mean “the
direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries
in the war in Ukraine” because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would
have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
Biden’s decision followed months of pleas
by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow Ukraine’s military to use U.S.
weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
The U.S. decision came largely in response
to Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own
forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, sources
told Reuters.
Russia calls its war in Ukraine a special
military operation, while Kyiv and its Western allies call it an unprovoked,
imperialistic land grab.
Russian forces control about a fifth of
Ukrainian territory and have recently been advancing swiftly. Thousands of
people have died in the war, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.
Just weeks before the November U.S.
presidential vote, Putin ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine to say that
any conventional attack on Russia aided by a nuclear power could be considered
to be a joint attack on Russia.
Western analysts have called the changes
an escalation in Moscow’s attempts to dissuade the West from expanding its
military aid to Ukraine. The full details of the amended doctrine have not yet
been made public.
The war in Ukraine has triggered the worst
crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kremlin brings up nuclear doctrine day after Biden's arms decision on Ukraine
Germany's
Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary
Germany’s offer of unconditional support
to its Austro-Hungarian ally in July 1914 remains one of the most controversial
decisions in modern history. Historians have interpreted the blank cheque in
several, often contradictory, ways – either as a German attempt to escalate a
regional crisis into a wider European war or as a move to localise war in the
Balkans. Most historians agree that the blank cheque marked a victory for the
war party in Vienna.
On 5 July 1914, Alexander
Hoyos (1876-1937), a leading hawk in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, and
Count Ladislaus
von Szögyény (1841-1916), the Habsburg ambassador to Berlin, met Wilhelm
II, German Emperor (1859-1941) and Theobald
von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921), the German chancellor. Later that day,
Bethmann Hollweg assured Szögyény that Germany would support her ally, whatever measures the
Austro-Hungarian leaders decided to take against Serbia.
In issuing the blank cheque, German
leaders made a number of faulty assumptions. They believed that Austria-Hungary was ready to initiate war
against Serbia immediately and that a rapid strike would present Europe with
a fait accompli. They reckoned that the Tsarist regime was not
militarily ready to risk a general European war. Moreover, they thought that
monarchical solidarity would trump pan-Slav sentiment, that the Tsar would not
support a state that had allegedly harboured the assassins of the heir to the
Habsburg throne. In other words, the “blank cheque” was designed first and
foremost to secure a triumph, either political or military, for the Central
Powers in the Balkans. The “blank cheque” was vital in bolstering Austro-Hungarian
leaders in their decision to embark on war against Serbia.
Bethmann Hollweg had also built into his
calculations the risk of a general European war and in supporting
Austria-Hungary he believed that were a European war to happen, better that it
happen in 1914 than several years later. This scenario, however, was not
considered a probability on 5 July. When that prospect became a probability in
late July, Bethmann Hollweg and Wilhelm II sought, but failed, to amend the
cheque.
William Mulligan, University College
Dublin
Germany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary
In EV news.
EV Battery Giant Faces Bankruptcy
18 November 2024
Swedish battery maker Northvolt, once a
leading player in Europe’s electric vehicle battery and energy storage markets,
is now grappling with severe financial difficulties.
The company is reportedly considering
filing for bankruptcy protection under U.S. Chapter 11 laws—or even declaring
outright bankruptcy, according to sources.
The Financial Times reports that some major
investors have already written down their stakes in Northvolt to zero.
"Chapter 11 is on the table, and
bankruptcy is still a possibility," a source familiar with the matter
revealed.
The company is grappling with a dire
financial crisis, having failed to secure the approximately €870 million needed
to stay afloat, according to CEO Peter Carlsson. Negotiations with potential
investors for fresh capital injections have stalled, leaving Northvolt in a
precarious position.
Financial Times sources
indicate that time is running out, with a decision on whether to file for
bankruptcy protection or proceed with bankruptcy expected as early as this
week.
Northvolt’s largest investor, German
automaker Volkswagen, is still a critical stakeholder. But BMW, another member
of the ownership group, has already canceled a significant order, compounding
the company's troubles.
Northvolt, once hailed as a pivotal player
in Europe’s electric vehicle battery and energy storage sectors, now faces a
pivotal moment in its history.
EV Battery Giant Faces Bankruptcy
Finally, the USA gets ready for a Thanksgiving travel boom next week.
Record 80 million Americans expected to travel for
Thanksgiving holiday, industry group says
By Doyinsola Oladipo November 18, 20245:05 AM GMT
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Americans are
expected to set a new record for Thanksgiving travel, with nearly 80 million to
hit the roads, catch flights and board cruises over the holiday period, travel
group AAA said on Monday.
About 1.7 million more people will travel
this year from Tuesday, Nov. 26 to Monday, Dec. 2, compared to a similar period
in 2023.
Although staffing and aircraft shortages
have capped the airline industry's ability to ramp up capacity during the
holidays in previous years, a record number
of Americans are expected to fly to their destinations this year.
American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new
tab plans
to shuttle 8.3 million passengers from Nov. 21 to Dec. 3, about 500,000 more
customers than last year. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new
tab said
it is expecting a record 6.5 million passengers over a 12-day period, a 5%
year-over-year increase.
Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new
tab and
American Airlines both said their passenger volumes will peak on Sunday, Dec.
1, as more travelers plan to return home immediately following the holiday
versus extending their trips.
United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new
tab said
its passenger volumes on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving
have increased 20% from 2023, while demand for Monday and Tuesday is flat. The
air carrier is expecting a record 6.2 million total passengers over a 13-day
period.
Travelers are paying more to travel
domestically this year, with the average airfare priced at $273 as of the end
of October, up 9% from last year, according to travel booking app Hopper.
However, airfares for the holiday remain lower than in 2022 and pre-pandemic
levels, the company said.
International flight booking numbers are
up 23% compared to last Thanksgiving, while average ticket costs are down 5%,
the AAA said.
CAR TRAVEL
AAA projects a record 71.7 million people
will embark on road trips across the country, a 1.3 million increase from last
year.
Falling oil prices may help push the
national average gasoline price below $3 a gallon for the first time since
2021.
BUS, CRUISE AND TRAIN TRAVEL
Nearly 2.3 million people are expected to
travel by other modes of transportation including by bus, a 9% increase from
2023 and an 18% jump from 2019, according to the AAA.
That is due in large part to the growing
popularity of cruising, as domestic and international cruise bookings are up
20% compared to last Thanksgiving.
Rail operator Amtrak said it carried more
than 1 million customers from Nov. 18 to Nov. 26 in 2023 and is expecting more
than that this year, a spokesperson said.
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.
How
socialism really works in reality.
UK
inflation set to jump above target in headache for Rachel Reeves
Monday
18 November 2024 7:13 am
UK
inflation is expected to have jumped above the Bank of England’s two per cent
target in October, bolstering a cautious approach to cutting interest rates in
the months ahead.
A
more gradual easing of monetary policy would be a headache for the new
government, which has tried to reassure markets that last month’s big-spend
Budget will boost economic growth without leading to runaway inflation.
Economists
forecast the consumer
price index (CPI),
due on Wednesday, to come in at 2.2 per cent for last month, up from 1.7 per
cent in September.
Higher
energy prices are expected to drive the increase, with regulator Ofgem hiking
its price cap on household bills by 9.5 per cent last month.
A
better, albeit still elevated, number is expected for underlying gauges like
services inflation, which rate-setters pay close attention to.
The
BoE forecasts services
inflation to tick up to five per cent in October, from 4.9 per cent in
September. Analysts at Deutsche Bank expect a slight slowdown to 4.8 per cent.
A
larger-than-expected rise could give policymakers further cause to leave rates
on hold in December, after already making two cuts this year.
BoE
governor Andrew Bailey has warned that services inflation “is easing only
gradually” and that a “more substantial fall” is unlikely this year.
His
comments underscore the BoE’s gradual approach towards cutting interest rates.
Markets expect policymakers to hold rates next month before making a
quarter-point cut in February.
Bailey
has also suggested policymakers are still waiting to judge the impact measures
in Chancellor
Rachel Reeves’ first Budget will have on the UK economy.
The
BoE raised its inflation forecasts for the next three years after Reeves
increased taxes on employers, which business
groups have warned could
lead to higher prices and a hiring slowdown.
“The
headaches in a sense are of her own making, given that despite two rate cuts,
yields and interest rate cut expectations have moved against her due to anxiety
over her Budget measures,” Michael Hewson, an analyst at Market Insights,
told City AM.
“Along
with an expectation that headline CPI is likely to edge back above two per cent
in the months ahead and sticky core and services inflation, it means that
markets have little confidence that the Bank of England will be able to cut
rates significantly before the middle of next year.”
Sanjay
Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, said the headline rate of inflation
would likely “pick up from here”.
More
UK inflation set to jump above target in headache for Rachel Reeves
Car
firms threaten to pull production from the UK over EV demands
19
November 2024
Labour
have been warned reducing electric vehicle targets will risk losing billions in
investment from the charging industry.
Several
major car makers are lobbying ministers to lower the 22 per cent electric
vehicle sales target imposed this year.
Some,
including Vauxhall owner Stellantis, have threatened to pull production from the UK entirely over the issue ahead of
crunch talks between senior ministers and industry figures this week.
Transport
Secretary Louise Haigh has insisted that the ‘mandate will not be weakened’
despite the growing pressure from firms.
Last
night she met with Japanese manufacturer Nissan, which reportedly intends to
use the wider meeting with ministers to warn that the UK car industry is
reaching a ‘crisis point’.
Ms
Haigh said afterwards: ‘We’re always open to engaging with industry and I had a
very constructive meeting with Nissan, where we discussed how together we can
decarbonise our car industry, support jobs and deliver growth.
‘The
UK now has the fastest growth of zero emission vehicles of any major European
market, and we’re providing more than £2.3 billion to support industry and
consumers in making the switch.’
The
zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, introduced in January by the
previous Tory government,
means 22 per cent of manufacturers’ car sales this year must be electric,
rising to 80 per cent in 2030. Currently, just 18 per cent of UK car sales are
electric vehicles.
But
figures in the vehicle charging industry have warned that any change to this
could result in billions in lost investment, however - leaving ministers caught
between the needs of car manufacturers and businesses investing in the electric
vehicle revolution.
More
Car firms threaten to pull production from the UK over EV demands
HSBC
bankers told to reapply for jobs with hundreds facing the axe in major overhaul
18
November 2024
HSBC
is preparing to axe hundreds of senior bankers over the coming weeks as part of
a sweeping overhaul by boss Georges Elhedery.
The
cost-cutting move – in the run-up to Christmas – will see managers asked to
reapply for roles in the bank’s newly formed corporate and institutional
banking unit.
It
will reportedly mean employees from HSBC’s commercial banking division
competing for the positions against those from the global banking and markets
unit.
The
interviews for the roles are already underway, Bloomberg News reported. HSBC
declined to comment.
The
bank employs more than 30,000 staff in the UK and over 200,000 worldwide.
Elhedery’s
predecessor Noel Quinn had already axed tens of thousands of jobs across the
group during five years in charge.
His
Lebanese-born successor took over in September, and last month he announced
plans to ‘simplify’ the sprawling bank.
Under
Elhedery’s restructuring plan, HSBC will be organised into four divisions: Hong
Kong; UK; corporate and institutional banking; and international wealth and
premier banking.
Businesses
within the latter two divisions will fall between eastern markets, including
Asia and the Middle East, and western markets, including the UK, Europe and the
Americas.
Elhedery,
50, warned staff there would ‘inevitably be a reduction in duplicated roles,
particularly at senior levels’. Reports have suggested the cuts could save more
than £200million.
----The
bank said it would ‘reduce the duplication of processes and decision making’
that are built into the current structure.
Some
investors want the restructuring to go further, severing the bank’s operations
in Asia entirely from its business in the UK and the rest of the world.
A
number of top level HSBC executives are already departing, including Nuno
Matos, head of wealth and personal banking, who missed out on the top job.
HSBC
was founded in Hong Kong and still makes most of its profits in Asia but
increasingly strained relations between the West and China’s repressive
Communist regime have created challenges for the bank.
HSBC bankers told to reapply for jobs with hundreds facing the axe in major overhaul
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Trump's former CDC director makes bombshell COVID claim
18
November 2024
A
former director of the CDC under Donald Trump says he
believes COVID-19 may have
been born in a North
Carolina laboratory
as part of a secret biodefense program.
Robert
Redfield has previously been a proponent of the 'lab leak' theory which posits
the disease came from the Wuhan Institute of
Virology in China.
Now
Redfield - a
frequent critic of
Dr. Anthony
Fauci -
says that the disease may have origins in the Tar Heel State.
Appearing
on the Third Opinion podcast, Redfield flat out stated that COVID-19 was
'intentionally engineered as a part of a biodefense program.'
He
now argues that China did not necessarily create the virus and did
the best that they could once 'they realized they had a
problem.
However,
he calls the United States' role in the development of the virus 'substantial.'
He
claims that the American government holds responsibility for funding research
into the NIH, USAID and the Department of Defense.
He
then calls out researcher Dr. Ralph Baric from the University of North
Carolina, whom he calls 'the scientific mastermind' behind all of this.
'I
think he probably helped create some of the original viral lines, but I can’t
prove that. But he was very involved,' he said.
When
pressed on whether the virus was 'actually developed here' and that the Chinese
may have been wrongfully accused of developing the virus, Redfield doubles
down.
'Well,
I don’t know if they were framed, but I think there is a real possibility that
the virus’s birthplace was Chapel Hill,' Redfield said, naming the hometown of
the University of North Carolina.
DailyMail.com
has reached out to Dr. Baric for comment.
More
Trump's former CDC director makes bombshell COVID claim
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.
Successful
test flights set to power Li-S Energy’s lithium-sulfur battery take-off
18
November 2024
Special
Report: Li-S Energy has lifted confidence in its commercial potential
by successfully completing the first drone test flights powered by one of its
12-cell lithium sulfur battery packs.
The
battery-tech startup is focused on high-growth target markets of uncrewed
aerial vehicle (UAVs) or drones, e-aviation, security and defence.
In all
those applications the reduced cell weight, extended range and longer flight
times Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) batteries
can provide are highly valued.
That
means the latest test flights are a significant achievement as they clearly
demonstrate that LIS’s energy dense lithium sulfur cells can be configured into
a battery pack, integrated into a fixed-wing UAV, then successfully used in a
typical flight with take-off, ascent, level flight, aerial manoeuvres and safe
landing.
The
Li-S Energy team manufactured the 6S2P battery pack using 12 10Ah lithium
sulfur (Li-S) cells on its state
of the art Phase 3 production line in Geelong.
The
nominal pack voltage was 11.4V, with capacity of 20Ah and weight of only 550
grams at a pack level. The pack was then integrated into the fixed-wing,
single-motor UAV with a 2.4-metre wingspan.
Test
flights were carried out using both catapult launch and hand-launch methods,
with each flight completed successfully.
While
LIS said the flights were not an endurance test, the total flight time was 30
minutes completed with a single battery pack with no intermediate recharge and
the battery pack was only partially discharged at the end of the tests.
Importantly,
on return to the LIS facility, the battery pack recharged successfully.
The
test flights follow last month’s globally
significant breakthrough for its unique lithium sulfur cell chemistry.
More
Successful test
flights set to power Li-S Energy’s lithium-sulfur battery take-off
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Governments
have persistently tried their best to promote, encourage, and expand the
circulation of bank and government paper, and to discourage the people's use of
gold itself.
Murray
Rothbard.
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