Baltic
Dry Index. 1495 +44 Brent Crude 73.57
Spot Gold 2669 US 2 Year Yield 4.26 +0.05
If two parties, instead of being a bank and an individual, were an individual and an individual, they could not inflate the circulating medium by a loan transaction, for the simple reason that the lender could not lend what he didn't have, as banks can do. Only commercial banks and trust companies can lend money that they manufacture by lending it.
Irving Fisher.
In the Asian stock casinos, an underwhelming reaction to the latest China economic stimulus measures.
Asia-Pacific markets slip as China data and
stimulus fall short of expectations
Updated Sun, Nov 10 2024 9:52 PM EST
Asia-Pacific markets fell Monday after
China’s latest stimulus measures underwhelmed and its October inflation numbers
came in lower than expected, prompting concerns over the recovery in the
world’s second-largest economy.
Beijing announced a five-year stimulus
package worth 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) to tackle local government debt
problems on Friday. However, some analysts
doubt it is enough to meaningfully stimulate growth.
The country’s inflation rate declined to
0.3%, missing expectations of 0.4% and also lower than the 0.4% seen in
September. Inflation fell for a second straight month and dropped to its lowest
in four months, LSEG data showed.
On Monday, China kicks off its Singles’
Day — the equivalent of Black Friday in the country. A note
from ING on Friday said that Singles’ Day will show how consumption
was faring in China.
“We suspect that given the shift toward
value-for-money purchases and online shopping, we’ll continue to see solid
growth numbers from the event that should comfortably outpace the overall
consumption growth momentum.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.5%,
while mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 1%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.40%,
while the broad-based Topix slipped 0.32%.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 1%, and the
small-cap Kosdaq was 1.9% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down
0.43%.
On Friday in the U.S., the stock market
climbed to fresh highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notching their
best week in a year after Donald Trump’s election win.
The blue-chip Dow rose 259.65 points, or
0.59%, to close at 43,988.99. During the session, the Dow traded above 44,000
for the first time ever
The S&P 500 gained 0.38% to
close at 5,995.54, after briefly trading above 6,000. However, the
tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose
just 0.09% to 19,286.78.
Asia markets live: Singles' Day, China CPI
S&P 500 futures are little changed following
broad index’s best week of the year: Live updates
Updated Sun, Nov 10 2024 6:17 PM EST
Stock futures are near flat Sunday night
as Wall Street looks to what’s next after a post-election rally propelled the
market to record highs.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial
Average added 19 points, trading slightly above breakeven. S&P 500 futures
were also little changed, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.2%.
Sunday’s action follows a big week for
U.S. stocks, with the three major averages closing at all-time
closing highs. The Dow and S&P 500 both notched
their strongest weeks in around one year, with the former at one point breaking
above the 44,000 level for the first time.
Last week’s rally was considered broad,
with both the tech-heavy Nasdaq
Composite and small cap-focused Russell 2000 also advancing.
A large chunk of the week’s gains came
Wednesday, when the Dow rallied
1,500 points after Donald Trump won the presidential election. Traders
also closely followed Thursday’s Federal Reserve policy announcement — where it
was revealed that interest rates would be once
again lowered — and the subsequent press conference with Chair Jerome
Powell.
“Investors hate uncertainty, and, with the
election decided, markets now have clarity, and are able to lay fears of a
contested election to rest,” Northern Trust investment chief Katie Nixon wrote
to clients on Friday. “Investors can now train their focus on what matters most
to markets — economic and corporate fundamentals.”
There is no economic data of note expected
Monday, but investors will be awaiting inflation
readings due out later in the week. Ticketmaster parent Live Nation and food and
facility service provider Aramark are
among companies reporting earnings on Monday.
Stock market today: Live updates
In other news.
Iron ore price drops toward $100 as China’s latest
fix disappoints
Bloomberg News | November 10, 2024
Iron ore fell toward $100 a ton as
Beijing’s latest efforts to revive the economy left investors disappointed,
while an expansion in Chinese port stockpiles highlighted ample supplies.
Futures declined as much as 2% in
Singapore after slumping on Friday, when the Chinese government unveiled a
debt-swap plan but stopped short of measures to directly boost domestic demand,
including in the beleaguered property sector.
The steel-making staple has retreated by
more than a quarter this year, hurt by China’s property slump and signs that
miners are boosting production. With mills in the top producer struggling to
sell steel domestically given the weak demand, exports of the alloy surged to
the highest level since 2015 last month.
Port holdings of iron ore in China have
expanded for the past four weeks to the highest level since early September. On
a seasonal basis, the inventories are at their biggest ever for this time of
year.
Iron ore futures fell 1.7% to $100.85 a
ton as of 10:47 a.m. in Singapore after losing 2.8% on Friday. In China,
yuan-priced contracts in Dalian dropped 2.3%, and steel futures in Shanghai
also declined.
Shares of leading iron ore mining
companies dropped in Australia, with BHP Group, Fortescue Ltd. and Rio Tinto
Group all declining.
In base metals, copper added 0.2% to
$9,458.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after capping a sixth straight
weekly decline. Aluminum rose 0.2%, while nickel dropped 0.9%.
Iron ore price drops toward $100 as China’s latest fix disappoints - MINING.COM
Fed’s Kashkari says Trump tariffs could reheat
inflation if they provoke global trade ‘tit for tat’
Published Sun, Nov 10 2024 1:04 PM EST
Minneapolis Federal
Reserve President Neel
Kashkari said Sunday that President-elect Donald
Trump’s tariff proposals could worsen long-term inflation if global trade
partners were to strike back.
One-time tariffs, Kashkari said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” “shouldn’t have an effect long
run on inflation.”
“The challenge becomes, if there’s a tit
for tat and it’s one country imposing tariffs and then responses and it’s
escalating. That’s where it becomes more concerning, and, frankly, a lot more
uncertain,” Kashkari said.
During his first term, Trump essentially
sparked a trade
war with China when he imposed a series of import taxes on Chinese
goods, which triggered the country to retaliate with its own set of tariffs on
the U.S.
One of Trump’s primary economic proposals
for his second term is to impose universal
tariffs on all imports from all countries — with a specifically
targeted 60% rate on China.
Economists, Wall Street analysts and
industry leaders have repeatedly expressed concerns over
the inflationary impact of that hardline trade approach, especially since
inflation has just begun to cool from its pandemic-era peaks.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in bringing
inflation down,” Kashkari said. “I mean, I don’t want to declare victory yet.
We need to finish the job, but we’re on a good path right now.”
The Fed on Thursday passed its second
consecutive interest
rate cut, continuing its effort to loosen monetary policy as inflation
approaches the central bank’s 2% target. Kashkari said he expects another cut
to come in December, but that will depend on “what the data looks like” at that
time.
As for Trump’s other major policy
proposals like a sweeping immigrant deportation
plan, Kashkari noted that the inflation threat is still unclear and so the Fed
is still taking a “wait and see” approach before adjusting its policy.
Trump and his backers like billionaire
Tesla CEO Elon
Musk have also been outspoken about their desire to give
the president input on Fed policy decisions. The central bank views
its political independence as a core feature that allows it to shape monetary
policy exclusively based on the health of the U.S. economy, not election
incentives.
But Kashkari said he is not concerned
about politics permeating Fed decisions.
“I’m confident that we will continue to
focus on our economic jobs,” he said. “That’s what should be dictating what
we’re doing and that is what’s dictating what we’re doing.”
Kashkari: Trump tariffs could reheat inflation if countries retaliate
What Trump’s mass deportation plan would mean for
immigrant workers and the economy
Published Sun, Nov 10 202 49:25 AM EST Updated
Sun, Nov 10 2024 11:41 AM EST
President-Elect Donald J. Trump won the
White House based partly on his
promises to rein in immigration, with targeted policies that range from
sending criminals to their home countries to more sweeping ones like mass
deportations. During the campaign, Trump pledged to end the Temporary Protected Status that
allows workers from select countries to come to the U.S. to work. If some of
the larger deportation efforts, like rolling back TPS, come to fruition,
experts say that there will be ripple effects felt in most sectors of the
economy, in particular construction, housing and agriculture.
Economists and labor specialists are most
worried about the economic impact of policies that would deport workers already
in the U.S., both documented and undocumented.
Staffing agencies were watching the
election especially closely.
“The morning after the election, we sat
down as a leadership team and explored what does this mean for talent
availability?” said Jason Leverant, president and COO of
the AtWork Group, a franchise-based national staffing
agency. AtWork provides commercial staffing in immigrant-heavy verticals
like warehouses, industrial, and agriculture in 39 states.
Workers – “talent” in industry parlance –
are already in short supply. While the worst of the labor crisis spurred
by the post-Covid economic boom has passed, and labor supply and
demand has come back into balance in recent months, the number of
workers available to fill jobs across the U.S. economy remains a closely
watched data point. Mass deportation would exacerbate this economic issue, say
employers and economists.
“If the proposed immigration policies come
into reality, there could be a significant impact,” Leverant said, pointing to
estimates that a mass deportation program could leave as many as one million
difficult-to-fill potential job openings.
More
What Trump mass deportation plan would mean for immigrants and economy
Finally, gearing up for Trump Trade War Two.
US farmers gird for trade wars on Trump tariff
pledges
Washington (AFP) – Donald Trump's first White House term saw a bruising trade war with China that left a lingering impact on farmers -- and many are bracing for further fallout as the President-elect threatens higher levies on Beijing.
10 November 2024
Trump tariffs since 2018 hit some $300
billion of Chinese imports, sparking retaliation that targeted key farm
products like soybeans and caused such exports to fall.
US farmers relied on subsidies to get by
at the time and say China has since reduced its reliance on American
agriculture products.
Trump has suggested tariffs on all imports
this time -- with an especially high rate on China -- making many farm owners
jittery of a return to trade tensions.
But this comes even as Trump's Republican
party saw wide support in rural areas during this year's election, with many
farmers supporting him despite the financial hit in the trade war. The hope is
for economic conditions to improve.
"There was no money to pay the bills,
no money to actually have a living out of the operation," said Ted Winter,
whose farm in Minnesota grows corn and soybeans.
Retaliatory tariffs on the United States
caused more than $27 billion in US agricultural export losses from mid-2018 to
late-2019, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) found.
China accounted for around 95 percent of
value lost.
Soybeans in particular made up nearly 71
percent of total trade loss, with Brazil gaining most of the lost trade.
Michael Slattery, who grows crops like
corn, soybeans and wheat in Wisconsin, added: "I view this second term
with tremendous trepidation."
Between 2017 and 2018 for example, his
soybean income fell by over $25,000 -- and government payouts to alleviate the
pain made up for just over half the shortfall.
The USDA estimates agriculture and related
industries contributed a 5.6 percent share to GDP in 2023, while direct on-farm
employment made up 2.6 million jobs as of recent years.
"What is more frightening is the
breakdown in commercial order that has taken decades to establish,"
Slattery said.
While US farm exports to China rebounded
after Washington and Beijing reached a trade war truce in 2020, a year after
the deal, American market share remained lower than levels seen before the
retaliatory tariffs were enacted.
"The tariffs that were imposed upon
China drove them to find other sources for their food needs," said Winter.
And without foreign buyers like China to
absorb excess farm production, the market becomes oversaturated, in turn
driving down prices and farmer incomes, said Slattery.
Federal payments may have been helpful to
farmers during the trade war, but trade ramifications extended long beyond it,
said Scott Gerlt, chief economist at the American Soybean Association (ASA).
Soybeans and corn will again be
"prime targets for tariffs" in a potential trade dispute, according
to a National Corn Growers Association and ASA report last month.
Both commodities account for about
one-fourth of the country's agriculture export value.
More
US farmers gird for trade wars on Trump tariff pledges
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.
British
Car Manufacturer Announces Second Round of Layoffs This Year
10
November 2024
The
British sports car manufacturer Lotus announced it will lay off up to 200
employees in the UK.
The
company which is owned by Chinese auto group Geely, is making its second round
of job cuts this year.
Streamlining
Operations
The
cuts follow previous rounds in 2023, reflecting the company’s efforts to
streamline operations and respond to changing market demands.
The
layoffs will impact the company’s Hethel division, which oversees the
production of the Emira sports car, the all-electric Evija hypercar, and the
development of the Type 135 project — a future electric replacement for the
Emira and Elise.
In
a statement to Autocar, Lotus said it will work to reassign or
retrain employees wherever possible to retain essential skills and knowledge
within the company, according to Boosted.
“These
proposed organizational changes at Lotus Cars are necessary to ensure that we
have the right structure to support sustainable operations,” Lotus said.
After
reviewing resources against market demand, the company stated that it will be
“optimizing internal processes and structures” to meet long-term business
goals.
The
auto industry is facing a turbulent period, with shifting demand, economic
challenges, and rapid transitions to electric vehicles (EVs) affecting even
longstanding brands like Lotus.
Rising
production costs, increased competition from electric car manufacturers, and a
global decline in luxury car sales have all pressured the market.
Many
companies are cutting costs to stay competitive, with major automakers like
Ford and General Motors also making significant layoffs and restructuring plans
this year.
The
latest round of layoffs is expected to affect up to 200 positions across Lotus’
UK operations.
Employees
were informed of the job risks earlier this week. At the close of 2023, Lotus
employed around 1,700 people in the UK, meaning the current reductions
represent a significant restructuring for the company.
Despite
the changes, Lotus confirmed that its Evija hypercar project, introduced by the
Advanced Performance team, will continue as planned.
However,
Simon Lane, who previously led the Advanced Performance division, recently left
the company.
Lotus
also stated that it still aims to launch its electric sports car, the Type 135,
by 2027. The recent unveiling of the Theory 1 concept model provides a glimpse
into the brand’s future direction, but the challenging market raises questions
about how sustainable this vision will be.
British Car Manufacturer Announces Second Round of Layoffs This Year
Stellantis
to lay off 400 workers at Detroit parts facility
November
8, 2024
DETROIT
(Reuters) - Stellantis added to its rising tally of layoffs on Friday, saying
400 workers at a Detroit automotive parts facility would indefinitely lose
their jobs as the carmaker reduces costs in its struggling North American
business.
"As
Stellantis navigates a transitional year, the focus is on realigning its U.S.
operations to ensure a strong start to 2025," the company said in a
statement.
The
automaker on Wednesday laid off about 1,100 employees at a Jeep Gladiator plant
in Ohio, and in August cut as many as 2,450 unionized jobs at a Michigan
facility as it ended production of the Ram 1500 Classic truck.
Stellantis'
emphasis on cost-cutting has intensified as CEO Carlos Tavares tries to reverse
its sliding sales and profits in the U.S.
Tavares
recently shook up his top management, and the company announced he would retire
after his contract ends in early 2026. Stellantis' stock is down about 41% this
year.
While
the company has reduced its salaried workforce through voluntary buyouts, job
cuts among its manufacturing employees represented by the United Auto Workers
union have gathered the most attention from politicians.
The
UAW didn't respond to a request for comment.
President-elect
Donald Trump recently warned that he would place a 100% tariff on Stellantis if
the automaker tried moving U.S. jobs to Mexico.
Stellantis to lay off 400 workers at Detroit parts facility
Stellantis
set to again halt production at Italy's Mirafiori plant
November
8, 2024
MILAN
(Reuters) -Automaker Stellantis will once again halt car production at its
historic Mirafiori plant in Italy, which makes the electric Fiat 500 and two
Maserati models, a trade union source said on Friday, confirming press reports.
Auto
production at the site, which had been suspended from mid-September until Nov.
1 due to poor demand, resumed this week but is due to stop again for the whole
of December, the source said, citing "inside information".
He
said Stellantis had not yet officially communicated the move to unions - as is
customary in such circumstances - but the new pause seemed inevitable given the
information coming from suppliers and other sources.
Earlier,
Italian MF daily said the Fiat 500 assembly line had reopened on Monday on a
reduced output of 170 vehicles per day, and would close again for the whole of
next month, "with a reopening after January 7".
Mirafiori,
based in northwestern Turin, the hometown of the Fiat brand, is a massive
industrial complex that is largely idle. The trade union source said the
December stoppage would also involve its slow-selling Maserati sports cars.
MF
said Stellantis had concentrated three months' worth of Fiat 500 orders into
November production, and wanted but failed to also have some output in December
due to supply problems leading to a shortage of components.
"This
is a rumour that has no official confirmation. The company will verify in the
coming weeks the production schedules for December," a spokesperson for
Stellantis told Reuters when asked for comment on the newspaper's report.
The
Turin head of the FIM-Cisl union, Rocco Cutri, told Reuters that his
organisation had no certainties, but was nevertheless expecting Mirafiori
workers to be furloughed again at the end of November "for at least two to
three weeks".
Stellantis
is facing industry-wide challenges such as low demand for more expensive
electric vehicles and competition from China. It is also grappling with bloated
U.S. inventories that have led it to cut profit and cash-flow forecasts.
Stellantis set to again halt production at Italy's Mirafiori plant
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Why no product recall for the Covid vaccines? Approx. 17 minutes.
Pharmaceutical
product recall
Pharmaceutical product recall - YouTube
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.
Engineering
Graphene’s Properties Through Physical Manipulation
November
8, 2024
A
study published in Nano Letters by researchers from the Florida
State University Department of Physics
and FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory explores how
physical manipulations of graphene, such as layering and twisting, affect its
optical properties and conductivity.
Graphene
is known for its conductivity, which exceeds that of copper, as well as its
strength and lightweight nature, making it suitable for various applications in
electrically conductive nanomaterials. This
form of naturally occurring elemental carbon consists of a single flat layer of
carbon atoms arranged in a repeating hexagonal lattice, prompting ongoing
research into its properties.
The
research team, led by Assistant Professors Guangxin Ni and Cyprian Lewandowski,
along with graduate research assistant Ty Wilson, found that the conductivity
of twisted bilayer graphene is more influenced by small geometric structure
changes caused by interlayer twisting than by physical or chemical
manipulations. This discovery lays the groundwork for further investigation
into the effects of lower temperatures and frequencies on graphene's
characteristics.
This
specific path of research began as an attempt to explain some of the optical
properties of twisted bilayer graphene, as this material has been imaged with
scanning near-field optical microscopes before, but not in a way that compared
different twisting angles. We wanted to examine this material from that
perspective.
Ty
Wilson, Graduate Research Assistant, Florida State University
To
conduct the study, the group captured images of plasmons—tiny energy waves
generated when the electrons in a material move in unison—and observed their
presence in various areas of the twisted bilayer graphene.
Wilson
added, “The scanning near-field optical microscope essentially shines a
certain wavelength of infrared light onto the sample, and the scattered light
is collected back to form a nanoscale image that is way below the diffraction
limit. The key here is that it involves a needle that substantially boosts the
light-matter coupling, enabling us to see these plasmons using nano-light.”
----The team found that even when the graphene is electrically
doped and subjected to varying infrared light frequencies, the optical
conductivity of twisted bilayer graphene with boron nitride remains relatively
unchanged for twist angles smaller than two degrees.
“What
this tells us is the opto-electronic properties of this super-moiré material
are independent of chemical doping or the twisted bilayer graphene’s twist
angle, and instead depend more on the super-moiré structure itself and how it
affects the electronic bands in the material, allowing for enhanced optical
conductivity,” Wilson added.
Lewandowski
stated that this result is exciting because it shows how multilayer moiré
systems can be used to create materials with “on-demand” optical properties.
----The team's findings illustrate the important role of
geometric relaxations in double-moiré lattices, improving researchers'
understanding of how nanomaterials like graphene respond to different
manipulations.
This
knowledge can be used to aid in the development of specific optical
characteristics, such as enhanced conductivity, in materials. Such advancements
could contribute to practical applications in moiré optoelectronics, including
thermal imaging technologies and optical switching in computer processors.
More
Engineering
Graphene’s Properties Through Physical Manipulation
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Stock
prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. I do not feel
there will be soon if ever a 50 or 60 point break from present levels, such as
(bears) have predicted. I expect to see the stock market a good deal higher
within a few months.
Irving Fisher, September 1929.
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