Baltic
Dry Index. 1015 -28
Brent Crude 77.57
Spot Gold 2650 US 2 Year Yield 4.30 +0.02
It used to be said that when the U.S. sneezed, the world caught a cold. The opposite is equally true today. Our prosperity is linked inextricably to the maintenance of a strong world economy, an open international trading system, and stable global financial markets.
Lawrence Summers.
Little need for my input this morning, except to say I’m glad I’m not in the US Army, now facing the prospect of a large part freezing in Greenland and Canada, aka Greater Alaska, or sweating in the jungles of Panama, Gulf of America.
Look away from that rising oil price and rapidly normalising US Treasury yield curve now, (recession directly ahead?)
Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed after higher
Treasury yields drag down Wall Street
Updated Wed, Jan 8 2025 12:57 AM EST
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed
Wednesday, following Wall Street declines after Treasury yields rose and major
U.S. tech stocks declined.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.16%,
while the Topix lost 0.55%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.27% while the
Kosdaq Index was flat.
Shares of South Korean tech giant Samsung
Electronics rose 3.61% in choppy trading, shrugging off a worse-than-expected profit forecast for the fourth quarter.
The world’s top memory chip maker said its
operating profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 would be around 6.5
trillion won ($4.47 billion), missing LSEG estimates of 7.7 trillion won.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped
0.98%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.78%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.77%
higher to close at 8,349.1.
Shares of Chinese tech firm Tencent Holdings fell 2.32%
after extending from
an almost 8% decline on Tuesday following its inclusion in the U.S.
Department of Defense list of “Chinese military companies.” Shares of battery
maker CATL, which was
also included in the list, lost 1%.
Overnight in the U.S., declines across
major tech stocks dragged the market lower.
The S&P 500 dipped 1.11% to
close at 5,909.03. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average lost 178.20 points, or 0.42%, and ended at
42,528.36. The Nasdaq
Composite slid 1.89% to 19,489.68. The major averages traded higher
earlier in the day before rolling over. Nvidia shares fell 6.2% after
hitting a record.
Tesla slipped
4% after Bank of America downgraded the
electric-vehicle maker given its high valuation and risks associated with its
strategy. Meta Platforms shed
nearly 2%, while Apple and Microsoft each dipped more
than 1%.
Asia markets live: Samsung earnings guidance, Tencent, Asia tech
European markets expected to open broadly lower as
traders assess the region’s economic outlook
Updated Wed, Jan 8 2025 12:38 AM EST
European markets are expected to open
broadly lower Wednesday as traders assessed the region’s economic outlook.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected
to open 4 points lower at 8,242, Germany’s DAX down 40 points at
20,308, France’s CAC down
22 points at 7,477 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 83 points at
34,922, according to data from IG.
Traders will be keeping an eye on European
consumer confidence and economic sentiment data. On the earnings front, Shell is set to release
its fourth-quarter update.
Asia-Pacific
markets traded mixed Wednesday while U.S.
stock futures ticked higher. The move comes after a sharp decline in
Big Tech stocks and renewed fears over the path of rate cuts spurred a sell-off
on Wall Street on Tuesday.
European markets closed higher on Tuesday
as investors in the region digested the latest inflation data that showed
consumer prices in the euro zone rose to 2.4% in December, up from 2.2% in
November.
The print — which was in line with
expectations, according to a Reuters poll of economists — was lifted by high
services costs and rising energy prices.
European markets live updates: stocks, news, earnings and data
Stock futures inch higher after tech-driven
sell-off: Live updates
Updated Wed, Jan 8 2025 12:33 AM EST
U.S. stock futures ticked higher early
Wednesday. The action comes after a sharp decline in Big Tech stocks and
renewed fears over the path of rate cuts spurred a sell-off on Wall Street.
S&P 500 futures rose
0.23%, while Nasdaq 100
futures gained 0.22%. Futures
tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 81 points, or
roughly 0.19%.
Stocks were under pressure during
Tuesday’s regular session, as all three major averages finished solidly in the
red on the heels of new data on the state of the U.S. services industry. For
December, the Institute for Supply Management’s services index showed
an acceleration of activity in the space.
That said, the ISM reading also showed an
increase in prices on the month, fanning concerns around stubborn inflation and
raising questions around this year’s trajectory of interest rate cuts from the
Federal Reserve. According to the CME’s FedWatch tool, fed funds futures trading data reflect a 95%
chance of no reductions at the central bank’s meeting this month.
On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite led the
pack in losses, dropping nearly 2%. The broad market S&P 500 and
blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial
Average, which slid more than 1% and around 0.4%, respectively.
Nvidia led
the losses in tech in the session, falling more than 6%. Tesla and Meta Platforms tumbled 4% and
almost 2%, respectively.
The December ISM data also spurred a spike
in Treasury yields Tuesday, sending the rate on the benchmark 10-year note to an intraday
high of 4.699%. That marks its highest level since April.
Ayako Yoshioka, a portfolio consulting
director at Wealth Enhancement Group, thinks the positive story for the market
is still intact for 2025, even if the path to “decent” returns is more
volatile, as she expects.
“We have so many different crosscurrents,
whether it’s on the growth side, the inflation side, policy changes,” Yoshioka
said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Closing
Bell.” “Those are going to probably rattle markets at times, but I think
they’re going to be overall just buying opportunities in the long term.”
Investors are now looking ahead to the ADP
private payrolls report and jobless claims data. Both are due Wednesday
morning. Minutes from the Fed’s December meeting are slated for release at 2
p.m. ET.
Stock market today: Live updates
In other news.
Bridgewater Cuts 7% of Staff in Effort to Remain
‘Nimble’
- About
90 staff were dismissed by world’s biggest hedge fund
- Firm
posted double-digit gains for most strategies last year
By Gillian Tan and Nishant Kumar
January 6, 2025 at 11:39 PM GMT Updated on January 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM GMT
Bridgewater
Associates dismissed
7% of its workforce Monday as the world’s biggest hedge fund seeks to remain
lean and maintain the flexibility to hire top talent, according to a person
familiar with the matter.
The cuts affect about 90 employees, said
the person, who asked not to be identified because the information hasn’t been
announced publicly. The firm, whose headcount is now back to where it was in
2023, will continue hiring selectively, the person said.
More, subscription required,
Bridgewater Dismisses 7% of Staff in Effort to Remain ‘Nimble’ - Bloomberg
A ‘painful sequel’ to the Budget may be coming,
Deutsche Bank warns
Tuesday 07 January 2025 2:42 pm
Businesses should brace for a “painful
sequel to the autumn Budget” this year as lacklustre growth raises
the threat of further tax hikes from Rachel Reeves, Deutsche Bank has warned.
In a note to investors, the investment
bank warned that growth was likely to slide below the Office for Budget
Responsibility’s (OBR) projections in October after the economy flatlined
toward the end of last year.
The UK economy shrank 0.1 per cent in
October in its second consecutive monthly contraction.
Traders have also reined in their bets on
interest rate cuts in the next 12 months, meaning that “big revisions” were
likely to the OBR’s macroeconomic projections, according to Deutsche Bank.
“As a result of [this], more borrowing and
tax rises, we think, will be likely this year,” wrote Sanjay Raja, the bank’s
chief UK economist.
“We think Chancellor Reeves will likely
need to lift taxes at least one more time following last year’s historic tax
raising event,” he added.
The warnings come after Reeves launched a
£40bn tax raid at her maiden Budget, falling largely on the shoulders of
business and the wealthy, alongside a £70bn a year spending splurge.
While the increase in spending is expected
to fuel a short term lift in growth, the OBR said the average rate of expansion
over the next five years was unlikely to move.
The centrepiece of Reeves’ Budget, a £25bn
rise in national insurance contribution, has triggered fury from businesses and
warnings of painful price rises over the next 12 months.
Some of the country’s biggest retailers
warned the charge is likely to lead to price rises and job losses this year.
Deutsche Bank has predicted previously the rise in employers’
national insurance could end up costing the economy over 100,000 jobs.
More
A ‘painful sequel’ to the Budget may be coming, Deutsche Bank warns
UK bills could rise - as Europe's gas consumption
falls by 'unprecedented' amount
6 January 2025
Here's a quiz question: how much would you
say the supply of non-Russian gas to Europe (including the UK) has gone up
since the invasion of Ukraine?
It's a pretty important question. After
all, in the years before the invasion, Russian gas (coming in
mostly through pipelines but, to a lesser extent, also on liquefied natural gas
[LNG] tankers) accounted for more than a third of our gas.
If Europe was going to stop relying on
Russian gas, it would need either to source that gas from somewhere else or to
learn to live without it. And while there might, a few decades hence, be a way
of surviving without gas while also nursing important heavy industries, right
now the technology isn't there.
For decades, Europe -
especially Germany, but also, to a
lesser extent Italy and other parts of Eastern Europe - built their economic
models on building advanced machinery, with their plants fuelled by cheap
Russian gas.
All of which is why that question matters.
And so too does the answer. The conventional wisdom is that Europe has shored
up its supplies of gas from elsewhere. There's more methane coming in from
Azerbaijan, for one thing. And more too in the form of LNG from Qatar and
(especially) the US.
But now let's ponder the actual data. And
it shows you something else: in 2024 as a whole, the amount of gas Europe had
from non-Russian sources was up by a mere 0.5% compared with the 2017-21
average.
This isn't to say that there wasn't more
gas coming in, primarily from LNG tankers, most (but not all) of them from the
US. But that extra LNG was only enough to compensate for a sharp fall in gas
produced domestically, for instance by the UK and the Netherlands. The upshot
was that to all extents and purposes, the non-Russian part of the European gas
mix was basically flat.
That's a serious problem, given the amount
of gas coming in from Russia has fallen by 37% over the same period.
Essentially, Europe's total gas consumption has fallen by an unprecedented
amount without being supplemented from elsewhere.
----With the continent having effectively
to ration gas, the industrial heart has borne the brunt. Look at chemicals
production in the UK and it's down by more than a third in recent years. Look
at energy-intensive industrial output in Germany and it's down by 20% since the
invasion of Ukraine. The continent is deindustrialising, and the shortage of
gas is at least part of the explanation.
And that shortage is about to become even
more acute in the coming months. Because the flow of gas coming from Russia is
going to fall yet further.
More
UK bills could rise - as Europe's gas consumption falls by 'unprecedented' amount
Finally, Trump v the Rest of the World? If “might make right” becomes the new international law, a return to the rule of empires looms.
Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to
take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal
Updated 1:11 AM GMT, January 8, 2025
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) —
President-elect Donald Trump on
Tuesday said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control
of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared U.S. control of both to be
vital to American national security.
Speaking to reporters less than two weeks
before he takes
office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that
includes Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the
American military to secure both territories. Trump’s intention marks a
rejection of decades of U.S. policy that has prioritized self-determination
over territorial expansion.
“I’m not going to commit to that,” Trump
said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military. “It might be
that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country.” He
added, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
Greenland, home to a large U.S. military
base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a
founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim
to Greenland.
The Panama Canal has been solely
controlled by the eponymous country for more than 25 years. The U.S. returned
the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in
controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.
Addressing Trump’s comments in an
interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called
the United States Denmark’s “most important and closest ally,” and that she did
not believe that the United States will use military or economic power to
secure control over Greenland.
Frederiksen repeated that she welcomed the
United States taking a greater interest in the Arctic region, but that it would
“have to be done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people,” she
said.
---- Earlier, Trump posted a video of his
private plane landing in Nuuk, the Arctic territory’s capital, in a landscape
of snow-capped peaks and fjords.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in
Greenland,” Trump wrote. “The reception has been great. They, and the Free
World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must
happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
In a statement, Greenland’s government
said Donald Trump Jr.’s visit was taking place “as a private individual” and
not as an official visit, and Greenlandic representatives would not meet with
him.
Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier
Martínez-Acha said his government hasn’t had formal contact with Trump or
representatives of the incoming administration but reiterated previous comments
from the country’s president, José Raúl Mulino, who said
last month that the canal will remain in Panamanian hands.
“The sovereignty of our canal is not
negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible
conquest,” Martínez-Acha said.
Trump, a Republican, has also floated
having Canada join the United States as the 51st state. He said Tuesday that he
would not use military force to invade the country, which is home to more than
40 million people and is a founding NATO partner.
Instead, he said, he would would rely on
“economic force” as he cast the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — a natural
resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities like crude oil and
petroleum — as a subsidy that would be coming to an end.
Canadian leaders fired back after
earlier dismissing Trump’s rhetoric as a joke.
“President-elect Trump’s comments show a
complete lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our
economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down in the face
of threats,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a post on X.
Justin Trudeau, the
country’s outgoing prime
minister, was even more blunt.
“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell
that Canada would become part of the United States,” he
wrote.
Promising a “Golden age of America,” Trump
also said he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of
America,” saying that has a “beautiful ring to it.”
More
Trump
refuses to rule out military use to take over Greenland, Panama Canal | AP News
Trump threatens to use 'economic force' to make
Canada 51st state
The Canadian Press January 7, 2025
WASHINGTON — U.S. president-elect Donald
Trump threatened Tuesday to use “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state
and doubled down on his tariff threats as he criticized Canada’s military
spending and trade with the United States.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn
line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much
better for national security,” Trump said, referring to the border between
Canada and the U.S.
“And don’t forget, we basically protect
Canada.”
In his first news conference since the
certification of his election win, Trump said he will impose “substantial”
tariffs on Canada and Mexico when he returns to the White House in less than
two weeks.
The president-elect said previously he’ll
slap 25 per cent duties on imports from America’s closest neighbours unless
they stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the border.
In November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in an attempt to counter
Trump’s tariff threats.
Canada subsequently announced a series of
measures to beef up border security with a $1.3-billion package but Trump
indicated he still intends to proceed with his tariff plan.
Trump mused about that meeting with
Trudeau during Tuesday’s news conference and claimed repeatedly that Canada is
subsidized by the U.S.
The Republican leader said he asked
Trudeau why Canada relied on trade with the United States and suggested the
prime minister responded that he didn’t know.
“I can answer it. We are doing it because
of habit and we are doing it because we like our neighbours, and we’ve been
good neighbours. But we can’t do it forever and it’s a tremendous amount of
money,” Trump said.
“I said that’s okay to have if you are a
state. But if you are another country, we don’t want to have it,” Trump added,
suggesting Canada should become the 51st state.
The president-elect also criticized
Canada’s level of military funding and said he told hockey legend Wayne Gretzky
to run for prime minister.
Trump threatens to use 'economic force' to make Canada 51st state
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.
Average
UK house price dipped by 0.2% month-on-month in December, says Halifax
7
January 2025
House
prices dipped by 0.2% month-on-month on average in December following five
months in a row of rises, according to an index.
On
an annual basis, property prices increased by 3.3% typically, taking the
average UK house price to £297,166, Halifax said.
Amanda
Bryden, head of mortgages, Halifax, said: “Prices fell back slightly in
December, by 0.2%, following five consecutive monthly increases.
“The
housing market was broadly steady at the start of 2024, with house price growth
taking off from the summer onwards. In the latter half of the year, house
prices grew in response to the falls in mortgage rates, alongside income
growth, both leading to financial pressures somewhat easing for buyers.”
She
said changes to stamp duty from April, which will see the “nil rate” band for
first-time buyers shrink from £425,000 to £300,000, have given prospective
first-time buyers more motivation to get on the housing ladder and bring any
home-buying plans forward. Stamp duty applies in
England and Northern Ireland.
Ms
Bryden said that, looking to 2025, “mortgage affordability will remain a
challenge for many, especially as the (Bank of England base rate) is
likely to come down more slowly than previously predicted.
“However,
providing employment conditions don’t deteriorate markedly from a more recent
softening, buyer demand should hold up relatively well and, taking all this
into account, we’re continuing to anticipate modest house price growth this
year.”
costs
triggered by the Budget start to bite
Tom
Bill, Knight Frank
Nathan
Emerson, CEO of property professionals’ body Propertymark, said: “As people
start to feel more settled within their financial position, and with an
expected rush as many people across England and Northern Ireland provision
themselves to navigate stamp duty rises from April, we expect to see an upbeat
and confident start to the year.”
Mark
Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “With
HSBC, Halifax and Leeds Building Society among those lenders reducing some of
their mortgage rates this month, the new year has got off to an encouraging
start. Borrowers will be hoping that other lenders follow suit and that the
Bank of England delivers further rate reductions, helping ease affordability
concerns.”
More
Average UK house price dipped by 0.2% month-on-month in December, says Halifax
UK retailers may have to cut thousands of jobs after bleak Christmas
7
January 2025
Britain’s
largest retailers are warning they could be forced to cut thousands of jobs
this year as the industry braces for higher taxes and employment costs after a
bleak Christmas shopping season.
In
the latest sign of tough trading conditions on the high street, figures from
the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show sales growth over the “golden quarter”
between October and December came close to flatlining.
For
the three months to December – when many retailers make the bulk of their
annual profits – the BRC said total UK retail sales growth was 0.4% year on
year as shoppers prioritised spending on food and drink over the festive
season. Once inflation was factored in, retail sales by volume slid over the
year.
For
2024 overall, total sales increased by 0.7% from 2023, highlighting a cautious
approach to consumer spending as households continue to grapple with higher
prices after the worst inflation shock in decades.
Separate
figures from Barclays show zero growth in consumer card spending in December,
as households cut back on essential items and pub and restaurant meals in
favour of spending on experiences.
Helen
Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC, said retailers were poised for a
challenging year as they faced £7bn of additional costs from tax increases and
new regulations planned by the government.
Pressure
is mounting on Keir Starmer’s government amid signs of a worsening slowdown in
the British economy, with growth on track to have flatlined for the entire
second half of 2024.
Business
leaders have warned that measures in Labour’s budget to increase employer national insurance
contributions by
£25bn from April and a 6.7%
rise in the national minimum wage will force companies to cut jobs or
pass on the higher employment costs in the form of higher prices.
Clive
Black, a retail industry analyst, said he had doubled his forecast for food
inflation to 3% for 2025 from 1.5%, claiming it was “UK government policy that
is now the prime source of grocery price appreciation”.
Retailers
including Tesco,
Marks & Spencer and Next wrote to Rachel Reeves in November to warn that a
£7bn increase in annual costs after the budget would lead to job cuts and
higher prices.
More
UK retailers may have to cut thousands of jobs after bleak Christmas
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Flu and RSV cases surge in B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations also rising, BCCDC data shows
7
January 2025
Respiratory
illnesses are rising in B.C., with flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
cases climbing, especially among children, according to the B.C. Centre for
Disease Control's latest update.
The
data, which covers the week of Dec.
22 to 28, 2024,
shows Influenza A remains the most common strain this flu season with 11.7 per
cent of recent tests coming back positive — an uptick of 2.5 per
cent compared to last week.
RSV
cases, which usually cause a minor cold but can cause severe illness in
vulnerable groups, have reached 12.3 percent driven primarily by pediatric
patients, compared to 0.3 per cent the week before.
Older
adults and newborns are among those most at risk from RSV, a
leading cause of
seasonal hospitalizations each winter for children in Canada.
The
rise in flu and RSV cases is being felt in hospital emergency departments,
particularly in pediatric care.
BCCDC's
data shows respiratory-related visits accounted for over 37 per cent of all pediatric
emergency department cases during the reporting period — a more than five per
cent increase from the week before. Adult respiratory-related visits also
climbed, though at a slower pace.
COVID-19
activity is also rising, according to the BCCDC, with the percentage of cases
testing positive increasing to five percent for the week of Dec. 22 to 28, up
from 0.3 per cent the week before. The BCCDC says about 128 people were in
hospital with the disease by Dec. 28, up from 84 for the week of Dec. 12.
With
respiratory viruses circulating at high levels, health officials stress the
importance, particularly for vulnerable groups, of taking precautions.
The
province reports that as of Jan. 5, more than 1.3 million flu vaccines
had been administered this respiratory illness season.
Flu
seasons typically last until the end of March.
Flu and RSV cases surge in B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations also rising, BCCDC data shows
Norovirus
and respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 on the rise
Nakayla
MCCLELLAND, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Tue,
January 7, 2025 at 4:01 AM GMT
Jan.
6—If you've woken up with sweaty palms, shaky hands and a grumbling stomach
begging for relief, you're not alone. The new year brought a warm winter, new habits
and an uptick of norovirus — commonly called the stomach flu.
"Norovirus
outbreaks occur throughout the year but are most common from November to
April," said Nick Spinelli, public affairs specialist for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. "This year, the number of reported
norovirus outbreaks have exceeded the numbers that we've seen recently and in
the years before the pandemic."
Though
sometimes called the stomach flu, norovirus is not the same as the flu.
"Flu
is caused by the influenza virus and causes respiratory illness,"
according to a statement from the New Mexico Department of Health.
"Norovirus causes gastroenteritis, which is inflammation of the stomach or
intestines that causes nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea."
The
virus can be passed person-to-person through touch, contaminated food or water
or contaminated surfaces and become more viral during the holiday season.
"I
think we see an increase in all of those contagious illnesses after the
holidays, partly because it's winter and partly because we're all
together," said Miranda Durham, NMDOH Chief Medical Officer. "January
is often a rough time for all these contagious illnesses."
---- Wastewater viral activity — a way to
monitor infection and bacteria in wastewater to determine the spread of
infections — indicates a very high presence of COVID-19, the flu and
respiratory syncytial virus, also called RSV, in New Mexico, according to the
CDC. New Mexico is the only state in the country to have high numbers in each
of the three respiratory illnesses monitored.
More
Norovirus and respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 on the rise
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.
The Power of
Raman Spectroscopy: From Graphene to Semiconductors
January
6, 2025
insights from
industryMatt Gabel & Sudhir DahalRaman Applications Scientist & Product
ManagerThermo Fisher Scientific
In
this interview, industry experts Sudhir Dahal and Matt Gabel, discuss the
transformative role of Raman spectroscopy in advancing material science,
highlighting its applications in batteries, graphene, semiconductors, and
next-generation material research.
What
is Raman spectroscopy, and what makes it such a valuable tool in material
science?
Sudhir: Raman
spectroscopy is a powerful optical technique in which a laser excites a
sample and we analyze the scattered light to gain molecular insights. It
is incredibly sensitive to bond strength, angles, and structural changes,
making it indispensable for identifying compounds and even distinguishing
between similar ones. What is unique about Raman is its non-destructive
nature, with no sample preparation needed. You can measure it in real-time and
even through containers, and its versatility spans analyzing batteries,
graphene, semiconductors, and many other materials.
How
does Raman spectroscopy contribute to advancements in battery technology?
Sudhir: Raman
spectroscopy is an invaluable technique for critical areas of lithium-ion
battery research and production. It plays a key role in:
- Raw Material Processing: It monitors
lithium carbonate production almost instantly, ensuring high yields
and an efficient process.
- Component Analysis: Raman can map
chemical compositions and spatial distributions by analyzing anode and
cathode materials. For instance, it distinguishes graphite and carbon
black layers in anodes, even detecting subtle stress or chemical changes
post-use.
- Quality Control: Raman
microscopy can image separator layers, detecting issues like insufficient
thickness that might lead to battery failures. Its ability to analyze
without damaging samples makes it critical for advancing safety and
reliability.
Why is Raman spectroscopy ideal for studying
graphene?
Matt: Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in a
hexagonal lattice, has exceptional strength and conductivity. Raman
spectroscopy can differentiate graphene from graphite or other carbon materials
by its unique G-band and 2D-band peaks. Even subtle shifts in these peaks
indicate the number of layers or structural quality. Beyond single-point
analysis, Raman microscopy maps growth patterns, defects, and homogeneity. This
non-contact, precise approach accelerates graphene research and ensures the
high-quality production of this game-changing material.
More
The Power of Raman
Spectroscopy: From Graphene to Semiconductors
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
In
China anything less than 6% growth is a recession meaning that it also causes
financial problems and it's disruptive and it's a problem.
Ray Dalio.
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