Baltic Dry Index. 1262 -14 Brent Crude 70.80
Spot Gold 2918 US 2 Year Yield 3.96 unch.
US Federal Debt. 36.556 trillion!
Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility.
Ambrose Bierce.
With President Trump’s speech to Congress leading mainstream media this morning, I will only comment on wishing all involved in trying to end the war in Ukraine, success.
In the Asian stock casinos, the focus is on the new economic rescue plan for China.
In North American stock casinos, the likely focus today will be on President Trump’s speech and whether only one day in to the new Trump tariffs, President Trump is about to U-turn on their severity.
In the European stock casinos, the focus will likely stay on the increased round of defence spending, and the likelihood of an interest rate cut by the ECB tomorrow. In the UK casinos, outrage at VP J. D. Vance’s slur on the British Army, though this won’t affect the gambling.
Asia-Pacific
markets mostly higher as investors assess China GDP and inflation targets
Updated
Wed, Mar 5 2025 11:53 PM EST
Asia-Pacific
markets were mostly higher Wednesday as investors assessed China growth and
inflation targets amid U.S. tariffs and
escalating global trade tensions weighing down sentiment.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.77%.
Australia’s economy expanded 1.3% year on year in the fourth quarter, beating
expectations of 1.2% from economists polled by Reuters.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.37% while
the Topix climbed 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.11% while the
small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.91%.
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng Index added
1.65%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.32%.
Investors
are also focused on China’s “Two Sessions,” an annual parliamentary
gathering, with the meeting of its top legislature, the National People’s
Congress, kickstarting Wednesday.
China on
Wednesday set its GDP growth target for 2025 at around 5%. The country has also
lowered its inflation expectations to “around 2%.”
Trump’s
25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took effect Tuesday. The president
also imposed an additional 10% duty on Chinese goods, bringing the total new
tariffs on China to 20%.
Overnight
in the U.S., the three major averages closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled
for a second day, dropping 670.25 points, or 1.55% and ended the session at
42,520.99. The S&P 500 dropped
1.22% to close at 5,778.15 after notching its worst
day of the year in the prior session. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.35%
and finished at 18,285.16.
Asia
markets live: China NPC, Australia GDP
Stock futures
rise after Commerce Secretary Lutnick suggests possible compromise on Trump
tariffs: Live updates
Updated
Wed, Mar 5 2025 8:20 PM EST
U.S.
stock futures rose Tuesday night after all three major averages suffered sharp
losses for a second session.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average rose 206 points, or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each
added about 0.6%.
The
blue-chip Dow tumbled
670.25 points, or 1.55%, to end Tuesday’s regular trading session. The S&P 500 dropped 1.22%,
and the Nasdaq Composite shed
0.35%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq had dipped more than 2% at its lowest point and
came within striking distance of correction territory, a term that refers to an
index falling 10% from a recent peak.
U.S.
stocks slid for their second day in a row after President Donald Trump’s new
25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico officially took effect on Tuesday. In
response, Canada, Mexico and China — with China hit by an additional 10% duty —
have prepared retaliatory measures.
However,
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on “Fox Business” on Tuesday afternoon
that the U.S. might meet Canada and Mexico somewhere “in
the middle” to “work something out” on tariffs.
“The
thing that we have emphasized over and over again is that Trump introduces
uncertainty. We now are at a point where a single tweet or a single release of
information can significantly change the interpretation of what markets look
like,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management.
Green
added that a mounting trade war, exacerbated by retaliatory tariffs, could
place a damper on the economy going forward, although it is still uncertain
what the long-term prospects will look like.
“You
almost end up in a forced savings regime, which in turn negatively affects
employment, negatively affects wealth, and that’s what markets are trying to
price right now. We genuinely don’t actually know,” he told CNBC.
New
economic releases on Wednesday morning that could shed light on the state of
the U.S. economy include the ADP private payrolls report for February, as well
as the purchasing managers’ index for last month.
Companies
due to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday include Thor Industries, Abercrombie & Fitch, Campbell’s and Brown-Forman
Stock
market today: Live updates
Trump could scale
back Canada, Mexico tariffs Wednesday, Lutnick says
Published
Tue, Mar 4 2025 5:18 PM EST
President Donald Trump will “probably”
announce tariff compromise deals with Canada and Mexico soon, Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday.
The potential agreements would likely involve scaling back at least part of
Trump’s brand new 25% tariffs on
imports from Mexico and Canada, he added.
Lutnick’s
comments came minutes after the U.S.
stock market limped to a close for a second day of sharp declines,
spurred at least in part by investors’ fears that Trump’s aggressive policies
will ignite a crippling trade war.
After his
remarks, U.S. stock
futures tied to all three major averages rose.
The
compromises with Canada and Mexico will likely be revealed as soon as
Wednesday, Lutnick said on “Fox Business.”
While the
Cabinet secretary did not specify what Trump would agree to, he suggested the
U.S. president would be willing to meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle.” He
also appeared to foreclose on the possibility that Trump would lift the tariffs
entirely.
The Trump
administration on Tuesday reimposed sweeping 25% tariffs on Canadian and
Mexican imports after putting them on pause for a month.
Trump,
who has held up tariffs as an all-powerful negotiating tool, based the policy
on allegations that the neighboring countries were failing to stem the flow of
drugs and crime into the U.S.
“Both the
Mexicans and the Canadians are on the phone with me all day today, trying to
show that they’ll do better,” Lutnick said Tuesday afternoon.
“And the
President is listening because, you know, he’s very, very fair and very
reasonable. So I think he’s going to work something out with them,” he said.
Lutnick
described a deal in which Canada and Mexico agree to “do more,” at which point
Trump would “meet you in the middle some way.”
“We’re
going to probably be announcing that tomorrow,” he said.
Lutnick
said the announcement would not be another pause.
Trump could scale back Canada, Mexico tariffs Wednesday, Lutnick says
In other news.
China raises
budget deficit target to levels not seen since at least 2010 to shore up growth
Published
Tue, Mar 4 2025 7:28 PM EST
BEIJING —
China on Wednesday announced plans to raise its fiscal deficit to “around 4%”
of gross domestic product, a rare increase that marks a meaningful shift in
policy.
The
target was confirmed in an official government report for review in parliament
on Wednesday.
The new
deficit plan, which is up from 3% last year, comes amid an escalating trade war
with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
An
increase to 4% of GDP had been widely expected. It marks the highest fiscal
deficit on record going back to 2010, according to data accessed via Wind
Information. The prior high was 3.6% in 2020, the data showed.
In
October, Chinese Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an said the space for a deficit
increase is “rather
large.”
China in
November had announced a support package of 10
trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) over five years — primarily to
tackle local
government debt problems.
The
country’s real estate market slump has cut into a significant source of revenue
for local governments, many of which struggled
financially even before needing to spend on Covid-19 measures. Meanwhile,
lackluster consumption and slow growth overall have multiplied calls for more
fiscal stimulus.
China was
also expected to triple the quota for special sovereign bond sales to 3
trillion yuan ($410 billion) this year, from 1 trillion yuan in 2024, and
increase the year’s quota for special local government bond issuance to 4.5
trillion yuan from 3.9 trillion yuan previously, according to estimates from
Macquarie’s Chief China Economist Larry Hu.
China
targets fiscal budget deficit at around 4% of GDP
China to raise
defense spending by 7.2% in 2025 to ‘firmly safeguard’ national security
Published
Tue, Mar 4 2025 11:02 PM EST
China on
Wednesday increased its defense spending by 7.2% this year, the same growth
rate as in the prior two years, as Beijing seeks to “firmly safeguard” its
national security.
In an
official government report due to be released in parliament, China proposed a
national defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan ($244.99 billion) for the 2025
fiscal year.
The
increased defense budget, well above China’s economic growth target for this
year of roughly 5%, comes as Western governments seek to ratchet up military
spending to bolster their own security.
The
European Union announced Tuesday
that it could mobilize as much as 800 billion euros ($841 billion) to shore up
support for Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion. The move followed
reports that the U.S. had abruptly
paused military aid to Ukraine.
China
budgeted a 7.2%
increase in defense spending to 1.67 trillion yuan last year, the same
growth rate as in the prior
year. Beijing had increased spending by 7.1%
in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021, according to official data.
When
asked on Tuesday about China’s defense spending, Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for
the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress, told reporters that
“peace needs to be safeguarded with strength.”
That’s
according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.
China’s
defense expenditure as share of GDP has been held under 1.5 percent for many
years, Lou said, adding that this rate of spending is lower than the global
average.
China
remains the world’s second largest military spender behind the U.S. which has
set the military budget for 2025 at $850 billion.
Separately,
expenditures earmarked for public security this year was raised by 7.3%, the
official statement showed, a sharp increase compared with the 1.4% rise last
year.
China
to raise defense spending by 7.2% in 2025
A $20 Billion
Slush Fund—Paid by You to Progressive Nonprofits
It
appears the billions didn’t revitalize anything—except the coffers of a range
of environmental nonprofits associated with former Obama and Biden
administration officials.
03.04.25
The Department of Justice is
investigating the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program that was part of Joe Biden’s $740
billion Inflation Reduction Act. Created in the spring of 2023, and managed by
the Environmental Protection Agency, the fund was supposed to be a
“first-of-its-kind” program to address the climate crisis while revitalizing
communities that it considered “historically left behind.”
But it
appears little of the $27 billion revitalized anything—except the coffers of a
range of environmental nonprofits associated with former Obama and Biden
administration officials.
“The
Biden administration used so-called ‘climate equity’ to justify handouts of
billions of dollars to their far-left friends,” Lee Zeldin, the Trump
administration’s new EPA administrator, told The Free Press. “It is
my utmost priority to get a handle on every dollar that went out the door in
this scheme and once again restore oversight and accountability over these
funds. This rush job operation is riddled with conflicts of interest and
corruption.”
More
A $20 Billion Slush Fund—Paid by You to Progressive NGOs
Finally, why President Trump is correct, and the 21st century Ukraine drone war must end. Sadly, I have held off this subject far too long.
Russian Troops Ambushed Ukrainian HUGE
Grad MLRS Convoy!
Russian Special Forces Destroy Ukrainian Grad MLRS Convoy!
Warfare: Drones now do most of the killing in the war, causing about 70 percent of deaths and injuries, commanders say.
NY Times March 3, 2025.
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.
God alone knows the future, but only an historian can alter the
past.
Ambrose Bierce.
Warren
Buffett: Tariffs are ‘an act of war’
Published
12:55 PM EST, Mon March 3, 2025
Tariffs
might be President Donald Trump’s favorite word. To legendary
investor Warren Buffett, there is less to be excited about.
“Tariffs
are actually — we’ve had a lot of experience with them — they’re an act of war,
to some degree,” Buffett said in an interview with CBS that aired on Sunday.
The
Berkshire Hathaway CEO and billionaire investor said tariffs over time serve as
a tax on goods and could raise prices for consumers.
“The
Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ‘em!” Buffett said with a laugh.
Tariffs disrupt trade between
countries by raising taxes on imported goods, and those new costs are often
passed on to consumers through higher prices. Tariffs are considered by many
economists a political cudgel — sometimes used in a trade war — and not an
efficient framework for international trade.
Buffett
offered his thoughts in a rare sit-down interview, with CBS News’ Norah
O’Donnell. The segment focused on
the late Katharine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post and a friend
of Buffett’s, though he answered a few questions about the economy.
The
Oracle of Omaha said it’s critical to ask, “And then what?” when thinking about
the implications of tariffs and who will bear the cost.
“You
always have to ask that question in economics: Always say, ‘And then what?’”
Buffett said.
----In
an interview on The Situation Room on Monday with CNN’s Pamela Brown, Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick dismissed Buffett’s comments about tariffs as “silly.”
Lutnick
said tariffs could replace the need for the Internal Revenue Service, which he
incorrectly said was created when the US entered World War I.
“The
United States of America before 1913 only had tariffs, and then we created —
when we entered World War I, we all had to pitch in, and we created, of course,
the brilliantly named Internal Revenue Service,” Lutnick said.
In
fact, what became known as the IRS was initially created
in 1862,
during the Civil War. The federal income tax, collected by the IRS, was
established in 1913 by the ratification of 16th amendment, four years before
the US entered World War I. Since then, federal income tax has become the
government’s largest source of revenue.
It
is true the US government used to rely on revenue from tariffs before the
federal income tax was created, but the US economy of the 2020s — a global
powerhouse deeply intertwined in international trade — has evolved tremendously
in scope and complexity since the US economy of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In
short, the proposal to abolish the IRS and supplement government revenue with
tariffs is financially unrealistic and riddled with
issues.
While
Buffett didn’t elaborate on his comment about tariffs being an act of war,
tariffs have long been associated with protectionist trade policy that has
influenced isolationist foreign policy. In the 1930s, after the United States
hiked tariffs as part of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 (which exacerbated
the Great Depression), the French media reportedly called it a declaration
of (economic) war.
More
Warren Buffett:
Tariffs are ‘an act of war’ | CNN Business
Target
warns February sales were soft, adding to concerns about consumer health
Published
Tue, Mar 4 2025 12:01 AM EST
Target on Tuesday
warned that it expects a “meaningful” drop in first-quarter profit compared to
the year-ago period as it contends with “ongoing consumer uncertainty,” soft
sales in February and concerns around tariffs.
The
first three months of the year tend to be slow for retailers because consumers
typically pull back after the holiday shopping season. But Target’s tepid
guidance comes after Walmart and E.l.f. Beauty raised concerns last
month about
a slower than usual start to the
year.
Coupling
those weak forecasts with a sharper-than-expected decline in
consumer spending in
January and the biggest drop in
consumer confidence since
2021 in February, Target’s guidance is the latest warning sign about the
health of the consumer and the U.S. economy.
Plenty
of Target’s troubles have been
self-inflicted in
recent years, but as a big-box retailer that caters to large swaths of the
population, its performance can offer insight into spending patterns ahead,
especially when other companies have made similar comments.
In
a statement, Target’s finance chief Jim Lee said February sales were “soft” and
“declining consumer confidence” hurt discretionary sales. He also blamed
“uncharacteristically cold weather,” saying it affected apparel sales.
“We
expect to see a moderation in this trend as apparel sales respond to warmer
weather around the country, and consumers turn to Target for upcoming seasonal
moments such as the Easter holiday,” said Lee. “We will continue to monitor
these trends and will remain appropriately cautious with our expectations for
the year ahead.”
Beyond
its outlook, Target reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that
beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Here’s
how Target did compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a
survey of analysts by LSEG:
---- Target’s net
income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 1 was $1.10 billion, or $2.41
per share, compared with $1.38 billion, or $2.98 per share, a year earlier.
Sales
dropped to $30.92 billion, down about 3% from $31.92 billion a year earlier. In
the year-ago period, Target benefited from an extra week, which has skewed
year-over-year comparisons.
More
Finally, sanity returns to Aberdeen, (the foolish company, not the “Granite City” on the North Sea, which always remained sane.)
Abrdn
changes name back to Aberdeen and swings back to profit
Tuesday 04 March 2025 8:36 am
Abrdn has rounded
out a bumper year with a return to profit and a total revamp of its brand.
The
company announced it will change its name back to Aberdeen as it begins the
search for its next chairman, who will succeed Sir Douglas Flint.
Group
chief executive Jason Windsor said: “We are changing our name to Aberdeen group
plc.
“This
is a pragmatic decision marking a new phase for the organisation, as we focus
on delivering for our customers, people and shareholders.”
This
marks the second rebrand for the firm, after former boss Stephen Bird, who
stepped down in May 2024, led the change to Abrdn in 2021.
After
removing its vowels, the company became a target for mockery, and the firm made
accusations of “corporate
bullying.“
Windsor
said the firm does not intend to change its stock exchange ticker, which will
remain ‘ABDN. ‘
However,
the company will begin to use ‘Aberdeen’ as its principal trading identity.
More
Abrdn changes name
back to Aberdeen and swings back to profit
Covid-19
Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Iowa
lawmakers advance bill that would ban COVID-19 vaccines
The
bill would outlaw the administration of any mRNA vaccines in Iowa.
March
3, 2025
Iowa
lawmakers advanced a bill Monday banning the administration of mRNA vaccines.
The
bill, Senate File 360, would outlaw any
person in the state of Iowa from administering an mRNA and would impose
penalties of up to $500 for anyone found guilty of doing so.
According
to MedlinePlus, an official
website of the U.S. government, mRNA vaccines are a type of vaccine that use a
synthetic piece of genetic code, called mRNA, to produce a specific protein.
COVID-19
vaccines, an example of an mRNA vaccine, work by injecting a COVID-19 protein
into the vaccine, which the body’s immune system then recognizes and mounts a
response against, helping to protect against infection.
Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has previously sought to revoke
the authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines, claiming the risks of the vaccines
far outweigh the benefits.
Several
doctors spoke in support of the bill, citing the danger of COVID-19 vaccines
and the unknown, long-term impacts.
Dr.
Ben Tapper, an anti-vaccine chiropractor from Nebraska, said he has studied
mRNA vaccines for several years and said there is not enough research yet about
the long-term effects, making it dangerous for the COVID-19 vaccine to stay on
the market.
“We
have literally zero studies to show the long-term effects. Even the
manufacturers admit they couldn’t study these vaccines for years before the
release,” Tapper said. “Shouldn’t that be enough to pull this from the market?”
According
to AP News, there is ample
evidence that
mRNA vaccines, including those that prevent COVID-19, do not cause harm and are
effective.
As
of 2022, only .0027 percent of those who had received COVID-19 vaccines
resulted in preliminary death, AP News reported.
Edward
Dowd, a former Wall Street executive, said his firm Finance Technologies has
spent the last four years doing deep, extensive research into excess deaths,
disabilities, and injuries. Dowd said there has been a 37 percent rise in
civilian labor forces since February 2021 with 4.5 million disabled individuals
added, based on his research.
“We
identify signals and changes in trends, so we believe that mRNA vaccines are
the cause of these trends. Regardless of my opinion, the trend has emerged,
which is quite alarming [and it] needs to be investigated,” he said.
More
Iowa lawmakers advance bill that would ban COVID-19 vaccines - The Daily Iowan
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.
World-first
graphene road surface laid in the North East
4 March 2025
A new graphene-enhanced road
surface has been successfully tested in the UK for the first time in the North
East.
The innovative material,
which is said to be more durable and environmentally friendly, was used on a
public road in Teesside.
Universal Matter GBR Ltd, a
Redcar-based graphene company, collaborated with Tarmac, the UK's largest road
construction firm, and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council to lay the road
using their Genable™ Pavement additive.New graphene-enhanced surface rested on
Teesside.
The addition of graphene to
the asphalt is said to extend the road's lifespan by reducing rutting and
cracking, and increasing resistance to potholes.
This promises a 'smoother
journey' for drivers and less damage to vehicles, potentially leading to
'significant reductions' in the carbon footprint of roads.
The enhanced asphalt material
has previously been tested in several car parks in the United States and
Canada, and at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) test track.
However, this was the first
demonstration on a public road anywhere in the world.
The graphene additive was
mixed with over 150 tonnes of asphalt at Tarmac’s Coxhoe asphalt plant in
Durham, before being transported to Flatts Lane Country Park, on the edge of
Middlesbrough, where a new entrance road was constructed.
Andy Gent, the commercial
director of Universal Matter, said: "It’s an exciting day for the business
globally because it represents a real step forward for the product.
"It’s great to see it
taken from the lab stage to full road application.
"This product has great
potential, and we are delighted that Tarmac agreed to participate."
Universal Matter has
developed cleaner, faster, and more economical technology to produce graphene,
an advanced carbon-based nanomaterial with a wide range of applications.
Its proprietary Flash Joule
Heating process, coupled with its 'distinct capability' to produce fully
formulated graphene-based solutions, can greatly improve the properties of a
wide range of infrastructure and industrial materials.
Graphene has a number of
special properties – including strength and flexibility – which add value and
enhance performance to materials like asphalt, as well as paints and coatings,
concrete and tyres.
More
World-first graphene road surface laid in the
North East
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Democracy
is four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Ambrose
Bierce.
No comments:
Post a Comment