Baltic Dry Index. 1269 +10 Brent Crude 63.16
Spot Gold 3209 US 2 Year Yield 3.84 -0.07
US Federal Debt. 36.709 trillion!!!
The cynics are right nine times out of ten.
H. L. Mencken
It’s
anyone’s guess as to where the stock casinos will close out the week.
There’s
no sign of a coherent trade policy in Washington, District of Crooks.
Rather,
tariff team Trump seem now to be spooked by a growing crisis in the US Treasury
market.
Who
knew, flip-flopping on tariff war announcements daily, would destabilise global
stock markets leading to flight out the US Treasury market. Certainly no one on
team Trump in Washington or the Trump White House.
A
question for a later investigation, was anyone in Washington front-running any
of the Trump tariff announcements and flip-flops?
Suspicious
old dinosaur Graeme, thinks yes, but then I’ve been around stock and commodity
markets since 1968. Human nature and temptation is what it is.
For
every winner in whipsaw markets there are usually far more losers. Wealth is
now getting destroyed on a biblical scale. I only hope no banks are now
insolvent but hiding it. Look away from that record gold price now.
Japan
stocks plunge over 5% as Asia-Pacific markets resume sell-off on U.S.-China
trade war worries
Updated
Fri, Apr 11 2025 11:40 PM EDT
Asia-Pacific
markets fell Friday, after Wall Street resumed sell-off overnight as trade war
tensions between the world’s two largest economies fueled risk-off mood.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.28%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 5.46%, while
the Topix traded 5.05% lower. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.55% and the
small-cap Kosdaq declined 0.11%.
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.8% while China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.13%.
U.S.
President Donald Trump announced
a tariff U-turn Wednesday, dropping the new reciprocal tariff rates on
imports from most countries for 90 days.
“The
extension of time does not alleviate uncertainty,” ANZ analysts wrote in a
note. “There is skepticism about the outcome of trade negotiations, and that
will continue to weigh on investment and thus the growth outlook.”
Additionally,
the cumulative tariff rate on China now would be 145%, the White House
confirmed to CNBC on Thursday. The figure consists of the new 125%
duty on goods, on top of the 20% duty linked to the fentanyl crisis.
U.S.
stock futures moved higher as investors look to close out a volatile week,
punctuated by sharp swings for the major averages. S&P 500 futures added
0.3%, while Nasdaq 100
futures climbed roughly 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones
Industrial Average ticked higher by 28 points, or nearly 0.1%.
Overnight
in the U.S., the three major averages closed lower, giving back some of the
gains from the historic rally seen in the previous session after President
Donald Trump announced a 90-day reprieve on some of his “reciprocal” tariffs.
The S&P 500 sold off 3.46%
and closed at 5,268.05, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.31%
to end at 16,387.31. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 points, or 2.5%, settling at
39,593.66.
Asia-Pacific
markets live: Trump trade war, China tariffs
Stock
futures fall as major averages resume their slide, fueled by tariff anxiety:
Live updates
Updated
Fri, Apr 11 2025 10:18 PM EDT
Stock
futures fell on Thursday night as investors look to close out a volatile week,
punctuated by sharp swings for the major averages.
S&P 500 futures slipped
0.8%, while Nasdaq 100
futures lost 0.9%. Futures
tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 277 points, or 0.7%.
Tariff
fears remain at the forefront of investors’ minds after President
Donald Trump temporarily slashed his country-specific duties to a universal
rate of 10% — except for China. Goods from Beijing will see a rate of 145%, a
White House official confirmed to CNBC.
The S&P 500 fell 3.46% on
Thursday, while the 30-stock Dow tumbled
1,014.79 points, or 2.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the
day lower by 4.31%.
Thursday’s
declines wiped a chunk of the gains the major averages saw on Wednesday after
Trump announced a 90-day reprieve on some of his high “reciprocal” tariffs. On
Wednesday, the S&P 500 surged 9.52% for its third-largest
gain in a single day since World War II and the 30-stock Dow
skyrocketed more than 2,900 points.
Stocks
resumed their losing ways on Thursday as traders went into risk-off mode, with
trade policy uncertainty weighing on sentiment.
The
“lower tariff level is still a huge problem, and deadlines three months out
offer no certainty for consumers, business, and investors,” said Jed
Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “This set of
policies will leave the U.S. with higher inflation, lower economic growth, and
a frustrated stock market.”
Here
are the tariffs currently in place:
- 145% duty on
all goods from China
- 25% tariffs
targeting aluminum, autos and goods from Canada and Mexico not under the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
- 10% levy on
all other imports
Despite
the tumultuous week, the three major averages are on pace for solid gains in
the period. The S&P 500 is on pace for a 3.8% advance, its best weekly
performance since November. The Nasdaq is on track to gain 5.1%. The Dow is on
pace for a 3.3% jump week to date.
Investors
are now turning to a slew of earnings out Friday from the nation’s largest
banks and financial companies, which will kick off first-quarter earnings
season and offer clues about the state of the U.S. economy. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock are a few names set
to report their financial results.
On
the economic front, the March producer price index report and the preliminary
University of Michigan consumer sentiment data for April will be released
Friday.
Stock
market today: Live updates
Dow
tumbles 1,000 points, wiping out a chunk of Wednesday’s historic rally: Live
updates
Updated
Thu, Apr 10 2025 4:22 PM EDT
Stocks
fell Thursday, giving back some of the gains from the historic rally seen in
the previous session after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day reprieve
on some of his “reciprocal” tariffs. Investors worried that even with the short
pause on some of the duties, economic activity will be slowed by Trump’s
singling out of China with a much higher rate.
The S&P 500 sold off 3.46%
and closed at 5,268.05, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.31%
to end at 16,387.31. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 points, or 2.5%, settling at
39,593.66.
Notable
decliners included Apple and Tesla, which pulled back 4.2% and
7.3%, respectively. Nvidia lost
nearly 6%, while Meta
Platforms slipped almost 7%.
Stocks
fell Thursday, giving back some of the gains from the historic rally seen in
the previous session after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day reprieve
on some of his “reciprocal” tariffs. Investors worried that even with the short
pause on some of the duties, economic activity will be slowed by Trump’s
singling out of China with a much higher rate.
The S&P 500 sold off 3.46%
and closed at 5,268.05, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.31%
to end at 16,387.31. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 points, or 2.5%, settling at
39,593.66.
Notable
decliners included Apple and Tesla, which pulled back 4.2% and
7.3%, respectively. Nvidia lost
nearly 6%, while Meta
Platforms slipped almost 7%.
---- Despite the
initial optimism in response to the 90-day reprieve, many on the Street think
the market is not yet out of the woods. Even with the delay in some tariffs,
the hike on China duties puts the effective tariff rate at a historic high,
according to Morgan Stanley.
“Delays
help, but do not reduce uncertainty,” Michael Gapen, Morgan Stanley chief U.S.
economist, wrote in a Thursday note.
Stock
market news for April 10, 2025
EU
pauses tariff retaliation for 90 days to match Trump move, holding out hope for
talks
10
April 2025
The
European Union’s executive commission said Thursday it will put retaliation
measures on hold for 90 days to match President Donald
Trump’s pause on his sweeping new tariffs on global trading partners and leave
room for a negotiated solution.
European
Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen said
that the commission, which handles trade for the bloc's 27 member countries,
“took note of the announcement by President Trump.”
New
tariffs on 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion) of US goods will be put on hold for
90 days because “we want to give negotiations a chance,” she said in a
statement.
But
she warned: “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will
kick in.”
Trump
imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs of
10% and upward against global trading partners but said Wednesday he will pause
them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S.
trade concerns.
Countries
subject to the pause will face Trump's 10% baseline tariff.
Before
Trump’s announcement, EU member countries voted to approve a set of retaliatory
tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to his 25% tariffs on imported
steel and aluminum that took effect in March. The EU, the largest trading
partner of the U.S., described them as “unjustified and damaging.”
The
EU tariffs were set to go into effect in stages, some on April 15 and others on
May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU commission didn’t immediately provide a list of the
goods.
Members
of the EU — the world’s largest trading bloc — have said they prefer a
negotiated deal to resolve a trade war that damages the economies on both
sides. The bloc’s top trade official has shuttled between Brussels and
Washington for weeks trying to head off a conflict.
The
targeted goods are a tiny fraction of the 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) in
U.S.-EU annual trade. Some 4.4 billion euros in goods and services crosses the
Atlantic each day in what the European Commission calls “the most important
commercial relationship in the world.”
The
EU has targeted smaller lists of goods in hopes of exerting political pressure
and avoiding economic damage from a wider escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs.
The
EU is also working on a further set of countermeasures in response to Trump’s
blanket 20% tariff on all European goods, now suspended. That could include
measures aimed at U.S. tech companies and the services sector as well as trade
in goods.
Still,
von der Leyen said that Europe intends to diversify its trade partnerships.
She
said that the EU will continue “engaging with countries that account for 87% of
global trade and share our commitment to a free and open exchange of goods,
services, and ideas,” and to lift barriers to commerce inside its own single
market.
“Together,
Europeans will emerge stronger from this crisis,” von der Leyen said.
EU pauses tariff
retaliation for 90 days to match Trump move, holding out hope for talks
Trade
Wars Are Easy to Lose
Beijing
Has Escalation Dominance in the U.S.-China Tariff Fight
Adam S. Posen April 9, 2025
When
a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually
every country it does business with,” U.S. President Donald Trump famously
tweeted in 2018, “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” This week, when the
Trump administration imposed tariffs of more than 100 percent on U.S. imports
from China, setting off a new and even more dangerous trade war, U.S. Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent offered a similar justification: “I think it was a big
mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos.
What do we lose by the Chinese raising tariffs on us? We export one-fifth to
them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”
In
short, the Trump
administration believes it has what game theorists call escalation
dominance over China and any other economy with which it has a bilateral trade
deficit. Escalation dominance, in the words of a report by the RAND
Corporation, means that “a combatant has the ability to escalate a conflict in
ways that will be disadvantageous or costly to the adversary while the
adversary cannot do the same in return.” If the administration’s logic is
correct, then China, Canada, and any other country that retaliates against U.S.
tariffs is indeed playing a losing hand.
But
this logic is wrong: it is China that has
escalation dominance in this trade war. The United States gets vital goods from
China that cannot be replaced any time soon or made at home at anything less
than prohibitive cost. Reducing such dependence on China may be a reason for
action, but fighting the current war before doing so is a recipe for almost
certain defeat, at enormous cost. Or to put it in Bessent’s terms: Washington,
not Beijing, is betting all in on a losing hand.
More
Trade
Wars Are Easy to Lose: Beijing Has Escalation Dominance in the U.S.-China
Tariff Fight
Finally,
in AI news. Don’t worry, AI will get much better at fooling the courts.
AI-generated
attorney outrages judge who scolds man over courtroom fake: ‘not a real person’
A
New York man found himself in hot water after he used an AI-avatar to argue his
case in front of a panel of judges
Published April
9, 2025 10:57am EDT
An
artificial intelligence-generated avatar was the source of contempt inside
a New
York courtroom after
judges quickly realized the attorney arguing a case in front of them was not
real.
The
scene unfolded as Jerome Dewald, a plaintiff in an employment dispute,
approached the stand of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division's
First Judicial Department on March 26.
"The
appellant has submitted a video for his argument," Justice Sallie
Manzanet-Daniels said. "We will hear that video now."
The
screen powered on, displaying a handsome young man wearing a button-down shirt,
seemingly sitting in a home office.
"May
it please the court, I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five
distinguished justices," the man said. Suddenly, Manzanet-Daniels
interrupted the video and questioned the authenticity of the apparent
attorney.
"Hold
on," Manzanet-Daniels said. "Is that counsel for the
case?"
Dewald
confirmed the man was, in fact, his representative, and told the judges,
"I generated that. That’s not a real person." The fallout was
immediate as the judge clearly expressed her disapproval of Dewald’s choice to
present an AI-generated
video.
"It
would have been nice to know that when you made your application,"
Manzanet-Daniels said. "You did not tell me that, sir."
Dewald
reportedly submitted a letter apologizing to the court, explaining he did not
have a lawyer representing him in the case and had not intended any harm.
"The
court was really upset about it," Dewald told The Associated
Press. "They
chewed me up pretty good."
Dewald
reportedly applied for permission from the court to play a prerecorded video
and initially planned to use an avatar that resembled himself, but opted for a
program created by a San Francisco tech
company.
The
snafu was not the first time artificial intelligence has raised eyebrows in
court.
Last
year, two New York lawyers were each fined $5,000 by a federal judge after they
used ChatGPT to conduct legal research, leading to them citing a fictitious
case.
Additional
fake rulings were cited in legal papers filed by lawyers for Michael Cohen, a
formal personal attorney for President Donald
Trump.
Cohen took responsibility for the incident, claiming he was unaware the AI-tool
his firm was using was capable of "hallucinations."
Dewald
did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for
comment.
AI-generated
lawyer enrages judges in New York courtroom as man argues case | Fox News
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.
Recession
is a 'likely' outcome of tariffs chaos, says JPMorgan CEO
9
April 2025
The
CEO of JPMorgan Chase has said Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs are
"likely" to spark a recession.
Jamie
Dimon is one of the most prominent voices in corporate America and has
regularly been consulted by administrations during times of crisis.
A
recession is when there are at least six months of economic contraction in
gross domestic product (GDP), the total value of goods and services produced
over a specific period.
Appearing
on US channel Fox Business, Mr Dimon said: "I think probably [a recession
is] a likely outcome."
"When
you see a 2000-point decline [in the Dow Jones Industrial Average], it sort of
feeds on itself, doesn't it," he continued.
Offering
advice for the Trump administration, Mr Dimon called for the US government to
make fast progress on trade agreements with other countries.
"Take
a deep breath, negotiate some trade deals. That's the best thing they can
do," he said. "I'm taking a calm view. But I think it could get worse
if we don't make some progress here."
JPMorgan
has "lost a couple of bond deals already" as clients overseas have
said they would rather do business with local banks, the CEO added.
More
Recession is a
'likely' outcome of tariffs chaos, says JPMorgan CEO
'The
Economist' editor unpacks the 'biggest trade policy shock' of Trump's tariffs
April
9, 2025 2:24 PM ET
President
Trump's sweeping "Liberation
Day"
tariffs have upended the global economy, sending stock markets into turmoil.
"This
is, without a doubt, the biggest trade policy shock, I think, in history,"
Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor-in-chief of The Economist, says.
Trump
last week ordered a minimum 10% tax on nearly everything the U.S. buys from
other countries. He's also ordered much higher levies on things the country
buys from China, Japan and the European Union. However, a lot of those tariffs
are in flux, because almost each day the president has either increased some
tariffs or paused others.
"Presidents
from Reagan to President Biden have increased tariffs on individual goods or
individual sectors, but nothing like this. So this is off the charts in terms
of scale, ... speed and uncertainty," says Minton Beddoes, who is a former
economist for the International Monetary Fund.
While
the motivation behind the tariffs remains unclear, she says that the Trump
administration could be seeking to "radically remake the rules of global
security, geopolitics, economics."
Minton
Beddoes says the president seems to believe that the U.S. is getting a bad deal
in the global economy, and that the tariffs will be used as a tool to
renegotiate trade agreements: "It might be exactly what President Trump
loves. Lots of people coming, knocking on his door, fawning, hoping for a good
deal. This is The Art of the Deal on steroids," she says.
But,
Minton Beddoes adds, the economic turmoil caused by the tariffs creates "a
lot uncertainty, and a lot pain for consumers because tariffs are taxes on
consumers. The people who pay this in the end, the cost of the tariffs, are
people who pay more for the things that they buy."
"I
think we've crossed some kind of a Rubicon in the last week or so, and we're
not going to go back to the world as it was before," she says.
"People, I think, are increasingly looking at the U.S. not as the shining
city on the hill, a place which we all aspired to and certainly held in very
high regard, but increasingly, it's a sort of bullying, swaggering, selfish,
transactional country."
More
Editor of 'The
Economist' explains Trump's tariffs : NPR
Goldman’s
Gold $4,500 Forecast ARE conservative
Over
70% of World is Dumping US Treasuries and Buying Gold. Get in Front of This
Once in a LifeTime Stampede
|
Covid-19
Corner
This
section will continue only occasionally when something of interest occurs.
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.
HydroGraph’s
Graphene Delivers Breakthrough in Polyurethane Coating Durability
Apr.
9, 2025, 07:30 AM
TORONTO,
April 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. (CSE: HG)
(OTCQB: HGRAF) (FRA: M98) (“HydroGraph” or the “Company”), a sustainable
commercial manufacturer of pristine graphene, has announced new testing results
demonstrating the performance benefits of its Fractal Graphene™ (FGA-1) as an
additive in polyurethane (PU) coatings. Conducted at the Graphene Engineering
Innovation Centre (GEIC) in Manchester, England, the study validates how
HydroGraph’s graphene improves mechanical durability, UV resistance, and
anti-corrosion properties – key factors in extending the lifespan of protective
coatings used in harsh environments.
Industrial
coatings, a $93B global market in 2024, face significant challenges, including
early degradation due to corrosion, UV exposure, and mechanical wear. These
issues lead to costly maintenance cycles, particularly in industries like
offshore energy, where recoating platforms every 5-7 years can exceed $5
million per installation. With corrosion-related costs estimated at $2.5
trillion annually, the need for more resilient and sustainable coatings has
never been greater.
“By
incorporating our Fractal Graphene™ into commercial coatings, we are enabling a
step-change in performance,” said Kjirstin Breure, CEO, HydroGraph. “These
results confirm that even at ultra-low dosages, our graphene improves coatings’
durability, reducing maintenance needs and offering a compelling value
proposition for industries requiring long-lasting protection.”
Unlocking
New Performance Levels
HydroGraph’s
graphene was tested in commercial polyurethane topcoats – with graphene loading
levels of 0% (control), 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.5%. The coatings were evaluated
across key performance metrics:
- Abrasion Resistance –
Graphene-enhanced coatings outperformed control samples, with the Sigmadur
550 system (0.5% graphene) surviving 1,000 abrasion cycles without
failure.
- Scratch Resistance – 0.5%
graphene loading improved scratch resistance by 13% in the Sigmadur
system.
- Corrosion Resistance –
Graphene-modified coatings showed reduced micro-blistering, improving
long-term protection in corrosive environments.
- UV Stability – FGA-1 at
0.1% loading retained 77% of its gloss after 1,000 hours of UVA exposure,
compared to 59% for control samples.
These
findings highlight HydroGraph’s ability to simultaneously enhance multiple
protective properties of polyurethane coatings, offering a solution to key
industry challenges without compromising environmental compliance.
More
HydroGraph’s
Graphene Delivers Breakthrough in Polyurethane Coating Durability | Markets
Insider
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Another weekend and how many more “victories” will
President Trump’s tariffs team create. Shame about all those stock and
commodity whipsaw losses though. Have a great weekend everyone.
On some
great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L.
Mencken
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