Saturday, 7 June 2025

Special Update 07/06/2025 EV Fires. US Jobs. US v China Trade Talks.

Baltic Dry Index. 1633 +07              Brent Crude 66.47

Spot Gold 3310                   U S 2 Year Yield 4.04 +0.12

US Federal Debt. 36.946 trillion US GDP 30.055 trillion

The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.

Alan Greenspan

In the stock casinos, more hopium. Look away from those rising US long Treasury yields now!

Hope that the US jobs report doesn’t signal a slowing US economy.

Hope that the US v China trade talks on Monday in London, might lead to a meaningful trade deal.

Hope that the Musk v Trump falling out is a meaningless distraction. Hope that Musk is wrong in calling Trump’s “beautiful big bill” an “abomination”.

I think Elon Musk is right and Warren Buffett is right about exiting overpriced stocks.

I think Trump’s tariff wars, if implemented, only lead to a 1930s type outcome, but compounded by a massive consumer, corporate and national debt default crisis.

Dow rises more than 400 points on solid jobs report, S&P 500 touches 6,000: Live updates

Updated Fri, Jun 6 2025 4:32 PM EDT

Stocks jumped Friday after the latest nonfarm payrolls data came in better than expected, easing concern the economy faces an imminent slowdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 443.13 points, or 1.05%, to close at 42,762.87. The blue-chip index was up more than 600 points at its highs of the session. The S&P 500 also gained 1.03% — surpassing the 6,000 level for the first time since late February — and settling at 6,000.36. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.20%, ending at 19,529.95.

The market’s move higher was supported by a more than 3% gain in Tesla. Shares of the electric vehicle maker weighed on the market Thursday, tumbling 14%, as CEO Elon Musk sparred with President Donald Trump on social media. Other major tech-related names such as NvidiaMeta Platforms and Apple also ended the session higher.

U.S. payrolls climbed 139,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, above the Dow Jones forecast of 125,000 for the month but less than the downwardly revised 147,000 in April. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%.

“The nonfarm payrolls report came in better than expected,” Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise, said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s showing that the labor market is holding up very well in spite of kind of some slowing growth trends.”

A series of data released earlier this week signaled a possible economic slowdown, raising questions about the impact of the multi-front tariff negotiations and the next steps for the Federal Reserve, which next meets to set interest rate policy on June 17-18.

On Thursday, unemployment claims for last week’s period came in higher than expected. That came a day after ADP reported that private sector payrolls saw a gain of just 37,000 in May, which substantially missed the Dow Jones estimate for 110,000. Activity in the U.S. services sector also weakened unexpectedly last month.

“There’s still some uncertainty about what the inflation impacts are going to be from the tariffs,” Saglimbene continued, adding that he expects tariff impacts to start showing up more in the economic data during the summer. “Markets are kind of holding judgment about what all this means for growth and profitability over the next couple quarters, so we’re kind of back to where we were in February.”

Trump has since offered some hope on trade, announcing later Friday that talks between the U.S. and China will take place next week in London.

The S&P 500 ended the session more than 2% below its February high. The broad market index, along with the other two major benchmarks, also posted notable gains for the week. The S&P 500 was up 1.5% on the week, and the Dow posted a 1.2% advance. The Nasdaq jumped 2.2% over the period.

Stock market news for June 6, 2025

Trump announces U.S.-China trade talks in London next week

Published Fri, Jun 6 2025 2:34 PM EDT Updated Fri, Jun 6 2025 3:27 PM EDT

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two other Trump administration officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for renewed trade talks, President Donald Trump said.

Bessent, who has been leading the administration’s efforts to craft a deal with Beijing, will be joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Trump said.

“The meeting should go very well,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Friday afternoon. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

CNBC has contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington for more information on Trump’s announcement. A spokesperson for the embassy did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Trump had first revealed that further trade talks were planned after he held a lengthy phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

The scheduling announcement comes as the U.S. and China have squabbled over numerous issues in the midst of a debilitating trade war that threatens both economic superpowers.

The countries — whose total trade in goods topped $582 billion last year — temporarily lowered most of the tariffs on each other’s goods after breakthrough bilateral trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland, last month.

But since then, China has repeatedly accused the U.S. of undermining that progress.

Beijing protested after the U.S. Commerce Department warned the chip industry against using Chinese semiconductors. China also objected to the Trump administration’s recent announcement that it will revoke the visas of some Chinese students studying in the U.S.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has accused Beijing of slow-walking a pledge made in Geneva to approve the export of additional critical minerals, known as rare earths, to the United States.

Trump wrote after Thursday’s call with Xi, “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products.” He did not explain what that meant.

Trump announces U.S.-China trade talks in London next week

In other (agri) news a nervous summer ahead.

Wheat falls for second session on US crop prospects; corn slips

Worries about demand for U.S. soybeans from the world's biggest oilseed consumer have hung over soybean futures

June 4, 2025

----  The U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report showed on Monday 50% of U.S. spring wheat and 52% of winter wheat in good to excellent condition, exceeding analyst expectations.

* Favourable U.S. weather has also bolstered corn and soybean production prospects, keeping a lid on prices.

* On Tuesday, higher crude oil prices lifted the soybean complex as well as corn, given both crops' role in production of biofuels.

---- Worries about demand for U.S. soybeans from the world's biggest oilseed consumer have hung over soybean futures.

Ukraine's 2025 grain harvest may decrease by 10% to around 51 million metric tons compared to 56.7 million metric tons in 2024, according to the most pessimistic estimates, Ukrainian agriculture minister Vitaliy Koval said.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soyoil and soybean futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of soymeal, wheat and corn futures, traders said.

Wheat falls for second session on US crop prospects; corn slips

Spring Wheat Crop Off to Worst Start in 37 Years

Initial ratings for top producer, North Dakota, were just 37% good to excellent.

Michelle Rook  June 05, 2025 07:05 AM

The nation’s spring wheat crop got off to one of the worst starts in 37 years with an initial rating of 45% good to excellent.

While conditions improved this week to 50%, there are still production issues that may not heal with the hot, dry extended forecast.

North Dakota Crop Sees Weather Extremes

Initial ratings for top producer, North Dakota, were just 37% good to excellent. That improved 11% this week, but is well under last year.

Randy Martinson, Martinson Ag, Fargo, North Dakota says, “The spring wheat conditions came in, below 50%, some of the lowest we’ve seen in years on the first look at with the crop and almost over 20% lower than anticipated by the trade. So, nobody was anticipating to see the spring wheat conditions come in that low.”

He says North Dakota’s crop has been plagued by various weather extremes.

“The cold temperatures, the late plantings, I think all of that and then you know those five days of 90 degree heat and the wind I think took a lot of life out of that wheat market and then we cooled right back down again.”

Drought Plagues Western North Dakota and Montana

Western North Dakota is also seeing drought, which extends from the Canadian Prairies. It includes Montana where the crop is only rated 33% good.

Kevin Duling, KD Investors, says, “They just didn’t get get the stand of wheat that they wanted it just is patchy. It’s spotty. It’s just not it’s not uniform and and and there’s spots that are spots that look great, but you know overall it’s obviously not very good.”

More

Spring Wheat Crop Off to Worst Start in 37 Years - AgWeb

Finally in EV news, everything about our growing EV fires problem.

Approx. 4 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes.

EV Fire Breaks Out on Ship: Morning Midas Abandoned at Sea

EV Fire Breaks Out on Ship: Morning Midas Abandoned at Sea - YouTube

Massive 3rd Alarm Fire: Philly’s Bus Depot

Massive 3rd Alarm Fire: Philly’s Bus Depot

FSRI EV Fire Experiments: What We’re Learning About Battery Fires

FSRI EV Fire Experiments: What We’re Learning About Battery Fires - YouTube

We can guarantee cash benefits as far out and at whatever size you like, but we cannot guarantee their purchasing power.

Alan Greenspan

Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.        

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,  inflation/recession now needs an entire section of its own.

Elon Musk warns of a recession, slams Trump's tariffs

June 5, 2025

Elon Musk has reignited his criticism of Donald Trump’s trade policies, warning that the president’s proposed tariffs could tip the U.S. into a recession.

Responding to Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus — known on X as @BillyM2k — who wrote, “can I finally say that trump’s tariffs are super stupid,” Musk didn’t hold back: “The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year.”

The Trump Liberation Day tariffs refer to a sweeping set of trade restrictions and import taxes proposed by Donald Trump after returning to office in 2025. They were part of his broader economic agenda announced on what his supporters dubbed “Trump Liberation Day” — the day marking his re-entry into the White House.

Critics, including economists and business leaders, have warned the sweeping tariffs could stoke inflation and strain global supply chains. Musk, who supported Trump during the 2024 campaign and briefly served as his advisor, has grown vocal against the administration’s economic agenda.

Since the Trump administration introduced "Trump Liberation Day" tariffs — taxes of up to 60% on Chinese imports and a blanket 20% surcharge on others. 

The White House has been hit with warnings that elevated consumer prices and shrinking exports could suck as much as 0.8% point from 2025 GDP growth.  

Economists at Yale estimate the levies will cost the typical U.S. household close to $3,800 this year, sapping disposable income as credit-card delinquencies hit post-pandemic highs, as per WSJ

During these uncertain market conditions, Bitcoin has tanked to $1,01,291.10, as per Kraken. The asset reached a 24 hour high of $105,936.69 on June 5, however pressures between Musk and Trump has impacted the asset severely. Bitcoin has been down nearly 3.96% in the last 24 hours.

Elon Musk warns of a recession, slams Trump's tariffs

UK house prices fall by more than expected amid economic uncertainty

6 June 2025

UK house prices suffered a steeper than expected fall last month and the biggest quarterly drop in value in almost a year, as economic uncertainty continued to affect the property market.

The average property price fell by 0.4% month on month in May to £296,648, a much steeper fall than the 0.1% decline City economists had expected.

Figures published by Halifax on Friday showed that the cost of a typical UK property has fallen in three of the past four months, with the drop in May following a 0.3% rise in April.

The unexpectedly large fall last month pushed the quarterly change in house prices down 0.3%, the steepest fall since June last year.

It also fuelled a significant slowdown in the annual rate of growth to 2.5% – falling short of forecasts of just under 3% and easing from growth of 3.2% in April – representing the slowest growth since July last year.

Amanda Bryden, the head of mortgages at Halifax, said the figures showed that the housing market had now absorbed the rush of activity as buyers tried to complete purchases before stamp duty increases in England and Northern Ireland in April.

“Despite ongoing pressure on household finances and a still uncertain economic backdrop, the housing market has shown resilience,” she said. “The outlook will depend on the pace of cuts to interest rates, as well as the strength of future income growth and broader inflation trends.”

However, the number of mortgage approvals for new home purchases – which is an indicator of future borrowing and is seen by many as a better measure of the housing market’s health – fell for a third consecutive month in April.

According to the most recent data from the Bank of England, net residential mortgage approvals declined by 3,100 to 60,500, below economists’ expectations.

HM Revenue and Customs figures published last week showed an estimated 64,680 house sales took place in April, 64% lower than the 177,440 reported in March.

More

UK house prices fall by more than expected amid economic uncertainty

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.

This 14-Year-Old Built an App That Detects Heart Diseases in Seconds

Siddarth Nandyala wants to put his tool in the hands of medical professionals so that they can catch cardiovascular abnormalities in their early stages

May 30, 2025 8:13 a.m.

In trials in India, Siddarth Nandyala detected and diagnosed more than 40 patients with potential cardiovascular diseases, each within a span of seven seconds. Not a doctor, or a medical student for that matter, the 14-year-old was able to do this thanks to his very own invention, a simple smartphone-based app called Circadian AI.

Last year, for nearly eight months, the Texas-based teenager spent hours huddled over his computer. He had one simple goal—invent an application that can pinpoint cardiovascular abnormalities during their initial stage.

In most cases, a heart attack or stroke is the first sign of a cardiovascular disease. Initial-stage cardiovascular abnormalities are often asymptomatic, and early detection generally depends on routine health checkups, electrocardiograms, stress tests, echocardiograms and blood tests. Certain diagnostic tools like cardiac MRI with late gadolinium enhancement, invasive coronary angiographyright heart catheterization and biomarkers of end-stage damage are only able to detect cardiovascular abnormalities in cases where the patient is already in the late stage and suffering from severe blockages, heart failure or dead tissues.

“The main focus and goal for me out of this was to essentially create a tool that is able to help a large amount of people just through non-invasive screening procedures,” says the rising freshman at University of Texas at Dallas. He’ll be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

----“What really took my interest in the health care side of artificial intelligence was the sheer amount of impact and the change that can be made,” he says.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization. Cardiovascular disease caused 19.91 million deaths in 2021, which is almost one in every three deaths globally. A new study published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure revealed nearly 6.7 million Americans aged 20 and above suffer from heart failure. This number is expected to grow to 8.7 million by 2030, 10.3 million by 2040 and 11.4 million by 2050.

“Even one life detected is one life saved,” Nandyala says.

To develop a real working product, Nandyala frequented various hospitals and institutions, discussing issues related to cardiovascular disease with hospital staff, patients and others. There, he collected the necessary data for his app. The next step was to create a robust artificial intelligence model, training and then retraining it again until he was completely satisfied with the results.

“I’d definitely say that throughout this journey every interaction was helpful,” Nandyala says.

The app is currently only available for clinical use by authorized personnel. It’s just like any other medical device, Nandyala explains. “You need to know how to use it before you can use it to detect any diseases,” he says.

To operate the app, the user simply places a smartphone near their heart, where it records the sound of the heartbeat. The app has enhanced noise-cancellation techniques to filter out ambient sounds, enabling accurate readings even in loud environments. The recorded sounds go through various amplification algorithms and are then sent over to a machine-learning model hosted on the cloud, which gives an overall synopsis of the user’s heart health. An intuitive interface displays the results, with explanations about what is normal and what may need medical attention. The app detects arrhythmias and irregular heartbeats, early signs of heart failure, indicators of coronary artery disease and heart valve abnormalities.

“It’s a pre-screening tool,” says Nandyala.

The teenager has tested the app at various points of care in both the United States and India. In the U.S., the testing was done on around 15,000 patients, while in India the number sits close to 3,500.

“Clinical trials were conducted not only for detecting diseases, but as a metric for the efficacy of the tool itself,” says Nandyala.

During one such initial test conducted in India at Government General Hospital in Guntur, the app detected and diagnosed around ten patients with cardiovascular diseases. The diseases were later confirmed via clinical validations, through electrocardiogram and 2D echocardiograms.

More

This 14-Year-Old Built an App That Detects Heart Diseases in Seconds

Next, the world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.

World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)

This weekend’s music diversion.  Berio orchestrates and updates Boccherini. Approx. 7 minutes.

Luigi Boccherini / Luciano Berio: Ritirata notturna di Madrid (1975)

Luigi Boccherini / Luciano Berio: Ritirata notturna di Madrid (1975)

This weekend’s tariff and shipping diversion. Approx. 3 minutes.

Uncertainty at the Ports: How Tariffs Impact Imports and Prices for Consumers

Uncertainty at the Ports: How Tariffs Impact Imports and Prices for Consumers

Finally, what took place on the Bridge of the Dali as it crashed into the Baltimore Key Bridge in March 2024. Approx. 28 minutes.

What Happened on the Bridge of the Dali during the Four Minutes After They Lost Power?

What Happened on the Bridge of the Dali during the Four Minutes After They Lost Power? - YouTube

The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit. In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the hidden confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard.

Alan Greenspan

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