Stocks Waiting on Jackson Hole. The Silly Season.

Baltic Dry Index. 2022 -22            Brent Crude 66.17

Spot Gold 3338                 US 2 Year Yield 3.77 +0.02

US Federal Debt. 37.250 trillion

US GDP 30.210 trillion.

A private central bank issuing the public currency is a greater menace to the liberties of the people than a standing army. We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.

Thomas Jefferson

We are nearing the end of summer in the northern hemisphere and the US stock casinos seem about all hyped out.

From Thursday through Saturday, the great Fed central banksters junket takes place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

While no one expects anyone to go off message and rock global stock and commodity markets, all good news and then some is already priced into the “magnificent seven” mostly AI stocks holding up current prices.

From here on out, the downside of Trump’s tariffs chaos will likely start rapidly showing up. Poor US consumers, who now mostly end up paying the bill.

Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed after Wall Street declines ahead of U.S. Fed meeting

Published Mon, Aug 18 2025 7:51 PM EDT

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday following declines on Wall Street overnight ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

Investors also assessed the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, aimed at stopping the Moscow-Kyiv conflict.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark ticked down 0.12% in choppy trade, after closing at a record high in its previous session, while the broader Topix index was flat.

Investment firm SoftBank Group’s shares snapped its nine-day winning streak, plunging as much as 5.69%, after it announced a $2 billion investment in Intel. As part of the deal, SoftBank will pay $23 per share for Intel’s common stock, which closed at $23.66 on Monday.

In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 0.31% while the small-cap Kosdaq declined by 0.71%.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 moved up 0.13%, after closing at its highest level since October 2024 in its previous session, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.19%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.74%.

U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asia hours, at the start of a week filled with retail earnings and speeches from Fed officials.

Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks ended the day near the flatline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 34.30 points, or 0.08%, to close at 44,911.82. The S&P 500 closed down 0.01% and ended at 6,449.15, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.03% to settle at 21,629.77.

Shares of two of the so-called magnificent seven stocks Meta Platforms and Microsoft dropped about 2.3% and 0.6%, weighing on the broader market.

Asia markets mostly fall as investors await Fed meeting

Stock futures ticked down as the market awaits Fed’s Jackson Hole summit, retail earnings: Live updates

Updated Tue, Aug 19 2025 12:03 AM EDT

Stock futures ticked down early Tuesday after a quiet beginning to a critical week with key speeches from Federal Reserve officials and retail earnings.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 38 points or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.14% and 0.18% respectively.

Investors are awaiting clues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell as to what will happen at the central bank’s remaining policy meetings this year. Central bank officials from around the globe will convene this week in Jackson Hole, Wyo. for the Fed’s annual economic symposium.

“We expect the Federal Reserve to use Jackson Hole as an opportunity to prepare the markets and signal towards a 25 basis point cut in September and a potentially accommodating stance through year-end,” said Richard Saperstein, chief investment officer at Treasury Partners. “Since this will be Powell’s last Jackson Hole conference as Fed Chair, he’ll likely reinforce the need for Fed independence from the Executive Branch.”

The fed funds futures market is indicating an 83% chance for a quarter-point rate cut at the Fed’s next policy meeting in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

Corporate earnings from big-box retailers this week could also set the tone for sentiment and offer insight into the health of the consumer. Home Depot is set to report numbers Tuesday before the bell. Lowe’s, Walmart and Target are on deck for later this week.

The S&P 500 closed less than 1 point lower Monday, sitting inches below a record high reached last week.

Stock market today: Live updates

In other news.

CNBC Daily Open: Is the AI industry in a bubble, as OpenAI CEO says?

Published Mon, Aug 18 2025 9:04 PM EDT

There’s a bubble forming in the artificial intelligence industry, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

“Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes. Is AI the most important thing to happen in a very long time? My opinion is also yes,” Altman said, according to a report by The Verge.

Altman’s AI company is currently in talks to sell about $6 billion in stock that would value OpenAI at around $500 billion, CNBC confirmed Friday.

In another context, Altman warned that the U.S. may be underestimating the progress that China is making in AI.

Given the above premises, should investors be more cautious about OpenAI? Altman was not posed this question, but one wonders whether his opinion would also be “yes.”

Outside pure-play AI companies, the money is, likewise, still flowing. Intel is receiving a $2 billion injection of cash from Japan’s SoftBank.

It’s a much-needed boost to the beleaguered U.S. chipmaker. Intel has fallen behind foreign rivals such as TSMC and Samsung in manufacturing semiconductors that serve as the brains for AI models.

But going by Altman’s views, the investment in Intel might not be a good bet by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.

Not everyone agrees with Altman, of course. Ray Wang, research director for semiconductors, supply chain and emerging technology at Futurum Group, pointed out that the AI industry is not heterogeneous. There are market leaders, and then there are companies that are still developing.

In the real world, bubbles delight because they reflect their surroundings in a play of light. But the bubble Altman described could be one doesn’t show the face of its observer.

CNBC Daily Open: Is the AI industry in a bubble, as OpenAI CEO says?

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.

Throughout history, every government that's printed money, the money has eventually gone to its ultimate value which is zero. Remember? The confederate dollar went to zero. The continental went to zero. That's what happens when you have a bank that's allowed to print as much money as it wants to.

Robert Kiyosaki

Singapore key exports slip in July as US shipments tumble 42.7 pct

18 August 2025

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports slipped 4.6 percent in July from a year earlier, government data showed Monday, as shipments to the United States plunged by more than 40 percent.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is heavily reliant on international trade and is vulnerable to any global slowdown induced by the tariffs -- even if Singapore only faces a baseline 10 percent levy from US President Donald Trump. 

On August 6, Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on chips from firms that do not invest in the United States, and threatened levies of up to 250 percent on pharmaceutical imports.  

The 42.7 percent July contraction in main exports to the US -- Singapore's biggest market -- was largely caused by a 93.5 percent decline in pharmaceutical shipments, the government body Enterprise Singapore said on Monday. 

Meanwhile, exports of specialised machinery dropped 45.8 percent and food preparations were down 48.8 percent. 

Non-oil domestic shipments to China and Indonesia also declined in July, but grew to the EU, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

The city-state last Tuesday raised its 2025 economic growth forecast, but warned the outlook for the rest of the year remains clouded by global uncertainty, in part due to US tariffs. 

The trade ministry lifted its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 1.5-2.5 percent from an earlier range of 0-2.0 percent.   

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday said that he took "little comfort" from the 10 percent baseline tariff rate the US imposed on Singapore. 

"Because no one knows if, or when, the US might raise the baseline, or set higher tariffs on specific industries like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors," he said in a National Day speech. 

"What we do know is that there will be more trade barriers in the world. That means small and open economies like us will feel the squeeze," Wong added. 

Singapore key exports slip in July as US shipments tumble 42.7 pct

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.

Graphene in Focus: Keeping Up to Date with Advances in Research

Aug 13 2025

Graphene’s unique properties continue to drive breakthroughs from quantum computing to sustainable concrete. As research accelerates, its role in next-generation technologies is becoming clearer, and increasingly practical.

Graphene 101

Graphene is a two-dimensional material composed of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Its first discovery was so astonishing because, despite its atomic-scale thickness, graphene exhibits exceptional mechanical strength, approximately 200 times greater than steel.

It also has high electrical and thermal conductivity and a very high theoretical surface area of approximately 2,630 m²/g, which means it can easily be functionalized, broadening its scope. 

These properties make graphene suitable for applications in quantum electronics, biomedicine, sustainable construction, and energy storage.¹

Recent Advances in Graphene Research

Quantum Spin Transport Without External Magnetic Fields

At TU Delft, researchers have coaxed graphene into carrying quantum spin currents without external magnetic fields.

By stacking it on top of magnetic CrPS_4, they induced the quantum spin Hall effect, in which electrons move along graphene's edges with their spins aligned. These spin currents are topologically protected, allowing resistance-free transport, preserving spin information over tens of micrometers, and remaining resilient to material defects.

The result? A viable path to ultrathin spintronic circuits with greater speed and lower energy use. The findings could also stabilize qubit interconnections for scalable and efficient quantum computing architectures.²

Neuromorphic Artificial Taste Systems

Artificial sensory systems often struggle with chemical detection in liquid environments. This is particularly true for sensors that mimic human taste. Graphene oxide is the answer here. Its electrical conductivity changes on contact with different chemicals, making it ideal for detecting super subtle flavor compounds.

Building on these properties, researchers have developed a graphene-based artificial tongue that integrates sensing and computing within a single nanofluidic device. Layered sheets of graphene oxide respond uniquely to flavor chemicals. 

Tested against 160 such substances, the device developed a database and, using machine learning, achieved 98.5 % accuracy in identifying known tastes and 75-90 % accuracy for new ones.

Beyond this novelty taste-ability, this study has serious implications. From food safety to restoring taste in patients with neurological damage, this new tech could have a big impact on rehabilitative medicine.³

More

Graphene in Focus: Keeping Up to Date with Advances in Research

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

World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)

Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild