Wednesday, 27 August 2025

The Dollar Reserve Standard, Restoring Intellectual Day! Urgent!

Baltic Dry Index. 2041 +97             Brent Crude 67.26

Spot Gold 3376                      US 2 Year Yield 3.63 -05

US Federal Debt. 37.283 trillion

US GDP 30.227 trillion.

The first requisite of a sound monetary system is that it put the least possible power over the quantity or quality of money in the hands of the politicians.

Henry Hazlitt

In the stock casinos, the great calm before the Great Storm if President Trump gets his way to a politicised, Latin American style, inflationary US central bank.

With the end of the month and dress up Friday coming up, followed in America by the end of summer, Labor Day holiday, I can only hope that someone in Team Trump’s yes men, will persuade President Trump why a Latin American style US central bank is a disastrous idea for the USA and the west.

Trump’s 50 percent tariff on India begins.

Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors assess China industrial profits data

Published Tue, Aug 26 2025 7:50 PM EDT

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday, breaking ranks with Wall Street, as investors assessed China industrial profits data.

China’s industrial profits slipped 1.5% from a year earlier in July, marking a notable recovery following months of steeper declines. 

Separately, steep U.S. tariffs on India are set to take effect. Additional tariffs of 25% are set to take effect Wednesday, pushing overall duties on exports to the U.S. to 50%. Indian markets are closed for a holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was marginally higher. Photographic equipment manufacturer Nikon Corporation led gains in the index, surging over 20% as of 10.04 p.m. ET Tuesday, as EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban sunglasses is looking at a potential deal to raise its stake in Nikon, according to Bloomberg.

The broader Topix index was down 0.3%.

South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.17%, falling for a second straight session. The small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.16%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.15%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.27% higher, while the mainland CSI 300 rose 0.4%. The index snapped its four-day winning streak on Wednesday. The CSI 300 has been surging recently, with some economists and banks such as Nomura pointing to “irrational exuberance.”

“Sentiment is becoming excessively optimistic,” said Hao Hong, managing partner and CIO of Lotus Asset Management. However, he noted that it is still “too early” to call the market a bubble.

“Given the improving liquidity conditions and a dovish Fed, any correction will tend to be shallow and brief,” he added.

The mainland Chinese index climbed over 13% so far this year.

Overnight stateside, the three major benchmarks ended the trading day higher. The S&P 500 rose as Wall Street looked beyond President Donald Trump’s removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank’s board and awaited quarterly figures from chip giant Nvidia.

The broad market S&P 500 settled up 0.41% at 6,465.94. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also added 0.44% to end the day at 21,544.27. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 135.60 points, or 0.30%, to finish at 45,418.07.

Asia-Pacific markets live: India tariffs, CSI 300, Nikkei 225

US Treasury yields, dollar fall as Trump strikes at Fed; US stocks up

August 26, 2025

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar eased on Tuesday as President Donald Trump's move to fire a central bank governor raised concerns about the bank's independence, while Wall Street stocks ended higher ahead of results from Nvidia on Wednesday.

Trump said on Monday he was firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over claims of mortgage borrowing impropriety. Cook said Trump had no authority to fire her and she would not resign. Her term is due to end in 2038.

The unprecedented move by Trump could lead to a protracted legal battle that risks resetting norms for the central bank's independence and a president's involvement in monetary policy. Cook's exit from the Fed could speed up Trump's efforts to reshape the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rate policy.

Trump has been pushing the Fed to cut rates to stimulate growth and reduce borrowing costs.

Expectations of a potentially more dovish Fed helped to send shorter-dated yields lower, while the yield curve steepened as the long end showed a more modest drop. Market participants said long-dated yields were likely to feel more upward pressure from political influence over the Fed, since a subsequent lowering of interest rates could increase worries about inflation, while foreign demand could be hit by fears over the Fed's credibility.

Despite remaining inflation pressures, traders have been pricing in a 25-basis-point interest rate cut for the Fed's September policy meeting, encouraged by dovish signals from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, data pointing to labor market weakness and a shakeup at the central bank.

"On Friday, we had a major catalyst, which was a green light from the Fed to begin cutting rates. The market was waiting for that for a long time. Now the question becomes how much will they cut and how fast will they cut," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York.

The dollar fell against major currencies in the wake of the Cook news.

"President Trump is undertaking a risky and possibly ineffective battle against the Fed. To get a majority of the FOMC to toe the Trump line would take seven voters, not just two or even four," Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, wrote.

Trump has regularly threatened to dismiss Powell and this month he fired a top Labor Department official after accusing her, without evidence, of manipulating jobs data that had disappointed him. Trump has backed away from the threat against Powell as he gets closer to the expiration of his term next May.

INFLATION REPORT

A global stock index was little changed, while U.S. stocks ended higher. Investors are awaiting Nvidia's results on Wednesday and Friday's reading on U.S. personal consumption prices, considered the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

"The market is very much focused on inflation, the labor market, consumer spending and corporate earnings. That - pun intended - trumps everything," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and adviser for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

----European shares dropped, led by losses in France where political uncertainty has deepened. France's CAC 40 fell more than 1% as the country's minority government looked increasingly likely to be ousted next month.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.83% lower.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.27% to 98.21, while the euro was up 0.03% at $1.1646. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.05% to 147.33.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield typically moves in step with interest rate expectations. It was last down 4.9 basis points on the day at 3.681%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 1.7 basis points to 4.258%.

Oil prices fell more than 2%, while gold rose. Brent crude was down $1.58, or 2.3%, at $67.22 a barrel, a day after hitting its highest price since early August. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.55, or about 2.4%, to $63.25. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $3,393.30 an ounce. 

US Treasury yields, dollar fall as Trump strikes at Fed; US stocks up

Trump's 50% tariff on India kicks in as Modi urges self-reliance

27 August 2025, 00:37 BST

Donald Trump's steep 50% tariffs on India have kicked in, weeks after the US president issued an executive order hitting the Asian country with an additional 25% penalty over its purchases of Russian oil and weapons.

This makes India - one of the US's strongest partners in the Indo-Pacific - among the countries paying the highest tariffs in the world. This could deal a blow to exports and growth in the world's fifth largest economy, given that the US was, until recently, India's largest trading partner.

The tariff setback has sent the Indian government into firefighting mode. Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a promise to cut taxes to mitigate their economic impact. He has also rallied for domestic self-reliance.

He said that a Diwali gift in the form of a "massive tax bonanza" was on its way for the common man and the millions of small businesses that power Asia's third largest economy.

Wearing a bright saffron turban and addressing crowds of spectators from the ramparts of Delhi's Red Fort during Independence Day celebrations, Modi also urged small shop owners and businesses to put up boards of "Swadeshi" or "Made in India" outside their stores.

"We should become self-reliant - not out of desperation, but out of pride," he said. "Economic selfishness is on the rise globally and we mustn't sit and cry about our difficulties, we must rise above and not allow others to hold us in their clutches."

He has since repeated these comments in at least two other public addresses this week.

For many watching, this is clearly aimed at countering Donald Trump's brutal 50% tariff rate on India which will disrupt millions of livelihoods across the country's export-driven industries that supply everything from clothes to diamonds and shrimp to American consumers.

Amid the blow, Modi's message to his countrymen has been loud and clear - both make in India and spend in India.

More

Donald Trump's 50% tariff on India kicks in as PM Modi urges self-reliance - BBC News

In other news, Trumping America into Latin America.

Cook Firing Might Be A Warning To Powell

Aug. 26, 2025 7:28 AM ET

The drama at the Federal Reserve is continuing after President Trump fired Governor Lisa Cook, who promptly responded that she will remain in the position and not resign. At issue are allegations of mortgage fraud, with Cook listing two properties she bought in 2021 (in Georgia and Michigan) as both her primary residences. That declaration generally results in lower mortgage rates, but Cook said she is still "gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts."
What the law says: Things are legally murky, and there is a lack of precedent, as no president has 
ever sought to remove a Federal Reserve governor. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 only permits removal for "cause," which Cook maintains doesn't exist in this case. However, Trump has pointed to the alleged charges of "negligence" and "deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter," which challenge her "competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator."
What happens next will soon be seen, but the case could end up at the Supreme Court. The dollar and U.S. Treasuries have not responded significantly after the latest step to remake the Fed board, which follows 
Governor Adriana Kugler's resignation and Trump's nomination of Council of Economic Advisors Chair Stephen Miran. Much pressure has also been put on Fed Chair Jay Powell, who recently hinted at rate cuts in Jackson Hole. The latest targeting of Lisa Cook for criminal acts might be another message to Powell to get out of the way or risk being taken to task over renovations at the Fed.
Fine print: While Powell's term as board chairman expires in May 2026, he could stay on as Fed governor for another two years, which is the real worry of the Trump administration. In that role, Powell could be somewhat of a shadow Fed chair, especially with around 3 out of the remaining 5 Fed board governors subscribing to his policy views (Miran is in the middle of a confirmation process). The reason why Trump is upping the pressure is that he wants Powell to be uncomfortable - or legally worried - about continuing in a governor spot past next year, which would give Trump another nomination and a majority of his appointees on the board (even without Cook). 
Making sense of Federal Reserve member math

Cook Firing Might Be A Warning To Powell | Seeking Alpha

Panic in the US as country 'abandoned' by tourists from around the world

25 August 2025

Fears are mounting over multi-billion-dollar losses as tourists abandon the USA. Its tourism and aviation sectors are reportedly seeing a sharp decline in travel from Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, impacting visitor spending.

According to figures from the National Travel and Tourism Office, inbound visits from overseas markets, excluding Canada and Mexico, dropped by 3.4% year on year in June, with 2.8 million travellers recorded in the month. That is just 80% of the numbers seen before the pandemic, in June 2019. It has been attributed to a combination of factors, including geopolitical tensions, economic challenges, and a diminished perception of the country among international travellers, reports ITIJ.

The trend has been witnessed throughout the year, with a sharp drop in inbound travel in March 2025, according to international arrivals data from the US Department of Commerce.

UK arrivals were down nearly 15% year on year in March, Germany plunged more than 28%, and other key markets, such as Spain, Colombia, Ireland, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic, saw double-digit drops between 24% and 33%.

Fears around border crossings also play a part, according to Travel and Tour World. Carriers connecting the US have seen many travellers either delay trips or reroute itineraries due to visa restrictions and increasingly strict border inspection procedures.

Customs and Border Protection officers have the authority to examine phones when determining whether travellers can enter the country, and passengers have reported being denied entry due to this.

In March, a French scientist who had been critical of Donald Trump was refused entry after his phone was searched.

In May, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) forecast the US would be the only country to see a decline in international visitor spending in 2025, among the 184 economies it analysed with Oxford Economics.

It forecast this would have a huge impact on the US economy, and that international visitor spending could reduce by $12.5 billion this year, down from $181 billion in 2024.

While aviation and tourism industries are hard hit, the WTTC said it represents a direct blow to the US economy overall, impacting communities, jobs, and businesses.

"While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the US government is putting up the 'closed' sign," warned Julia Simpson, president and CEO of WTTC.

Panic in the US as country 'abandoned' by tourists from around the world

A Latin American style, politicised US central bank brings in the next phase of the end of the fiat dollar reserve standard, see yesterday’s LIR.  A disaster for the west!

To help restore financial “intellectual Day” in Washington, DC, Handel restoring an earlier “intellectual day”, via a librettists’ adaptation of Shakespeare’s “as steals the morn” from The Tempest.

Handel probably had no more attachment than I do to the words, but nevertheless geniussed up, (sorry,) this delightful plea for a new intellectual day.

District of Crooks, reform before it’s too late.

He was better remunerated than me too, but then he was a genius, unlike dinosaur Graeme. Turn on English subtitles.

Handel: As steals the morn (L'Allegro, HWV 55) Amanda Forsythe & Thomas Cooley, Voices of Music 4K

Handel: As steals the morn (L'Allegro, HWV 55) Amanda Forsythe & Thomas Cooley, Voices of Music 4K

If all else fails immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.

John Kenneth Galbraith

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.

German autos sector slashes jobs as economic woes bite

Published Tue, Aug 26 2025 7:39 AM EDT

A perfect storm of industry and economic challenges have weighed on Germany’s autos sector, which has shed tens of thousands of jobs over a one-year stretch to the end of June.

Over that period, Germany’s autos industry, one of the European country’s largest sectors, has seen job cuts of close to 7% of the workforce, or around 51,500 positions, according to new analysis from EY based on data from the German statistics office Destatis.

Overall job losses across the German industry amounted to around 114,000 in the 12 months to June 30 this year, the study noted. The figures suggest almost half the cuts were incurred by the autos sector.

“No other industrial sector has recorded such a strong reduction in employment,” the report said, according to a CNBC translation. The study flagged that 112,000 jobs have been cut in the autos sector, compared to the 2019 period preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jan Brorhilker, managing partner of the assurance division at EY in Germany, said in a press release that the job reductions came in a response to the difficult situation of the German auto industry.

“Massive profit declines, overcapacities, and ailing foreign markets make a marked reduction of jobs impossible to avoid,” he said, according to a CNBC translation.

EY’s report also noted that revenues in the sector pulled back 1.6% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year. German auto giant Volkswagen, for one, reported a sharp drop in second-quarter profit and lowered its full-year guidance.

The decline in the auto sector is notably a smaller drop than the 2.1% loss in revenues that the overall German industry is facing.

Mounting struggles

Germany’s auto industry has long battled a multitude of challenges, such as stark Chinese competition on costs and innovation, as well as difficulties to gain ground in the electric vehicle race, which some auto makers and analysts have attributed to federal government bureaucracy and regulation.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy has added to concerns. Germany, and especially its autos sector, are heavily export oriented and count the U.S. as one of their biggest markets, where the ‘Made in Germany’ label has historically been seen as a sign of quality.

Recent data from Destatis showed that auto and auto part exports to the U.S. declined by 8.6% in the first half of 2025, compared to the same period last year. Auto makers have also repeatedly warned of the potential impact of tariffs and surrounding uncertainty.

The industry may enjoy some relief after details of the U.S-EU trade agreement emerged earlier this months. Autos will be subject to 15% duties, but only after the EU makes legislation changes to reduce its industrial levies.

The state of Germany’s overall economy has also been a headwind for the autos sector, with the country’s annual gross domestic product declining in both 2023 and 2024. This year also appears to be off to a slow start: after Europe’s largest economy recorded 0.3% growth in the first quarter, the latest figures for the second quarter indicated a 0.3% decline.

Looking ahead, EY’s Brorhilker says he expects German auto exports to both the U.S. and China to stay under pressure, with the former being impacted by tariffs and the latter by weakening demand, which is also a domestic issue.

As various German industrial giants are currently undergoing restructuring or cost reduction programs, “the number of industry jobs will keep falling,” Brorhilker said.

German autos sector slashes jobs as economic woes bite

Food inflation jumps to 18-month high with these items seeing a price rise

25 August 2025

Food prices have risen at their fastest pace in 18 months, driven by surges in the cost of chocolate, butter, and eggs, according to the latest figures.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NIQ Shop Price Monitor reveals food inflation hit 4.2% this month, up from 4% in July, marking the highest level since February 2024. Bosses at the trade body warned the acceleration "adds pressure" to families already struggling with the cost of living.

Fresh food inflation sped to 4.1% for the month on the back of rising dairy prices, up from 3.2% in July.

Meanwhile, ambient food inflation slowed to 4.2% year-on-year compared with 5.1% in the previous month.

The new figures also showed that overall shop price inflation increased to 0.9% in August, despite price deflation of 0.8% for non-food products.

The uptick in food prices comes after the Bank of England said earlier this month that the increase in national insurance contributions in April had contributed to accelerating food prices.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Shop price inflation hit its highest rate since March last year, fuelled by food price rises.

“This adds pressure to families already grappling with the cost of living.

Retailers continue doing everything they can to limit price rises for households, but as the Bank of England acknowledged, the £7 billion in new costs flowing through from last year’s budget has created an uphill battle for retailers.”

More than 60 retail bosses, including chiefs at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Boots, warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week that raising taxes further in the autumn budget could contradict her plans to improve UK living standards.

In the letter, co-ordinated by the BRC, the bosses said they were expecting the rate of food and drink inflation to reach 6% later this year.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NIQ, said: “The uptick in prices reflects several factors: global supply costs, seasonal food inflation driven by weather conditions, the conclusion of promotional activity linked to recent sporting events, and a rise in underlying operational costs.

“As shoppers return from their summer holidays, many may need to reassess household budgets in response to rising household bills.”

Food inflation jumps to 18-month high with these items seeing a price rise

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.

Today some good news from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Fatberg-fighting tech could save cities billions in sewer cleaning

By Abhimanyu Ghoshal  August 25, 2025

Several feet below city streets around the world lurks a dangerous and unspeakably gross threat to our way of life: fatbergs.

These are giant concrete-like clusters of cooking oil, grease, nappies, wet wipes and such that congeal into masses in our sewers, clogging networks. They're not only hard to break up, but can also grow to immense proportions. In 2017, London saw a monstrous fatberg grow to a length of 820 ft (250 m) and reach 130 tons (118 tonnes) – about the same as two Airbus A318 planes.

Clearing these blockages before they cause sewage backups in our streets requires constant manpower and monitoring. In the US, it's estimated to cost the country as much as US$25 billion a year to break these up and fix the damage they cause.

A team of engineers at Australia's RMIT University are working on two ways to reduce these buildups – and they could save cities billions of dollars each year globally.

How do fatbergs form in the first place? Fat, oil, and grease (collectively known as FOG) mix with sewer water and calcium released from concrete sewer pipes, and solidify over time. FOG in particular comes from domestic and commercial kitchen wastewater, and while plumbing devices called grease traps intercept a large amount of FOG before it enters sewer lines, some of its still gets through.

Stopping grease in its tracks

To further reduce FOG from entering sewer systems at the source, the RMIT team built a better grease trap that's more than twice as good at capturing fats than current systems. The researchers' design looks like a conventional grease trap on the outside, but actually features a a series of physical baffles which slow the flow of wastewater and separate larger fat particles. Next, alum – a water treatment chemical – is added to the contents to clump together smaller, suspended fats so they can be easily removed.

“While traditional interceptors only remove around 40% of fats, our system achieved up to 98% – even when tested with actual kitchen wastewater,” said Dr. Nilufa Sultana, lead author on the paper describing this system that appeared in the journal ACS ES&T Water in July.

She also noted that it worked effectively with high temperatures and when dish detergent flowed in along with the wastewater. What's more, this tech can be retrofitted to existing grease management systems for kitchens large and small.

----Better pipes = fewer fatbergs

For the second part of their one-two punch, engineers from the same research center developed a new coating for the interior walls of sewer pipes.

First, they mimicked the setting in which fatbergs form using concrete blocks (similar to sewer pipes) and synthetic FOG water under controlled conditions over the course of 30 days. That allowed the fatberg to form on regular concrete blocks, and on blocks with the new zinc-enhanced polyurethane coating they had concocted.

The coating reduced the release of calcium by 80%, and that in turn reduced the build-up of FOG on concrete by 30%. It's also self-healing, which means that if it's scratched or dinged up by hard materials flowing through sewer lines, the coating can repair itself and extend its lifespan.

That's a big win over the coatings that are commonly used at present. 

More

Innovative solutions tackle fatberg menace in sewers

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


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