Baltic
Dry Index. 1979 +16 Brent Crude 65.50
Spot
Gold 3587 U S 2
Year Yield 3.51 -0.08
US
Federal Debt. 37.324 trillion
US
GDP 30.248 trillion
The stock market and economy are two different things.
Milton Friedman
As goes America, so
goes the world. Hopefully not.
Look away from US Treasury
yields and the gold price now.
Stocks
close lower as slowing labor market boosts rate cut hopes but fans economic
fears
Updated
Fri, Sep 5 2025 4:20 PM EDT
Stocks
closed lower on Friday after a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report gave way
to worries about a slowing U.S. economy, even as expectations for a Federal
Reserve rate cut were solidified.
The S&P 500 finished the day
down 0.32% at 6,481.50, while the Nasdaq Composite declined
0.03% to settle at 21,700.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed
down 220.43 points, or 0.48%, at 45,400.86.
All
three leading indexes had reached fresh record intraday highs earlier in the
session. At their peaks, the broad market index, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the
blue-chip Dow were up about 0.5%, 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively.
The
economy added just
22,000 jobs in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
That’s below the 75,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had expected. The
unemployment rate also rose to 4.3%, in line with expectations.
The
report supported expectations for at least a quarter-point rate cut by the Fed
at its meeting later this month. Traders also put a half-point rate cut into
play, per the FedWatch tool.
“Slower
job gains, combined with an uptick in the unemployment rate and moderating wage
growth, support the view that the rate of positive change in the labor market
has slowed significantly,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial
Group. “These employment data give the Fed all the reasons it needs to shift
its balance of risks and lower rates in two weeks.”
Investors
were heading into the August nonfarm payrolls report with stocks coming off of
a fresh
record. They are betting rate cuts will recharge an economy that is
flagging but still in no danger of a recession. Though, these latest jobs
figures, where the June payrolls number was revised to show the first job loss
since the pandemic, may start to raise recessionary concerns.
Even
with Friday’s losses, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq still finished the week
with gains, rising 0.33% and 1.14%, respectively. The Dow, however, saw losses
on the week, finishing down 0.32% in the period.
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo paced the negative
reversal on fears a slowing economy may hit loan growth. Industrials Boeing and GE Aerospace also got hit, as a
troubled economy could dampen order growth.
However, Broadcom was a standout
performer, with the stock popping 9.4% on the heels of the chipmaker’s latest
quarterly results beating Wall Street’s expectations. Nvidia shares dropped 2.7%,
as Broadcom’s strong results may signal there’s growing competition for the AI
darling. Palantir, another
artificial intelligence favorite that’s been under pressure of late, slid about
2%.
Stock
market news for Sept. 5, 2025
US
hiring stalls with employers reluctant to expand in an economy grown
increasingly erratic
Updated 9:46 PM GMT+1, September 5, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market, a pillar
of U.S. economic strength since the pandemic, is crumbling under the weight of
President Donald Trump’s erratic
economic policies.
Uncertain about where things are headed, companies
have grown increasingly reluctant to hire, leaving agonized jobseekers unable
to find work and weighing on consumers who account for 70% of all U.S. economic
activity. Their spending has been the engine behind the world’s biggest economy
since the COVID-19 disruptions of 2020.
The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S.
employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added just 22,000
jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that
economists had expected.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% last month,
also worse than expected and the highest since 2021.
“U.S. labor market deterioration intensified in
August,’' Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Market, wrote in
a commentary, noting that hiring was “slumping dangerously close to stall
speed. This raises the risk of a harder landing for consumer spending and the
economy in the months ahead.’'
Alexa Mamoulides, 27, was laid off in the spring
from a job at a research publishing company and has been hunting for work ever
since. She uses a spreadsheet to track her progress and said she’s applied for
111 positions and had 14 interviews — but hasn’t landed a job yet.
-----The U.S. job market has lost momentum this
year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the
Federal Reserve’s inflation fighters in 2022 and 2023.
But the hiring slump also reflects Trump’s policies,
including his sweeping
and ever-changing tariffs on imports from almost every country on
earth, a crackdown
on illegal immigration and purges of the federal workforce.
Also contributing to the job market’s doldrums are
an aging population and the threat that artificial intelligence poses to young,
entry-level workers.
After revisions shaved 21,000 jobs off June and July
payrolls, the U.S. economy is creating fewer than 75,000 jobs a month so far
this year, less than half the 2024 average of 168,000 and not even a quarter of
the 400,000 jobs added monthly in the hiring boom of 2021-2023.
When the Labor Department put out a disappointing
jobs report a month ago, an enraged Trump responded by firing
the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a
loyalist to replace her.
“The warning bell that rang in the labor market a
month ago just got louder,’ Olu Sonola, head of U.S economic research at Fitch
Rates, wrote in a commentary. “It’s hard to argue that tariff uncertainty isn’t
a key driver of this weakness.”
Trump’s protectionist policies are meant to help
American manufacturers. But factories shed 12,000 workers last month and 38,000
so far this year. Many manufacturers are hurt, not helped, by Trump’s tariffs
on steel, aluminum and other imported raw materials and components.
Construction companies, which rely on immigrant
workers vulnerable to stepped-up ICE raids under Trump, cut 7,000 jobs in
August, the third straight drop. The sweeping tax-and-spending bill that
Trump signed
into law July 4 delivered more money for immigration officers, making
threats of a massive deportations more plausible.
The federal government, its workforce targeted by
Trump and by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, cut
15,000 jobs last month.
And any job gains made last month were remarkably
narrow: Healthcare and social assistance companies – a category that spans
hospital to daycare centers – added nearly 47,000 jobs in August and now
account for 87% of the private-sector jobs created in 2025.
More
Hiring
slows in US as employers navigate in growing uncertainty | AP News
US
Unemployment Hits 4.3% as Deterioration Fear Grows
September 5, 2025 at 11:11 PM GMT+1
US President Donald Trump has good reason to cheer
that Labor Day shortened this week by a day. That’s because the
remaining four brought increasingly worse data about the economy on
his watch. From manufacturing to hiring, it’s been grim tidings. And
Friday’s jobs report may be the
biggest hit of all.
A few years ago unemployment hovered at
half-century lows. Now the dreaded percentage is at its highest
point since 2021 and the depths of the pandemic. This from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, an arm of the US Department of Labor where last month Trump fired
the commissioner after a similarly sobering report.
Now at 4.3%, unemployment is fanning concerns that
the labor market, buffeted by both uncertainty and rising costs tied to
Trump’s trade war, is nearing more significant deterioration. The figures
add weight to the prior
month’s jobs report, which showed a shockingly cooler hiring picture
than previously thought. Job growth has moderated materially in recent months,
openings have declined and
wage gains have eased—all of which weigh
on broader economic activity.
“The labor market is going from frozen to
cracking,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union,
said in a note. “This is a white-collar and a blue-collar jobs
recession.” —David
E. Rovella
----Usually this kind of bad news for
American workers has a silver lining as far as Wall Street is concerned,
because it makes a rate cut by the Federal Reserve more likely. More borrowing,
more growth, rising shares and the rest of it.
Only not today it seems. With a rate reduction this
month seen by most as in the bag (though not by all—see below), the jobs data
drove stocks lower and bonds higher on concern that the central bank may have
to rush to prevent further weakness. The sharp cooling sparked a flight to
Treasuries, with two-year yields hovering near the lowest since 2022. The data
also prompted a fast repricing in money markets, which now project almost three
Fed cuts this year. Here’s your markets wrap.
The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
said he’s still undecided on what course of action he will support at the
central bank’s Sept. 16-17 meeting, pointing to inflation data due next
week. Read the Story
US
Unemployment Hits 4.3% as Fear of Deterioration Grows: Evening Briefing -
Bloomberg
Payrolls
rose 22,000 in August, less than expected in further sign of hiring slowdown
Published
Fri, Sep 5 2025 8:31 AM EDT
Job
creation sputtered in August, adding to recent signs of labor market weakening
and likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track for a widely anticipated
interest rate cut later this month.
Nonfarm
payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate
rose to 4.3%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for payrolls to rise by
75,000.
The
report showed a marked slowdown from the July increase of 79,000, which was
revised up by 6,000. Revisions also showed a net loss of 13,000 in June after
the prior estimate was lowered by 27,000.
The
report was the first since President Donald Trump fired former BLS Commissioner
Erika McEntarfer following the release of the July jobs report a month ago. The
move came after the report showed not just a weak level of job creation but
also dramatic reductions in previous months’ totals.
In
McEntarfer’s place, the president nominated economist E.J. Antoni, a Trump
loyalist from the Heritage Foundation who previously had criticized the BLS
numbers as being politically distorted. William Wiatrowski is serving as acting
BLS commissioner.
While
the pace of hiring was slow, average hourly earnings increased 0.3% for the
month, meeting the estimate, though the annual gain of 3.7% was slightly below
the forecast for 3.8%.
Hiring
was held back by a payroll reduction in the federal government, which reported
a decline of 15,000.
Health
care again led by sectors, adding 31,000 jobs, while social assistance
contributed 16,000. Wholesale trade and manufacturing both saw declines of
12,000 on the month.
In other news.
India
to test battery storage at coal plants to balance grid as solar power surges
3 September 2025
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India will test the
installation of battery storage systems at some coal power plants, as the
country grapples with integrating massive solar capacity while maintaining
reliable electricity supply, an advisor to the country's power ministry said.
The concept addresses a critical challenge facing
India's power grid, where thermal plants must ramp down during peak solar hours
but maintain capacity for evening demand when solar generation drops.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has been
working on guidelines for coal-based power plants and technical minimum load
requirements as the country rapidly expands renewable energy capacity.
India is aiming to expand its non-fossil fuel
capacity to 500 GW by 2030, but coal remains central to its energy security.
The government plans to increase coal-based capacity by 97 GW by 2035, taking
the total to around 307 GW to ensure round-the-clock power.
"At times there are only two choices. Either
you shut down the coal plant (during excess solar generation) or lose the
thermal capacity in the evening, which we don't want," CEA chairman
Ghanshyam Prasad told Reuters on the sidelines of PowerGen India 2025 event
in New Delhi.
"We are just trying this as an
experiment," he said, adding that the country's top coal power generator
NTPC had been tasked with testing this at some plants and given funding
support.
The batteries would allow the coal plants to capture
excess energy and dispatch it to the grid at a later point when needed,
allowing the plants to operate at a stable rate, saving costs and extending
their lives, CEA's Prasad said.
Recently, NTPC floated a tender for setting up of
1.7 GW of battery storage across 11 coal plants.
India to test battery storage at coal plants to balance grid as solar
power surges
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.
The US hits a ‘turning point’ with more unemployed
workers than job openings for the 1st time since April 2021
Thu, September 4, 2025 at 10:30 PM GMT+1
The U.S. economy, already plagued by tariff
uncertainty and inflation concerns, received a “jolt” of bad news just days
after Labor Day. For the first time since the pandemic era, the monthly Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) showed that unemployment outpaced
the number of available job openings. Here’s why that spells trouble.
The stats, released by the Bureau of Labor and
Statistics (BLS), revealed 7.18 million job openings in July — a 10 month low
and a marked decrease from June’s 7.36 million openings.
Worse, the number of unemployed Americans stands at
7.2 million [1], putting the tally of those out of work slightly higher than
available jobs, which hasn’t occurred since April 2021 [2]. Further still, the
Hill adds that the number of open jobs fell short of what experts predicted
would be around 7.3 to 7.5 million.
Oxford Economics economist Nancy Vanden Houten
wrote, “The July JOLTS report showed further signs of softening labor market
conditions” while Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long told
CBS that the numbers underscore a frozen job market [3].
“This is a turning point for the labor market,” she
added. “It's yet another crack.”
Signs of economic turbulence to come?
The number of unemployed workers outpacing that of
available jobs could point to significant labor market instability ahead.
To start, it’s confirmation of a troubling
three-month trend that saw “an average payroll gain from May to July of only
35,000,” CBS reports. Add to that the fact that the job openings rate slipped
to 4.3% from 4.4% in June [4], while openings in health care and social
assistance — among the most reliable and consistent job creation sectors —
decreased by 181,000 in July [5].
“The main engine of job growth is seemingly
stalling with job openings and hirings in healthcare at a post-pandemic low,”
Gregory Daco, EY-Parthenon chief economist, wrote in response to the report
[6].
Other notable sector losses include arts,
entertainment and recreation (-62,000) and mining and logging (-13,000).
More
Technology
Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Graphene’s Electronic Performance Soars With New Proximity
Screening Technique
August 30, 2025
Scientists have pushed graphene’s performance to record levels,
boosting its speed and purity with a clever trick called “proximity screening”,
reducing electronic noise at the atomic scale.
In a study published in Nature,
researchers demonstrated a major improvement in the electronic quality of
graphene by using proximity screening, a method that enhances charge uniformity
and boosts carrier mobility.
The results not only improve the reliability of graphene-based
devices but also strengthen its prospects for use in advanced electronics,
sensors, and quantum technologies.
Why Graphene Still Needs Help
Graphene has remarkable electrical and mechanical properties and
has driven huge technological growth. But in practice, devices have struggled
to match its theoretical promise. Issues like charge inhomogeneity, scattering
from impurities, and defects can degrade performance and reduce mobility, which
are key for any high-speed or quantum device.
To address this, the researchers turned to a combination of
graphene with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a 2D material known for its
insulating and dielectric qualities. Their goal was to create a cleaner
environment for electrons to move freely and consistently. No defects, no
noise.
Related Stories
The team created double-gated Hall bar structures by sandwiching
monolayer graphene between two hBN layers. The top layer served as a
dielectric gate, with a graphite flake as the bottom gate. To enable proximity
screening, the bottom hBN layer was made ultrathin, just 3-4 atomic layers.
This setup allowed image-charge effects to smooth out potential fluctuations
greater than 10 nanometres across the graphene sheet.
The entire device was assembled using van der Waals stacking
techniques, with precision lithography to define its geometry. This meticulous
construction helped maintain clean interfaces and limit disorder, which is
essential to achieve high electronic quality.
Testing at Ultra-Low Temperatures and Fields
To assess the material's performance, researchers tested
electrical measurements under a range of temperatures and magnetic fields. Hall
effect measurements were used to map how electrons moved through the device
under different gate voltages, revealing mobility and charge distribution.
The data showed major improvements: mobility reached as high as
5.7×107 cm2/Vs at low temperatures and carrier
densities around 1.5×1011 cm-2. This massive,
fivefold increase over previous graphene records puts the material on par with
long-standing 2D performance leaders like GaAlAs heterostructures.
More
Graphene’s Electronic Performance
Soars With New Proximity Screening Technique
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
Exponent
Calculator
Enter
values into any two of the input fields to solve for the third.
This
weekend’s music diversion. More again from the oboe king. Approx. 10 minutes. Sorry for the bizarre choreography. The poor piano player wisely drew the line at joining
in and pushing or pulling the grand piano around. What a shame the oboists couldn’t
afford shoes or sandals and no one would lend them any. Perhaps they both have
very large or very small feet?.
Tomaso Albinoni Concerto for 2 Oboes in C
Major, Op. 9 No. 9
Tomaso Albinoni
Concerto for 2 Oboes in C Major, Op. 9 No. 9
Next, that global debt problem. Get gold. Approx.
11 minutes.
How
Global Debt Got Out of Control (And What Comes Next)
How Global Debt
Got Out of Control (And What Comes Next)
Finally,
more EV failure. Approx. 10 minutes.
Electric
AVIATION is the DUMBEST idea yet | MGUY Australia
Electric AVIATION
is the DUMBEST idea yet | MGUY Australia
If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara
Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.
Milton Friedman
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