Baltic
Dry Index. 2030 -42 Brent Crude 62.68
Spot Gold 4219 US 2 Year Yield 3.56 -0.02
US Federal Debt. 38.187 trillion
US GDP 31.571 trillion.
“The difference between playing the stock market and the horses is that one of the horses must win.”
Joey Adams
As the US federal government starts to reopen after a 43 day partial shutdown, the US stock casinos, led by the Great AI bubble, hardly noticed or cared.
Not so the real US economy, where layoffs are rising, consumer confidence and spending are falling, debt delinquencies are rising and it’s anyone’s guess as to how Trump’s tariffs will affect the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas consumer spending this year.
Look away from that soaring gold price now.
Asia-Pacific stocks edge mostly higher as Trump
signs funding bill, ending U.S. government shutdown
Published Wed, Nov 12 2025 6:48 PM EST
Asia-Pacific shares mostly rose Thursday
after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law, effectively
ending the longest federal government shutdown in
U.S. history.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.13%,
while the Topix added 0.62% to hit a record high.
Shares of SoftBank Group continue to
fall for
a second consecutive day, plunging more than 5%, after the Japanese giant
said Tuesday it sold
its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia in October, to fund its OpenAI
bet.
South Korea’s Kospi was flat, while the
small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.79%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.01%
after the seasonally adjusted October unemployment rate eased to 4.3%, government jobs data showed Thursday. The latest
reading was better than the 4.4% figure expected by Reuters-polled economists
and compared with 4.5% in September.
The better-than-expected decline in
October lowers expectations for a rate cut. The Australian dollar rose to
0.6556 against the greenback.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.66%,
while the mainland’s CSI 300 added 0.95%.
India’s Nifty 50 declined 0.12% in early
trading.
U.S. equity futures ticked lower in early
Asian hours after a continued market rotation powered the Dow Jones Industrial Average to
record its first close above 48,000 Wednesday stateside.
Overnight, the 30-stock Dow closed up
326.86 points, or 0.68%, at 48,254.82. The index also hit a fresh all-time
intraday high in the session. The S&P 500 traded around the
flatline, settling up 0.06% at 6,850.92, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped
0.26% to finish at 23,406.46.
Asia-Pacific
markets: Nikkei 225, Hang Seng Index
Anthropic to spend $50 billion on U.S. AI
infrastructure, starting with Texas, New York data centers
Published Wed, Nov 12 2025 10:00 AM EST Updated
Wed, Nov 12 2025 12:44 PM EST
Anthropic announced
plans Wednesday to spend $50 billion on a U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure
build-out, starting with custom data centers in Texas and New York.
The facilities, which will be designed to
support the company’s rapid enterprise growth and its long-term research
agenda, will be developed in partnership with Fluidstack.
Fluidstack is an AI cloud platform that
supplies large-scale graphics processing unit, or GPU, clusters to clients
like Meta, Midjourney and Mistral.
Additional sites are expected to follow,
with the first locations going live in 2026. The project is expected to create
800 permanent jobs and more than 2,000 construction roles.
The investment positions Anthropic as a
major domestic player in physical AI infrastructure at a moment when
policymakers are increasingly focused on U.S.-based compute capacity and
technological sovereignty.
“We’re getting closer to AI that can
accelerate scientific discovery and help solve complex problems in ways that
weren’t possible before. Realizing that potential requires infrastructure that
can support continued development at the frontier,” said CEO Dario Amodei.
“These sites will help us build more capable AI systems that can drive those
breakthroughs, while creating American jobs.”
The move comes as Anthropic rival OpenAI
pushes forward with an aggressive build-out of its own. The ChatGPT maker has
secured more than $1.4 trillion in long-term infrastructure commitments through
deals with Nvidia, Broadcom, Oracle and the major cloud
providers, including Microsoft, Google, and, most recently, Amazon.
The scale of that spending has raised
questions about whether the U.S. has the power capacity
and industrial backbone to deliver on such promises, and whether the AI sector
is drifting into bubble territory.
More
Anthropic
announces $50 billion AI spend, two U.S. data centers
'Bonkers' AI Spending Spree Backfires — Google,
Meta and Microsoft Debt Hit as Investor Anxiety Deepens
12 November 2025
Bonds issued by tech titans that are
'hyperscaling' their artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure have taken
hits in recent weeks.
Investors are now selling off the debt
accumulated by these companies, highlighting growing concern over tech groups
turning to debt markets to finance their AI ambitions, effectively asking
public investors to bankroll their expansion.
This wave of debt-fuelled investment has
raised red flags and intensified anxiety among fixed-income investors, as risks
mount from the billions being spent on AI.
The Debt-Fuelled Growth in AI Spending
Despite holding vast reserves of cash, big
tech companies are issuing debt faster than ever to fund their AI expansion.
The Financial Times reports that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are
projected to spend more than £303.7 billion ($400 billion) on data centres
alone in 2026.
All four companies are likely to use some
liquid cash to fund construction.
JP Morgan revealed that the four
collectively hold around £265.7 billion ($350 billion) in liquid cash and
investments, expected to generate roughly £550.4 billion ($725 billion) in
operating cash flow in 2026.
The firm also noted that building AI
infrastructure could cost more than £3.7 trillion ($5 trillion), a scale that
will 'likely require participation from every public capital market as well as
private credit, alternative capital providers and even government involvement'.
Meanwhile, Bank of America reported that
tech giants borrowed about £56.9 billion ($75 billion) in bonds and loans
during September and October alone to finance data-centre construction,
signalling a structural shift in which AI capital expenditures (capex) now
exceed internal cash-flow limits.
Long-Term Debt
The spread, or premium in yield, demanded
by investors for tech firms' bonds climbed to 0.78 per cent, the highest level
since US President Donald Trump introduced
tariff plans that rattled markets earlier this year.
The company that suffered most within the
group is Oracle. Data obtained by the Financial Times shows
that Oracle's bonds have fallen nearly 5 per cent since mid-September.
According to Bloomberg, the company has
about £72.8 billion ($96 billion) in long-term debt, balances that have risen
sharply as part of a series of leasing deals to provide computing power for
OpenAI's ChatGPT.
OpenAI reportedly told Oracle that its AI
software could generate £227.7 billion ($300 billion) in revenue over the next
five years.
Analysts remain divided over the sector's
reliance on large financial commitments from a small group of AI firms to
sustain growth. Credit-rating agency Moody's has warned of risks tied to this
concentration.
Meanwhile, George Pearkes of Bespoke
Investment Group said the AI debt cycle is still in its 'early stages', noting
that what worries him most is the potential increase in supply rather than a
full 'sell-off'.
Debt Financing Amplifies Risks
Historically, these AI companies have
funded innovation through strong internal cash flows. However, the scale and
speed of current development are straining their own resources.
The growing reliance on debt financing
could amplify risks if AI-driven returns fail to meet market expectations or if
tighter economic conditions limit credit availability.
Bank of America warned that the sector's
heavy borrowing spree has placed their financial profiles under increasing
pressure, especially given the pace of spending on AI.
White House says October jobs and inflation data
may never be released because of the shutdown
Published Wed, Nov 12 2025 1:43 PM EST Updated
Wed, Nov 12 2025 2:58 PM EST
Key economic reports for October may not
be released at all because of the government shutdown, a senior White House
official said Wednesday.
With the spending impasse appearing to be
near an end, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that
part of the fallout could be lasting damage to the government’s data collection
ability.
“The Democrats may have permanently
damaged the Federal Statistical system with October CPI and jobs reports likely
never being released,” Leavitt said. “All of that economic data released will
be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed, flying blind at a
critical period.”
Release of important economic data has
been at the forefront of Wall Street concerns as the shutdown dragged on for
more than six weeks, the longest in history.
Among the most important releases are the
monthly nonfarm payrolls count and the consumer price index, both of which come
from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other data impacted
includes retail sales, import and export data as well as consumer spending and
income.
Most Wall Street economists have been
expecting all of the data to be released, albeit delayed. However, Leavitt’s
comments cast doubt on whether that will happen.
“The Democrat shutdown made it
extraordinarily difficult for economists, investors and policymakers at the
Federal Reserve to receive critical government data,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt added that the shutdown could
lower fourth-quarter economic growth by up to 2 percentage points. Earlier in
the afternoon, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said
the impasse might shave up to 1.5 percentage points from current-quarter GDP.
“For sure, it’s going to have an impact on
this quarter,” Hassett said during an appearance at the Economic Club of
Washington, D.C.
However, most economists expect the impact
to be minimal.
More
White
House says October jobs and inflation data may never be released because of the
shutdown
In other news.
Hundreds of UK jobs at risk as Japanese bearings
firm plans factory closures
12 November 2025
A Japanese manufacturing firm is facing a
union battle over plans to shut factories in County Durham with the loss of
hundreds of jobs.
NSK said it was proposing to close its two
sites in Peterlee as part of a strategy to exit unprofitable businesses.
The factories, which produce bearings for
the automotive industry, employ up to 400 people.
NSK said it had begun consultations with
union representatives on its plans.
Unite the Union said it would fight the
planned closures. It described the announcement as a "betrayal" of
the workforce.
The company first began operations at
Peterlee in 1976. It has another UK manufacturing facility at Newark in
Nottinghamshire and another three in Germany and Poland.
The Peterlee factories produce bearings
for steering columns and wheel hubs.
Its customers are understood to include
VW, Renault and fellow Japanese firm Nissan, which has
sprawling car production facilities just up the coast at nearby Sunderland.
Its statement said NSK Europe had faced
"persistent challenges in the profitability of locally manufactured
products".
"NSK will continue discussions with
stakeholders and provide support measures for affected staff if the closure
proceeds, which is expected to be completed no later than March 2027.
"The company has not yet determined
the full impact of this decision on its business performance," the
statement concluded.
Challenges for UK manufacturers in recent
times include Brexit red tape and high energy costs, though the Peterlee
operation is understood to have been run on power generated purely from wind.
Unite blamed pressures on automotive parts
suppliers from weak demand hitting car manufacturers during the transition away
from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.
More
Hundreds of UK
jobs at risk as Japanese bearings firm plans factory closures
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.
Wendy's
to close hundreds of U.S. stores as low-income consumers cut back
November
11, 2025
Wendy's
plans to close hundreds of U.S. restaurants in the coming months as revenue and
profits decline, with the company citing cutbacks by lower-income consumers
that it expects will persist through year's end.
On
a Friday investor call, Ken Cook, Wendy's interim CEO, didn't disclose the
exact number or locations of restaurants that it plans to shutter. But he said
the Dublin, Ohio-based company is likely to close in the "mid-single digit
percentage" of its 6,011 U.S locations, or roughly 300 store closures if
it shuts 5% of its existing restaurants.
Wendy's
said the closures will start in the fourth quarter this year. Closing
underperforming locations will improve traffic and profitability at its
remaining U.S. restaurants, Cook added.
Fast-food
chains have been struggling to lift sales as lower-income consumers feel
increasingly squeezed by rising food costs. Both Wendy's and McDonald's have
introduced value
meals to
entice diners, but Cook said he doesn't expect the financial strain on these
households to ease soon.
"We
do see more pressure on the lower-income consumer," he said Friday.
"We continued to see that in [the third quarter] and we expect that to
continue into the fourth."
The
new round of closures comes on top of the closure of 240 U.S. Wendy's locations
in 2024. At the time, Wendy's said that many of the 55-year-old chain's
restaurants are simply out of date.
Cook
became Wendy's CEO in July after the company's previous CEO, Kirk Tanner, left
to become the president and CEO of Hershey Co.
Cook
said in some cases, Wendy's will make improvements to struggling stores,
including adding technology or equipment. In other cases, it will transfer
ownership to a different operator or close the restaurant altogether.
"When
we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the
brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective. The
goal is to address and fix those restaurants," Cook said during a
conference call with investors.
In
the first nine months of this year, Wendy's said its U.S. same-store sales, or
sales at locations open at least a year, fell 4% compared to the same period
last year. Wendy's revenue fell 2% to $1.63 billion in the same period, while
its net income fell 6% to $138.6 million.
Cook
said $5 and $8 meal deals — which have been matched by McDonald's — have helped
bring some traffic back to its U.S. stores. But Wendy's isn't doing a good job
of bringing in new customers, Cook said, so the company plans to shift its
marketing to emphasize its value and the freshness of its ingredients.
Wendy's
shares rose 10 cents, or 1.1%, to $8.63 in early Tuesday trading, but remain
down 46% for the year.
Wendy's to close
hundreds of U.S. stores as low-income consumers cut back
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.
Tefal vacuum cleaner recalled because of fire risk
12 November 2025
Shoppers are being warned to stop using a popular Tefal vacuum
cleaner as it poses a 'fire' risk.
The vacuum manufacturer issued an urgent
product recall about the Tefal X-Force Flex 15.60 and X-Force Flex 14.60 TY99
stick Vacuum Cleaners after discovering a defect in a component of the battery.
The product presents a risk of fire as
the battery pack can cause the battery to enter into thermal runaway while in
use, and a chemical reaction that sees more and more heat generated.
It was found that the vacuum does not
meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment Regulations 2016.
In light of this, Tefal are urging
anyone who purchased the vacuum to check if their product is affected and to
stop using it.
Customers can request a replacement
battery pack due to the safety risk.
A Tefal spokesperson said: "Tefal
is conducting as a preventive measure a voluntary recall of the battery packs
for affected stick vacuums to ensure safe and reliable use for its customers.
"Tefal has become aware that in
rare cases and exclusively during use of the product, thermal events may occur
due to a defect in a component of the battery pack.
More
Tefal vacuum cleaner recalled because of fire risk | York Press
EMR fire in Essex likely caused by lithium-ion battery
Metals
recycler EMR has blamed a lithium-ion battery for causing a fire which involved
a “large amount of scrap metal”.
November 10, 2025
The fire was reported at the metal
recycler’s East Tilbury site near the Thames Estuary in Essex on 30 October at
approximately 8pm.
Four fire engines attended the blaze
from Basildon, Corringham, Grays and Orsett fire departments, with crews
staying on site until the early hours of the next morning.
A specialist crane was used to move
scrap metal so firefighters could tackle hotspots effectively.
A spokesperson for EMR said: “Our team
responded swiftly, activating our on-site emergency protocols and immediately
notifying the fire service.
“Working closely together, our team and
the fire service brought the incident under control in a timely manner.
“We would like to thank the Essex County
Fire and Rescue Service for their quick response and support in managing the
incident.”
EMR confirmed that no injuries were
sustained as a result of the incident and that there was also no structural
damage to the site or any of its equipment.
The metal recycler said that initial
investigations suggest that a lithium-ion battery was the cause of the fire.
---- According to Material Focus, more than 1,200 battery-related fires broke out in refuse
vehicles and waste facilities during 2023/24 – a 71% increase on the previous
year.
In September 2025, the Environmental
Services Association (ESA) issued a stark warning that battery fires in the UK’s waste sector have reached “epidemic levels”.
The EMR spokesperson concluded: “We
would like to apologise to the local community, neighbouring businesses, and
our customers for any inconvenience caused.
More
EMR fire in Essex likely caused by lithium-ion battery - letsrecycle.com
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
The way to get a maximum rate of 'economic growth' assuming this
to be our aim - is to give maximum encouragement to production, employment,
saving, and investment. And the way to do this is to maintain a free market and
a sound currency.
Henry Hazlitt
No comments:
Post a Comment