Economy
Amazon event introduces new line of wearables that will push Alexa into every corner of your life (Sparky1)
Because Amazon lacks an Alexa-powered smartphone such as Google and Apple have, it’s looking for other ways to make its always-listening assistant omnipresent. In addition to the wearables, it announced an updated Echo Dot that shows the time and a new eight-inch Echo Show. There was also the Echo Glow, which is essentially a soothing, Alexa-controlled night light. The Alexa-controlled Amazon Smart Oven can read bar codes on packaged foods and automatically cook them according the directions, and a new Ring Elite doorbell feature adds Alexa to the front door to chat up visitors and take messages if you’re away.
Here are 3.4 trillion reasons the stock market could be poised for a big rally (Thomas R.)
“With all that dry powder out there, the catalyst is that yield is going to start to fall away. We’ve already seen yield on short term, fixed income fall,” he said. “People will be looking for yield and looking for a return somewhere. And I think that’s the place where if they’re less concerned about a recession and the global slowdown, that could be a spot where you get money going into stocks.”
U.S. consumer confidence falls in September, trade fears dominate (Thomas R.)
The longest economic expansion on record, now in its 11th year, is mostly being sustained by consumer spending, via the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years. But there have been fears the U.S.-China trade war, which has weighed on business investment and manufacturing, could slam the brakes on consumer spending.
China and the U.S. Are Set to Talk Again. Here’s What to Buy If a Trade Deal Is Reached. (Thomas R.)
Amid a constant tit-for-tat of goodwill gestures and tough rhetoric, trade envoys for the U.S. and China are slated to meet in two weeks for the next round of negotiations. Skepticism the two sides can come to a deal still persists, let alone one that can stick. That means there could be opportunity if a deal is actually reached.
China going big with military parade for its 70th anniversary (Sparky1)
With 160 fighters, bombers and military planes, Tuesday’s parade will be grander than the one that marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, when just 17 planes could be found and China’s first premier, Zhou Enlai, ordered that the planes fly over twice.
“Premier Zhou, we have enough fighter planes now,” trumpeted a China Daily headline Sunday.
Annual health insurance costs hit record high above $20,000 (Sparky1)
The seemingly inexorable rise of costs has led to deep frustration with U.S. health care, prompting questions about whether a system where coverage is tied to a job can survive. As premiums and deductibles have increased in the last two decades, the percentage of workers covered has slipped as employers dropped coverage and some workers chose not to enroll. Fewer Americans under 65 had employer coverage in 2017 than in 1999, according to a separate Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of federal data. That’s despite the fact that the U.S. economy employed 17 million more people in 2017 than in 1999.
Hurricanes are Coming! (GE Christenson)
Hurricane Pension Default sits at only Cat 1 status today, but it will strengthen during the next recession. Low and negative interest rates will make it worse.
Hurricane Crazy Politics is building into a major force, expected to reach Cat 5 in October 2020.
What’s Driving The High-End Comic Market To Multimillion-Dollar Heights? (newsbuoy)
In yet another sign that there is an awful lot of cash sloshing around the upper echelons of the global economy, auction house Heritage Auctions reported record sales of $58,544,323 in its comic and comic art category in 2018. That’s a 32% increase over the department’s previous record, set in 2017.
Former NYPD Officer Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud (newbuoy)
For each of the tax years 2012 through 2017, FERATOVIC falsely reported to his tax return preparer, and caused to be reported to the IRS, rental income from his properties in amounts significantly below the true rental income he received. He did so in generally increasing amounts during the relevant years, with the largest under-reporting occurring in 2017, during which he failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in rental income.
State Police found years-old records in fraud scandal after telling prosecutors they didn’t exist (newsbuoy)
The newly discovered citation and trooper activity records, most of which are believed to be from 2014 and earlier, point to wrongdoing by at least one trooper — and potentially much more.
The emergence of such files could lead to additional criminal charges, legal experts said, and raises more concerns about State Police record keeping and its ability and willingness to investigate its own troopers.
SF residents buy boulders, place them on sidewalk to thwart homeless tents (thc0655)
While the city reportedly had no role in placing the boulders, the San Francisco Public Works Department does not plan to remove them because they don’t block the sidewalk, according to KTVU. SFGATE reached out to the the Public Works Department for more information, but did not get an immediate response.
Tactics aimed at keeping homeless individuals off the street are nothing new in San Francisco.
Russia mulling $1 billion investment in Venezuela’s gold, diamond projects (Sparky1)
Sanctions have not stopped Russia from doing business with Venezuela as both cooperate on various projects, including oil and grain. Russia’s Rosneft is currently involved with developing five energy projects with Venezuela. Also, in 2018 Russia exported more than 254,000 tons of grain to the South American nation.
‘China is more than a decade ahead in the game,’ warns resource expert (Sparky1)
Carlson recommended a fundamental rethink of how countries invest in strategic industries. She also said there should be “…intensified focus on industrial and post-consumer minerals recycling and robust investments in materials science R&D could help reduce dependence on extraction, mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities.”
The $47 Trillion Death Sentence For Oil & Gas (Thomas R.)
International banks, such as Deutsche Bank, ABNAmro, Citigroup, Barclays, and ING, are joining the framework. Under the title of action against global warming, the largest financial institutions now seem to be headbutting oil and gas operators. The impact of activist shareholders and NGOs is sending shockwaves through the sector. If the framework is successfully implemented, the hydrocarbon sector shouldn’t fear unrest in the Middle East, but rather their current financiers.E
Hydrogen hurdles: a deadly blast hampers South Korea’s big fuel cell car bet (Thomas R.)
Calling hydrogen power the “future bread and butter” of Asia’s No. 4 economy, President Moon Jae-in has declared himself an ambassador for the technology and targeted 850,000 fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) on South Korean roads by 2030.
Exclusive: EPA granted full biofuel waivers to refineries despite Energy Department advice – memo (Thomas R.)
Trump’s EPA has disregarded DOE advice on waivers in the past, Reuters has reported, marking a break from the Obama administration’s EPA, which had often either adopted energy department recommendations or, when it did not, ruled against exempting oil refiners.
An EPA official did not immediately comment.
United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education (newsbuoy)
The study includes the negative externalities caused by fossil fuels that society has to pay for, not reflected in their actual costs. In addition to direct transfers of government money to fossil fuel companies, this includes the indirect costs of pollution, such as healthcare costs and climate change adaptation. By including these numbers, the true cost of fossil fuel use to society is reflected.
Is Aramco Lying About Its Damaged Oil Infrastructure? (Thomas R.)
Bloomberg estimated earlier this month that Saudi Arabia has about 50 million barrels of oil in storage at home plus another 80 million barrels stored abroad. This will be enough to keep its exports going at regular rates, but some expect a supply gap to open up late next month.
The National Mining Association (NMA) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are the sixth and seventh U.S. lobbying group to appear in the top 10, which is measured by a methodology of comparing how much they are against the Paris Agreement’s policies, influence and power on the economy, and the intensity of their lobbying against climate-related regulatory matters.
The remaining three places in the top ten are all foreign trade associations: The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Minerals Council of Australia and the Japan Business Federation.
The University of Coimbra’s announcement was met with some backlash. Portugal’s Milk Producers Association issued a statement saying it was “incomprehensible” for the university to refuse to serve a food “which is believed to have contributed to the development of the brains of our ancestors.”
The association also noted that Portugal imports 50 percent of its beef and argued that a better way to fight climate change would be to consume Portuguese meat.
Air Pollution Has Been Linked With Psychiatric Disorders in Children (Sparky1)
Overall, in the three days following a spike of 10 micrograms per meter squared the hospital saw more children attend the psychiatric emergency department. PM 2.5 appeared to exacerbate adjustment disorder and suicidality in particular. The latter condition encompasses suicidal ideation, preparing for suicide, and abandoned attempts to take one’s life.
Zimbabwe capital city shuts main water plant, shortages loom (Sparky1)
Harare City Council deputy mayor Enock Mupamawonde told reporters that the local authority required at least 40 million Zimbabwe dollars ($2.7 million) a month for water chemicals but it was only collecting 15 million Zimbabwe dollars in monthly revenue.
He said the shortages of foreign exchange for chemicals had forced the council to close its Morton Jaffray treatment plant outside Harare for now. He did not know when it would be re-opened.
Zimbabwe: No Water for Entire Harare Metropolitan Area (Sparky1)
“As we speak, Morton Jaffray is not operating, we ran out of the critical chemicals early this morning (yesterday) and the plant had to be shut down so we have to run around to try and get supplies from even suppliers whom we do not have contracts with.”
The development was met with anger from the Government and residents who suggested the need to set up a commission to run the affairs of the city following the all-time low which may put three million lives in danger.
Gold & Silver
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The post Daily Digest 9/26 – U.S. Health Insurance Costs Hit Record High, Is Aramco Lying About Its Damaged Oil Infrastructure? appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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