Economy
Dow’s 4th-Largest Stock Surges on Earnings (Thomas R.)
Despite beating estimates, CEO David Wichmann still called the projections “conservative.”
For the third quarter, UnitedHealth also posted numbers that beat Wall Street revenue projections. Revenues grew by 6.7% year-on-year or by $3.8 billion to reach $60.4 billion.
U.S. pension funds took positions in blacklisted Chinese surveillance company (Thomas R.)
“Our holdings are primarily held according to their weights in passive portfolios matching the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index, our policy benchmark. We are monitoring the situation,” said a spokesman for the teachers’ fund. The ex-U.S. All Country World Index includes stocks from 22 developed and emerging markets.
Mitch Albom: Price for the NBA in China? Its soul (Thomas R.)
But that didn’t stop China, the most populous nation on the planet, from going berserk. The government-owned TV network canceled televising the NBA exhibition games being played there. The internet streaming was canceled as well. The Chinese Basketball Association suspended all association with the Houston Rockets. And China’s consul general in Houston demanded the team “immediately correct the mistakes.”
According to the World Organization of Animal Health, the disease has spread to more than 50 countries. As many as half of China’s pigs, an estimated 300 million, have died of the virus or been exterminated since the disease took hold 13 months ago. In the past months it has advanced to Vietnam, Laos and South Korea. At the beginning of September, the Philippines confirmed African swine fever in at least seven villages near Manila, requiring 7,000 pigs to be euthanized. And at the end of September, East Timor reported more than 100 cases to the World Organization for Animal Health.
Weak U.S. retail sales cast shadow over slowing economy (Thomas R.)
“This morning’s report solidifies concerns of the consumer’s inability to perpetually support the economy alone,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel in Chicago. “With business investment declining and manufacturing activity deteriorating, many investors brushed off fears of a slowdown because the consumer was still spending.”
China’s pork prices surged 69.3% in September from a year ago (Thomas R.)
That increase in pork prices have been a major driver in the overall increase in China’s consumer prices. In September, the country’s consumer price index increased 3% year-on-year in September — the highest in nearly six years, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, factory prices, measured by the producer price index, fell by 1.2%, reported Reuters.
The worst news for Joe Biden Tuesday had nothing to do with the debate (Thomas R.)
So Biden’s total cash haul — $15.7 million — isn’t great. (He was outraised by Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg.) But his burn rate — the amount he spent — is even more concerning. Biden spent more than $17.6 million, meaning $2 million more went out than came in. Which is bad! But could be mitigated somewhat if Biden had previously stocked away a Scrooge McDuck-like set of gold coins (or just plain dollar bills) that he could draw from to fund his efforts in the third fundraising quarter.
Dutch family ‘waiting for end of time’ found in secret room – BBC News (Thomas R.)
A family who spent nine years on a farm “waiting for the end of time” have been discovered by police in the Netherlands after one of them turned up at a local pub, reports say.
A man of 58 and six young adults aged 18 to 25 were living at a farm in the province of Drenthe.
A World Without Retirement (Peter K.)
For those of pensionable age who cannot afford to retire, but cannot continue working – because of poor health, or ageing parents who need care, or because potential employers would rather hire younger workers – the great progress Britain has made in tackling poverty among the elderly over the last two decades will be reversed. This group is liable to suffer the sort of widespread poverty not seen in Britain for 30 to 40 years.
Neighbor blocks San Francisco alleyway with plywood wall to keep out homeless people, drug dealers (thc0655)
“The city has completely forgotten about this particular alley that always will be complained about. Just to keep it nice and clean and get rid of all these people there,” said business owner, Tim Zaracotas.
Ingleside neighbors are set to meet on Wednesday. Oct. 16 at 6 pm at the Ingleside Library to discuss the alley.
Bank of England boss says global finance is funding 4C temperature rise (Cornelius999)
The risks associated with temperatures at or above 4C include a 9-metre rise in sea levels – affecting up to 760 million people – searing heatwaves and droughts, serious food supply problems and half of all animal and plant species facing local extinction.
The Millennial Urban Lifestyle Is About to Get More Expensive (tmn)
Starting about a decade ago, a fleet of well-known start-ups promised to change the way we work, work out, eat, shop, cook, commute, and sleep. These lifestyle-adjustment companies were so influential that wannabe entrepreneurs saw them as a template, flooding Silicon Valley with “Uber for X” pitches.
The Lights Go Out in Cali… and Maybe Not Just There (thc0655)
But the real reason for the artificial blackout is PG&E’s massive – and government-mandated – malinvestment in “green” technologies such as wind farms and solar, which has diverted billions away from critically needed infrastructure investment, such as burying power lines so that Santa Ana winds don’t result in downed lines, and fires.
Michigan crop yield predictions: Setting all the wrong records in 2019 (newsbuoy)
According to Michigan Farm Bureau Field Crops Specialist Theresa Sisung, while USDA expects per-acre average corn yields to actually increase by 2 bushels from 2018 levels to 155 bushels per acre this year, there were 250,000 less acres actually planted due to rain delays in May and June.
Gold & Silver
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The post Daily Digest 10/17 – Weak U.S. Retail Sales Cast Shadow Over Slowing Economy, A World Without Retirement appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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