Economy
Fed’s Bullard tells MarketWatch that the coronavirus delta variant won’t derail the U.S. economy – MarketWatch
The U.S. economy won’t be derailed by the rapidly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because businesses and households have adapted to the pandemic, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Wednesday in an interview with MarketWatch.
“The economy has clearly adapted to the pandemic situation. Businesses have found ways to produce their products and services and households have found ways” to continue consumption,” he said.
Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a New York vault. The Taliban can’t touch it. – Quartz
The Biden administration has frozen the Afghanistan government’s holdings in US banks, preventing the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars—a major, if indeterminate, part of the country’s foreign reserves.
Among the assets trapped in this freeze is a stash of gold bars deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. According to figures published by Afghanistan’s central bank, the deposit amounted to roughly 22 tons of gold as of December 2020, the most recent date for which this data is available. At current prices benchmarked by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the gold is worth around $1.25 billion.
Soaring demand for the world’s least-liked commodity sees thermal coal prices jump 106% this year – NBC
Soaring electricity demand, infrastructure woes and a surge in global gas prices have triggered an extraordinary rally for the world’s least liked commodity.
Australian thermal coal at Newcastle Port, the benchmark for the vast Asian market, has climbed 106% this year to more than $166 per metric ton, according to the latest weekly assessment by commodity price provider Argus.
Robinhood earnings: Crypto trading skyrockets in Q2 – Yahoo
Robinhood’s (HOOD) revenue based on crypto transactions skyrocketed in the 2nd quarter, with more than 60% of its users trading digital currencies. However the company warned of lower revenue expectations for the third quarter. Shares fell about 5% in after hours.
“For the three months ended Sept 30, 2021, we expect seasonal headwinds and lower trading activity across the industry to result in lower revenues and considerably fewer funded accounts than in the prior quarter” read the company statement.
Palantir buys $51 million of gold to protect against a ‘black swan event’ – Business Insider
Data-analytics firm Palantir Technologies purchased $50.7 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars, according to the company’s quarterly financial-results filing from August 12. That came in addition to other investments in startups and SPACs.
Environment
Siberian wildfires double greenhouse gas emission record: This is how they look from space. – Space.com
Wildfires in Siberia have produced 800 megatons of carbon dioxide since the beginning of June, nearly doubling last year’s record, according to estimates by the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).
In only two and a half months, the fires exceeded the annual carbon dioxide emissions of Germany, the most polluting European country. According to Climate Trade, Germany is the world’s sixth worst polluter.
Caldor Fire forces thousands more to evacuate, grows nearly 10 times in size in 2 days – NBC
The number of people evacuated in El Dorado County jumped from 6,850 on Tuesday to 23,000 on Wednesday, according to the latest numbers from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service.
Booming Colo. town asks, ‘Where will water come from?’ – Yahoo
By the tens of thousands newcomers have been streaming into Greeley — so much so that the city and surrounding Weld County grew by more than 30% from 2010 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the country.
And it’s not just Greeley.
Figures released this month show that population growth continues unabated in the South and West, even as temperatures rise and droughts become more common. That in turn has set off a scramble of growing intensity in places like Greeley to find water for the current population, let alone those expected to arrive in coming years.
“Anything we can do to protect our safe water supply is so important,’’ said Dick Maxfield, who has lived in Greeley for nearly 60 years and watched the population nearly quadruple to nearly 110,000, as new arrivals attracted to relatively low housing prices flock to the city 55 miles (85 kilometers) north of Denver and its mix of jobs in energy, health care and agriculture, including a major meat-packing plant.
Health
Vivek (1961-2021): AR Rahman remembers the actor, calls him ‘a selfless jewel of India’ – India Express
The sudden demise of Tamil actor Vivek has left his fans, friends and colleagues shocked. He passed away on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest. The actor was hospitalised on Friday after a cardiac arrest. While there were reports of his health deteriorating after taking a jab of the coronavirus vaccine, the Tamil Nadu Health Department refuted the rumours in a press meet.
The private hospital in Chennai, where Vivek, 59, was being treated, said he suffered “an acute coronary syndrome with cardiogenic shock. This is a separate cardiac event. It may not be due to Covid vaccination”.
On Friday, the actor underwent “emergency coronary angiogram followed by angioplasty”, a medical bulletin said. But his condition stayed critical through the day.
The 59-year-old actor made headlines on Thursday for promoting the importance of vaccination to fight the coronavirus. He chose to get vaccinated at a government hospital to spread awareness instead of going to a private hospital.
Richard Sackler Says Family and Purdue Bear No Responsibility for Opioid Crisis – NY Times
Dr. Sackler, perhaps the best-known among the billionaire Sacklers, who for nearly 20 years was the family member who figured most prominently in the company’s rollout of its signature prescription painkiller, OxyContin, made a rare, protracted appearance by video conference on Wednesday before a judge presiding over the confirmation hearing for a plan that would restructure Purdue and settle all lawsuits against the company and family members for their role in the opioid epidemic.
It is believed to be the first time that Dr. Sackler has answered questions in open court about the family’s opioid business. Similar to an extended deposition he gave in 2015 to Kentucky state lawyers, Dr. Sackler offered testimony largely pocked with faint or absent recollections, terse statements and deflections to his legal team.
The post Daily Digest 8/19 — Fed’s Bullard Tells MarketWatch Coronavirus Delta Variant Won’t Derail the U.S. Economy; Siberian Wildfires Double Greenhouse Gas Emission Record… appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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