Economy
Natural-Gas Prices Surge, and Winter Is Still Months Away – WSJ
Natural-gas prices have surged, prompting worries about winter shortages and forecasts for the most expensive fuel since frackers flooded the market more than a decade ago. U.S. natural-gas futures ended Friday at $5.105 per million British thermal units. They were about half that six months ago and have leapt 17% this month.
Commodity freight rates poised to ‘go parabolic,’ Genco CEO says – Seeking Alpha
Commodity shipping rates are ready to spike higher to reflect the surge in costs for transporting manufactured goods, Genco Shipping (GNK -0.1%) President and CEO John Wobensmith tells Bloomberg. “You do get to a point, and you’ve seen this in containers, where you hit a certain utilization rate and you start to go parabolic on rates,” the CEO says. “We’re getting close to that period.”
Pennsylvania enforces 2-bottle limit on some booze due to supply chain disruptions – USA Today
Pennsylvania’s state-run liquor system has started rationing sales of a few dozen products in response to what it describes as supply shortages beyond its control.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board notified license holders on Thursday that two-bottles-per-day purchase limits for customers at state stores, as well as well for bars, restaurants and other license holders, would remain in place indefinitely.
The PLCB said “sustained supply chain disruptions and product shortages” prompted the restrictions on certain types of alcohol.
Cryptocurrency launchpad hit by $3 million supply chain attack – Ars Technica
SushiSwap’s chief technology officer says the company’s MISO platform has been hit by a software supply chain attack. SushiSwap is a community-driven decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that lets users swap, earn, lend, borrow, and leverage cryptocurrency assets all from one place. Launched earlier this year, Sushi’s newest offering, Minimal Initial SushiSwap Offering (MISO), is a token launchpad that lets projects launch their own tokens on the Sushi network.
Up to Half of the $14 Trillion Spent by Pentagon Since 9/11 Has Gone to War Profiteers – Scheerpost
A new analysis shows that a “large portion” of Pentagon contracts in recent years have gone to just five companies: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.
Federal Reserve meeting expected to focus on taper timing, dot plot – Seeking Alpha
The Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to discuss monetary policy. The central bank has already said they’re not planning to start reducing asset purchases yet — the much-discussed taper. In addition, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has explicitly said the Fed won’t raise rates until well after tapering of its asset purchases starts.
China Evergrande shares dive to 11-year low as default risks grow – Reuters
China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) shares plunged on Monday to over 11-year lows, extending losses as executives try to salvage its business prospects and as default fears grow over a looming deadline for payment obligations this week.
Environment
UN warns of “catastrophic” climate change failure without more emissions cuts – Axios
A United Nations report released Friday warned that the planet will likely warm by more than 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century unless governments take extra steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
‘Alarm bell’: U.N. chief, UK PM convene leaders on climate change – Yahoo
With less than six weeks to go before world leaders convene for a major climate summit in Glasgow, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold a roundtable of world leaders on Monday to address major gaps on emissions targets and climate finance.
The closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the annual high-level week of the U.N. General Assembly will include leaders from a few dozen countries representing industrialized nations, emerging economies and vulnerable developing countries, said Selwin Hart, assistant secretary-general and special adviser to Guterres on climate action.
Health
Further evidence that vitamin D might protect against severe COVID-19 disease and death – Trinity College Dublin News
New research from Trinity College and University of Edinburgh has examined the association between vitamin D and COVID-19, and found that ambient ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (which is key for vitamin D production in the skin) at an individual’s place of residence in the weeks before COVID-19 infection, was strongly protective against severe disease and death. The paper has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
125 employees of Indiana’s largest hospital system leave over vaccine mandate – WLKY
Indiana’s largest hospital system says more than 100 workers left the company over the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
Indiana University Health said more than 300 were suspended for two weeks, unpaid, to either get the vaccine or risk termination. That period that ended Tuesday, Sept. 14, and IU Health said 125 people left the system.
Big gap between Pfizer, Moderna vaccines seen for preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations – Press Herald
Amid persistent concerns that the protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines may be waning, a report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that America’s workhorse shot is significantly less effective at preventing severe cases of disease over the long term than many experts had realized.
Data collected from 18 states between March and August suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 by 91% in the first four months after receiving the second dose. Beyond 120 days, however, that vaccine efficacy drops to 77%. Meanwhile, Moderna’s vaccine was 93% effective at reducing the short-term risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and remained 92% effective after 120 days.
COVID-19 vaccine’s impact on menstrual cycles needs to be investigated after 30,000 women report changes, says top scientist – Business Insider
Since the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, thousands of women in the UK have been saying that their periods have been disrupted, say experts.
More than 30,000 women said their menstrual cycle being somewhat altered after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, reported Sky News.
The post Daily Digest 9/20 — Natural-Gas Prices Surge; Commodity Freight Rates Poised to ‘Go Parabolic’… appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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