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Russia warned Monday that the risk of a “direct military clash” between Russia and nuclear powers in the West is rising.

“Westerners are dangerously balancing on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video message to the participants of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference.

The comments come after Russia reacted angrily to the U.S. House of Representatives passing a $61 billion foreign aid package for Kyiv at the weekend.

House lawmakers approved the aid Saturday despite long-standing objections from hardline Republicans; the bill now passes to the Democratic-majority Senate, which is expected to approve the legislation later this week before it’s passed to President Joe Biden to sign it into law.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy react during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 12, 2023.

Leah Millis | Reuters

The aid is a lifeline for Ukraine, whose forces in the east of the country have had to ration their usage of shells amid shortages of supplies; Russian forces have been making gains in the Donbas region, with Ukraine pleading for more air defense systems, artillery and ammunition to turn the tide in the war.

Ukraine is given a reprieve by the U.S., but faces race against the clock over weapons supplies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked U.S. lawmakers saying the bill passed by the House “will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.” He urged the Senate to pass the bill as quickly as possible.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bank of England intervenes in bond markets again, warns of ‘material risk’ to UK financial stability

October 11, 2022

Bank of England intervenes in bond markets again, warns of ‘material risk’ to UK financial stability

“Dysfunction in this market, and the prospect of self-reinforcing ‘fire sale’ dynamics pose a material risk to UK financial stability,” the Bank of England warned.
The move marks the second expansion of the central bank’s extraordinary rescue package in as many days, after it increased the limit for its daily gilt purchases on Monday ahead of the planned end of the purchase scheme.

The Bank of England raised rates by 0.5 percentage points Thursday.

Vuk Valcic | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

LONDON — The Bank of England on Tuesday announced an expansion of its emergency bond-buying operation as it looks to restore order to the country’s chaotic bond market.

The central bank said it will widen its purchases of U.K. government bonds — known as gilts — to include index-linked gilts from Oct. 11 until Oct. 14. Index-linked gilts are bonds where payouts to bondholders are benchmarked in line with the U.K. retail price index.

The move marks the second expansion of the Bank’s extraordinary rescue package in as many days, after it increased the limit for its daily gilt purchases on Monday ahead of the planned end of the purchase scheme on Friday.

The Bank launched its emergency intervention on Sep. 28 after an unprecedented sell-off in long-dated U.K. government bonds threatened to collapse multiple liability driven investment (LDI) funds, widely held by U.K. pension schemes.

“The beginning of this week has seen a further significant repricing of UK government debt, particularly index-linked gilts. Dysfunction in this market, and the prospect of self-reinforcing ‘fire sale’ dynamics pose a material risk to UK financial stability,” the bank said in a statement Tuesday.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

UK shatters record for its hottest day ever; London fire service declares ‘major incident’

July 20, 2022

UK shatters record for its hottest day ever; London fire service declares ‘major incident’

Britain recorded its hottest-ever day Tuesday, with temperatures hitting a high of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the east of England, according to provisional data from the Met Office.
London’s fire brigade declared a major incident after a “huge surge” in fires across the capital Tuesday.
Millions of Brits endured the country’s hottest-ever night Monday, with temperatures remaining above 25C in places.

People turn out to watch the sunrise at Cullercoats Bay, North Tyneside. Britons are set to melt on the hottest UK day on record as temperatures are predicted to hit 40C. Picture date: Tuesday July 19, 2022.

Owen Humphreys | Pa Images | Getty Images

LONDON — Britain recorded its hottest-ever day Tuesday, with temperatures hitting a high of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the east of England, as London’s fire service tackled several blazes across the capital.

The provisional figures from the U.K.’s weather service showed Coningsby, Lincolnshire, hit the new high Tuesday afternoon, surpassing two new records set earlier in the day.

The country’s previous hottest temperature was 38.7C, recorded in Cambridge in 2019.

It comes as Brits face the second day of an extreme heatwave, which is causing widespread disruption and raising the risk of wildfires.

“If confirmed this will be the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK. Temperatures are likely to rise further through today,” the Met Office said on Twitter.

Temperatures were forecast to hit as high as 42C in parts of England by Tuesday afternoon, according to the Met Office, which issued a red extreme heat warning. Health authorities urged people to take precautions, including staying indoors and drinking plenty of water.

The country is also on high alert for wildfires, with the southeast of England at “very extreme danger,” according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

India isn’t the only one banning food exports. These countries are doing the same

May 21, 2022

India isn’t the only one banning food exports. These countries are doing the same

The war has triggered a huge spike in wheat prices, with Russia and Ukraine among the biggest exporters of the commodity. Many countries have banned wheat, as well as other food exports as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
“As the war continues, there is a growing likelihood that food shortages, particularly of grains and vegetable oils, will become acute, leading more countries to turn to restrictions on trade,” said the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Here’s a list of countries that have banned food exports in the months after the Russia-Ukraine war started, according to a live tracker developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Workers unload wheat sacks from a truck at a Punjab Grains Procurement Corp. facility in the Ludhiana district of Punjab, India, on Sunday, May 1, 2022.

India has banned wheat exports as the price of grain surged this year due in part to the Russia-Ukraine war.

T. Narayan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India has banned wheat exports, becoming the latest country to do so as the price of grain surged this year due in part to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The war has triggered a huge spike in wheat prices, with Russia and Ukraine among the biggest exporters of the commodity. Both countries account for 29% of global wheat exports, according to the World Bank.

“With food prices already high due to COVID-related supply chain disruptions and drought-reduced yields last year, Russia’s invasion came at a bad time for global food markets,” said the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in an April note.

Washington D.C.-based think-tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics added in a recent note that Russia’s war on Ukraine has “taken a shocking toll on the region.” “It has also contributed to a global food crisis, as Russia is blocking vital fertilizer exports needed by farmers elsewhere, and Ukraine’s role as the breadbasket for Africa and the Middle East has been destroyed.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The world could be on the brink of an energy crisis rivaling the 1970s, says IHS Markit’s Yergin

March 4, 2022

The world could be on the brink of an energy crisis rivaling the 1970s, says IHS Markit’s Yergin

Russia’s Ukraine invasion could have set in motion an energy market disruption on the scale of major oil crises in the 1970s, according to Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit.
Sanctions by the U.S. and allies on Russia’s financial system have disrupted sales of Russian oil, with banks and buyers wary of running afoul of the punitive measures.
“This could be the worst crisis since the Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution in the 1970s,” said Yergin.

A driver holds a fuel nozzle at a Shell gas station in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Russia’s Ukraine invasion could have set in motion an energy market disruption on the scale of major oil crises in the 1970s, according to Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit.

Moscow is one of the world’s largest oil exporters. Sanctions by the U.S. and allies on Russia’s financial system have already set in motion a backlash against Russian crude from banks, buyers and shippers.

Yergin, also an author and energy market historian, said even though Russian energy was not sanctioned by the U.S. and other countries, there could be a large loss of Russian barrels from the market. The country exports about 7.5 million barrels a day of oil and refined products, he noted.

“This is going to be a really big disruption in terms of logistics, and people are going to be scrambling for barrels,” Yergin said. “This is a supply crisis. It’s a logistics crisis. It’s a payment crisis, and this could well be on the scale of the 1970s.”

He said strong communications between governments imposing the sanctions and the industry could head off a worst-case scenario. “Governments need to provide clarity,” Yergin said.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

What ‘transition’? Renewable energy is growing, but overall energy demand is growing faster

November 6, 2021

What ‘transition’? Renewable energy is growing, but overall energy demand is growing faster

The rise in the renewable energy that’s available is still lower than the rise in global energy demand overall.
The shortfall between renewable energy supply and power demand will only widen as economies reopen and travel resumes, with demand already spiking to pre-pandemic levels.
A “common ground solution” would be to use traditional fuels as a backup when renewables fail to carry through.

Wind turbines in waters off the coast of the U.K.

Lakeland-Photos | iStock | Getty Images

The world wants to “transition” away from fossil fuels toward green energy, but the difficult reality is this: Dirty fuels are not going away — or even declining — anytime soon.

The total amount of renewable energy that’s available is growing. That’s good news for a world threatened by potentially devastating climate change.

But the increase in renewable energy is still lower than the increase in global energy demand overall. A “transition” from fossil fuels may come someday, but for now, renewable energy isn’t even keeping pace with rising energy demand — so fossil fuel demand is still growing.

“The global power market is experiencing rapid power demand growth as markets recover from the pandemic. Despite all the capacity additions in renewables generation, the amount of power currently generated by renewables is still not enough to meet this increased demand,” Matthew Boyle, manager of global coal and Asia power analytics at S&P Global Platts, told CNBC.

The global supply of renewables will grow by 35 gigawatts from 2021 to 2022, but global power demand growth will go up by 100 gigawatts over the same period, according to Boyle. Countries will have to tap traditional fuel sources to meet the rest of the demand. A gigawatt is 1 billion watts.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Supply chain slowdown hits at key pillars of economy and will likely get worse: Dan Yergin

April 18, 2021

Supply chain slowdown hits at key pillars of economy and will likely get worse: Dan Yergin

KEY POINTS

The pressures on supply chains are increasing and global disruptions are likely to only get worse as summer approaches and the economy booms.
Disruptions have converged at the same time in three important pillars of the global economy – shipping, computer chips, and plastics.
Port backups are described as the worst ever and delivery times are the longest in 20 years of data collection.
The system will ultimately adjust, but that will take time and requires new investment in ports and capacity.

Shipping containers are unloaded from ships at a container terminal at the Port of Long Beach-Port of Los Angeles complex, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Los Angeles, California, April 7, 2021. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

If you’re wondering why your new couch is going to take three or four months to arrive, not just a few weeks, the reason is simple: You are at the very end of a global supply chain that has buckled.

For similar reasons, GM and Ford and other automakers around the world are slowing down manufacturing, temporarily shutting auto plants, and furloughing workers.

A recovering world economy that depends upon the synchronized, smooth running of global supply chains is now being slammed by what has turned out to be synchronized disruptions.

Although the massive Ever Given container ship has been unstuck from the Suez Canal, its continuing impact is only adding to the woes.

As government stimulus seeks to fuel a hyper recovery and the world economy accelerates over the rest of this year, the pressures on supply chains are increasing and disruptions are likely to grow as we head into summer.

Stretching supply chains

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Just Close The Whole Thing Up”: CNBC Anchors Melt Down, Beg For Market Closures On Twitter

March 16, 2020

“Just Close The Whole Thing Up”: CNBC Anchors Melt Down, Beg For Market Closures On Twitter

Few are dealing with the economic and market turmoil with more chaos and less class and resolve than the expert “buy and hold” class over at CNBC, who shockingly never said one word of warning to their retail viewers when the market was doing nothing but going straight up for more than a decade, and instead were dragging mom and pop investors into massively overvalued stocks urging them to buy at all time highs, and who are now melting down before our eyes at the first sight of a substantial market pullback.

Their solution: own the shorts by shutting down the market entirely. Because if one can’t BTFD, is it even a market?

As recently as Friday, when the Dow Jones posted a 2000 point gain on the back of a short squeeze that nearly doubled the indexes gains in the last 15 minutes of the day, there was no talk about markets being defective or needing to close. That was, of course, until the Fed’s $700 billion “quarantative easing” bazooka bailout of markets fizzled spectacularly on Sunday nights and futures promptly went limit down. When it appeared that this plan was failing, some of the industry’s finest began to panic visibly.

Prior to the Fed news, Halftime Report’s Scott Wapner had already called for blanket censorship of Twitter…

Then, after the Fed bazooka failed to calm markets, it sent the popular talking heads into a typing panic, as Wapner started tweeting wildly, criticizing NFL players for signing contracts, prodding the NYSE to “close the floor” and then begging for them to “close the whole thing up” so the market could “start again later”. Perhaps because when things don’t go your way, you can always beg for a reset in some imaginary world where the Fed still runs everything.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Maybe This Was Man Made” – CNBC Questions Coronavirus Origins As ZeroHedge Remains Banned On Twitter

February 13, 2020

“Maybe This Was Man Made” – CNBC Questions Coronavirus Origins As ZeroHedge Remains Banned On Twitter

In keeping with our storied history of presenting readers with plausible theories and allowing them to make their own decisions often times weeks, months or years in advance of the mainstream media figuring them out and/or having the courage to finally touch on them, we’re not surprised to see some of the critical questions we raised about the coronavirus origins weeks ago finally bleed into the mainstream media this morning.

The idea of the coronavirus potentially being a man made virus was a question we raised several weeks ago in this post when we asked “Is This The Man Behind the Global Coronavirus Pandemic?”. In that post, we asked questions about Zhou Peng, one of China’s top virology and immunology experts who works at China’s top-rated biohazard lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

But the idea of their ever-so-beloved government covering up something from them or not having their best interest in mind was so disturbing the to snowflakes at Twitter, they lashed out by banning Zero Hedge from their platform with little color around why they took such drastic action. Their ban followed a BuzzFeed article claiming we had “doxed” the scientist involved by asking questions and posting the same information listed publicly on his website.

The ban was so questionable, it sent shockwaves across the mainstream media, even making it as far as CBS National News, who stated: “The financial website Zero Hedge is now barred from Twitter after publishing an article relaying a conspiracy theory that a Chinese scientist might be to blame for the coronavirus outbreak.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

White House Doubts China’s Numbers: 100,000 Coronavirus Cases Unreported

February 13, 2020

White House Doubts China’s Numbers: 100,000 Coronavirus Cases Unreported

Summary:

Japan reports first virus death
President Xi says China will minimize impact from virus
Chinese leadership scapegoats local officials
Death toll and case count soared last night: There are more than 60k cases worldwide, and more than 1300 deaths
EIA joins OPEC in warning about upcoming drop in oil use, the first in a decade.
HHS Secretary says CDC will announce another confirmed COVID-19 case in US on Thursday
21 people in Spain released from quarantine
US admin reportedly questioning China’s reporting
White House reportedly “doubts” China’s coronavirus numbers

* * *

Update (1150ET): Citing a senior White House official, CNBC reports that the White House doesn’t have “high confidence” in the coronavirus numbers coming out of China.

The U.S. does “not have high confidence in the information coming out of China” regarding the count of coronavirus cases, a senior administration official told CNBC.
The official also noted that China “continues to rebuff American offers of assistance.”

The current thinking is there must be a reason why they won’t allow the CDC to send over personnel to help with the virus response.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Zeng tweeted out video of migrant workers being forced to sleep outside because of the draconian lockdown.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Bill Gates Wants to Export India’s National ID System Around the Globe

December 6, 2019

Bill Gates Wants to Export India’s National ID System Around the Globe

It’s not just a social credit score system spreading around the world from China that threatens the free people of the world; India’s Aadhaar National ID program has the full support of Bill Gates and the World Bank as a model for other countries to follow.

Gates said in a 2018 CNBC interview that it was “too bad” if someone thought that Aadhaar was a privacy issue:

The Gates Foundation has pledged to fund the World Bank in an effort to take the ID program to other countries.

Despite Gates plea that there are no privacy issues with Aadhaar, several court cases have gone to India’s supreme court on grounds of privacy violations.

The ID system has had serious security breaches, with access to a billion identities being sold for less than $10 through WhatsApp.

One of the court filings (Mathew Thomas vs Union of India) details the rise of China’s social credit system, comparing the Indian Aadhaar initiative to the Chinese program.

Perhaps the most sensational angle to this story is that the same international tech company that provides the infrastructure to Aadhaar also makes drivers licenses in the United States.

Idemia (formerly Morpho), is a billion dollar multinational corporation. It is responsible for building a significant portion of the world’s biometric surveillance and security systems, operating in about 70 countries. Some American clients of the company include the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and the FBI.

The company website says that Morpho has been “…building and managing databases of entire populations…” for many years.

In the United States, Idemia is involved in the making of state issued drivers licenses in 42 states.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

In Absurd Fiasco, Entire Market Spike Was Due To A CNBC Grammatical Mistake

June 26, 2019

In Absurd Fiasco, Entire Market Spike Was Due To A CNBC Grammatical Mistake

The farce that is this “market” just took a whole new turn for the surreal.

As we reported earlier, the reason why stocks surged just after 5am EDT is because of a CNBC headline, according to which the US Treasury Secretary said that a US-China trade deal “is” – present tense – 90% complete: a clear indication that a trade deal with China is once again a possibility.

This was quickly propagated by Bloomberg…

U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY STEVE MNUCHIN SAYS U.S.-CHINA TRADE DEAL IS 90% COMPLETE

Investing in Emerging and Frontier Markets

… which triggered a flurry of algo buying.

Doubling down, CNBC also tweeted as much saying in a (since deleted) tweet that:

“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says a U.S.-China trade deal is “about 90% of the way there.” https://t.co/3Q0wvJKKxD pic.twitter.com/of6yH5y3rs”

The problem: CNBC made a huge grammatical mistake, because instead of saying “is”, Mnuchin was actually using the past tense, and what he really said – for those who listened to the video – is that “we were about 90% of the way’ on China trade deal.

Oops.

CNBC also promptly deleted its tweet which said the deal “is” 90% completed, and the current on CNBC headline now says “Mnuchin: ‘We were about 90% of the way’ on China trade deal and there’s a ‘path to complete this.”

The deleted tweet was also revised:

✔

“We were about 90% of the way” on a China trade deal and there’s a “path to complete this,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says. https://cnb.cx/2IL7EMc

So basically Mnuchin said absolutely nothing new, and not only that, he did not provide any optimism that a deal was coming, but as we said earlier, was merely recapping what was already known.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fitch Threatens To Cut US Credit Rating As Debt-Ceiling Battle Looms

January 9, 2019

Fitch Threatens To Cut US Credit Rating As Debt-Ceiling Battle Looms

In what has become a perennial exercise before every debt-ceiling showdown since at least Obama’s first term (when S&P did the unthinkable and cut the US’s coveted AAA credit rating, exposing itself to extensive abuse by Tim Geithner), ratings agencies are starting to beat the credit-rating downgrade drum, with Fitch getting a jump on the competition Wednesday when its head of sovereign ratings warned that an enduring shutdown battle could negatively impact the negotiations over the debt ceiling, which could prompt Fitch to join S&P in eliminating its AAA rating for the US.

During an interview with CNBC and a separate appearance in London (where his comments were recorded by Reuters), Fitch’s global head of sovereign ratings James McCormack warned of a possible cut to its AAA rating for the U.S. sovereign should the shutdown continue to March, noting that the shutdown and debt ceiling battle are adding to anxieties triggered by President Trump’s tax cuts and spending hikes, which have blown out the budget deficit and led to a “meaningful fiscal deterioration.”

“I think people are looking at the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) numbers. If people take the time to look at that you can see debt levels moving higher, you can see the interest burden in the U.S. government moving decidedly higher over the next decade,” James McCormack, Fitch’s global head of sovereign ratings told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday.

There needs to be some kind of fiscal adjustment to offset that or the deficit itself moves higher and you’re essentially borrowing money to pay interest on the debt. So there is a meaningful fiscal deterioration there, going on the United States.”

Watch his interview with CNBC below:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Rates on Their Way to 10-Year High After Hawkish Fed’s Recent Meeting

November 22, 2018

Rates on Their Way to 10-Year High After Hawkish Fed’s Recent Meeting

hawkish fed meeting

Round and round we go, where the hawkish Fed stops, nobody knows…

There was a bit of tension in the markets last week. This tension stemmed from a prediction that the federal funds rate would be well on its way to a decade high even if the Fed did nothing at their November meeting.

Well, that concern has been justified. In a statement issued after the meeting, the Fed kept their funds rate at 2 – 2.25%, the same range after their September meeting.

But nothing in their statement indicated changes in their plan for another rate hike in December and three more in 2019.

In fact, a CNBC article points to a quarter point increase in December. Assuming this happens, that would send the funds rate to its highest since 2008 (see chart below):

us fed funds rate

The primary credit rate remained steady at 2.75%, according to the Fed statement. That is, until December’s anticipated rate hike.

Another CNBC article published just before the meeting statement was released had a telling statement (emphasis ours):

In recent weeks, financial markets have been gripped by worry and volatility, and some analysts think that in its statement Thursday the Fed may take note of that anxiety as a potential risk to economic growth.

The “No comment” response by the Fed didn’t seem to acknowledge this anxiety.

But the market sure seems to be in a state of worry. Since October 3rd, the Dow Jones has lost 1,566 points as this is written (even after modest recovery).

And the Yield Curve Keeps Flattening

In July, the Fed stopped highlighting the yield curve as an indicator of an imminent recession. Instead, they swept it under the rug.

But according to Patti Domm, the market is still paying attention to it:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Superbugs Pose A Very Real Threat To Humanity

November 8, 2018

Superbugs Pose A Very Real Threat To Humanity

Superbugs, those pesky bacteria that have evolved to become resistant to antibiotics, are on the rise and pose a very real threat to humanity. Antimicrobial resistance is a large and growing problem, with the potential for enormous health and economic consequences for the United States and the rest of the world.

According to CNBC, the media outlet which reported on a new OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) report, released Wednesday, superbug infections could cost the lives of about 2.4 million people in North America, Europe, and Australia over the next 30 years unless more is done to stem antibiotic resistance, which is already high across the globe.

Resistance is also projected to grow even more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries. In Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia, for example, between 40 percent and 60 percent of infections are already resistant, compared to an average of 17 percent in OECD countries. In these countries, the growth of antimicrobial resistance rates is forecast to be 4 to 7 times higher than in OECD countries between now and 2050.

About 29,500 persons die each year on average in the United States from infections related to eight drug-resistant bacteria. By 2050, that number is expected to rise sharply. It is estimated that antimicrobial resistance will kill about 1 million people in the United States, in just over 30 years.

The economic toll of this superbug crisis is huge: In the United States alone the health-care costs dealing with antimicrobial resistance could reach $65 billion by 2050, according to the OECD report. That is more than the flu, HIV, and tuberculosis. If projections are correct, resistance to backup antibiotics will be 70 percent higher in 2030 compared to 2005 in OECD countries. In the same period, resistance to third-line treatments will double across EU countries. –CNBC

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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