NEWSNEWS

Very slow to remove Nadhim from Toxic Government  © Reuters. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday he had acted "pretty decisively" by sacking Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi over his personal tax affairs, moving to quell criticism that he had acted too slowly. In the latest scandal to involve one of his ministers and just months after he entered Downing Street promising to lead with "integrity, professionalism and accountability", Sunak has protested his innocence about Zahawi's tax affairs.

  Corporate Buybacks Slowing to a Crawl in 2023 Buybacks had already started to slow in 2022 before the law went into place.  According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, buybacks reached $981.6 billion over the 12 months through September 2022. By comparison, buybacks had reached a record $1.005 trillion posted for the 12 months through the June 2022 period. Source: Yardeni Research Buybacks started to slow in Q2 of last year when interest rates started to rise. With rates poised to increase three more times this year, it’s hard to see how and why companies would ramp up buybacks in this environment.   Analysts continue to expect aggressive buybacks to reduce exposure to declining earnings in the year ahead. Come March, they anticipate that Apple will INCREASE its buyback program. That’s a huge bet, and something that I think could surprise the downside. This year's focus is heavily on the Fed’s balance sheet reductions and rate hikes. But one of the stories remains the ...

The danger of China taking over Taiwan  Major market disruption around August 2023 forecast. Take a look at this picture -  What you're looking at is the most dangerous waterway on earth.

  At that rate, inflation will be back to “normal” by April! In response, the market soared. The  S&P 500  rose more than 0.5%, while the  Nasdaq  popped over 1.2%.  The rallies continue what has been a red-hot start to the year. Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is already up more than 6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up more than 10% – and it’s not even February yet. 

  Today is Data Privacy Day, an ideal opportunity to consider the value of personal data you want to protect. With increasing data breaches, hacking and phishing events, and data collection by big tech companies that rely on ad revenue, people are increasingly aware of this critical issue.

The King is Dead  No one in Washington will admit it — not publicly, anyway — but the weaponized dollar has misfired badly. Some of the developments that have taken place in the last 11 months… Russia has all but made the Chinese yuan a de facto reserve currency — with 17% of its foreign exchange reserves now denominated in yuan The United Arab Emirates (a tight Washington ally) began issuing bonds in its own currency, the dirham, in addition to U.S. dollars Egypt (another tight Washington ally) announced plans to issue more than $500 million worth of bonds denominated  in Chinese yuan The central bank in Israel (the tightest Washington ally of all) has diversified its foreign currency reserves beyond dollars, euros and British pounds — adding Japanese yen, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and, yes, the yuan. China and India now pay for Russian oil and other commodities in yuan, rupees and UAE dirhams Iran and Russia have started conducting trade in rials and rubles. A rec...

Chips with everything The bigger picture:  Bargaining chips. ASML has a $45 billion gold mine of backlogged orders, so that sales outlook doesn’t seem too far-fetched. But every gold mine comes with a few hazards: in this case, there’s the US’s ban on sending cutting-edge chip machines to China. But luckily for ASML, the equipment it ships to Chinese firms is generally less advanced technology that isn’t under embargo, which explains why the firm believes the restrictions will only dent its backlog by 5%. For markets:  Shape up or chip out. The chip industry isn’t out of the woods yet, but it looks like it might be heading in the right direction: now that China’s re-opening and artificial intelligence is on everyone’s lips, some analysts  think  the sector will avoid hitting the lows of a few months ago. And the forward-looking stock market’s cottoned on to that too, with an index that tracks chip colossuses jumping 15% this year.

 Eggs should be a basic food not an exotic (Not) cheaper by the dozen If you’re lucky enough to manage to find eggs in your local supermarket, you'll notice they’re not quite as cheap as they used to be. Prices across all egg types are up  79%  since Jan 2020, compared to  21%  for all food and beverages in the same period. Indeed, across US cities, a dozen large Grade A eggs will now typically set you back over  $4 , more than double the  $1.90  average from last Jan.

Getting out of hand  Berlin is expected to announce a decision today on the export of powerful German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks that have been long sought by Kyiv. We want a peaceful conclusion not using force.

  Is inflation finally falling? Do people have spending power? There are tentative signs that the high and sticky inflation of 2022 could be on the decline, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's annual  Investment Ideas report. But that doesn't mean inflation will fall evenly across the board. For example, a pressing risk is that tight labor markets fail to relieve pressure on wages and services prices. Also, fresh supply shocks, particularly for commodities, are a possibility. Goldman Sachs Asset Management outlines some key ideas for navigating inflation in the year ahead:  Take a strategic approach to real assets . If inflationary pressures remain elevated in the medium term, real assets such as real estate and infrastructure typically perform well in inflationary environments. Infrastructure assets have benefitted in this environment as their cash flows are typically underpinned by contracts linked to inflation. Additionally, governments are currently embracin...

 Robbing Peter to pay Paul The pain will return harder, longer and stronger until this debt ceiling is managed. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images As the US  crashed  into the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling yesterday, the Treasury Department began taking what it called “extraordinary measures” to prevent the government from defaulting on its debts and sparking an economic crisis. What does that actually mean?  These measures are a series of deep-cut  accounting moves  that allow the Treasury to continue making its payments. They include: Suspending reinvestments into government funds for retired federal employees, such as the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Selling existing investments in those funds to free up more outstanding debt. And while these measures definitely aren’t ordinary…they probably aren’t so “extra,” either. The Treasury has resorted to them more than 12 times since 1985, including during the last debt-ceiling standoff in 2021. St...

Cancer Mortality rates decline in certain areas Smoking-related cancer has dropped dramatically. Prostate cancers are down due to good information control. Colon cancer has good attention in the news so is down. A new report documents a  33 percent decline in cancer mortality  in the US since 1991, the peak of death rates. While that number accounts for all types of cancers, it is largely a reversal of the tobacco epidemic that started in the 1930s and led to a “rapid increase in lung cancer deaths among men.”  Trends in the US cancer mortality rate by sex and cancer type from 1930 to 2020. Note the dramatic reduction in lung cancer death post-1990. | Credit: ACS Journals

 Fewer treats and spending People are keeping a good idea on spending as costs and the fear of being unemployed is putting a tight hold the purse strings.  We need to see a glimmer of hope in the future.  Spending will be for special items or items which people are forced to replace or will save them money in the long term. New year, new guarantee Saks Off Fifth Shopping at discount or off-price retailers is often described as a treasure hunt. But while consumers still deal with inflation and a potential recession looms, 2023 will probably look more like a hunt for essentials.

 Solar Power for the future Solar energy is better than wind power as it is more efficient and now can be positioned to take less horizontal land. Elon Musk Predicts Solar Will Become Our Top Source of Electric Power

Not everybody will be happy about transition away from Oil  In terms of oil production, Wyoming is the eighth-most productive state in the U.S. It churns out an average of around 89 million barrels per year.  And with a population of barely over 500,000 — about the same population as Baltimore City — that means the average Wyoming resident has a very good chance of working in the industry.  Banning EVs is literally  never  going to happen, but if ever there were an audience willing to agree with Sen. Anderson, it’s his home state.