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Futures Slide On Last Day Of April Despite Blowout Earnings And Econ Data

Futures Slide On Last Day Of April Despite Blowout Earnings And Econ Data

"As good as it gets."

U.S. index futures slumped on the final trading day of April, dragged lower alongside European and Asian markets, despite stellar economic data..

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Futures Slide On Last Day Of April Despite Blowout Earnings And Econ Data

"As good as it gets."

U.S. index futures slumped on the final trading day of April, dragged lower alongside European and Asian markets, despite stellar economic data and blockbuster earnings as traders took a month-end breather amid a record high for the S&P 500 Index and some earnings disappointments. The dollar pared April losses, and the VIX jumped.

Russell 2000 futures tumbled 1.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.8% after China’s antitrust crackdown weighed on Asian technology shares. Twitter plunged 13% in premarket trading after forecasting second-quarter revenue below some expectations, while Amazon's blockbuster earnings helped push the stock to all time highs, although gains were trimmed in the premarket.

As Bloomberg notes, confidence in the U.S. economy has surged amid a string of positive data culminating in a report Thursday that showed quarterly growth at an accelerated 6.4%. Given the Federal Reserve’s dovish resolve, that emboldened investors to stay bullish on stocks despite concern about high valuations. Some speculated Fed Chair Jerome Powell will come under pressure later this year to reassess the extent of accommodation.

Meanwhile, earnings continue to be impressive and with just over a half of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings, about 87% beat market expectations, the highest level in recent years. For both the MSCI world index and the S&P500, analysts are expecting earnings in the next 12 months to recover to above pre-pandemic levels.

"The trouble is the asset froth that results from this -- we see asset valuations very, very stretched,” said Yves Bonzon, chief investment officer at Julius Baer Group Ltd. “Will Chairman Powell blink and start to guide for slightly less accommodative policy sooner than expected? That could be a risk as early as the third quarter.”

But not yet, and the MSCI’s index of world stocks covering 50 markets dipped 0.1% but remained close to a record peak touched the previous day, up 5% on the month.

“The Federal Reserve continues to support, Biden has this huge stimulus programme as well and the earnings season continues -- so far we have seen relatively benign as well as strong earnings,” said Eddie Cheng, head of international multi-asset portfolio management at Wells Fargo Asset Management.

Europe's Stoxx 600 Index reversed earlier gains and fell as much as 0.4% to a session low, with basic resources the worst-performing European sector, sliding 1.6%; Technology -1%, Travel & Leisure -0.9%, Energy -0.9%; Telecoms, Healthcare and Insurance are only industry groups out of 20 that are in the green. Here are some of the biggest European movers today:

  • AstraZeneca shares rise as much as 4.4% after the company reported profit and sales that exceeded analyst estimates in the first quarter and reiterated FY guidance. The company’s cancer drugs are among key products helping overcome disruption from Covid-19.
  • Signify shares jump as much as 7.9% to a record after first-quarter results that Degroof Petercam said were “much stronger than anticipated,” saying results were supported by robust consumer demand for digital products.
  • Banco Sabadell shares jump as much as 7.4% to highest in more than a year after the Spanish lender reported earnings that Barclays says are good, with solid commercial trends.
  • Barclays shares drop as much as 7.5% after the bank warned that costs are rising and reported a quarterly bad debt provision of GBP55m, despite peers releasing funds this week. Strength in the investment banking arm came at a cost, adding to the firm’s bonus expenses.
  • Scatec shares drop as much as 12% after earnings. Pareto says the Norwegian solar firm had a “mixed quarter” and adding that long- term it “will be difficult for Scatec to live up to what we view as unrealistic market expectations on future growth and profitability.”

Eurozone GDP and inflation data surprised to the upside, with economic growth shrinking -0.6%, better than the -0.8% expected, while HICP came in at 1.6%, in line with expectations as unemployment of 8.1% was also better than tha 8.3% expected. France, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, saw stronger than expected growth in the first quarter.

“The speed of the vaccinations is picking up and the EU recovery fund is also finally getting off the ground" said Commerzbank analysts adding that “there is increasingly bright light at the end of the tunnel."

It wasn't all roses: Q1 GDP in largest economy Germany fell more than expected on a seasonally adjusted basis. Germany’s 10-year Bund yield, which moves inversely to price, slipped 0.009% to -0.202%. The German economy contracted by a greater than expected 1.7% in the first quarter as a lockdown in place since November to contain the coronavirus stifled private consumption in Europe's largest economy, data showed on Friday.

"The coronavirus crisis caused another decline in economic performance at the beginning of 2021," the Federal Statistics Office said. "This affected household consumption in particular, while exports of goods supported the economy." A Reuters poll had pointed to a first-quarter contraction of 1.5%.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks fell as China’s crackdown on technology and its disappointing economic data damped sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.9% on Friday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index leading the region lower, falling 2% after Chinese regulators imposed wide-ranging restrictions on the financial divisions of 13 companies. Tencent and Meituan, which dropped 3.6%, were among the biggest drags on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.

Chinese shares also took a hit after data showed manufacturing slipped in April and the services sector weakened. The April NBS manufacturing PMI fell to 51.1 from 51.9 in March and below the 51.8 consensus while Caixin manufacturing PMI improved to 51.9 from 50.6 in March. Mixed signals from two manufacturing PMI surveys due to sample differences likely suggest relatively faster growth in machinery manufacturing sectors in April and solid external demand. Overall, manufacturing growth remained decent in April. The NBS non-manufacturing PMI moderated to 54.9 from 56.3 in March, also missing the 56.1 consensus. Construction activities decelerated more meaningfully than services.

Energy and financials pushed the CSI 300 Index down 0.8%. Asian stocks are still headed for a gain of more than 1.6% in April, their third monthly advance in four. Material and tech stocks are leading the advance as investors continue to bet on a global economic recovery. Taiwan’s Taiex index, which is closed for a holiday along with Vietnam, gained almost 7% in April, the best performance in the region so far. Taiwan equities are “set to keep EM Asia leadership,” driven by a brighter outlook on exports as developed market economic activity continues to pick up, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Marvin Chen wrote in a note.

New coronavirus infections in India surged to a fresh record and France’s health minister said the dangers of the Indian variant must not be underestimated. “Risky assets have had quite a few wobbles within the month,” said Eddie Cheng, head of international multi-asset portfolio management at Wells Fargo Asset Management.. “We need to get used to the fact that this is not going to be a straight line.”

In rates, the 10-year Treasury yield was steady and on course for the biggest monthly decline since July. Treasuries were little changed as U.S. trading gets under way after paring Asia-session declines that were led by a supply-induced selloff in Australian bonds. Yields are higher by less than 1bp across the curve, 10-year 1.64% vs session high 1.658%; 50-DMA at about 1.59% Friday continues to provide support.  Yields are higher on the week, in which stocks, commodities and inflation expectations have moved up, but Treasuries remain on pace for their first monthly gain since November. 10-year yield touched 1.686% Thursday, highest since April 13, and is 8bp higher on the week, reflecting inflation concerns that persist despite the Fed’s view of a still-fragile U.S. economy.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was higher as the greenback advanced against most of its Group-of-10 peers after it got some traction as London trading got underway. The dollar advanced beyond the 1.21 handle versus the euro despite mostly better than forecast data out of the euro zone. The pound trailed both the dollar and euro as investors prepared for next week’s Bank of England meeting; banks are divided over whether policy makers will taper bond purchases or wait until later. Scandinavian currencies were the worst G-10 performers but were still set to end the month as peer-group winners. The Australian dollar was steady while the nation’s bond yields rose, tracking higher Treasury yields and ahead of a 2031 bond auction; kiwi bonds slid after a very large offer emerged at the central bank’s QE operation. The yen rebounded from a two-week low as a decline in equities supported demand for haven assets ahead of a holiday in Japan next week.

In commodities, oil prices took a breather after hitting six-week highs on strong U.S. economic data, on concerns about wider lockdowns in India and Brazil. Brent slipped 0.54% to $68.19 per barrel, after having hit a high of $68.95 on Thursday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.78% to $64.50 per barrel.

To the day ahead now, in the US we get the personal income and personal spending data for March, the MNI Chicago PMI for April and the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April. From central banks, the Fed’s Kaplan will be speaking, while earnings releases include Exxon Mobil, Chevron, AbbVie and Charter Communications.

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures down 0.3% to 4,191.25
  • MXAP down 0.8% to 207.06
  • MXAPJ down 0.9% to 698.55
  • Nikkei down 0.8% to 28,812.63
  • Topix down 0.6% to 1,898.24
  • Hang Seng Index down 2.0% to 28,724.88
  • Shanghai Composite down 0.8% to 3,446.86
  • Sensex down 1.4% to 49,046.71
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.8% to 7,025.82
  • Kospi down 0.8% to 3,147.86
  • Brent Futures down 0.83% to $67.99/bbl
  • Gold spot down 0.15% to $1,769.56
  • U.S. Dollar Index up 0.2% to 90.793
  • STOXX Europe 600 was little changed at 439.11
  • German 10Y yield fell 1 bps to -0.202%
  • Euro down 0.21% to $1.2096

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

  • The euro-area economy slid into a double-dip recession at the start of the year as strict coronavirus lockdowns across the region kept many businesses shuttered and consumers wary to spendU.K. house prices surged at the strongest pace since 2004 this month as the country eased out of lockdown and buyers rushed to take advantage of an extended tax break on purchases
  • Copper’s surge toward a record high is starting to cause stress for industrial consumers in China, such as manufacturers of electric wire and end-users such as power grids and property developers
  • World powers are working to restore their nuclear agreement with Iran by the middle of May, before a key monitoring deal expires, with talks now in their third week bogged down over which sanctions the U.S. intends to lift
  • UBS Group AG will relocate its Tokyo-based rates trading business to Sydney by the end of this year as the Swiss bank reorganizes its Asia-Pacific operations

Quick look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asian stocks traded subdued after the momentum from yesterday’s intraday rebound and fresh record highs on Wall Street waned, with the region tentative on month-end and as participants digested an influx of earnings and mixed data releases, while an extended weekend for key markets in which Japan and China will remain closed through to Wednesday also contributed to the paring of risk. ASX 200 (-0.8%) declined with broad early pressure across all sectors. In addition, the recent pullback in copper from a decade high and announcement by ANZ Bank of a substantial impact to its H1 net also added to the sombre mood. Nikkei 225 (-0.8%) was dragged lower by currency inflows and amid an overload of recent earnings releases ahead of its 5-day closure but with losses stemmed following stronger than expected Industrial Production data and after the Japanese cabinet approved the use of JPY 500bln in reserve funds to support businesses impacted by pandemic and curbs. Hang Seng (-2.0%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.8%) weakened heading into the Labor Day holidays for the mainland and amid a deluge of corporate results including the largest banks which were pressured after relatively tepid earnings growth amongst China’s big four banks although PetroChina was bolstered following a jump in earnings. There were also concerns regarding a crackdown on the tech sector after Chinese regulators warned of tighter oversight for its tech giants and ordered 13 firms to adhere to tighter regulation of data and lending practices, while markets also reflected on the latest Chinese PMI data in which official Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI disappointed but remained in expansionary territory and Caixin Manufacturing PMI topped estimates. Finally, 10yr JGBs were steady after the indecisiveness in T-notes and amid the lack of BoJ purchases in the market today, while the central bank also recently announced its bond buying intentions for May whereby it maintained the amounts and frequency of JGB purchases across all maturities.

Top Asian News

  • Pertamina Exploration Unit Said to Mull $3 Billion Jakarta IPO
  • China Policy Banks Postpone Earnings, Echoing Last Year’s Delay
  • Taiwan’s Economy Grows Fastest Since 2010 on Export Boom
  • China Stocks Fall After PMI Data, Tech Leads Drop in Hong Kong

Major bourses in Europe are again subject to lacklustre morning trade (Euro Stoxx 50 -0.1%), as newsflow remains quiet on month-end, and earnings take focus. State-side futures are subdued vs their counterparts across the pond, with relatively broad-based and modest downside experienced across peers. It's also worth noting that Japanese and Chinese players will be away from their desks next week until the 5th of May amid domestic holidays - thus overnight volume is likely to be low during the first half of next week. Back to Europe, Germany's DAX (+0.5%) narrowly outperforms regional peers after yesterday's underperformance coupled with some gains across large-cap stocks, albeit the breadth among European cash bourses remains narrow. In-fitting with the indecisive tone, sectors across Europe are mixed and again it is difficult to observe a particular theme given earnings distortions. The healthcare sector is the clear outperformer as AstraZeneca (+3.3%) soars post-earnings after side-lining reports that point to a delay in its vaccine's US FDA approval. On the flip side, the basic resources sector stands as the laggard amid a pull-back in base metal prices, whilst banks also reside towards the bottom of the pile as yields waned from yesterday's best levels and following corporate updates from Barclays (-4.7%), BNP Paribas (-1.0%) and BBVA (+0.9%), although the latter has nursed opening losses. Some attribute the downside in Barclays and BNP to sluggish fixed income trading performances vs rivals including JPM, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank (+0.1%). Finally, Darktrace (+35%) shares were bolstered on their London debut whereby shares traded above GBP 3.50 at one point vs guided range GBP 2.20-2.80.

Top European News

  • Euro-Area Economy Slips Into Double-Dip Recession: GDP Update
  • Ogury Said to Pick BofA, BNP for IPO at $2.4 Billion Valuation
  • DoorDash Goes on European Deal Hunt Just Months After IPO
  • Synlab Rises After $813 Million IPO as Covid Testing Ramps Up

In FX, only one day left for the Dollar to evade any residual month end selling, and so far so good as it continues to defy bearish rebalancing signals and the ongoing dovish overtones imparted by the Fed with some assistance from a back-up in yields and curve re-steepening. However, the Buck is also benefiting at the expense of others and a degree of consolidation or corrective price action approaching the end of a 4th successive week of depreciation. Looking at the DXY as a proxy, a marginal new recovery high from sub-90.500 lows in the index was forged at 90.822 after the Euro filled remaining bids in to 1.2100 and tripped a layer of stops on the back of weaker than forecast prelim German Q1 sa q/q GDP. However, Eur/Usd has found a base nearby and 2.1 bn option expiries at the round number could be keeping the headline pair underpinned alongside bids in the Eur/Gbp cross around 0.8700 that may be due to RHS fix and/or month end demand. Accordingly, Sterling is facing a task to retain grip of 1.3900 vs the Buck after topping out below yesterday’s 1.3975+ peak and failing to breach a double top against the Euro circa 0.8674, irrespective of Pound positives in the form of a super strong Nationwide UK house price survey and upbeat Lloyds business barometer.

  • AUD/CAD/JPY/NZD/CHF - All more rangebound and narrowly mixed vs their US counterpart, as the Aussie and Loonie continue to derive traction from recent rallies in metals and oil among other commodities like palladium hitting Usd 3k/oz for the first time ever. Aud/Usd is holding above 0.7750, while Usd/Cad is hovering around 1.2275 following a decline to new multi-year lows sub-1.2270 in the wake of last week’s hawkish BoC policy meeting. Elsewhere, the Yen is back above 109.00 with the assistance of greater Japanese participation for a session in between Showa Day and Golden Week market holidays, plus data on balance as ip confounded downbeat expectations and the unemployment rate fell against consensus for a steady print to offset weaker than anticipated Tokyo CPI. Back down under, the Kiwi is lagging between 0.7255-30 parameters in the absence of anything fresh on the NZ front and the Franc remains tethered to 0.9100 after a big base effect boosted Swiss retail sales in March and KoF’s leading indicator smashed forecasts in April.
  • SCANDI/EM - Although crude prices have come off the boil, the Nok is still comfortably above 10.0000 vs the Eur in stark contrast to the Sek that has slipped to fresh weekly lows near 10.17000, with traction from an unexpected decline in Norway’s jobless rate, a firmer credit indicator (albeit due to a back month revision) and steady Norges Bank daily foreign currency sales for next month (Nok 1.8 bn equivalent). Meanwhile, the firmer Usd bounce is taking its toll on almost all EM currencies, bar the resilient Cnh and Cny that are close to w-t-d pinnacles of 6.4607 and 6.4654 respectively regardless of somewhat disappointing Chinese official PMIs that were only partially compensated by a stronger Caixin manufacturing survey.

In commodities, WTI and Brent front-month futures trickle lower in early European trade as catalysts remain light and the tone across the market tentative. WTI, at the time of writing, has dipped back below USD 64.00/bbl (vs high USD 64.95/bbl) while its Brent counterpart hovers around USD 67.25/bbl (vs high USD 67.97/bbl). Barring any other macro headlines, the focus will be on the state of the Iranian nuclear talks - with cautious optimism expressed by the US and Iran, whilst others stated they expect a deal within weeks. That being said, commentary from the Iranian delegation has suggested there remain difficulties in discussions and a deal hasn't yet been reached. In case of any agreement, eyes will likely turn to the details surrounding the oil-related sanctions. Elsewhere, spot gold and silver are uneventful within recent ranges around USD 1,775/oz and on either side of USD 26/oz respectively. Spot palladium meanwhile has reached USD 3,000/oz for the first time with some citing a supply shortage. Turning to base metals, LME copper has waned back below USD 10,000/t ahead of the Chinese and Japanese holidays through to next Wednesday, whilst Chinese steel rebar and futures posted weekly gains amid an improved demand outlook.

US Event Calendar

  • 8:30am: March Personal Income, est. 20.2%, prior -7.1%
    • 8:30am: March Personal Spending, est. 4.1%, prior -1.0%
    • 8:30am: March PCE Deflator MoM, est. 0.5%, prior 0.2%; Core Deflator MoM, est. 0.3%, prior 0.1%
    • 8:30am: March PCE Deflator YoY, est. 2.3%, prior 1.6%; Core Deflator YoY, est. 1.8%, prior 1.4%
  • 9:45am: April MNI Chicago PMI, est. 65.2, prior 66.3
  • 10am: April U. of Mich. Mich. Sentiment, est. 87.5, prior 86.5; Current Conditions, est. 97.6, prior 97.2; Expectations, est. 81.0, prior 79.7;
    • 10am: April U. of Mich. 1 Yr Inflation, prior 3.7%; 5-10 Yr Inflation, prior 2.7%

DB's Jim Red concludes the overnight wrap

After what is probably more than 6 months I’m actually going to a restaurant tomorrow night. Reservations are like gold dust here in the U.K. at the moment so my wife and I are very lucky to join a couple who have one. Only a few problems. We have to eat outside, it’s going to be cold, it might rain, and my old school friend who booked it hasn’t replied to me confirming it. The good news is that he reads the EMR so I’m hoping he’ll confirm once this hits inboxes. Unless of course we’ve been replaced by a more exciting couple. In that case I’m keen to shame him. I hope not as my wife and I are like caged tigers waiting for social interaction that isn’t each other at the moment.

After a little bit of consolidation over the last month, bond yields have acted a little like a caged tiger this week with yesterday seeing another big climb higher. 10yr US Treasuries were up as much as +7.8bps intra-day yesterday to 1.686% after being as low as 1.53% intra-day last Friday. It was the highest yields had traded since April 13. However the benchmark rate finished a more moderate +2.5bps higher on the day at 1.634%. This still left the week-to-date rise at +7.7bps, which would be the first weekly increase in yields since the week ending April 2 unless there is a massive rally in bonds today. Real rates (+2.5bps) drove much of the final move as inflation expectations (+0.1bps) were more muted. However, inflation expectations did rise for the 5th straight session (+9.4bps in all over this period), with the 10yr breakeven measure closing at 2.426% - its highest level in just over 8 years. In Europe there was a similarly large selloff, with yields on 10yr bunds up +3.8bps to -0.19%, marking the first time in over a year that they’ve closed above the -0.20% mark, while 10yr French yields (+4.4bps) likewise closed at a 1-year high.

Although rising bond yields seemed to clip their wings a little as the move higher accelerated, US equities still moved to fresh all-time highs yesterday as the combination of strong economic data and better-than-expected earnings releases helped to buoy investor sentiment and fuel fresh life into the reflation trade. By the close, the S&P 500 had gained another +0.68% to end the session above the 4,200 mark for the first time, and the MSCI World index was up +0.39% at its own record high. This positive mood music could be seen across a range of indicators, and Bloomberg’s index of US financial conditions actually eased to its most accommodative level since 2007 yesterday, which just shows the extent to which markets are primed for a strong recovery over the coming months.

A late selloff in Europe meant that indices there ended the session lower with the STOXX 600 closing down -0.26%. Banks outperformed however thanks to the moves higher for yields, and the STOXX Banks index was up +1.16% in its 6th successive daily advance, taking the index to its highest level since the pandemic began. Over in the US, the gains were fairly broad-based with over 78% of the S&P moving higher on the day, though the NASDAQ (+0.22%) underperformed slightly, while the small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.38%) lost ground. US banks (+2.10%) joined their European counterparts in reacting strongly to global yields. Otherwise nearly every industry group outside of the pandemic winners of Software (-0.59%) and Biotech (-1.02%) gained in the S&P. The biggest industry laggard was autos (-3.03%), where Ford (-9.41%) reduced its forecast significantly due to a semiconductor shortage that has caused vehicle production across the industry to stall. They forecasted a -$2.5bn hit to earnings because of the lack of chips, in what they considered the “worst-case”. This is becoming a recurring theme across different sectors.

Elsewhere in earnings, Amazon saw their shares rise +3.2% in after-market trading on strong beats across business segments. Q1 revenue rose +44% and the company offered guidance on sales for the upcoming quarter ahead of analysts’ estimates, with indications that aspects of the pandemic bump in online-sales may endure. Elsewhere in big tech, Twitter saw shares slide over -7% with EPS at $0.16 (vs. $0.12 exp.) on lower revenue guidance even as user growth was in-line with prior estimates. One issue for the company may be the stronger ad revenues seen by competitors Google and Facebook earlier this week.

Overnight in Asia we have seen China’s official April PMIs come in softer than expectations for both manufacturing (51.1 vs. 51.8 expected) and services (54.9 vs. 56.1 expected). Zhao Qinghe, an economist at the statistics bureau said that “some surveyed companies said problems such as chip shortages, poor international logistics, shortages of containers, and rising freight rates are still serious.” He also added that a slowdown in manufacturing supply and demand and rising cost pressures are also issues. These comments on rising cost pressures and chip shortages are likely to get more attention from markets and particularly inflation enthusiasts. In the details of the manufacturing PMI, a sub-index of new export orders for factories eased to 50.4 in April from 51.2 previously, while new orders were at 52. In contrast to the official manufacturing PMI, China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI came in at 51.9 as against 50.9 expected. The statement accompanying the release said that the increase was supported by significant expansion in both manufacturing demand and supply, as “manufacturers stayed confident about the economic recovery and keeping Covid-19 under control.” So a little different to the official release.

Elsewhere, Chinese regulators have imposed wide-ranging restrictions on the financial divisions of 13 companies, including Tencent and ByteDance in an antitrust crackdown.

Asian markets are mostly trading lower this morning with the backdrop of conflicting signals from China’s April PMIs and the continued antitrust crackdowns on tech giants in the country. The Nikkei (-0.52%), Hang Seng (-1.53%), Shanghai Comp (-0.51%) and Kospi (-0.74%) are all losing ground. Futures on the S&P 500 are also down -0.28% and European ones are also pointing to a weaker open. In terms of other overnight data, Japan’s final April manufacturing PMI printed 0.3pt stronger than the flash at 53.6.

There were also a number of important data releases for markets to digest yesterday, even if the overall impact was muted as they came in basically as expected. The main highlight was the news that the US economy had grown at an annualised pace of +6.4% in Q1 (vs. +6.7% expected), leaving US GDP less than 1% beneath its pre-Covid peak in Q4 2019. Meanwhile, the upward revision of +19k to last week’s initial jobless claims data from the US meant that this week’s number of 553k was the lowest since the pandemic began last year, albeit above the 540k reading expected.

Another story yesterday was the continued strength in commodity markets, which has been one of the major themes of the month as pretty much the entire range from metals to agriculture to energy prices have shown sizeable gains in recent weeks. Oil prices rose for a 3rd day running, with both Brent crude (+1.92%) and WTI (+1.80%) prices seeing decent advances, which were in part attributed to data showing road-fuel demand in the UK is nearing the levels seen last-summer and also as large cities in the US announce reopening plans. Meanwhile copper rose above $10,000/tonne in trading at one point for the first time in a decade yesterday, as it closes in on an all-time high set in February 2011 of $10,190 on an intraday basis. The industrial metal finished the day marginally lower (-0.11%), but is up nearly +28% YTD.

Positive headlines regarding the pandemic were another factor supporting sentiment yesterday. Firstly, French President Macron said that the restrictions would be eased from May 3 when restrictions on domestic travel would be lifted, while the nightly curfew would be gradually eased before it’s completely lifted on June 30. Meanwhile in Germany, health minister Spahn said that 1.1m vaccine doses had been administered yesterday, which is a record for the country. And in the UK, the 7-day case average fell to 2,259 yesterday, which is its lowest level since early September when the level of testing was a fraction of its current levels. In the US, NYC Mayor de Blasio said that they planned to fully reopen the city on July 1, though Governor Cuomo pushed back that he would like it to happen even sooner. Chicago’s mayor also announced they would be easing restrictions to allow for more seating capacity at restaurants, bars and other indoor venues. There was some bad news in the US, where Oregon announced a surge in cases, driven primarily by the younger, partially-vaccinated populations. The Governor has responded by increasing the risk-level on many counties to their extremes, shuttering indoor dining among other restrictions.

Elsewhere, emerging markets like Brazil and India are continuing to reel under the severe current wave with total fatalities in Brazil now topping 400k with the country reporting more covid deaths so far in 2021 than in whole of 2020. India has reported a record 386,452 daily infections while daily fatalities came in at 3,498. On the more positive side, BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said that he is “confident” the company’s Covid-19 vaccine with Pfizer will be effective against the Indian variant of the COVID-19 virus. He added that the company is evaluating the strain and the data will be available in the coming weeks.

Looking at yesterday’s other economic data, and the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator for the Euro Area advanced to 110.3 in April (vs. 102.2 expected), which is the highest it’s been since September 2018. Over in Germany, data showed that unemployment unexpectedly rose by +9k in April (vs. -10k expected), while the preliminary inflation reading for April rose to a 2-year high of +2.1% (vs. +2.0% expected). Finally, pending home sales in the US rose by a lower-than-expected +1.9% in March (vs. +4.4% expected).

To the day ahead now, and there are an array of data highlights including the first look at Q1 GDP for the Euro Area, Germany, France and Italy. On top of that, we’ll also get the flash Euro Area CPI reading for April, and the unemployment rate for March. Over in the US, there’s the personal income and personal spending data for March, the MNI Chicago PMI for April and the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April. From central banks, the Fed’s Kaplan will be speaking, while earnings releases include Exxon Mobil, Chevron, AbbVie and Charter Communications.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/30/2021 - 07:47

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Net Zero, The Digital Panopticon, & The Future Of Food

Net Zero, The Digital Panopticon, & The Future Of Food

Authored by Colin Todhunter via Off-Guardian.org,

The food transition, the energy…

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Net Zero, The Digital Panopticon, & The Future Of Food

Authored by Colin Todhunter via Off-Guardian.org,

The food transition, the energy transition, net-zero ideology, programmable central bank digital currencies, the censorship of free speech and clampdowns on protest. What’s it all about? To understand these processes, we need to first locate what is essentially a social and economic reset within the context of a collapsing financial system.

Writer Ted Reece notes that the general rate of profit has trended downwards from an estimated 43% in the 1870s to 17% in the 2000s. By late 2019, many companies could not generate enough profit. Falling turnover, squeezed margins, limited cashflows and highly leveraged balance sheets were prevalent.

Professor Fabio Vighi of Cardiff University has described how closing down the global economy in early 2020 under the guise of fighting a supposedly new and novel pathogen allowed the US Federal Reserve to flood collapsing financial markets (COVID relief) with freshly printed money without causing hyperinflation. Lockdowns curtailed economic activity, thereby removing demand for the newly printed money (credit) in the physical economy and preventing ‘contagion’.

According to investigative journalist Michael Byrant, €1.5 trillion was needed to deal with the crisis in Europe alone. The financial collapse staring European central bankers in the face came to a head in 2019. The appearance of a ‘novel virus’ provided a convenient cover story.

The European Central Bank agreed to a €1.31 trillion bailout of banks followed by the EU agreeing to a €750 billion recovery fund for European states and corporations. This package of long-term, ultra-cheap credit to hundreds of banks was sold to the public as a necessary programme to cushion the impact of the pandemic on businesses and workers.

In response to a collapsing neoliberalism, we are now seeing the rollout of an authoritarian great reset — an agenda that intends to reshape the economy and change how we live.

SHIFT TO AUTHORITARIANISM

The new economy is to be dominated by a handful of tech giants, global conglomerates and e-commerce platforms, and new markets will also be created through the financialisation of nature, which is to be colonised, commodified and traded under the notion of protecting the environment.

In recent years, we have witnessed an overaccumulation of capital, and the creation of such markets will provide fresh investment opportunities (including dodgy carbon offsetting Ponzi schemes)  for the super-rich to park their wealth and prosper.

This great reset envisages a transformation of Western societies, resulting in permanent restrictions on fundamental liberties and mass surveillance. Being rolled out under the benign term of a ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, the World Economic Forum (WEF) says the public will eventually ‘rent’ everything they require (remember the WEF video ‘you will own nothing and be happy’?): stripping the right of ownership under the guise of a ‘green economy’ and underpinned by the rhetoric of ‘sustainable consumption’ and ‘climate emergency’.

Climate alarmism and the mantra of sustainability are about promoting money-making schemes. But they also serve another purpose: social control.

Neoliberalism has run its course, resulting in the impoverishment of large sections of the population. But to dampen dissent and lower expectations, the levels of personal freedom we have been used to will not be tolerated. This means that the wider population will be subjected to the discipline of an emerging surveillance state.

To push back against any dissent, ordinary people are being told that they must sacrifice personal liberty in order to protect public health, societal security (those terrible Russians, Islamic extremists or that Sunak-designated bogeyman George Galloway) or the climate. Unlike in the old normal of neoliberalism, an ideological shift is occurring whereby personal freedoms are increasingly depicted as being dangerous because they run counter to the collective good.

The real reason for this ideological shift is to ensure that the masses get used to lower living standards and accept them. Consider, for instance, the Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill saying that people should ‘accept’ being poorer. And then there is Rob Kapito of the world’s biggest asset management firm BlackRock, who says that a “very entitled” generation must deal with scarcity for the first time in their lives.

At the same time, to muddy the waters, the message is that lower living standards are the result of the conflict in Ukraine and supply shocks that both the war and ‘the virus’ have caused.

The net-zero carbon emissions agenda will help legitimise lower living standards (reducing your carbon footprint) while reinforcing the notion that our rights must be sacrificed for the greater good. You will own nothing, not because the rich and their neoliberal agenda made you poor but because you will be instructed to stop being irresponsible and must act to protect the planet.

NET-ZERO AGENDA

But what of this shift towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and the plan to slash our carbon footprints? Is it even feasible or necessary?

Gordon Hughes, a former World Bank economist and current professor of economics at the University of Edinburgh, says in a new report that current UK and European net-zero policies will likely lead to further economic ruin.

Apparently, the only viable way to raise the cash for sufficient new capital expenditure (on wind and solar infrastructure) would be a two decades-long reduction in private consumption of up to 10 per cent. Such a shock has never occurred in the last century outside war; even then, never for more than a decade.

But this agenda will also cause serious environmental degradation. So says Andrew Nikiforuk in the article The Rising Chorus of Renewable Energy Skeptics, which outlines how the green techno-dream is vastly destructive.

He lists the devastating environmental impacts of an even more mineral-intensive system based on renewables and warns:

“The whole process of replacing a declining system with a more complex mining-based enterprise is now supposed to take place with a fragile banking system, dysfunctional democracies, broken supply chains, critical mineral shortages and hostile geopolitics.”

All of this assumes that global warming is real and anthropogenic. Not everyone agrees. In the article Global warming and the confrontation between the West and the rest of the world, journalist Thierry Meyssan argues that net zero is based on political ideology rather than science. But to state such things has become heresy in the Western countries and shouted down with accusations of ‘climate science denial’.

Regardless of such concerns, the march towards net zero continues, and key to this is the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals.

Today, almost every business or corporate report, website or brochure includes a multitude of references to ‘carbon footprints’, ‘sustainability’, ‘net zero’ or ‘climate neutrality’ and how a company or organisation intends to achieve its sustainability targets. Green profiling, green bonds and green investments go hand in hand with displaying ‘green’ credentials and ambitions wherever and whenever possible.

It seems anyone and everyone in business is planting their corporate flag on the summit of sustainability. Take Sainsbury’s, for instance. It is one of the ‘big six’ food retail supermarkets in the UK and has a vision for the future of food that it published in 2019.

Here’s a quote from it:

“Personalised Optimisation is a trend that could see people chipped and connected like never before. A significant step on from wearable tech used today, the advent of personal microchips and neural laces has the potential to see all of our genetic, health and situational data recorded, stored and analysed by algorithms which could work out exactly what we need to support us at a particular time in our life. Retailers, such as Sainsbury’s could play a critical role to support this, arranging delivery of the needed food within thirty minutes — perhaps by drone.”

Tracked, traced and chipped — for your own benefit. Corporations accessing all of our personal data, right down to our DNA. The report is littered with references to sustainability and the climate or environment, and it is difficult not to get the impression that it is written so as to leave the reader awestruck by the technological possibilities.

However, the promotion of a brave new world of technological innovation that has nothing to say about power — who determines policies that have led to massive inequalities, poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity and hunger and who is responsible for the degradation of the environment in the first place — is nothing new.

The essence of power is conveniently glossed over, not least because those behind the prevailing food regime are also shaping the techno-utopian fairytale where everyone lives happily ever after eating bugs and synthetic food while living in a digital panopticon.

FAKE GREEN

The type of ‘green’ agenda being pushed is a multi-trillion market opportunity for lining the pockets of rich investors and subsidy-sucking green infrastructure firms and also part of a strategy required to secure compliance required for the ‘new normal’.

It is, furthermore, a type of green that plans to cover much of the countryside with wind farms and solar panels with most farmers no longer farming. A recipe for food insecurity.

Those investing in the ‘green’ agenda care first and foremost about profit. The supremely influential BlackRock invests in the current food system that is responsible for polluted waterways, degraded soils, the displacement of smallholder farmers, a spiralling public health crisis, malnutrition and much more.

It also invests in healthcare — an industry that thrives on the illnesses and conditions created by eating the substandard food that the current system produces. Did Larry Fink, the top man at BlackRock, suddenly develop a conscience and become an environmentalist who cares about the planet and ordinary people? Of course not.

Any serious deliberations on the future of food would surely consider issues like food sovereignty, the role of agroecology and the strengthening of family farms — the backbone of current global food production.

The aforementioned article by Andrew Nikiforuk concludes that, if we are really serious about our impacts on the environment, we must scale back our needs and simplify society.

In terms of food, the solution rests on a low-input approach that strengthens rural communities and local markets and prioritises smallholder farms and small independent enterprises and retailers, localised democratic food systems and a concept of food sovereignty based on self-sufficiency, agroecological principles and regenerative agriculture.

It would involve facilitating the right to culturally appropriate food that is nutritionally dense due to diverse cropping patterns and free from toxic chemicals while ensuring local ownership and stewardship of common resources like land, water, soil and seeds.

That’s where genuine environmentalism and the future of food begins.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/14/2024 - 02:00

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Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen Copy

Five aerospace investments to buy as wars worsen give investors a chance to acquire shares of companies focused on fortifying national defense. The five…

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Five aerospace investments to buy as wars worsen give investors a chance to acquire shares of companies focused on fortifying national defense.

The five aerospace investments to buy provide military products to help protect freedom amid Russia’s ongoing onslaught against Ukraine that began in February 2022, as well as supply arms in the Middle East used after Hamas militants attacked and murdered civilians in Israel on Oct. 7. Even though the S&P 500 recently reached all-time highs, these five aerospace investments have remained reasonably priced and rated as recommendations by seasoned analysts and a pension fund chairman.

State television broadcasts in Russia show the country’s soldiers advancing further into Ukrainian territory, but protests have occurred involving family members of those serving in perilous conditions in the invasion of their neighboring nation to be brought home. Even though hundreds of thousands of Russians also have fled to other countries to avoid compulsory military service, the aggressor’s President Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue to send additional soldiers into the fierce fighting.

While Russia’s land-grab of Crimea and other parts of Ukraine show no end in sight, Israel’s war with Hamas likely will last for at least additional months, according to the latest reports. United Nations’ leaders expressed alarm on Dec. 26 about intensifying Israeli attacks that killed more than 100 Palestinians over two days in part of the Gaza Strip, when 15 members of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) also lost their lives.

Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen: General Dynamics

One of the five aerospace investments to buy as wars worsen is General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a Reston, Virginia-based aerospace company with more than 100,000 employees in 70-plus countries. A key business unit of General Dynamics is Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, a manufacturer of business aircraft. Other segments of General Dynamics focus on making military products such as Abrams tanks, Stryker fighting vehicles, ASCOD fighting vehicles like the Spanish PIZARRO and British AJAX, LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicles and Flyer-60 lightweight tactical vehicles.

For the U.S. Navy and other allied armed forces, General Dynamics builds Virginia-class attack submarines, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, Expeditionary Sea Base ships, fleet logistics ships, commercial cargo ships, aircraft and naval gun systems, Hydra-70 rockets, military radios and command and control systems. In addition, the company provides radio and optical telescopes, secure mobile phones, PIRANHA and PANDUR wheeled armored vehicles and mobile bridge systems.

Chicago-based investment firm William Blair & Co. is among those recommending General Dynamics. The Chicago firm gave an “outperform” rating to General Dynamics in a Dec. 21 research note.

Gulfstream is seeking G700 FAA certification by the end of 2023, suggesting potentially positive news in the next 10 days, William Blair wrote in its recent research note. The investment firm projected that General Dynamics would trade upward upward upon the G700’s certification.

“General Dynamics’ 2023 aircraft delivery guidance of approximately 134 planes assumes that 19 G700s are delivered in the fourth quarter,” wrote William Blair’s aerospace and defense analyst Louie DiPalma. “Even if deliveries fall short of this target, we believe investors will take a glass-half-full approach upon receipt of the certification.”

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com.

Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen: GD Outlook

The G700 is a major focus area for investors because it is Gulfstream’s most significant aircraft introduction since the iconic G650 in 2012, DiPalma wrote. Gulfstream has the highest market share in the long-range jet segment of the private aircraft market, the highest profit margin of aircraft peers and the most premium business aviation brand, he added.

“The aircraft remains immensely popular today with corporations and high-net-worth individuals,” Di Palma wrote. “Elon Musk has reportedly placed an order for a G700 to go along with his existing G650. Qatar Airways announced at the Paris Air Show that 10 G700 aircraft will become part of its fleet.”

G700 deliveries and subsequent G800 deliveries are expected to be the cornerstone of Gulfstream’s growth and margin expansion for the next decade, DiPalma wrote. This should lead to a rebound in the stock price as the margins for the G700 and G800 are very attractive, he added.

Management’s guidance is for the aerospace operating margin to increase from about 13.2% in 2022 to roughly 14.0% in 2023 and 15.8% in 2024. Longer term, a high-teens profit margin appears within reach, DiPalma projected.

In other General Dynamics business segments, William Blair expects several yet-unannounced large contract awards for General Dynamics IT, to go along with C$1.7 billion, or US$1.29 billion, in General Dynamics Mission Systems contracts announced on Dec. 20 for the Canadian Army. General Dynamics shares are poised to have a strong 2024, William Blair wrote.

Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen: VSE Corporation

Alexandria, Virginia-based VSE Corporation’s (NASDAQ: VSEC) price-to-earnings (P/E) valuation multiple of 22 received support when AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR), a Wood Dale, Illinois, provider of aviation services, announced on Dec. 21 that it would acquire the product support business of Triumph Group (NYSE: TGI), a Berwyn, Pennsylvania, supplier of aerospace services, structures and systems. AAR’s purchase price of $725 million reflects confidence in a continued post-pandemic aerospace rebound.

VSE, a provider of aftermarket distribution and repair services for land, sea and air transportation assets used by government and commercial markets, is rated “outperform” by William Blair. The company’s core services include maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), parts distribution, supply chain management and logistics, engineering support, as well as consulting and training for global commercial, federal, military and defense customers.

“Robust consumer travel demand and aging aircraft fleets have driven elevated maintenance visits,” William Blair’s DiPalma wrote in a Dec. 21 research note. “The AAR–Triumph deal is valued at a premium 13-times 2024 EBITDA multiple, which was in line with the valuation multiple that Heico (NYSE: HEI) paid for Wencor over the summer.”

VSE currently trades at a discounted 9.5 times consensus 2024 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) estimates, as well as 11.6 times consensus 2023 EBITDA.

Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen: VSE Undervalued?

“We expect that VSE shares will trend higher as investors process this deal,” DiPalma wrote. “VSE shares trade at 9.5 times consensus 2024 adjusted EBITDA, compared with peers and M&A comps in the 10-to-14-times range. We think that VSE’s multiple will expand as it closes the divestiture of its federal and defense business and makes strategic acquisitions. We see consistent 15% annual upside for shares as VSE continues to take share in the $110 billion aviation aftermarket industry.”

William Blair reaffirmed its “outperform” rating for VSE on Dec. 21. The main risk to VSE shares is lumpiness associated with its aviation services margins, Di Palma wrote. However, he raised 2024 estimates to further reflect commentary from VSE’s analysts’ day in November.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com.

Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen: HEICO Corporation

HEICO Corporation (NYSEL: HEI), is a Hollywood, Florida-based technology-driven aerospace, industrial, defense and electronics company that also is ranked as an “outperform” investment by William Blair’s DiPalma. The aerospace aftermarket parts provider recently reported fourth-quarter financials above consensus analysts’ estimates, driven by 20% organic growth in HEICO’s flight support group.

HEICO’s management indicated that the performance of recently acquired Wencor is exceeding expectations. However, HEICO leaders offered color on 2024 organic growth and margin expectations that forecast reduced gains. Even though consensus estimates already assumed slowing growth, it is still not a positive for HEICO, DiPalma wrote.

William Blair forecasts 15% annual upside to HEICO’s shares, based on EBITDA growth. HEICO’s management cited a host of reasons for its quarterly outperformance, highlighted by the continued commercial air travel recovery. The company also referenced new product introductions and efficiency initiatives.

HEICO’s defense product sales increased by 26% sequentially, marking the third consecutive sequential increase in defense product revenue. The company’s leaders conveyed that defense in general is moving in the right direction to enhance financial performance.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com.

Five Dividend-paying Defense and Aerospace Investments to Purchase: XAR

A fourth way to obtain exposure to defense and aerospace investments is through SPDR S&P Aerospace and Defense ETF (XAR). That exchange-traded fund  tracks the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index. The fund is overweight in industrials and underweight in technology and consumer cyclicals, said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman who heads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter.

Bob Carlson, who heads Retirement Watch, answers questions from Paul Dykewicz.

XAR has 34 securities, and 44.2% of the fund is in the 10 largest positions. The fund is up 25.82% in the last 12 months, 22.03% in the past three months and 7.92% for the last month. Its dividend yield recently measured 0.38%.

The largest positions in the fund recently were Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ: AXON), Boeing (NYSE: BA), L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE: SPR) and Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE).

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Five Dividend-paying Defense and Aerospace Investments to Purchase: PPA

The second fund recommended by Carlson is Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA), which tracks the SPADE Defense Index. It has the same underweighting and overweighting as XAR, he said.

PPA recently held 52 securities and 53.2% of the fund was in its 10 largest positions. With so many holdings, the fund offers much reduced risk compared to buying individual stocks. The largest positions in the fund recently were Boeing (NYSE: BA), RTX Corp. (NYSE: RTX), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and General Electric (NYSE:GE).

The fund is up 19.07% for the past year, 50.34% in the last three months and 5.30% during the past month. The dividend yield recently touched 0.69%.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Other Fans of Aerospace

Two fans of aerospace stocks are Mark Skousen, PhD, and seasoned stock picker Jim Woods. The pair team up to head the Fast Money Alert advisory service They already are profitable in their recent recommendation of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) in Fast Money Alert.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin, meets with Paul Dykewicz.


Jim Woods, a former U.S. Army paratrooper, co-heads Fast Money Alert.

Bryan Perry, who heads the Cash Machine investment newsletter and the Micro-Cap Stock Trader advisory service, recommends satellite services provider Globalstar (NYSE American: GSAT), of Covington, Louisiana, that has jumped 50.00% since he advised buying it two months ago. Perry is averaging a dividend yield of 11.14% in his Cash Machine newsletter but is breaking out with the red-hot recommendation of Globalstar in his Micro-Cap Stock Trader advisory service.


Bryan Perry heads Cash Machine, averaging an 11.14% dividend yield.

Military Equipment Demand Soars amid Multiple Wars

The U.S. military faces an acute need to adopt innovation, to expedite implementation of technological gains, to tap into the talents of people in various industries and to step-up collaboration with private industry and international partners to enhance effectiveness, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told attendees on Nov 16 at a national security conference. Prime examples of the need are showed by multiple raging wars, including the Middle East and Ukraine. A cold war involves China and its increasingly strained relationships with Taiwan and other Asian nations.

The shocking Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel touched off an ongoing war in the Middle East, coupled with Russia’s February 2022 invasion and continuing assault of neighboring Ukraine. Those brutal military conflicts show the fragility of peace when determined aggressors are willing to use any means necessary to achieve their goals. To fend off such attacks, rapid and effective response is required.

“The Department of Defense is doing more than ever before to deter, defend, and, if necessary, defeat aggression,” Gen. Brown said at the National Security Innovation Forum at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C.

One of Russia’s war ships, the 360-foot-long Novocherkassk, was damaged on Dec. 26 by a Ukrainian attack on the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea. This video of an explosion at the port that reportedly shows a section of the ship hit by aircraft-guided missiles.


Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr.
Photo By: Benjamin Applebaum

National security threats can compel immediate action, Gen. Brown said he quickly learned since taking his post on Oct. 1.

 

“We may not have much warning when the next fight begins,” Gen. Brown said. “We need to be ready.”

 

In a pre-recorded speech at the national security conference, Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, told the John Hopkins national security conference attendees about the critical need for collaboration between government and industry.

 

“Building enduring technological advances for the U.S. military will help our service members and allies defend freedom across the globe,” Bloomberg said.

 

The “horrific terrorist attacks” against Israel and civilians living there on Oct. 7 underscore the importance of that mission, Bloomberg added.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street JournalInvestor’s Business DailyUSA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Attention Holiday Gift Buyers! Consider purchasing Paul’s inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many othersCall 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases or autographed copies! Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulDykewicz. He is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper, after writing for the Baltimore Business Journal and Crain Communications.

The post Five Aerospace Investments to Buy as Wars Worsen Copy appeared first on Stock Investor.

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Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Officials in…

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Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Officials in New Mexico confirmed that a resident died from the plague in the United States’ first fatal case in several years.

A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Getty Images)

The New Mexico Department of Health, in a statement, said that a man in Lincoln County “succumbed to the plague.” The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized before his death, officials said.

They further noted that it is the first human case of plague in New Mexico since 2021 and also the first death since 2020, according to the statement. No other details were provided, including how the disease spread to the man.

The agency is now doing outreach in Lincoln County, while “an environmental assessment will also be conducted in the community to look for ongoing risk,” the statement continued.

This tragic incident serves as a clear reminder of the threat posed by this ancient disease and emphasizes the need for heightened community awareness and proactive measures to prevent its spread,” the agency said.

A bacterial disease that spreads via rodents, it is generally spread to people through the bites of infected fleas. The plague, known as the black death or the bubonic plague, can spread by contact with infected animals such as rodents, pets, or wildlife.

The New Mexico Health Department statement said that pets such as dogs and cats that roam and hunt can bring infected fleas back into homes and put residents at risk.

Officials warned people in the area to “avoid sick or dead rodents and rabbits, and their nests and burrows” and to “prevent pets from roaming and hunting.”

“Talk to your veterinarian about using an appropriate flea control product on your pets as not all products are safe for cats, dogs or your children” and “have sick pets examined promptly by a veterinarian,” it added.

“See your doctor about any unexplained illness involving a sudden and severe fever, the statement continued, adding that locals should clean areas around their home that could house rodents like wood piles, junk piles, old vehicles, and brush piles.

The plague, which is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, famously caused the deaths of an estimated hundreds of millions of Europeans in the 14th and 15th centuries following the Mongol invasions. In that pandemic, the bacteria spread via fleas on black rats, which historians say was not known by the people at the time.

Other outbreaks of the plague, such as the Plague of Justinian in the 6th century, are also believed to have killed about one-fifth of the population of the Byzantine Empire, according to historical records and accounts. In 2013, researchers said the Justinian plague was also caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.

But in the United States, it is considered a rare disease and usually occurs only in several countries worldwide. Generally, according to the Mayo Clinic, the bacteria affects only a few people in U.S. rural areas in Western states.

Recent cases have occurred mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Countries with frequent plague cases include Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Peru, the clinic says. There were multiple cases of plague reported in Inner Mongolia, China, in recent years, too.

Symptoms

Symptoms of a bubonic plague infection include headache, chills, fever, and weakness. Health officials say it can usually cause a painful swelling of lymph nodes in the groin, armpit, or neck areas. The swelling usually occurs within about two to eight days.

The disease can generally be treated with antibiotics, but it is usually deadly when not treated, the Mayo Clinic website says.

“Plague is considered a potential bioweapon. The U.S. government has plans and treatments in place if the disease is used as a weapon,” the website also says.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last time that plague deaths were reported in the United States was in 2020 when two people died.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/13/2024 - 21:40

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