The U.S. Federal Reserve took a half point off its key lending rate in September, but mortgage interest rates have gone in the opposite direction since then.
ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW
Shortly after Donald Trump won the race to the White House, the U.S. dollar spiked, hitting a new high last Wednesday.
EXPECT HYPER-ACCELERATED CURRENCY DEVALUATION MOVING INTO 2025 WITH “MAINSTREAMING CRYPTOCURRENCY”
The people of the world and the economy of the world are in a transition phase. A transition into a new system with a new set of rules.
SPECIAL REPORT: LATIN AMERICA TURNS TO CHINA
The new Port of Chancay may be located on Peru’s Pacific coast but it has been made by China.
TECHNOCRACY BRIEFS: AI ARMS RACE, MORE INDUSTRY LIES ABOUT HUMAN IMPACTS, AND TASTIER (GENE-EDITED) VEGGIES
Sam Altman of OpenAI was all over the news this past week, which is not unusual these days.
MORE BIDEN AND BLINKEN BULLSHIT: ISRAEL CONTINUES TO WITHHOLD AID TO GAZANS, BUT STILL GETS AMERICAN WEAPONS
The Biden administration announced last week that the U.S. will continue to provide Israel with weapons even though it did not meet humanitarian demands set by Washington last month as the conditions in Gaza grew more dire for civilians.
AMERICANS KEEP GETTING DRUNK AFTER COVID LOCKDOWNS
Researchers said last week that Americans took to the bottle during the COVID-19 lockdowns and, despite the mandates being lifted, continue to use alcohol at a higher rate than pre-outbreak levels.
Global Economy
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Private equity firms Shore Capital Partners and Silver Lake Technology Management have partnered to create an entity that has bought and merged two chains of veterinary clinics.
SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA’S ECONOMIC STRUGGLE: CHINA’S DOMESTIC ECONOMY PERKED UP IN OCTOBER
In October, China’s retail sales grew by 4.8 percent, their sharpest monthly increase since February, figures reported by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
LUXURY COMPANIES MISS FINANCIAL TARGETS
The personal luxury goods industry lost 50 million customers this year, according to a new report by consulting firm Bain & Co. and Italian luxury trade group Altagamma.
The Israel War
LEBANON DEATH TOLL
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes reached 3,544. At least 15,036 people suffered injuries and the Israeli attacks have resulted in more than 1 million residents fleeing from their homes.
GAZA DEATH TOLL
The death toll in Gaza reached 43,972 on Tuesday with at least 104,008 wounded and 11,000 people missing. About 90 percent of the population has been displaced.
MORE BIDEN AND BLINKEN BULLSHIT: ISRAEL CONTINUES TO WITHHOLD AID TO GAZANS, BUT STILL GETS AMERICAN WEAPONS
The Biden administration announced last week that the U.S. will continue to provide Israel with weapons even though it did not meet humanitarian demands set by Washington last month as the conditions in Gaza grew more dire for civilians.
AI
CURRENT BENCHMARKS FOR MEASURING AI ARE OBSOLETE
The AI industry has evolved a set of standard benchmarks against which AI models are tested. That allows developers to see how effective their systems are and also allows developers and users to compare systems against each other.
THE NEW HOT COLLATERAL FOR LOANS: NVIDIA CHIPS
AI companies scrambling for cash to build new models and open data centers are offering their most valuable commodity as collateral for their loans—the Nvidia chips that make AI work.
AMAZON EXPECTS TO UNVEIL ITS NEWEST AI CHIP NEXT MONTH
Concerned about its dependence on other suppliers for the processors that make AI work—and looking to earn back some of the billions it has showered on AI development—Amazon has emulated Microsoft, OpenAI, and other tech majors in making its own.
Hi-Tech Science
AFRICAN MEALWORM EATS STYROFOAM
Those blocks of hard foam packing around your flat-screen TV look like dinner to an African mealworm.
JET FUEL DISTILLED FROM WASTEWATER CUTS EMISSIONS 70 PERCENT
Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory have created a process to salvage organic matter from wastewater and use it as a feedstock to make “sustainable”—non-polluting—jet fuel.
SLEEPING BRAIN CELLS COULD WAKE UP AND COMBAT A RANGE OF ILLNESSES
Our brains have hordes of neural stem cells that can grow into new brain cells. They’re dormant until a signal jolts them awake and they begin to make young and healthy new cells.