In March, consumer spending gained 9.8 percent from February, when it fell 3 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. The jump was almost twice the 5.5 percent that analysts were expecting and a sharp turnaround from February’s 3-percent contraction after previous stimulus money had been spent and a series of storms slowed travel and business...
Tag: apr 20 2021
Post
UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS LOWEST IN A YEAR
The number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 576,000 during the week ending 10 April, dropping from the previous week’s revised figure of 769,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported and reaching a low not seen since 14 March 2020, according to Business Insider. A median forecast by economists Bloomberg called for 700,000 new...
Post
EQUITY INVESTORS RETURN TO U.S. FROM CHINA
Since November’s U.S. presidential election, $170 billion more has flowed into U.S. stock funds than has left, according to data firm EPFR. In contrast, only a net $29.78 billion funds went into China’s stock funds from December 2020 through 17 April this year, EPFR reported. When the world’s economy collapsed in March 2020, the U.S....
Post
SPACs’ VALUE SHRINKS UNDER REGULATORS’ SCRUTINY
The share prices for special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) retreated in recent days as federal regulators have taken a closer interest in the companies’ free-wheeling operations. The SPAK.NV SPAC exchange-traded fund peaked at $34.87 on 16 February; on 14 April, it closed below $26. The Indxx SPAC & NextGen IPO Index edged above 2,000 on 22...
Post
SPECIAL ADVICE FOR FEMALES
By Bradley J. Steiner, American Combato While it is not unheard of for a woman or girl to be attacked by someone who punches her, the vast majority of attacks on females by males commences with a grabbing, holding, embracing, or seizing type of action ––– after which a smacking or punching follow-up sometimes is resorted to, when the assailant does...
Post
HARVESTING MORE THAN BEER FROM A BREWERY
When brewers make beer, the good stuff doesn’t only go into the bottles. The spent barley or other grains, once drained of their flavor, still hold up to 30 percent protein and as much as 70 percent fiber. Some makes its way to animal feedlots; most is carted to a dump. Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic...
Post
A BLOOD TEST TO DIAGNOSE DEPRESSION
Medically speaking, depression is a messy illness: diagnosis is often subjective, especially in its early stages, and the pharmaceuticals used to treat it – often in hit-or-miss fashion – can have bizarre side effects, including deepening the depression instead of easing it. With a new blood test that can diagnose depression with better than 70-percent...
Post
NEW ENERGY DEPARTMENT PROJECT MODELS ELECTRICITY’S FUTURE
The U.S. Department of Energy has unveiled its new Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) project, which, it says, “represents a substantial scale-up in experimentation capability from existing research platforms, allowing for research at the 20-megawatt level.” ARIES will explore the impact of new devices being attached to the electric grid, including renewable energy...
Post
IT’S TIME TO DISMANTLE THE WHO
By Richard Gale & Gary Null PhD The ultimate international authority for infectious diseases is the World Health Organization (WHO). Due to its widespread acceptance by the world’s national governments, it has been extremely successful in assuming the helm to monitor regional and global infectious diseases and dictate medical intervention policies to international health agencies....