China Stocks in U.S. Erase $740 Billion as Crackdown Deepens
Beijing’s sweeping crackdowns of its technology and education sectors has unleashed shockwaves across global markets, causing U.S.-listed Chinese stocks to post their biggest back-to-back losses in over a decade.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index plunged 5.6% Monday morning after regulators in China unveiled an overhaul of its education sector that bans firms that teach school subjects from making profits, raising capital or going public. The gauge which tracks 98 of China’s biggest firms listed in the U.S. is on pace for its biggest two-day drop since 2008 and has lost more than $740 billion in value since reaching a record high in February. “The regulatory uncertainty is significant and is something that is impossible for investors to quantify,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. “Investors should be cautious until the Chinese government affirms the legality of these structures,” he added.
Some of large investors have already started to unload their shares. Cathie Wood’s flagship Ark Innovation ETF cut its holdings of China stocks to less than 0.5% this month from a high of 8% in February. The fund completely exited its position in tech-giant Baidu Inc. and has just 134 shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd. Its only other position, Chinese property site KE Holdings Inc., has dropped 58% so far this year. TAL Education Group, New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. and Gaotu Techedu Inc., some of China’s largest education companies, are all down at least 25% each Monday, adding to their record declines from Friday. The trio has seen their shares stuck in an extended plunge for much of the past five months, bringing their loss for the year to nearly 93%. They’re not alone either. In total, more than $100 billion in market capitalization has been erased from Chinese education stocks traded in the U.S., China and Hong Kong this year. “Given the magnitude of the uncertainties, it is challenging for us to quantify the overall risks at this point, but it is clear that we are entering an uncharted territory with substantial moving parts,” according to Benchmark analyst Fawne Jiang. While the pain has been felt the most by education stocks, other sectors may soon be under the gun as well.
Property management stocks traded in Hong Kong tumbled on Monday after regulators said they were aiming to “notably improve order” in the market. Meanwhile, food-delivery giant Meituan saw its shares plunge by a record 14% as authorities in Beijing issued a notice that online food platforms must, among other things, respect the rights of delivery staff and ensure workers earn at least the local minimum income.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/china-stocks-in-u-s-erase-740-billion-as-crackdown-deepens-1.1632983
>>74844 pb Freak Cold Snap In Biggest Coffee Exporter Sparks Huge Price Surge
Coffee Surges to 7-Year Highs With More Cold Headed for Brazil
Arabica coffee futures are hitting fresh highs and extending a dramatic rally with more crop-destroying cold temperatures heading to Brazil, the world’s top grower.
Prices for the high-end beans favored by Starbucks Corp. and other cafe chains have surged more than 30% in a week, and will eventually top $3 a pound, according to Judy Ganes, a consultant with decades of experience in the industry. The last time prices topped $3 was in 2011.
Those sky-high prices are because coffee trees in Brazil were weakened by a drought and then pummeled by two frosts in less than a month. Freezing temperatures last week especially hurt young trees, which will need to be trimmed or replanted. That could affect output for years to come, including slashing next year’s harvest by as much as 5.2 million bags, according to an Ecom Research report seen by Bloomberg. A bag weighs 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds. Other major growers are going to reap less coffee than expected, too, like Indonesia, which is also seeing a light crop. “Where is the coffee going to come from” if not from Brazil, which accounts for 40% of world output, Ganes said. Futures rallied as much as 14% to $2.152 a pound, the highest since October 2014.
Forecasters expect more low temperatures in coming days, potentially damaging crops. The chance of frost has increased for Sao Paulo and south of Minas Gerais during a cold spell expected July 29, Somar Meteorologia said in a report. The surge in arabica is translating into higher prices for consumers at supermarkets and coffee shops. This adds to global food inflation worries, exacerbated by surging shipping costs and supply chain disruptions as economies reopen. “It looks like we’re set for another explosive week ahead, with cold weather coming back into coffee-growing regions from midweek onwards,” Alex Boughton, a broker at Sucden, said in a note. Frost is expected across southern Minas Gerais through central Sao Paulo, and east central and southern Parana, from Wednesday to Friday, according to Maxar meteorologist Donald Keeney. “Cool temperatures will continue early in the 6-10 day period as well, so there will be additional frost threats in the same areas over the next weekend,” Keeney said.
Prices were also supported by a move from the ICE exchange to almost double initial margin requirements for arabica futures **, encouraging traders to cover their short bets, Boughton said.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/coffee-surges-to-7-year-highs-with-more-cold-headed-for-brazil-1.1632967
**coming soon to the precious metals market.
>>75755 pb
SLOT74 USAFSOC C-32B departed JBA after an overnight nw
dat gonna go over well
>>75782 pb
99-6143 USAFSOC C-32B departed NAS Oceana after an overnight nw (was ANON yesterday from NAS North Island to Ft. Campbell, KY and arrived at NAS Oceana last night as ANON)
Trump ally Barrack pleads not guilty in UAE lobbying case
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's billionaire ally Thomas Barrack pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of illegal lobbying for the United Arab Emirates, putting the case on course for a possible trial. Barrack entered his plea to seven criminal counts before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara in Brooklyn. The charges against Barrack, 74, included secretly lobbying the Trump administration for the UAE between 2016 and 2018, and lying to investigators about dealings with the Middle Eastern country. Barrack chaired Trump's 2017 inaugural fund and was a frequent guest at the White House.
In an indictment unsealed last week, federal prosecutors accused three people - Barrack, his former employee Matthew Grimes, and an Emirati businessman - of failing to register as lobbyists, and of using their influence to advance the UAE's foreign policy in the United States. Grimes pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and illegal lobbying charges on Monday. The third defendant is at large. Barrack founded the digital infrastructure-focused private equity firm DigitalBridge Group Inc (DBRG.N), known as Colony Capital Inc before a rebranding announced in June.
His blank-check acquisition firm Falcon Peak Acquisition Corp withdrew an initial public offering registration on Friday after the charges were unsealed.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-ally-barrack-pleads-not-guilty-uae-lobbying-case-2021-07-26/
Jobless Americans sue Florida for ending $300 unemployment benefits early
DeSantis accused of violating 'statutory duty' to provide unemployment benefits to Florida residents.
Out-of-work Americans in Florida filed a lawsuit against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday seeking to reinstate a pandemic relief program that paid out an extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits. In a complaint filed late Sunday on behalf of 10 unemployed Floridians, three attorneys – Gautier Kitchen, Marie Mattox and Scott Behren – argued that DeSantis, as well as the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and its director Dane Eagle, violated their "clear legal and statutory duty to secure such benefits for employees" by prematurely ending the benefits.
The attorneys are requesting an emergency injunction to force Florida to reinstate the $300 a week benefit until the case is decided, as well as provide four weeks of retroactive benefits. "The unemployed of Florida need these benefits to pay basic living expenses such as rent, utilities, food and medicine," the suit said.
Florida is one of 26 states – nearly all of which are led by Republican governors – that decided to prematurely end one of three federal unemployment programs that provided out-of-work Americans with an extra $300 a week, on top of their regular state benefits, and extended eligibility for contract workers as well as those who had exhausted their regular state benefits. Unemployed residents in Indiana, Texas and Maryland also filed lawsuits against their respective states for the early termination of the program. State judges in Indiana and Maryland ruled the states must continue paying out the money to its jobless residents. The programs, which Congress created in March 2020 and voted twice to extend, are not slated to expire until Sept. 6, 2021. Roughly 4 million people will lose their jobless aid as a result of the new policies, according to one estimate from the left-leaning Century Foundation.
GOP lawmakers have blamed the extra unemployment aid for anemic job growth in April and May, although economists have also cited a lack of child care and fears of contracting COVID-19 for the hiring shortage. Unemployment benefits in the state currently max out at $275 a week. With the federal supplement, Americans are receiving a maximum of $605 in weekly unemployment benefits. (For comparison's sake, that's about $31,500 annually, or roughly $16 an hour). President Biden and Democrats have rejected the notion that Americans are choosing to stay home and collect the extra unemployment benefits – part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law passed in March – rather than returning to work. Still, Biden has emphasized that the unemployment benefits will end in September as planned, despite momentum among some of his party's members to make the extra money permanent. "It’s going to expire in 90 days," Biden said recently. "That makes sense."
There remain about 6.8 million fewer jobs than there were in February 2020, before the pandemic shut down broad swaths of the nation's economy. Florida's unemployment rate, at 5%, represents about 523,500 jobless Americans out of a workforce of about 9.8 million, according to the Labor Department.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/florida-sued-ending-unemployment-benefits
Cause dhey don't wanna werk!!
Most of the service related biz's are dying here cause fuggen Getty boi won't do shit about ending it here.
Incidentally I habs no faith that he will be gone after the recall.
None at all.
chek't
The food deliveries (like all the food they eat) every damn day to at least three houses within view.
Know dhey out of werk too.
Don't pay attention normally as dat dere biz but dhey also outside bitchin to anyone who listens.
Muh answer always is learn to cook...much cheaper.
Absolutely-had some issues like all but did not bitch about it.
Shit is tough all over ...we all haz problems whether health, money, relationship(s), etc and cryin about it on a public board not muh idea of moving forward.
general turns into a fuggen therapy couch too much nao.
We gonna be stuck wif him.
Can't imagine (((them))) allowing that office to be vacated as it tok them so long to get that phaggit in.
and eben if that does habben muh opinion is "meet the new boss......"