tyb
https://www.secform4.com/
Apple's Director sale outside the normal range of 9% but am including as this the second large sale in less than 24 hours.
grabbed wrong one for apple. this correct
Drone flights reported again near Imperial Palace in Tokyo in wake of ascension
Police are investigating witness reports of a drone being flown Monday evening near the Imperial Palace and other downtown Tokyo areas, after a number of similar sightings were noted last week following the ascension of Emperor Naruhito.
The flying of drones is banned in central Tokyo. Riot police observed what they thought was a drone flying over the Kitanomaru Garden located just north of the palace at around 7:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Further reports were made later saying a drone had been spotted flying over Tokyoâs Nagatacho district, where the countryâs Diet and the Prime Ministerâs Office are located, as well as in the Yotsuya and Roppongi areas of the city, according to the police.
The police searched the areas but failed to track down the pilot. The drone had multiple rotors and flashing lights, they said.
On Thursday night, the police received multiple reports of drones flying near the Imperial Palace and the Akasaka Estate, currently home to Emperor Naruhito and a few other members of the imperial family.
The emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1.
A drone was also witnessed Thursday flying near the Musashi Imperial Graveyard in the city of Hachioji on the outskirts of Tokyo, where imperial family members including the great-grandfather and grandfather of Emperor Naruhito are buried.
It is illegal to fly drones in densely populated areas or near airports. Flying drones anywhere at night without permission is also prohibited.
video at link
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/07/national/drone-flights-reported-near-imperial-palace-tokyo-wake-ascension/
Global stocks slip, bonds rally as U.S.-China trade fears grow
MSCIâs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent, stooping to its lowest level since late March.
Australian stocks declined 0.35 percent, South Koreaâs KOSPI fell 1 percent and Japanâs Nikkei was down 1.5 percent.
Wall Street stocks slid on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 losing 1.65 percent and the Dow shedding 1.8 percent on the U.S.-China trade concerns.
Global stocks had a rocky start to the week after Washington on Monday accused Beijing of backtracking from commitments made during trade negotiations. That followed President Donald Trumpâs unexpected statement on Sunday that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent.
Beijing said on Tuesday that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States on Thursday and Friday for trade talks.
Additional tariffs are set to take effect on Friday if a trade agreement is not reached by then.
âFrom an equity market perspective, the immediate focus is on the two-day talks scheduled to take place between the U.S. and Chinese officials,â said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
âHowever, it is difficult to imagine the two parties resolving their differences in just two days of talks. The markets may have to begin pricing in the trade conflict as a long-term factor once again.â
Government bond prices surged and their yields slid sharply as investor panic took a toll on growth asset markets.
Benchmark 10-year yields on U.S. Treasuries and German bunds sank to one-month lows.
In currency markets, the dollar struggled at 110.25 yen after slipping to a six-week low of 110.17 overnight.
The Japanese yen, a perceived safe-haven, often gains against its peers in times of market turmoil and political strife.
The euro was little changed at $1.1191 after ending the previous day nearly flat.
The Australian dollar was unchanged at $0.7010.
The Aussie gained 0.35 percent the previous day after the Reserve Bank of Australia defied expectations for an interest rate cut, keeping rates unchanged at 1.5 percent.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures nudged up 0.28 percent to $61.57 per barrel, trimming some of its losses after sinking 1.36 percent on Tuesday.
Crude oil prices had dropped as renewed U.S.-China trade worries stoked concerns of slower global growth crimping demand for commodities. Expectations that U.S. crude stockpiles could hit fresh 19-month highs also weighed on oil.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/global-stocks-slip-bonds-rally-as-us-china-trade-fears-grow-idUSKCN1SE01Y
Love how reuters just does not mention gold, cap#4 and looking to break out of range-bound recent action
BOJ Board Debated Pros, Cons of More Easing at March Meeting: Minutes
TOKYO (Reuters) - Bank of Japan policymakers remained divided on how quickly to ramp up stimulus to hit their elusive price goal, minutes of their March meeting showed, even as slowing global demand clouded the outlook for the export-reliant economy.
While most in the nine-member board saw no immediate need to expand an already massive stimulus program, several warned of heightening risks to Japan's recovery that could warrant additional monetary easing, the minutes showed on Wednesday.
"Considering the difficulty in shifting inflation expectations, it was important to respond pre-emptively in the event of a change in economic and price developments," one member was quoted as saying.
Another said the BOJ should be "prepared" to ease if risks to the economy and prices materialize, the minutes showed.
But others were more cautious. One member said the BOJ should not respond to short-term fluctuations in economic data, and instead look at the long-term trend in guiding monetary policy, according to the minutes.
Those reluctant to ease any time soon also pointed to the rising costs of prolonged easing, such as the hit to financial institutions' earnings from years of ultra-low interest rates.
A few board members said the BOJ must pay more attention to the impact its prolonged ultra-loose policy was having on regional banks' profits, the minutes showed.
The hit to regional banks' profits and equity capital could "gradually materialize" and prompt more banks to take excessive risks to secure profits, those board members were quoted as saying.
At the two-day rate review that ended on March 15, the BOJ kept monetary policy steady despite cutting its assessments on exports and output amid heightening global economic risks.
https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2019-05-07/some-in-boj-warned-of-hit-to-bank-profits-from-easy-policy-march-minutes
China's Big Brother Social Control Arrives In Australia
Australia is preparing to debut its version of the Chinese regimeâs high-tech system for monitoring and controlling its citizens. The launch, to take place in the northern city of Darwin, will include systems to monitor peopleâs activity via their cell phones.
The new system is based on monitoring programs in Shenzhen, China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is testing its Social Credit System. Officials on the Darwin council traveled to Shenzhen, according to NT News, to âhave a chance to see exactly how their Smart Technology works prior to being fully rolled out.â
In Darwin, theyâve already constructed âpoles, fitted with speakers, cameras and Wi-Fi,â according to NT News, to monitor people, their movements around the city, the websites they visit, and what apps they use. The monitoring will be done mainly by artificial intelligence, but will alert authorities based on set triggers.
Just as in China, the surveillance system is being branded as a âsmart cityâ program, and while Australian officials claim its operations are benign, theyâve announced it functions to monitor cell phone activity and âvirtual fencesâ that will trigger alerts if people cross them.
âWeâll be getting sent an alarm saying, âThereâs a person in this area that youâve put a virtual fence around.â ⌠Boom, an alert goes out to whatever authority, whether itâs us or police to say âlook at camera five,ââ said Josh Sattler, the Darwin councilâs general manager for innovation, growth, and development services, according to NT News.
The nature of the âvirtual fencesâ and what type of activity will sound an alarm still isnât being made clear.
The system is being promoted as mostly benign. Sattler said it will tell the government âwhere people are using Wi-Fi, what theyâre using Wi-Fi for, are they watching YouTube, etc. All these bits of information we can share with businesses. ⌠We can let businesses know, âHey, 80 percent of people actually use Instagram within this area of the city, between these hours.ââ
The CCPâs smart city Social Credit System is able to monitor each person in the society, tracking every element of their livesâincluding their friends, online purchases, daily behavior, and other informationâand assigns each person a citizen score that determines their level of freedom in society.
The tool is a core piece of the CCPâs programs to monitor and persecute dissidents, including religious believers and people who oppose the ruling communist system.
Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao, a visiting scholar at New York University, described the Social Credit System as a new form of tyranny, meant to reactivate the CCPâs totalitarian hold on society.
âIn the past, there was the Nazi totalitarianism and Mao Zedongâs totalitarian system, but a totalitarian system powered by the internet and contemporary technology has not existed before,â Teng said in a recent interview with The Epoch Times.
âThe CCP is now taking the first step to build such a high-tech totalitarian system, by using credit ratings and monitoring and recording every detail in peopleâs daily life, which is very frightening.â
The regime also isnât interested in keeping the technology within its own borders.
Itâs exporting the system, and its âChina modelâ of totalitarian government, as a service of its âOne Belt, One Roadâ program. When the CCP builds its infrastructure abroad, its surveillance and social control programs are part of the package.
In Darwin, there has been a push to jump aboard the CCPâs program. The local officials made a âfriendshipâ deal with Yuexiu District, in Guangzhou, China, in 2018. According to John Garrick, a senior lecturer at Charles Darwin University, the deal was branded by Chinese media as âpart of President Xi Jinpingâs signature Belt and Road Initiative.â
That followed a previous deal between Darwin and the CCP, in which the city signed a 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company and the CCP. The Chinese owner, Ye Cheng, had referred to the deal as being part of One Belt, One Road.
The deals also should raise concern for U.S. Marines stationed in Darwin,under the Obama-era pivot to the Pacific, about whether the CCP is able to monitor data collected on cell phones from its systems in the area. Under a 2011 deal between the United States and Australia, the U.S. troops will be there until 2040.
And of similar concern, the decision of Australia to begin implementing the CCPâs programs for totalitarian social control represents a major development in the CCPâs China model push.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-07/chinas-big-brother-social-control-arrives-australia