• Quick Overview   is up to date

• Apple (AAPL) is splitting its stock four for one - great for writing puts. Selling one $400 put will, after the split, only commit $10,000 versus $40,000. Bezos, are you paying attention?

 

• Four out of the five members of the so-called FAANG group – Facebook, Amazon, Apple Netflix and Google – posted record-breaking earnings during the worst slump in a century.

 

• Millions of unemployed Americans are about to lose $600 in additional weekly jobless benefits after the White House and Congress failed to reach an agreement to extend the supplement.

• What are the expected economic effects if 30 million workers have their financial lifeline cut off? Any guesses? 
• In addition, lots of people are going to be “very” disappointment if the much anticipated $1200 check is not forthcoming.

 

• Consumer spending rose 5.6% last month after a record 8.5% jump in May as more businesses, that are now reclosing, had reopened. The two month surge in job gain may have stopped in July..

 

• Bloomberg: The dollar's reign as the world's reserve currency is under threat, Goldman warned.

 

• Starbucks: global same-store sales, fell 40% in Q3. However, customers while visiting less, they're placing bigger orders.

 

• McDonald's is selling a stake in its Japan business and is accelerating U.S. restaurant closures it had planned earlier. Sales are also a bit on the weak side.

 

• (Reuters) - With nearly seven months gone, an ambitious $36.5 billion target for Chinese imports of U.S. farm goods this year may not be quite out of reach, but it’s looking like a big, big stretch. 

 

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  Cruising during worldwide pandemic: ICYMI: 4 crew members on Norway cruise ship hospitalized with COVID-19 after it arrived at port of Tromsoe on Friday; operator Hurtigruten says all crew members quarantined on ship and the 177 passengers, who had already disembarked, told to self-isolate

 

• Kids under age 5 may carry a much higher coronavirus viral load than older children and adults: study 

 

• Banning TikTok? Trump may not realize how unpopular this move will be with generally politically indifferent teenagers…

The 32.9% annualized slump in GDP – equivalent to a quarterly fall of 9.5% – is the worst since records began in 1947

Gold in inflation adjusted terms:

Quick Overview is up to date

• Initial U.S. Jobless claims increased to 1.42 million in the week ended July 18, up 109,000 from the prior week in a clear sign of a pause in the economic recovery.

• After days of quarreling, the EU approved a 750 billion euro  ($870 billion) fund to combat effects of the pandemic and thereby raising hopes of more fiscally integrated block.

• Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says that a stable U.S. dollar is the goal of the Trump administration.
• Ray Dalio however says the U.S. is already endangering the dollars stability by being “our own worst enemy”.

• Treasury’s Mnuchin is objecting to using taxpayer money to help taxpayers “We’re not going to use taxpayer money to pay people more to stay home”. Depressing economic effects coming up? The GOP is considering extending the extra unemployment benefits at a reduced level of $400 through December - $100 per week...

• Bloomberg: Corporate insiders, who’s buying correctly signaled the bottom in March, are now mostly sellers. Almost 1,000 corporate executives and officers have unloaded shares of their own companies this month.

• Insiders seem to have, um, ramped up their selling. What do they know??  

• Judy Shelton, a gold bug, one of Trump’s economic advisor is getting support to join the FED from Louisiana Senator John Kennedy. Shelton is a conservative economist who has argued the nation would be better off returning to the gold standard. Back to the gold standard – remarkable. However, as just one of 19 interest-rate-setters at the Fed, her influence at the central bank would be limited.

• Bloomberg Gold ETF holdings: looks like a new high - along with gold.
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• MotherJones: Trumpachieved a longstanding goal in weakening environmental protection: The administration significantly narrowed the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)…. This move is the latest in a litany of rollbacks.

• Arctic Sea Ice is falling off a cliff
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• An alliance from various sectors that includes Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks and Unilever unveiled a plan called ‘Transform to Net Zero’ to help businesses globally achieve zero carbon emissions

• People’s Daily China: By the end of 2020, the catering industry in China shall ban the use of plastic straws as the nation strides on with environmental protection ambition.

• Twitter bans 7,000 QAnon accounts, limits 150,000 others as part of broad crackdown.

• FT: 70% of Britons supported mandatory face masks.

• The CDC says Corona Virus infections far exceed reported cases.

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• Florida becomes state with second-highest virus cases in US

• Florida lawyers are offering free or discounted living wills for teachers who may be required to return to the classroom this school year.

• Arizona, with 7 mil people is exceeding the EU’s 420 mill people death toll.

• Following massive public outrage Sinclair will not air conspiracy theory suggesting Dr. Fauci created the coronavirus.

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declares state of emergency after 1st apparent case of coronavirus. First? Really?

• http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/overview.htmCoronavirus cases are again climbing in Spain and France.

Ounces of Silver in the SLV  -  remarkable.

Gold, a bit closer to  an all time high...Is a black swan on the way??

Gold, moving right along...

But for a new all time high silver has a bit farther to go.

 Silver new high for the move.

The daily U.S. national death rate appears to be climbing again.

The FED has a new index that is quite interesting. Check it out!
use tabs to adjust time frame

Evidently not much eating out happening unless people are convinced that the pandemic is at least somewhat under control

Covid-19 Death Per Million Population as of  7/19/2020

from

Belgium 845

U.K 667

Spain 608

Italy         580

Sweden 556

France 462

U.S.         432

Netherlands 358

Canada 232

Switzerland 227

Germany 109

Austria 79

Norway 47

Israel 44

Greece 19

Japan 8

S. Korea         6

Australia         5

New Zealand 4

China 3

China's industrial capacity utilization rebound is quite impressive.

Quick Overview is up to date

• The New York Times:   About 5.4 million Americans lost healthinsurance in the pandemic, more than have ever lost coverage through job losses in a year, an analysis found 

• Bloomberg : Almost 40,000 Robinhood accounts added shares of Tesla during a single four-hour span on Monday.

• More than half of wealthy investors responding to a UBS survey said they were worried about staying liquid in another pandemic and that they may not have as much cash to pass along their heirs.

• Bloomberg: Biden to Call for $2 Trillion in Spending onClean Energy 

• Singapore GDP QoQ - 41%

• Axios:  UnitedHealth Group registered more than $6.6 billion in profits in the second quarter — by far the conglomerate's highest quarterly profit ever, according to an analysis of company financial data from FactSet. Why it matters.

• Disney shuts Hong Kong Disneyland again as coronavirus cases rise.

• UN reports global e-waste production soared beyond 53 million tonnes in 2019

• If the numbers are correct  China’s economy has returned to growth

However the total # continues to be horrifying

A bit of good news regarding the virus. The national death rate  remains much lower than it was three months ago.

COVID-19 gives the lieto global healthexpertise

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began spreading in Europe and the USA, a chart started circulating online showing ratings from the 2019 Global Health Security Index, an assessment of 195 countries’ capacity to face infectious disease outbreaks, compiled by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. The USA was ranked first, and the UK second; South Korea was ranked ninth, and China 51st; most African countries were at the bottom of the ranking. Things look different now. 

Expert warns China's Three Gorges Dam in danger of collapse

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As torrential rains in China continue to wreak havoc on more than 24 provinces, notable Chinese hydrologist Wang Weiluo (王維洛) has questioned the safety of the massive Three Gorges Dam, warning that it could collapse at any moment.