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The Earth’s Battery Is Running Low

In the quiet of summer, a couple of U.S. scientists argued in the pages of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that modern civilization has drained the Earth — an ancient battery of stored chemical energy — to a dangerous low. Although the battery metaphor made headlines in leading newspapers in China, India and Russia, the paper didn’t garner “much immediate attention in North America,” admits lead author John Schramski, a mechanical engineer and an ecologist. And that’s a shame, because the paper gives ordinary people an elegant metaphor to understand the globe’s stagnating economic and political systems and their close relatives: collapsing ecosystems. It also offers a blunt course of action: “drastic” energy conservation. It, too, comes with a provocative title: “Human domination of the biosphere: Rapid discharge of the Earth-space battery foretells the future of humankind.” The battery metaphor speaks volumes and then some. In […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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India, Russia And Thailand Prepare For Currency War

When China sneezes, the world catches a cold. Alternatively, when China devalues, the rest of the (exporting) world scrambles to not be the last (exporting) nation standing, and to do so next, before everyone else does. Case in point, at least three major emerging market nations announced they are bracing for currency war. First India, where NDTV ask rhetorically “ How China’s Devaluation of Renminbi Impacts India ” and answers: 1) The Indian rupee slipped to a two-month low of 64.26 against the US dollar on Tuesday tracking the devaluation of the renminbi . Other currencies such as the Australian dollar and the South Korean won also lost ground. 2) The over 0.5 per cent fall in the rupee weighed on traders’ sentiments, resulting in a drop in equity markets. Both the BSE Sensex and the Nifty traded with 0.4 per cent losses. 3) According to SV Prasad of […]

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Oil Prices Slip as China Devalues Yuan

HONG KONG–Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as investors digested China’s decision to devalue the yuan, which will make imports of a number of commodities including crude oil more expensive. China’s move eroded a late rally in oil prices the previous day that stemmed from a weaker dollar. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September traded at $44.71 a barrel at 0417 GMT, down 25 cents in the Globex electronic session. Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 22 cents to $50.19 a barrel. Crude oil, like most other commodities are pegged to the dollar, which means China’s imports will become costlier. “When oil becomes more expensive, it is likely to hurt China’s demand,” says Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures. “I think that there is definitely going to be more bearish momentum to what we are seeing now, and we […]

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Oil prices fall after China devalues yuan

A customer fills the tank of her car at a fuel station in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium December 5, 2014. Oil prices fell on Tuesday after China devalued its currency in its latest effort to prop up economic growth, making dollar-priced commodities more expensive and weighing on the oil demand outlook for the world’s top energy consumer. A slowdown in China’s economy, which is still expected to grow by around 7 percent annually, has been a key driver for the sharp drop in oil prices over the past year along with rising global supplies. Front-month Brent futures LCOc1 were down 10 cents at $50.31 a barrel at 0845 GMT (0445 EDT), cutting short oil’s biggest daily rally since late May the previous session. U.S. crude CLc1 fell 25 cents to $44.71. China’s central bank made a "one-off depreciation" of nearly 2 percent in the yuan CNY=SAEC after a run […]

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U.S. dollar rises as China devalues yuan

A bank clerk counts U.S. dollar banknotes on bundles of 100 Chinese yuan banknotes at a branch of a bank in Huaibei, Anhui province April 26, 2012. The U.S. dollar lurched higher on Tuesday as China allowed its yuan to fall to levels last seen in 2012, a shift that could provide a competitive boost to exports for the world’s second-largest economy. Asian stocks turned mixed as investors weighed the implications of the surprise move, which seemed to end months of officially sanctioned yuan strength. China’s central bank set the midpoint for its currency at 6.2298 per dollar, down from Monday’s fix of 6.1162, and said it was aiming for a depreciation of 2 percent. Markets reacted by selling the Australian dollar, often used as a liquid proxy for the Chinese currency. The Aussie sank to $0.7314, compared with $0.7430 ahead of the news. Other currencies in the region […]

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Oil Prices Fall on Glut Worries

LONDON—Oil prices kicked off the week in the red and traded near multi-month lows on Monday, in response to widening concerns over excess supply and weak demand. Over the weekend, China released disappointing economic data , clouding the demand outlook for the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. Meanwhile, the number of oil drilling rigs in the U.S. rose last week, underscoring concerns that the supply glut is unlikely to abate soon. “The prospect that crude oil prices will retest the lows hit earlier in the year has caught the market off guard,” said David Hufton at brokerage PVM. “Sadly there is no relief in sight and the technical knives are out, with the years lows well within range.” Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.3% to $48.50 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down 0.3% at […]

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Brent, U.S. crude fall on oversupply, poor China data

An offshore oil platform is seen at the Bouri Oil Field off the coast of Libya August 3, 2015. Crude oil futures fell on Monday, touching fresh multi-month lows after disappointing data from China over the weekend showed exports tumbled in the world’s second-largest economy. Exports fell 8.3 percent in July, the biggest decline in four months, as weaker global demand for Chinese goods and a strong yuan policy hurt manufacturers. Producer prices in July were at the lowest point since late 2009, during the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and have been sliding continuously for more than three years. China’s economy is officially forecast to grow at 7 percent this year, strong by global standards, but some economists believe it is growing at a much slower pace. "The trade data over the weekend would probably have the market a little uneasy," said Mark Pervan, senior commodities strategist […]

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Natural Gas Futures Climb as Hot Weather to Stoke Power Demand

Natural gas futures advanced as forecasts for unusually hot weather signaled increased demand for the power-plant fuel, limiting supply gains. Mild weather in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest this week will give way to above-normal temperatures Aug. 15 through Aug. 24, said MDA Weather Services. Manhattan’s high Tuesday may be 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius), 3 below normal, before jumping eight days later to 90, AccuWeather Inc. said on its website. A government report last week showed the smallest gain in gas storage levels in almost four months after a surge of heat in the biggest gas-consuming regions of the U.S. More hot weather ahead is limiting concerns about ending the stockpiling season with a burgeoning surplus. “The forecasts are back for more above-normal temperatures in mostly gas-consuming regions and the market is reacting accordingly,” said Tom Saal, senior vice president of energy trading at FCStone Latin America LLC […]

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Iraq cabinet backs PM Abbadi’s sweeping reforms

Iraq’s cabinet has approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi’s proposal to overhaul the government bureaucracy, scrapping three vice presidential posts and the offices of three deputy prime ministers. The cabinet backed the proposed reforms on Sunday, which still needs parliamentary approval. The six posts under threat represented various political and sectarian blocs in the government. The plan also effectively would push out of government former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, widely criticised for inflaming sectarian tensions and appointing loyal, less-qualified senior officers to Iraq’s military ahead of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group’s advance last year. However, al-Maliki issued a short statement backing the proposed plan. The proposal followed weeks of demonstrations, and a call for tougher reform measures from top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is revered by millions of Iraqis. Political shockwaves On Sunday evening, Kurdistan’s regional government welcomed the decision and vowed […]

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At least 47 people killed in two bomb attacks in eastern Iraq: security sources

At least 47 people were killed and nearly 100 injured in two bomb attacks on Monday in eastern Iraq, security and medical sources said, underscoring a continued threat from Islamic State militants in a province previously considered freed of them. In January Iraqi officials declared victory over the radical jihadist group in Diyala province, which borders Iran, after security forces and Shi’ite paramilitaries drove them out of towns and villages there, but the militants have remained active. At least 40 people were killed and 72 others wounded when a car bomb exploded in a marketplace north of the city of Baquba, the sources said. A separate blast to the east of the city killed a further seven people and wounded 25. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but they came less than a month after a bombing claimed by Islamic State in the nearby town […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple