I Will Survive
March 25th, 2020Via: Victoria Emes:
By the Numbers, Coronavirus Does Not Register as a Dire Global Crisis
March 25th, 2020Via: Globe and Mail:
Is COVID-19 a global crisis? Certainly for people who can’t add.
Why Did Hundreds Of CEOs Resign Just Before The World Started Going Absolutely Crazy?
March 25th, 2020Via: End of the American Dream:
In the months prior to the most ferocious stock market crash in history and the eruption of the biggest public health crisis of our generation, we witnessed the biggest exodus of corporate CEOs that we have ever seen. And as you will see below, corporate insiders also sold off billions of dollars worth of shares in their own companies just before the stock market imploded. In life, timing can be everything, and sometimes people simply get lucky. But it does seem odd that so many among the corporate elite would be so exceedingly “lucky” all at the same time. In this article I am not claiming to know the motivations of any of these individuals, but I am pointing out certain patterns that I believe are worth investigating.
Negative Rates on 1-Month and 3-Month Treasury Bills
March 25th, 2020Via: CNBC:
The coronavirus crisis has brought another first to U.S. financial markets — negative yields on government debt.
Yields on both the 1-month and 3-month Treasury bills dipped below zero Wednesday, a week and a half after the Federal Reserve cuts its benchmark rate to near zero and as investors have flocked to the safety of fixed income amid general market turmoil.
It was the first time that happened in 4½ years, when both bills briefly flashed red and yields fell to minus-0.002% each. The readings Wednesday were well below those.
“Mobile Phone Industry Explores Worldwide Tracking of Users”
March 25th, 2020It’s coming fast and furious now.
This coronavirus thing is Al-Qaeda x 1000.
How long until: “5G to Battle Coronavirus”
Via: Guardian:
The mobile phone industry has explored the creation of a global data-sharing system that could track individuals around the world, as part of an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The Guardian has learned that a senior official at GSMA, an international standard-setting body for the mobile phone industry, held discussions with at least one company that is capable of tracking individuals globally through their mobile devices, and discussed the possible creation of a global data-sharing system.
Any move to create such a global tracking system would represent a major escalation in efforts to use mobile phone location data to help stem the pandemic, and would be likely to raise concerns among privacy and security experts.
Until now the use of mobile phone tracking in the fight against Covid-19 has been restricted to national governments, which are either monitoring data within their borders or in discussions with mobile operators and technology companies about doing so.
They include the US, India, Iran, Poland, Singapore, Israel and South Korea. The British government is engaged in talks with BT, the owner of the UK mobile operator EE, about using phone location and usage data to determine the efficacy of isolation orders.
The concept of an international mobile tracing scheme would go further, enabling authorities to monitor movements and potentially track the spread of the disease across borders. The GSMA represents the interests of 750 mobile phone operators and vendors across the world and helps set international standards for companies.
LA County Sheriff Orders Gun Stores to Close
March 24th, 2020Via: Fox11:
In a sit-down interview with FOX 11, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva declared gun stores as nonessential businesses that will be forced to close.
Sheriff Villanueva also said he’s adding 1,300 deputies to patrol, that he’s released 1,700 nonviolent inmates from county jails, and criticized how local politicians have handled the messaging behind the numerous stay-at-home orders.
Related: City Dwellers Are Fleeing to California’s Deserts and Mountains
Coronavirus: All of India to Lockdown for 21 Days
March 24th, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a three-week long nationwide lockdown across India and allocated an extra $1.97 billion for health care to contain the spread of coronavirus infections which are now spiking in the South Asian nation.
“If we listen to the health experts we know that 21 days are crucial to break the cycle of transmission,” Modi said in his televised address to the nation on Tuesday. “For a few days forget what it means to go out. Today’s decision of a nationwide lockdown draws a line outside your home.”
New Coronavirus Stimulus Bill In Congress Creates U.S. Digital Dollar
March 23rd, 2020
Via: Forbes:
As the markets continue to drop and the U.S. looks to Congress for agreement on a massive stimulus package to save the economy from impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the newest offer by House Democrats includes a very forward-looking kind of stimulus: the creation of a ‘digital dollar’ and the establishment of ‘digital dollar wallets.’ In what will send shock waves through the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, particularly for those following central bank digital currencies around the world, this signals the U.S. is serious in establishing infrastructure for a central bank digital currency.
Both Speaker Pelosi’s ‘Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act’ and the ‘Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, and Vulnerable Populations Act (H.R. 6321),’ introduced by Chairwoman Maxine Waters of Financial Services Committee, introduced these concepts today as a way of delivering the economic stimulus payments to U.S. citizens.
The bill establishes a digital dollar, which it defines as ‘a balance expressed as a dollar value consisting of digital ledger entries that are recorded as liabilities in the accounts of any Federal Reserve Bank or … an electronic unit of value, redeemable by an eligible financial institution (as determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System).’ Additionally, a digital dollar wallet is identified as ‘a digital wallet or account, maintained by a Federal reserve bank on behalf of any person, that represents holdings in an electronic device or service that is used to store digital dollars that may be tied to a digital or physical identity.’
A mandate also requires all ‘member banks’ establish a ‘pass-through digital dollar wallet’ to all customers eligible for the stimulus. Member banks include those banks that are ‘members’ of the Federal Reserve and regulated by the Fed. Additionally, ‘Non-Member’ state banks – those that not members of the Federal Reserve and regulated by the FDIC – could opt-in to offer pass-through digital dollar wallets as well.
Research Credit: RP
The U.S. Space Force’s New Mission? Protecting 5G
March 23rd, 2020Via: Popular Mechanics:
Space-based internet traffic will fall under the nation’s newest armed service.
Related:
FCC Approves SpaceX to Deploy up to 1 Million Small Antennas for Starlink Internet Network
Federal Reserve: “Unlimited QE”
March 23rd, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
The Federal Reserve on Monday announced a massive second wave of initiatives to support a shuttered U.S. economy, including buying an unlimited amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs low and setting up programs to ensure credit flows to corporations and state and local governments.
The Fed will buy Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities “in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions and the economy,” and will also buy agency commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to a statement. The Fed had said a week ago it would buy at least $500 billion of Treasuries and $200 billion of agency MBS.
The rate on 10-year Treasuries plunged following the announcement, flattening the yield curve, while the dollar dropped and U.S. stock futures pared their earlier losses.
