BlackMask Financial – Page 411 – BlackMask Breaking News

January 13, 2022 9:57 am

Who says omicron cases are off the charts global infection and death are setting new records

The World Health Organization reported record numbers of cases of Covid-19 globally for a single week amid the omicron surge.
A report from the WHO published Tuesday noted that the highest numbers of new cases over the week came from the U.S., with 4.6 million new cases.
But hospitalizations are lower than in previous surges, though the death rate remains unsustainably high.

A record 15 million new Covid-19 infections were reported across the globe in a single week as omicron rapidly replaces delta as the dominant variant across the globe, and “we know this is an underestimate,” World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday.”The sheer volume of cases is putting a burden on health-care systems,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19. “Even though omicron is less severe than delta, it is still putting people in the hospital. It is still putting people into ICU and needing advanced clinical care. It is still killing people.” The U.S. saw the biggest jump in cases with 4.6 million new infections reported for the week through Sunday, a 73% increase over the prior week, compared to a 55% global increase in cases over the same period, according to a the WHO’s weekly epidemiology report published Tuesday. Tedros noted that hospitalizations are not quite as high as seen in previous surges, possibly due to decreased severity of omicron compared to delta and widespread immunity from vaccines and prior infection. But, he added, the death rate is still unsustainably high, with an average of about 48,000 deaths per week, which hasn’t fluctuated much since October, Tedros said. “We’re seeing omicron out-compete delta in many populations,” Van Kerkhove said. While delta cases similarly peaked in a few months, it didn’t take over the globe as quickly nor were the cases as high as omicron. “This is off the charts,” she said. Among more than 357,000 cases sequenced in the last 30 days, nearly 59% were omicron, the WHO said in the epidemiological report. The WHO, the United Nations’ health organization, cautioned that the data may not fully show how far omicron has spread due to reporting delays and limits sequencing in some countries.

According to the report, omicron has a shorter doubling time than other variants, meaning the number of days it takes for cases to double, and it can more readily evade prior immunity, allowing it an advantage over other variants.

While omicron has appeared to rip through populations where it was detected early and then drop down to lower levels, Van Kerkhove said delta had a similar trajectory at its height, but never peaked at such levels as omicron. But, she emphasized, the direction of omicron can still be influenced by the world’s actions, including vaccination and taking steps to minimize spread. “There is no inevitability about this virus and how it circulates,” she said. “We have control, some measure of control, in terms of limiting its spread with tools that we have access to: masks, distancing, ventilation, avoiding crowds.” Van Kerkhove said the WHO expects the virus will continue to evolve to become more fit and either more or less severe, that there will continue to be outbreaks of disease among the unvaccinated and that as different populations mix, outbreaks of other viruses will sometimes occur at the same time as those of Covid. “The virus is well on its way to becoming endemic,” Van Kerkhove said. “But we’re not there yet.” NN: Since government has been caught sleeping they are hiding the death rate which in now at record levels.

January 13, 2022 7:50 am

Fed’s ‘most important task’ is to control inflation, Brainard says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Controlling inflation that has spiked to nearly a 40-year high is the “most important task” facing the Federal Reserve right now, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in prepared remarks for a Senate hearing on her nomination to become vice chair of the U.S. central bank. “We are seeing the strongest rebound in growth and decline in unemployment of any recovery in the past five decades,” Brainard said in comments to be delivered to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. “But inflation is too high, and working people around the country are concerned about how far their paychecks will go. Our monetary policy is focused on getting inflation back down to 2 percent while sustaining a recovery that includes everyone. This is our most important task. Brainard is scheduled to begin her testimony at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) in a session that could mark the start of a broader and potentially bitter partisan contest over the make-up of the Fed’s seven-member governing board. Only four of those seats are filled right now, and pending Biden appointments, including for a second vice chair’s slot overseeing financial regulation, could advance what he and his Democratic supporters feel should be a bigger Fed role on climate issues and a tougher hand with Wall Street. Brainard, a Democrat first appointed to the Fed in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed at the time by a 61-31 vote, would be a prominent player in that effort. As a Fed governor she was a frequent dissenting vote against steps taken during former President Donald Trump’s administration and under Fed Chair Jerome Powell to loosen oversight of the largest banks; called for the Fed to require financial firms to set aside more capital; and worried that Fed officials were behind European central bankers in understanding how climate change might effect the macroeconomy and financial system. Republican senators have flagged a potential fight to come: at Powell’s own confirmation hearing this week one Republican senator asked whether he risked being outnumbered if Brainard is confirmed along with the other expected Biden appointments to the Fed’s board. A majority vote of the Senate, where Democrats exercise narrow control, is required to confirm Brainard to the vice chair position. Brainard’s prepared remarks stuck close to the monetary policy script used by Powell at his hearing on Tuesday, when he said the Fed will act as needed with higher interest rates and other measures to be sure inflation returns from its current high level to the 2% target. NN: you can forget about the recovery Omicron has shot that illusion in the ass. And as far as inflation the Fed should have started slowing down the speeding locomotive of inflation 2 years ago. Talk about being behind the 8 ball. They have seriously fucked thing up royally. Their is no solution but a sever recession. Including a junk bond wipe out, Real estate crash and a stock market melt down… Other then that everything will be ok except for the mutation infecting everyone in sight and the death rate starting to soar!!!

January 13, 2022 6:15 am

Empty shelves in some U.S. grocers as supply chain woes continue

Empty shelves have returned at supermarkets as grocery employees call out sick and truckloads of food arrive late. That’s one of the latest outcomes of the omicron variant, which is straining the workforce. Investors are seeing the pressure and bracing for a longer period of high costs for labor, transportation and food. Shares of major grocers including Albertsons, Kroger and Walmart fell Tuesday. Albertsons shares fell 9.75% to $28.79 at market close, after the company detailed the supply chain challenges and inflated costs it’s seeing on its earnings call. The dive in its stock occurred even though the grocer raised its fiscal 2021 forecast. Shares of Kroger fell about 3%, while Walmart shed less than 1%. Covid cases and hospitalizations have hit records in the U.S., as the highly contagious variant spreads. The country reported about 1.5 million new cases on Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations have surpassed last winter’s peak, with 144,441 Americans hospitalized with the virus as of Sunday, according to data tracked by the Department of Health and Human Services. Grocery store workers are feeling the effects of omicron, Since early December more and more employees have had to take off from work because of getting Covid or having close contact with someone who is sick. Fewer pallets are arriving from Safeway’s warehouses and there are not enough grocery workers to help unload them, she said. In the dairy department, there are gaping holes where there used to be cream cheese and yogurts. Fresh bagels and loaves of bread are missing in the bakery aisle. And in the produce department, potatoes are running low. In other aisles there are signs of strain, too, such as a shelf filled with cans of clam chowder soup because other varieties, like minestrone and pea soup, did not arrive. Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said on a call that the grocer has had low inventory or missing items in some categories for several months. He said the latest spike in Covid cases is prolonging some of those out-of-stocks “We were expecting that supply issues to get more resolved as we go into this period right now,” he said on the call. “Omicron has put a bit of a dent on that. So there are more supply challenges and we would expect more supply challenges over the next four weeks to six weeks.” The new coronavirus variant is exacerbating worker shortages across industries, from restaurants and retailers to airlines. Company leaders are being forced to make tough decisions, such as slashing service hours, canceling flights and closing stores. That has started to show up in the sales numbers, too. Lululemon is among the retailers that have warned that fourth-quarter earnings and revenue would be on the low end of estimates as it feels the effects of having reduced hours and limited staff. For grocers, though, the challenge may be felt more because it is low-margin business where companies often have less room to raise employee wages, pay for overtime or pass on higher costs to customers. Some shoppers have less money to spend, too. The child tax credit, which gave families monthly payments, ended in December. On Tuesday, Albertsons leaders said that costs have risen on ingredients, packaging, transportation and labor. They said the grocer has passed through some of that inflation, but has tried to hold the line on prices of essential items that customers buy frequently. NN: Of course none of this is a surprise. Since August we urged you to hunker down and stock up. So we are sitting in the catbird seat watching the masses go crazy. Infections are running out of control and hospitalizations are at record highs. The hell of this is if they had shut it down all this pain and suffering did not have to happen.

January 12, 2022 12:45 pm

WTI surges to two-month highs in mid-$82.00s

WTI has surged into the mid-$82.00s and is trading at more than two-month highs as the dollar falls post-CPI.
Oil prices saw a positive reaction to the latest weekly US EIA inventory report which showed an eighth successive draw.

Oil prices hit more than two-month highs on Wednesday, buoyed as the US dollar weakened in wake of a broadly in line with expectations US inflation report. Front-month WTI futures recently hit the $82.50 mark, their highest level since 10 November and well above their levels prior to the initial news of the Omicron Covid-19 variant (in the $78.00 area). WTI has bounced more than $4.50 since its earlier weekly lows under $78.00 a rally of roughly 6.0%, with prices up a further $1.20 or 1.5% on Wednesday as the dollar crumbles. Oil bulls will now surely be eyeing a test of 2021 highs in the $85.00s area. Despite showing inflationary pressures hitting their highest in the US since 1982 with the headline Consumer Price Index up 7.0% YoY in December, traders have taken the data, which was broadly in line with expectations, as a green light to take profit on dollar long positions. The DXY now trades down nearly 0.5% on the day having cratered from above 95.50 towards the 95.00 level. A weaker dollar makes USD-denominated crude oil cheaper for purchase by international buyers, hence boosting its demand. The weakening of the US dollar has been one of the primary drivers of higher oil prices this week, with the DXY now down more than a percent from earlier weekly highs, though crude oil-specific factors are also being cited. Market participants remain bullish on the demand outlook for 2022 with the economic impact of Omicron seen as likely to be short-lived, which spurred the US EIA to upgrade its oil demand outlook for the year. The agency said on Tuesday that it now sees US demand rising 840K barrels per day (BDP) in 2022 versus its forecast last month of demand rising 700K. Meanwhile, OPEC+ output remains a supportive theme, with smaller producers (Libya and Nigeria) still struggling to keep up with recent output quota increases and talks between Western powers and Iran on a return to the JCPOA not making any progress. That suggests no return of large amounts of Iranian crude oil exports to global markets anytime soon. Some a fretting about the risks to demand in China/Asia as China maintains its zero Covid-19 stance even in the face of the much more transmissible Omicron variant, but lockdowns there, for now, remain localised. Finally, WTI saw a modest boost from the recently released weekly US EIA crude oil inventory report. The report showed a draw in crude oil stocks of roughly 4.5M barrels, much larger than the expected 1.9M barrels, despite Tuesday’s private inventory report pointing to a smaller than expected draw of roughly 1M barrels. However, Distillate stocks rose by roughly 2.5M barrels, more than the 1.75M barrels expected, and gasoline stocks saw a massive near 8M barrel rise, well above expectations for a 2.4M build. Nonetheless, the bullish headline number stole the focus, with headline crude oil stocks having now drawn for eight successive weeks.

January 12, 2022 12:24 pm

U.S. COVID hospitalizations up about 33%, deaths up about 40% over past week -CDC chief

As the Omicron variant continues to sweep across the U.S., especially in the Northeast, unvaccinated people of all ages are at increased risk — including children. The U.S. is averaging 260 pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations a day, up nearly 30% from last week. Health officials say pediatric hospitalizations in New York City rose nearly five-fold from the start of December. Almost all of those children were unvaccinated. “We need to get child vaccinations up. We need to get them higher than they are, particularly in the 5- to 11-year-old age group,” said Mary T. Bassett, the acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. In New York state, roughly 27% of 5- to 11-year-olds are vaccinated. Nationwide, that number falls to about 23%. “The vaccine is so much safer than getting the virus itself,” New York Presbyterian chief pediatrician Dr. Sallie Permar told CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver. “And so giving your child the vaccine keeps them safer than letting them get infected with this virus without any immunity from a vaccine.” While hospitals typically see a rise in pediatric admissions this time of year, Permar says parents should take Omicron seriously. The symptoms are “serious enough to be admitted to the hospital, which again is an indication that this is not just a disease of adults,” she said. Asked what schools should do about the spike in cases among kids, Permar said, “I think we know so much more about how to keep our children safe, and we also learned how devastating it is to keep children out of school, so I think we should use all the tools we have. Implement vaccination for all the school kids, also use testing, also use masks and our typical hand-washing and social distancing to keep kids in school. Even with this rise in cases.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Monday she plans to urge all school superintendents to keep their classrooms open. She says she’s prepared to send whatever additional resources they need so in-person learning is not interrupted. NN: As predicted. Omicron is not a puppy dog… but a Monster

January 12, 2022 10:33 am

U.S. oil producers ramp up fracking in sign of stronger output gains

Jan 12 (Reuters) – As oil prices have surged past $80 a barrel, U.S oil and gas producers are paving the way for faster production by expanding new well completions in the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico, the country’s top shale oil field, according to research data. The number of pressure pumping units at work in the Permian rose 5% in December, over the previous month, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co said. Pressure pumping is one of the last steps required to complete a well. The Permian will account for vast majority of this year’s projected boost in U.S. output of up to 900,000 barrels per day. Output fell last year to about 11.18 million bpd on storm-related cutbacks and as demand collapsed during the pandemic, according to government data. Rising shale flows come as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies have struggled in recent months to meet targets for higher production. Unrest in Kazakhstan and Libya have raised supply concerns, sending U.S. oil prices to more than $81 per barrel, from $53 a year ago. Pressure pumping units, also called frac spreads, use water, sand and chemicals to break up shale rock and release trapped oil and gas. Oil companies have slashed a backlog of drilled-but-uncompleted wells and the rise in frac spreads indicates faster activity. “Contrary to typical seasonal norms, U.S. frac spread count posted healthy month on month improvement during the month of December, driven near entirely by continued strength in the Permian,” TPH analyst Taylor Zurcher wrote in a note. NexTier Oilfield Solutions NEX.N, the third largest pressure pumper, last week forecast higher than projected fourth quarter sales and earnings, telling investors demand was pushing equipment utilization rates in excess of 90%. Phones at rival ProPetro Holding Corp PUMP.N last month were “ringing off the hook” from producers, Sankey Research oil analyst Paul Sankey said in a note. Bank of America analysts this week forecast global spending on drilling and completion will rise 22%, the strongest year-over-year gain since 2006. NN: The oil yoyo. They cut production prices soar and then over supply hits the market and prices come right back down again. Everyone and their dog is increasing production. I expect $90 to $100 oil then another crash to under #50 and once again we will get another nice pay day…….. I can’t wait……

January 12, 2022 10:13 amJanuary 12, 2022 10:15 am

US inflation at 7.0% in December, 39-year high

The U.S. Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most widely used gauge for tracking inflation, rose to an annual clip of 7.0%, hitting predictions made by economists. This marks the highest increase since June 1982, beating last month’s 6.8%. The core CPI, which excludes more volatile energy and food prices, accelerated to 0.6% month-over-month, exceeding economists’ forecasts. In November that rate was 0.5%.Bitcoin was changing hands at $43,741, up about 1% in the minutes since the report was released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday. Rising interest rates could make fixed-income assets like bonds more attractive, reducing the appeal of riskier bets on things like stocks and cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell appeared before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee for a confirmation hearing over his renomination by President Biden. Powell said that inflation remains well above the Fed’s target, which “is telling us that the economy no longer needs or wants the very highly accommodate policies that we’ve had in place.”

He added that the Fed might raise interest if inflation persists at high levels and longer than expected. Powell’s hints at increased interest rates in December were followed by a steady decline in bitcoin’s price, now around $43,000, according to CoinDesk data.

“The Fed sees inflation lasting till mid-2022 and that is probably when they will let the balance sheet decline,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at The Americas OANDA said. “The path of inflation may drive quicker rate hikes and a sooner start to shrinking the balance sheet, equities will likely feel a lot of pain.” NN: I cannot begin to describe the coastal fuck up by the fed. Their will be hell to pay. The biggest rescission is on the horizon and it may turn into a full blow depression…

January 12, 2022 8:53 am

Time to buy: Retail investors swoop in when stocks falter

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. retail investors have been dip-buyers so far in 2022, snapping up equities that funds have shed from their portfolios in light of a more hawkish Federal Reserve, but with a focus on quality stocks as opposed to speculative names. Growth and technology stocks, which typically generate lower returns in higher-interest rate environments, have had a rocky start to the year as big investors respond to expectations the Fed will raise interest rates as many as four times in 2022, driving short-dated Treasury yields to nearly two-year highs. Still, weakness in stocks has been met with retail investors seeing opportunities to buy. On Monday, after falling almost 3% earlier in the day the technology-heavy Nasdaq recouped all its losses for the day in afternoon trading, and it gained again on Tuesday.

“Buy the dip has been successful for how many – 8 or 10 years now – and I think that people still see opportunities when they look around for potential investments and the U.S. stock market is still the best game in town,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at retail brokerage TD Ameritrade, which is owned by Charles Schwab Corp. Clients of TD Ameritrade returned to buying this month after having been net-sellers in December, with heavy selling in the final week of the year as the Omicron COVID-19 wave began to hit hard, said Kinahan. The busiest day this year for Apex Clearing, which processes trades for brokerages including SoFi Technologies Inc and Firsttrade, was Jan. 5, when the S&P 500 dropped around 2%, with a buy-to-sell ratio of 1.91, a spokesperson for the company said. The S&P experienced a similar drop the next day, and retail investors were again net-buyers, she said. Individual investors have been focusing on stocks such as Tesla Inc and Apple Inc, as well as tech-focused and leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while they have been net-sellers of stocks related to gaming, sports, and cannabis themes, said Giacomo Pierantoni, analyst at investment research firm Vanda. “Retail investors have continued to buy massively large-cap tech, providing a cushion, and ETFs, but they’ve stopped buying all the speculative assets,” such as cryptocurrencies and highly speculative stocks, he said. With risk appetite still low, some of the main picks in the past week for TD Ameritrade clients have been big tech stocks such as Apple and Microsoft Inc Corp, as well as blue-chips, including McDonald’s Corp, Walt Disney Co and AT&T Inc, Kinahan said.

Retail investors have become a bigger force in the markets in the past couple of years as retail brokerages have moved to commission-free trading and social media has made it easier for individuals, many working from home due to the pandemic, to coordinate on trading ideas. That can put them at odds with the patterns of institutional investors.

Bank of America Securities analysts said retail clients and hedge funds were buyers of U.S. equities last week, with around $500 million in net buys, as the S&P 500 fell 1.9%. The bank’s institutional clients, meanwhile, began the year with their biggest outflows since mid-January of 2021. That phenomenon was also seen on Monday when retail investors notched their third consecutive day of buying more than $1 billion in equities, according to a note from JPMorgan analysts. Monday’s net total of $1.07 billion in equities bought by retail was in the 93rd percentile of historical data, they said. That stands in contrast to institutional investors which have been net-sellers. NN: The stupid money is all in.. Soon it will be harvest time.

January 12, 2022 4:54 am

Wall Street closes higher after Powell testimony eases investors’ concerns

Jan 11 (Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes gained ground on Tuesday with Nasdaq leading the advance as investors were relieved that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress did not include any major surprises. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a congressional hearing that pointed to his likely confirmation for a second term in the job, said the U.S. central bank, was determined to ensure high inflation did not become “entrenched.” But he added that rather than diminishing job growth, the Fed’s tightening plans which include higher interest rates and a reduction in its asset holdings were necessary to maintain the economic expansion. After falling just 1% earlier in the day, the interest rate sensitive technology sector .SPLRCT bounced back and brought the broader indexes with it. Technology-laden Nasdaq closed up 1.4% marking its biggest daily gain so far this year. Powell’s comments likely reassured investors that the Fed was not going to prioritize inflation reduction above everything else, including employment, said Shawn Cruz, senior manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade in Chicago. “The initial concern was the Fed would upset the pace of the recovery,” said Cruz. But the investor takeaway from Tuesday’s testimony was that “he’s not just going to try and crush inflation” without regarding “the other effects that could have on the economy.” Investors had been selling stocks since Jan. 5 when December meeting minutes showed Fed officials discussing how “very tight” job market and unabated inflation might require interest rate hikes sooner than expected and a reduction of the Fed’s overall asset holdings as a second brake on the economy. While investors will anxiously watch inflation data due out on Wednesday, Cruz notes that they are already prepared for an elevated number with consensus forecasts for a 7% increase on a year-on-year basis for the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI). Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, is seen rising by 5.4%, according to economists polled by Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 183.15 points, or 0.51%, to 36,252.02, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 42.78 points, or 0.92%, to 4,713.07 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 210.62 points, or 1.41%, to 15,153.45. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, with growth-heavy sectors like technology, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and communications services .SPLRCL contributing most to the S&P’s gains. The biggest percentage gainer was energy .SPNY, which finished up 3.4%, as crude oil futures rose. OR The S&P snapped a five-day slump, while the Nasdaq .IXIC added to Monday’s tiny gain. It had started the week with an afternoon comeback that strategists attributed to an influx of retail investors hunting for bargains after an early session sell-off. Marko Kolanovic, chief global markets strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co, on Monday issued a research note calling the recent pull-back in riskier assets “arguably overdone” and calling it a buying opportunity. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.05-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.23-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 108 new lows. On U.S. exchanges 10.58 billion shares changed hands compared with the 10.55 billion average for the last 20 sessions. NN: a typical relief rally with the millennials buying on the dip…… again. As far as Powell he is spreading copious amounts of joy jell. He has no choice but to raise interest rates and get Fed Funds to 4% from zero where they are at now.

January 12, 2022 4:40 am

N. Korea says it launched hypersonic missile, Kim attended

North Korea says it has conducted another hypersonic missile test, under the watch of its leader Kim Jong-un. State media said the missile fired on Tuesday had successfully made a turn before hitting its target in the sea some 1,000km (621 miles) away.

It marks North Korea’s third reported test of a hypersonic missile, which can avoid detection for longer than ballistic missiles.

Mr Kim’s presence could indicate the technology has improved, say analysts. The latest ramp-up in testing would appear to support Mr Kim’s stated New Years goals, where he vowed to bolster North Korea’s defence capabilities. It came as six countries – including the US – issued a joint statement condemning last week’s apparent test. urging the North to cease its “destabilising actions” to the region. South Korea’s military initially downplayed the hypersonic missile claims but later said it demonstrated “improvement” from previous tests, said news site Yonhap. North Korea state outlet KCNA praised the test, saying the “superior manoeuvrability” of the missile had been “strikingly verified through the final test-fire”. Their report claimed the glide missile had made a 600 km (375 mile) “glide jump flight,” followed by 240 km of “corkscrew manoeuvring” before hitting its target. The closed-off nation first reported conducting a hypersonic missile test in September 2021. Hypersonic glide missiles are dangerous for several reasons. Unlike ballistic missiles, which travel in a largely predictable parabola, making them vulnerable to interception, hypersonic weapons can traverse laterally, close to the earth’s surface and hit a target in a much shorter flight time. In addition, hypersonic weapons can also achieve more than five times the speed of sound – or about 6,200km/h (3,850mph). All these features make them harder to track and intercept. According to the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, these hypersonic missiles are also worrying as they also leave nations guessing whether they are carrying a conventional high explosive warhead or a nuclear one. North Korea joins a small number of countries, including the United States and China, in attempting to develop hypersonic missiles.

Diagram showing arc of ICBM v hypersonic