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OPEC affects US gasoline prices – Granholm

Energy officials from the Byden administration blamed OPEC’s “cartel” for soaring US gasoline prices on Sunday and pressured the group to increase oil production ahead of a meeting later this week. “Of course, gas prices are based on the global oil market. That oil market is controlled by a cartel, which is Opec,” said US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “Therefore, the cartel has more say about what is happening.” Since Joe Biden entered the White House, US gasoline prices have risen almost 40%, raising concerns about inflation. The Federal Energy Information Agency has recently predicted that winter home heating costs will also skyrocket this year. Granholm’s Comments on NBC Meet the press President Biden followed a briefing from senior government officials over the weekend to raise a “short-term imbalance between supply and demand in the global energy market” at a G20 meeting involving Saudi Arabia’s Opec Lynchpin. “The important thing is that the world’s energy supply keeps up with the world’s energy demand,” officials said. “Global energy demand is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Global energy supply is not.” OPEC and Russia’s call for increased fossil fuel production in recent weeks have been well below pre-pandemic peaks with government efforts to lead the global fight against climate change. Troublesome tightening of regulations in the US oil sector. .. “Let me just say one thing,” Granholm said shortly before the start of the Glasgow Climate Summit. “The rise in these fuel prices for fossil fuels tells us why we need to double the diversification of fuel supplies to be clean.” The coronavirus pandemic eased the global economy and reburned more oil, hitting a high of over $ 80 a barrel in seven years, and international and US oil prices more than doubled in the past year. became.

Significant supply cuts by Opec producers and partners such as Russia have also helped boost oil prices, temporarily falling below zero during last year’s price collapse.

These significant supply cuts were agreed last year under pressure from former US President Donald Trump, who sought to restore oil prices to protect the country’s oil industry. Opec and its allies are gradually curtailing cuts, but not fast enough, but some consumers believe. World leaders will discuss Glasgow’s climate change next week, but Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil producers will meet on November 4 to decide whether to increase oil supplies to the global market. Sunday, Chinese authorities Presentation Release of some stored gasoline and diesel “in response to the need to maintain supply and price stability in some regions” as the domestic energy crisis worsens. Opec did not respond to the request for comment. Analysts, including Goldman Sachs, are on the global oil benchmark, boosted by an unexpected increase in demand in Asia as generators plagued by soaring natural gas prices switch to burning oil for electricity. One Brent expects to exceed $ 90 by the end of the year.

Granholm showed that the United States still sees the country’s release from strategic petroleum reserves as one of the “tools” that can be used to lower prices. interview With the Financial Times earlier this month. “I have the president make that decision and announce it,” Granholm said. US energy secretary blames Opec ‘cartel’ for high petrol prices  NN: OPEC is feeling the heat. And a symbolic strategic stockpile release of oil is just what the Doctor ordered…… In the mean time i hope and pray everyday for higher and higher oil prices so i can sell them some….. Sky high gasoline prices is one of the things that the voting masses understand….. and democrats do not want to face election with people pissed off about energy prices doing a moon shot. They will remember a cold winter where their heating oil prices and natural gas does a moon shot!

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Biden pushes G20 energy producing countries to boost production

ROME (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday urged major G20 energy producing countries with spare capacity to boost production to ensure a stronger global economic recovery as part of a broad effort to pressure OPEC and its partners to increase oil supply. With oil and gas prices surging, some energy-producing countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia have not boosted output enough to satisfy countries that are largely energy consumers and worry about energy shortages and inflation. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed those concerns in an interview with the Financial Times, urging the summit to push for better “visibility and stability on prices” to avoid undermining the post-pandemic global economic recovery. Rocketing natural gas prices, with the European benchmark up almost 600% this year, have been fuelled by low inventories and surging demand. A senior U.S. administration official said after the G20 session that energy consumer nations had started to discuss what they can do if OPEC and its partners do not do more. “We have to be able to talk privately with partners to think about what tools we have available to us to deal with this in the event that OPEC-plus doesn’t step up and increase production,” the official told reporters in Rome. Russia, a major natural gas supplier to Europe, and its energy giant Gazprom are being urged to do more to ease prices in the spot market. “It’s a delicate time in the global economy, and what’s important is that global energy supplies keep up with global energy demand,” another senior Biden administration official said before the meeting. “There are major energy producers that have spare capacity, and we’re encouraging them to use it to ensure a stronger, more sustainable recovery across the world.” That official said G20 leaders would not specifically target the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which includes Saudi Arabia, or set any targets for energy production. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not come to Rome for the summit. Comments from Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak earlier this month sparked fresh tensions over the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, which Washington has long opposed and which is now awaiting clearance from a German regulator. Novak said clearing the pipeline could help ease shortfalls, sparking concerns that Russia has failed to boost its production of gas – currently delivered via land-based pipelines – precisely to put pressure on Europe to approve Nord Stream 2. NN: Its really very simple. Oil prices have doubled, natural gas more then tripled. Do nothing…. market forces will ALWAYS PREVAIL. Free markets are an illusion. You do not need free markets for the markets to set price……. It will happen no matter what people do. Its a force greater then gravity,,,,,,

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France’s daily COVID-19 infections top 7,000 for first time since mid-Sept……. UK reports 41,278 new COVID cases, 166 deaths

PARIS (Reuters) – French health authorities reported 7,360 daily new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, the first time the tally has topped 7,000 since Sept 21. In another sign the virus is ramping up again, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases reached a more than one month high of 5,669. The cumulative total of new cases now stands at 7.16 million. Hospital cases – whose trend usually lags new case data by one to two weeks – were slightly down at 6,524 over 24 hours. But compared to last Saturday’s figure, the total is up by almost 200. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care rose by 5 in 24 hours to 1,039 and by 32 over a week. France also registered 22 new deaths from the epidemic, taking the total to 117,643.

UK reports 41,278 new COVID cases, 166 deaths

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Britain reported 41,278 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 166 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, official data showed. The figures compared to 43,467 new infections and 186 deaths reported on Friday.

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Biden says Russia must not manipulate natural gas flows for political purposes

https://youtu.be/kOI6GDrU3H8

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed efforts to keep Russia from manipulating natural gas flows with political aims in mind, the White House said on Saturday. Biden, who is in Rome for a meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 nations, underscored that it was important “to ensure that Russia cannot manipulate natural gas flows for harmful political purposes,” the White House said, adding that Biden and Merkel also discussed the situation in Afghanistan. Earlier on Saturday, data from a German pipeline operator showed Russian natural gas flows into Europe had come to a halt  in a part of the Yamal-Europe pipeline that brings gas into Germany via Poland. Russia sends gas to western Europe by several different routes, including the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which has an annual capacity of up to 33 billion cubic meters. Russia’s Gazprom said European customers’ natural gas requirements were being met on Saturday. Russian gas export flows are being closely watched at a time when gas prices in Europe are soaring as the global economy recovers from the pandemic while inventories remain low.

Gazprom has been accused by the International Energy Agency and some European lawmakers of not doing enough to increase its natural gas supplies to Europe.

The Russian company has said it has been meeting its contractual obligations. NN: Of course Russia is manipulating European gas supplies. They always have and always will. As we have often stated Europe is Russians Bitch………

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US wages see record gains…….Labor based inflation is always embedded

https://youtu.be/0kvBUW9EmuY

After years of wage stagnancy, employees in the USA are obtaining a huge raising, many thanks to near-record work openings. After years of wage stagnancy, employees in the USA are obtaining a huge raising many thanks to numerous work openings that are placing possible hires in their ideal setting in years to require a much better bargain from companies. The work price index, which determines incomes, incomes and also advantages, increased 1.3 percent in the 3 months finishing September, the United States Division of Labor stated on Friday. That is the most significant get on documents going back two decades. Over the previous one year, the index obtained 3.7 percent. Salaries and also incomes surged 1.5 percent in the 3rd quarter, greater than double the 0.7 gain in the 2nd quarter, while advantages additionally greater than increased from the previous quarter to 0.9 percent. All industries saw wage and also raise, highlighting the broad-based rigidity of the United States work market A documented 4.3 million Americans stopped their work in August– that is virtually 3 percent of all utilized employees in the United States– while the variety of work openings floated near a document 10.4 million. The variety of individuals strolling off the work and also the large variety of work openings have actually come to be an enhancing resource of issue for the country’s financial recuperation. Jobs are formally developed just when a person is employed, and also the economic climate included just 194,000 of them in September, noting the stingiest regular monthly gain this year. Companies– particularly smaller sized ones– are rushing to fill up placements. Some 51 percent of small company proprietors stated they had work openings they might not complete September, according to the National Federation of Independent Companies. With numerous work going asking, companies are progressively sweetening deals to possible hires with larger paycheques, authorizing perks, and also much better advantages. A study out today by work website Undoubtedly revealed that companies using greater incomes and also remote job alternatives are best placed to amass job-seeker rate of interest. The very same study additionally revealed work seekers have substantially much less rate of interest in work like child care and also storage facility job than they did right prior to the pandemic, and also much more rate of interest in civil design and also IT work. NN: WAGE BASED INFLATION IS PERMANENT INFLATION AND KICKS OFF THE INFLATION SPIRAL. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE YOUR PEOPLE A RAISE AND TAKE IT BACK. BY NATURE AS PEOPLE MAKE MORE THEY SPEND MORE AND SO THE CYCLE GOES

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China has another gift for you……Wuhan Virus cases and deaths surge again

CHINA

Wuhan Virus cases and deaths are surging for the first time in 2 months. 6 Million people are under lockdown in China, Russia has recorded its highest daily deaths, Tonga has recorded its first-ever case of the Wuhan Virus.

EUROPE

* The prevalence of COVID-19 cases in England hit its highest level since the start of the year, reaching around one in 50 people in the week ending Oct. 22, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said.

* Some businesses flouted the Russian capital’s new lockdown measures saying they needed to make ends meet amid a lack of state support, as nationwide deaths from COVID-19 hit a new record daily high blamed on slow vaccination adoption.

* Sweden’s response to the coronavirus was too slow and preparations to handle a pandemic were insufficient, a commission investigating the country’s response to COVID-19 said.

* Poland’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic passed 3 million, as the fourth wave of infections gathers pace.

AMERICAS

* Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect to deliver 50 million more doses of their vaccine to the U.S. government by April-end.

* The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it has recently ramped up proposed fines for travelers failing to wear masks at airports and in other transit modes.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Beijing city is demanding a vaccine booster shot for some key workers. A former vice mayor of a Chinese town on the border with Myanmar lamented local lockdowns and disruptions caused by repeated outbreaks and wrote a rare plea for a “strong” helping hand from the capital.

* Japan’s health ministry said it has decided to offer booster shots to anyone who has already received two vaccine doses, news agency Jiji reported.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Only five African countries will meet the target of fully vaccinating 40% of their populations unless the pace of inoculations accelerates across the continent, the World Health Organization said (WHO).

* The World Bank has approved a $360 million development policy financing loan to support Egypt’s post-pandemic recovery, the lender said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The WHO said it was seeking further data from Merck on its experimental new antiviral COVID-19 pill and hoped to issue guidance in coming weeks regarding its use for mild and moderate cases.

* The Delta variant can transmit easily from vaccinated people to their household contacts, a British study found, although contacts were less likely to get infected if they were vaccinated themselves.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global equities moved toward record highs on Thursday and U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors discounted weak U.S. economic growth data to retain their focus on strong corporate results and interest rate expectations amid rising inflation.[MKTS/GLOB]

* The U.S. economy grew at its slowest pace in more than a year in the third quarter as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases further stretched global supply chains, leading to shortages of goods like automobiles that slammed the brakes on consumer spending.

Reuters Reports
Bulgaria hits record high daily coronavirus cases, hospitals stretched

India reports 15,906 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours

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Nasdaq, S&P end the month at record highs

Wall Street fluctuated between gains and losses on Friday but ended with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at record highs. The Dow gained 89 points. The S&P 500 closed above 46-00 for the first time ever. The Nasdaq rose 50 points…. putting the finishing touches on making October the best month for the stock market all year. Elevated inflation readings continued to show up in corporate results and economic data. Consumer spending topped forecasts in September as the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of consumer inflation remained quite high. The personal consumption expenditures index, excluding food and energy, was up 3.6 percent in the year through September. It’s been stuck at that lofty level for four months straight. Nancy Davis, chief investment officer, at Quadratic Capital Management, believes the prolonged inflation spike is leading the bond market to price in several rate hikes from the Fed. “The rates market is having one of the most volatile weeks that I can remember in my career. We have over five full hikes being priced in before the end of two thousand twenty three. I personally think that’s a little aggressive, especially with the taper likely coming later this year and going into midterms next year with the US election cycle.” Stock investors, however, remained focused on earnings for the time being.

Exxon Mobil posted its strongest quarterly results in four years thanks to oil and gas prices that have more than doubled in the past year. Meanwhile, Chevron announced its highest profit in 8 years for the same reason. Shares of Chevon touched their highest since early 2020.

Not all the earnings news was as good. Starbucks posted disappointing same-store sales growth led by weakness in China. Shares of Starbucks were down more than 6 percent. But the stock of the day was Microsoft. It hit a record high, allowing it to knock down Apple as the world’s most valuable company on the stock market. Microsoft: up more than 2 percent for the day. NN: As I told you this is a time to stand asdie…. I want to short this market so bad i can taste it….. But now is not the time.Its getting close… Soon enough the FED will panic and shut her down. The engine that is driving the rally is Out of control stimulus and RUN away inflation…….

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U.S. FDA authorizes first COVID-19 shot for young kids

https://youtu.be/9c-0mEV6hQE

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the United States.

The shot will not be immediately available to the age group. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to advise on how the shot should be administered, which will be decided after a group of outside advisers discuss the plan on Tuesday.

Pfizer said it will begin shipping pediatric vials of the vaccine on Saturday to pharmacies, pediatricians’ offices and other places where the shots may be administered. The FDA decision is expected to make the vaccine available to 28 million American children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning. It comes after a panel of advisers to the regulator voted overwhelmingly to recommend the authorization on Tuesday. Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger. The FDA authorized a 10-microgram dose of Pfizer’s vaccine in young children, lower than the 30 micrograms in the original vaccine for those age 12 and older. Advisers on the FDA panel said a lower dose could help mitigate some of the rare side effects after paying close attention to the rate of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, that has been linked to both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, especially in young men. The regulator said on Friday that known and potential benefits of the Pfizer vaccine in individuals aged between 5 and 11 outweigh the risks. For the pediatric shots, the FDA has authorized a new version of the vaccine, which uses a new buffer and allows them to be stored in refrigerators for up to 10 weeks. In the United States, around 58% of the population is fully vaccinated, lagging other nations such as the UK and France. Many adults, who have been hesitant to get a vaccine, may be more cautious about giving the shot to their children. “We certainly hope that as people see children getting vaccinated, and being protected and being able to participate in activities without concern, that more people will get their kids vaccinated,” Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said at a press conference. “And as we accumulate more experience with the vaccine, more comfort with the safety will occur.” Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11. “This is a day so many parents, eager to protect their young children from this virus, have been waiting for,” Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in a statement The United States started administering the vaccine to teens between ages 12 and 17 in May. Vaccination coverage among the age group is lower than in older groups, according to the CDC. Pfizer’s vaccine was the first to be authorized for emergency use in the United States in December last year for those age 16 and older and was granted full U.S. approval in August. Earlier this week, Moderna reported interim data showing that its vaccine generated a strong immune response in children ages 6 to 11 years. It is awaiting a U.S. regulatory decision on the authorization for children between ages 12 and 17. NN: Its a shame the kiddie vaccine will not achieve wide distribution before the holidays……

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Bill Ackman to Fed… It’s time to taper immediately…and begin raising rates as soon as possible

Bill Ackman
Bill Ackman

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called Friday for the Federal Reserve to begin reining in the support it has provided for the U.S. economy during the coronavirus pandemic. In separate tweets, the head of Pershing Square Holdings, with $13.1 billion under management, said the central bank should start turning off the monetary juice right away. He teed up his position by saying he met last week with officials at the Fed’s New York branch, which houses the trading desk that carries out the wishes of officials regarding interest rates and the monthly asset purchase program.

“The bottom line: we think the Fed should taper immediately and begin raising rates as soon as possible,” he said.

“We are continuing to dance while the music is playing,” Ackman added, “and it is time to turn down the music and settle down.” The statements come just a few days before the Federal Open Market Committee is set to begin its two-day policy meeting Tuesday. For Ackman, insisting on the taper isn’t anything radical: Investors widely expect the FOMC on Wednesday to announce that it soon will start pulling back on its monthly asset purchase program in which the Fed is buying at least $120 billion of bonds. Markets are looking for monthly pullbacks of $10 billion in Treasurys and $5 billion in mortgage-backed securities, possibly starting in November and concluding in the summer of 2022. Calling for interest rate hikes is another matter. Fed officials have stressed that the initiation of tapering shouldn’t be construed as a path to rate hikes. The central bank has been holding its benchmark overnight borrowing rate near zero since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and most FOMC official Bill Ackman said the Federal Reserve should slow down the pace of its asset purchases to support the U.S. economy ahead of a key meeting next week of policy makers. “We think the Fed should taper immediately and begin raising rates as soon as possible,” the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management said in a series of tweets Friday. “We are continuing to dance while the music is playing, and it is time to turn down the music and settle down.” NN: Its really to late. Its going to take more then stomping on the brakes to shut this inflation wild storm down… like a 500 bases point increase in the Fed Funds rate. They need to do a lot, they need to do its fast and they need to do it now!

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Impossible to control COVID-19 transmissions – Russian expert

MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. The time frames surrounding coronavirus becoming a seasonal disease are impossible to predict, Deputy Director of the Russian Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Alexander Gorelov said on Friday. “It is impossible to set any clear <…> deadlines that we can fight this infection by this date and it becomes seasonal. The process is multifactorial. <…> From my point of view, it is impossible to say in a specific time frame that tomorrow or a day after tomorrow, or in the foreseeable future the infection will be seasonal,” he said at the Eurasian Economic Forum. Gorelov added that there is no antiviral treatment in the world that can regulate the infection process. “On the other hand, if there is a vaccine, only 10% of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus infection. Do not forget about the phenomenon of the virus transmission to a nonimmune organism. The changes most often occur in the non-immune organism, as well as all its mutations that humanity faces over and over again,” he said. Earlier, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, Anna Popova, said that the coronavirus would become a seasonal infection, like the flu. NN this is disturbing news. Especially when you consider what is happening in Northern Europe.