BlackMask Breaking News

(Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said he remains unconvinced that current high inflation readings will turn out to be permanent, pushing back against a growing number of his more hawkish colleagues publicly fretting about price pressures.

While recent inflation readings are “a cause for concern,” Powell told the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole economic symposium, they are more than likely to recede, and responding by tightening monetary policy would be a “harmful mistake.” The remarks appeared calibrated less to an argument against tapering the Fed’s asset purchases and more to make the case against raising interest rates soon after. Indeed, Powell chose the speech to acknowledge that, at least as of last month’s policy meeting, he supported the Fed’s reducing its $120 billion in monthly asset purchases this year, with inflation already meeting the bar to do so, and further progress on the employment front expected. But to raise rates the Fed has said the economy must meet a more stringent test, including not only maximum employment but also inflation that has reached and looks on track to exceed 2% for some time. “Time will tell whether we have reached 2% on a sustainable basis,” Powell said.

In the 12 months through July, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – the core PCE price index – rose 3.6% after a similar increase in June, data Friday showed; on a monthly basis, the gain was the smallest in five months.

Powell’s defense of his “temporary” view on inflation drew swift criticism from some quarters, with Harvard University’s Jason Furman saying that while it was an “excellent and coherent case,” Powell was “failing to take seriously any arguments on the other side.” Here’s Powell’s 5-point rundown on why he isn’t perturbed: Nick Note: the dumbest most idiotic statement ever made by a central banker is “inflation is not a problem” Before the fat lady sings he will deeply regret those words. And so will everyone buying into these bubble bond, real-estate and stock-market.

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs in a risk-on-rally on Friday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the U.S. central bank would remain patient in winding down stimulus. In prepared remarks for a speech to the Jackson Hole economic conference, Powell defended the view of “transitory” inflation and stopped short of signaling the timing for any reduction in the $120 billion asset purchases program beyond “this year.” “He successfully threaded the needle in communicating that tapering will likely begin this year, while reinforcing the notion that tapering does not mean tightening,” said Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth. “We believe that barring further setbacks from the Delta variant, that September will likely produce a blowout jobs number and set the table for the official tapering announcement at the September FOMC meeting.” Data earlier on Friday showed the Fed’s favored inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditure index, moderated in July. The index rose 3.6% in the 12 months through July, more than the central bank’s flexible 2% target. “With the growth in money supply, you have to anticipate that there are some long-term inflation problems. So any sectors that have the ability to raise prices, those are the sectors you want to stay in so that if we do get inflation in the long term, you have a natural hedge against that,” said Greg Swenson, founding partner of Brigg Macadam.”It’s pretty easy to say at this point in the United States to stay long cyclicals.” All the 11 major S&P sectors advanced, with energy shares jumping 3.1% to lead the gains, followed by materials and communication services. The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 2.7% to its highest level since July 13. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, fell 2.32 points to 16.52. U.S. stocks had fallen from all-time highs on Thursday on concerns over developments in Afghanistan. Still, the three major indexes were set for weekly gains, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq on pace to outperform the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.43-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.88-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 56 new 52-week highs and 1 new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 97 new highs and 28 new lows. Nick Note: Rock on…..This one hell of a party…. Wait for the hangover…..

The research, which used findings from more than 29 million people, found there is still a risk after having the jab – but it is “considerably higher” in someone who has the virus.

A coronavirus infection presents a much higher risk of developing a blood clot than a first dose of either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer jab, a study has found. The research used findings from more than 29 million people who were vaccinated with first doses of either jab. The study showed although there was an increased risk of having a blood clot after having the first doses of either vaccine, it was much greater in someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. The researchers are fully independent from the University of Oxford team that worked with AstraZeneca to develop that particular vaccine. Fears over blood clots have led to the restricted use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in a number of countries. The researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, found for short time intervals after the first does there are increased risks of some blood, or blood-vessel, related events leading to hospitalisation or death. However, they also wrote that that the risk of these adverse events is substantially higher and for a longer period of time, following infection from coronavirus. Nick Note: If you do not get vaccinated and try for natural immunity known as herd immunity you risk that you get infected. Even if you do not require hospitalization you risk long haul effects of the virus including reduced cognitive abilities, blood clots, stroker and heart attack to name a few. The older you are the higher the risk of permanent damage from a covid19 infection. I guess it gets down to how lucky are your feeling….. I believe in hedging my bet and have been vaccinated three times.

Aug 26 (Reuters) – The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 100,000 on Thursday, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence of COVID-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation’s health care system. U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past month. Over the past week, more than 500 people with COVID were admitted to hospitals each hour on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States reached its all-time peak for hospitalizations on Jan. 6 when there were 132,051 coronavirus-infected patients in hospital beds, according to a Reuters tally. As the vaccination campaign rapidly expanded in early 2021, hospitalizations fell and hit a 2021 low of 13,843 on June 28. However, COVID-19 admissions rose suddenly in July as the Delta variant became the dominant strain. The U.S. South is the epicenter of the latest outbreak but hospitalizations are rising nationwide.

The popularity of at-home COVID-19 testing kits has skyrocketed as the delta variant has spread, leaving many consumers scrambling to find them as retailers struggle to catch up with demand. Over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits are now the top-selling items in CVS stores, a spokeswoman said. Manufacturers of BinaxNOW Self Tests said demand for its products is increasing as cases rise and it’s working with retailers to keep store shelves stocked. “The phrase ‘flying off the shelves’ would probably be appropriate,” said Tim Halfin, regional pharmacy director for H-E-B’s Houston Division.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Struggling to find COVID tests in Houston? You’re not alone as delta variant rages, schools reopen

The home testing kits have grown in popularity with the concurrent rise in delta cases and the return of students to school this month, he said. Vaccination volumes at H-E-B’s Houston pharmacies have also returned to the peak volumes they reached in April. Supply throughout Houston has been spotty as demand for home test kits soars, but Halfin said H-E-B should be well-stocked for at least the next couple of weeks. “We placed what I’ve been told was a very large order of them,” he said. Leslie Santamaria, of Houston, had to do a bit of hunting to score her kit last week after learning she’d been exposed to COVID-19. She wanted immediate results — she is fully vaccinated, she said, but her young children are not. “I wanted to know ASAP to protect my under-12 children,” she said. The first pharmacy she went to was sold out of the kit she wanted, Santamaria said, so she searched CVS’ website for which stores had them in stock and found one on South Main. Walmart said it, too, is noticing and adjusting to an uptick in home test sales. “While we have seen increased demand for COVID testing kits, we are not experiencing major supply issues overall and if a particular store has low or no inventory,” it said in a statement, “we expect it is temporary as product moves through the supply chain.” Rapid tests at drive-thru operations by Walgreens and CVS are also getting harder to schedule as people scramble for tests. Testing slots are booked days in advance. Compounding the demand for testing in recent weeks was the rampant spread of colds and other viruses that had been suppressed as people wore masks and socially distanced earlier in the pandemic, said Steve Hoffart, owner of Magnolia Pharmacy in Magnolia. He said his customers are blowing through cough and cold medicines. “You would think it’s the fall,” he said, noting a run like this is abnormal for summer. “You don’t ever see this.” Hoffart said he received so many requests for home testing kits last week that he ordered his first batch, which arrived on shelves Monday. He said people are out and about more than they had been in a while and are catching all kinds of viruses en masse, are experiencing allergy symptoms and are wondering which is which. Immune systems got weaker during the pandemic as people masked up and limited their exposure to others, he said, urging use of Vitamin D to help give it a boost.

(Reuters) – The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 100,000 on Thursday, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence of COVID-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation’s health care system. U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past month. Over the past week, more than 500 people with COVID were admitted to hospitals each hour on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States reached its all-time peak for hospitalizations on Jan. 6 when there were 132,051 coronavirus-infected patients in hospital beds, according to a Reuters tally. As the vaccination campaign rapidly expanded in early 2021, hospitalizations fell and hit a 2021 low of 13,843 on June 28. However, COVID-19 admissions rose suddenly in July as the Delta variant became the dominant strain. The U.S. South is the epicenter of the latest outbreak but hospitalizations are rising nationwide. Florida has the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients, followed by Texas and California, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More than 95% of intensive care beds are currently occupied in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated U.S. population, has also sent a record number of children to hospital. There are currently over 2,000 confirmed and suspected pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to HHS. Three states – California, Florida and Texas – amount to about 32% of the total confirmed and suspected pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States. Children currently make up about 2.3% of the nation’s COVID-19 hospitalizations. Kids under 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine. The country is hoping for vaccine authorization for younger children by autumn with the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) vaccine.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said this week that the nation could get COVID-19 under control by early next year if vaccinations ramp up. The United States has given at least one dose of vaccine to about 61% of its population, according to the CDC. Nick Note: Dr Faucci of you do not need a face mask fame now wants you to know this will be over ha ha ha ha next year….. Do you really want to present you asshole to these guys so they can blow blue sky up you ass?

US forces helping to rescue Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule braced for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 85 people, including 13 US soldiers outside the gates of Kabul airport. Two blasts and gunfire rocked the area outside the airport on Thursday evening, witnesses said. Video shot by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies strewn around a canal on the edge of the airport. A health official and a Taliban official said the toll of Afghans killed had risen to 72, including 28 Taliban members. The US military said 13 of its service members were killed. Islamic State (Isis), an enemy of the Taliban as well as the West, said one of its suicide bombers targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army”. US officials also blamed the group and vowed retribution. General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said US commanders were on alert for more attacks by Islamic State, including possibly rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting the airport. “We’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” he said, adding that some intelligence was being shared with the Taliban and that he believed “some attacks have been thwarted by them.” US forces are racing to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by an August 31st deadline set by President Joe Biden, who says the United States had long ago achieved its original rationale for invading the country in 2001: to root out al Qaeda militants and prevent a repeat of the September 11th attacks on the United States. Mr Biden said he had ordered the Pentagon to plan how to strike Isis-K, the Islamic State affiliate that claimed responsibility. “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Mr Biden said during televised comments from the White House. Video taken in the aftermath of the attack showed corpses in a waste water canal by the airport fence, some being fished out and laid in heaps while wailing civilians searched for loved ones. “I saw bodies and body parts flying in the air like a tornado blowing plastic bags,” said one Afghan witness. “That little water flowing in the sewage canal had turned into blood.” Zubair, a 24 year-old civil engineer, said he was close to a suicide bomber who detonated explosives. “Men, women and children were screaming. I saw many injured people – men, women and children – being loaded into private vehicles and taken toward the hospitals,” he said. A US Central Command spokesperson said 18 soldiers wounded in the attack were “in the process of being aeromedically evacuated from Afghanistan on specially equipped C-17s with embarked surgical units”. A Taliban official lamented the number of Taliban members killed in the Isis attack. “We have lost more people than the Americans in the airport blast,” a Taliban official said, adding that the Taliban was “not responsible for the chaotic evacuation plan prepared by foreign nations”. A Nato country diplomat in Kabul said all foreign forces were aiming to remove their citizens and embassy employees by August 30th. The Taliban would tighten security around the airport, said the diplomat who declined to be identified. “Security is their responsibility,” the diplomat said, adding that the Taliban should investigate the Islamic State network. Western countries fear that the Taliban, which once sheltered Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, will allow Afghanistan to turn again into a haven for militants. The Taliban say they will not let the country be used by terrorists. Isis-K was initially confined to areas on the border with Pakistan but has established a second front in the north of the country. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point says Isis-K includes Pakistanis from other militant groups and Uzbek extremist  in addition to Afghans. The United States would press on with evacuations despite the threat of further attacks, Mr McKenzie said, noting that there were still about round 1,000 US citizens in Afghanistan. The pace of evacuation flights had accelerated on Friday and American passport holders had been allowed to enter the airport compound, said a Western security official stationed inside the airport. In the past 12 days, Western countries have rescued nearly 100,000 people. But they acknowledge that thousands will be left behind when the last US troops leave at the end of the month. Several Western countries said the mass airlift of civilians was coming to an end and announced their last remaining troops had left the country. The American casualties in Thursday’s attack were believed to be the most US troops killed in Afghanistan in a single incident since 30 personnel died when a helicopter was shot down in 2011. The US deaths were the first in action in Afghanistan in 18 months, a fact likely to be cited by critics who accuse Mr Biden of recklessly abandoning a stable and hard-won status quo by ordering an abrupt pullout. –Reuters Nick Note: The mightiest t military in the world cannot control an airport nor arrange the evacuation of its citizens… REALLY Joe?