Hillary Clinton Claims “Extreme Heat” Has Killed Half a Billion People. Hillary Clinton told the Cop28 conference that “extreme heat” has killed half a billion people, most of them women and girls, but failed to cite any actual source. “We’re seeing and beginning to pay attention and to count and record the deaths that are related to climate and by far the biggest killer is “extreme heat.” The two time failed presidential candidate went on to claim that “extreme heat” had killed 61,000 people in Europe last summer.
Covid's collateral cancer timebomb: Shock NHS figures show up to 70,000 patients have been 'missed' since start of pandemic. It means patients are likely to have a more advanced form of the disease by the time it is confirmed, slashing their survival chances and making it more expensive to treat. 'We're now facing a double blow of not diagnosing cancer patients and then leaving those lucky enough to receive a diagnosis on record waiting lists for life-saving treatment.
Millions of seniors struggle to afford housing — and it’s about to get a lot worse. A newly released report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies sounds a loud warning about what's ahead as the country ages rapidly, and how unprepared the U.S. is as boomers start to turn 80 within the next decade. Nearly a third of households headed by seniors are considered cost burdened, which means they pay more than 30% of their income for housing. Half of that group pays more than 50%. And as the boomers have aged, households in this group reached an all-time high of 11.2 million in 2021.
Foreign direct investment is exiting China, new data show. New Chinese data imply that foreign firms operating in China are not only declining to reinvest their earnings but—for the first time ever—they are large net sellers of their existing investments to Chinese companies and repatriating the funds. These outflows exceeded $100 billion in the first three quarters of 2023 and are likely to grow further based on trends to date. The investment selloffs are contributing to downward pressure on the value of the Chinese currency and, if sustained, will modestly reduce China’s potential growth.
Moody’s Cuts China Credit Outlook to Negative on Rising Debt. Moody’s lowered its outlook to negative from stable while retaining a long-term rating of A1 on the nation’s sovereign bonds, according to a statement. China’s usage of fiscal stimulus to support local governments and state-owned companies is posing downside risks to the nation’s economy, the grader said. The change in thinking comes as China’s deepening property rout triggers a shift toward fiscal stimulus, with the country ramping up its borrowing as a main measure to bolster its economy. That has raised concerns about the nation’s debt levels with Beijing on track for record bond issuance this year.
The $20 Trillion Carry Trade That Will Destroy Japan. It's only appropriate that on the day we are witnessing another earthquake in the Japanese yen, as momentum-chasers who were convinced USDJPY 160 was imminent are carted out head first after today's 400pips drop (on what is nothing but another round of fake news speculation that the BOJ will hike rates in its December meeting, spoiler alert: it won't), that we look at the bigger picture at how, while entertaining, these daily swings in the USDJPY are very much irrelevant because, well, Japan is doomed to either hyperinflation and currency collapse, or alternatively, market collapse and loss of social cohesion. Why? Well, as DB's chief FX strategist George Saravelos explains, when one strips away all the political BS, the government of Japan is engaged in one massive $20 trillion carry trade.
Nearly 5m households to face even higher mortgage costs, says Bank of England. Almost five million UK homeowners are still set to see their mortgage repayments jump by hundreds of pounds over the next three years, as rising interest rates have heightened risks in the global financial markets, the Bank of England has said. About half of mortgage holders have moved to a new fixed-rate deal since interest rates started rising in late 2021, amounting to more than five million households. But a further five million homeowners are still due to face higher borrowing costs by the end of 2026, the FPC said in its latest Financial Stability Report. The latest analysis also showed that the proportion of households’ incomes spent on mortgage payments is set to rise to 9% by the end of 2026, from 6.8% earlier this year.
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Heart Failure Among Pilots Up 1000% in 2022. New data from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) indicates a significant increase in heart issues among pilots, with heart failure spiking nearly 1,000% in 2022. In addition to serious cardiovascular issues, the Pentagon saw significant spikes in numerous ailments well beyond their five-year averages including hypertension (2,181%), neurological disorders (1,048%), multiple sclerosis (680%), Guillain-Barre syndrome (551%), breast cancer, (487%), female infertility (472%), pulmonary embolism (468%), migraines (452%), ovarian dysfunction (437%), testicular cancer (369%), and tachycardia (302%). Heart-related ailments have soared over the past 5 years as well including hypertension (36%), ischemic heart disease (69%), pulmonary heart disease (62%), heart failure (973%), cardiomyopathy (152%), and other non-specified heart diseases (63%).
Just How Bad Is the US Cost-of-Living Squeeze? We Did the Math. After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades — even as the pace of price increases has slowed. It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency. It’s hard to find an area of a household budget that’s been spared: Groceries are up 25% since January 2020. Same with electricity. Used-car prices have climbed 35%, auto insurance 33% and rents roughly 20%.
Say Goodbye To The Middle Class: Half Of All American Workers Made Less Than $40,847.18 Last Year. If you are wondering why so many Americans are stressed about their finances these days, just look at the numbers. In particular, we should all be deeply alarmed that the median wage earner brought home just $40,847.18 last year. That breaks down to about $3,400 a month, and that is before taxes. Needless to say, you cannot live a middle class lifestyle in America today on just $3,400 a month before taxes. So in most households more than one person must work, and in many cases more than one person is working multiple jobs.
Financial contagion warning as HSBC is told to brace for ‘catastrophic’ £6.3billion hit. Bob Lyddon fears losses in Hong Kong and China could "blow a hole in the bank's equity". He branded the situation a ‘disaster’ - and warned of a "financial contagion" risk which could have a knock-on effect on Britain’s economy. HSBC earlier this month confirmed it was setting aside £910million to cover expected loan losses, including £412million related to the commercial real estate sector in China - but Mr Lyddon said the actual picture was much worse. "Forty-two percent of HSBC's commercial property loans into China are either sub-standard or credit-impaired: £4.6billion out of £11billion. That's a disaster.
Britain’s growth outlook is ‘worst I’ve ever seen’, says Andrew Bailey. Bank of England’s forecasts indicate economy will barely grow over next two years. The Bank of England Governor raised concerns over the UK’s future prospects just days after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) slashed its predictions for growth over the next two years. In an interview with The Chronicle in Newcastle, Mr Bailey said: “If you look at what I call the potential growth rates of the economy, there’s no doubt it’s lower than it has been in much of my working life.
US Pending Home Sales Index Slumps To Record Low. After a small bounce last month - following the puke in August - pending home sales dropped 1.5% MoM in October (better than the 2.0% MoM decline expected). This left YoY sales down 6.6% (negative for the 23rd straight month).
Unrealized Losses at US Banks Exploded in Q3. Unrealized losses on securities held by US banks exploded by 22% in the third quarter. Of course, unrealized losses don’t really matter — until they do. This is yet more evidence that the financial crisis that kicked off last March continues to bubble under the surface. Unrealized losses, primarily on US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities rose by $126 billion in Q3 and now total $684 billion, according to the FDIC’s quarterly bank data release.
Nanoplastics Linked to Changes in Brain Proteins Associated With Parkinson's, Study Finds. Plastics are affecting our environment and possibly even our health in troubling ways – and the tiniest pieces have now been linked to changes in brain proteins associated with certain types of dementia, including Parkinson's disease. A team led by researchers from Duke University in the US looked at the relationship between nanoplastics broken down from polystyrene and the protein alpha-synuclein. A buildup of aberrant forms of this protein has previously been observed in the brains of people with Parkinson's.
The collapse in Treasury bonds now ranks among the worst market crashes in history. Since March 2020, Treasury bonds with maturities of 10 years or more have plummeted 46%, Bloomberg says. That's just under losses seen in the stock market when the dot-com bubble burst. The bond rout is worse than the one seen in 1981 when the 10-year yield neared 16%.
Where Have All the Foreign Buyers Gone for U.S. Treasury Debt? Overseas private investors and central banks now own about 30% of all outstanding U.S. government debt, down from roughly 43% a decade ago. Foreigners no longer have an insatiable appetite for U.S. government debt. That’s bad news for Washington. The U.S. Treasury market is in the midst of major supply and demand changes. The Federal Reserve is shedding its portfolio at a rate of about $60 billion a month. Overseas buyers who were once important sources of demand—China and Japan in particular—have become less reliable lately.
Sudden cardiac death affecting 12 young people every week – what is this ‘silent killer’? The charity Cardiac Risk in the Young estimates that every week, at least 12 people aged between 14 and 35 suffer sudden cardiac death – and 1 in 300 may carry the condition. A leading pathologist has told Channel 4 News they believe those figures are an under-estimate.
Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog. Adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s are driving the trend. Researchers point to long Covid as a major cause. Richard Deitz, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, analyzed the data and attributed much of the increase to long Covid. “These numbers don’t do this — they don’t just start suddenly increasing sharply like this,” he said.
Shoes Could Have Emerged as Much as 150,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests. Footprints without toe-marks on rocky South African beaches from the Middle Stone Age could indicate that somebody was wearing shoes. When did we start to wear shoes? The earliest direct evidence are sandals made from grasses in Europe and Oregon about 10,000 years ago. But analysis of certain fossil tracks has hinted that footwear may have been used tens of thousands of years ago – and now a study revisiting previously found tracks in South Africa may throw back the timeline of footwear to as much as 150,000 years ago.
Tesla solar panels were going to change the world. What happened? In 2016, Elon Musk stepped onstage to show us the home of the future. As well as a battery in its two-car garage, the future home had solar roof tiles in a choice of slate grey or Tuscan red. Seven years later, having won its lawsuit over the purchase of Solarcity, what was once a pillar of the Tesla strategy has been pushed further and further into the background. Not much is said any more about the status of the Solar Roof, nor Tesla’s solar efforts more generally. Neither “Solar” nor “Energy Generation” garnered a mention in the company’s Q3 2023 earnings call. To be fair, there are a few reasons why Tesla might want to offer a nuanced view of its once-vaunted solar business. Across the solar industry, the bloom is well and truly off the rose.
"Things Will Get Very Nasty, Very Fast". In the economy, if deflation now looms, things will still get very nasty, very fast given what it implies for employment and fiscal deficits; but if inflation lingers on that’s also the case, as we already see around us. In geopolitics, if regional war looms now, things will get very nasty, very fast, and so will inflation – Larry Fink and Jamie Dimon are both warning it would cause global recession, and that the present geopolitical moment looks as perilous as 1938; but if regional war is delayed, it could end up being even larger and nastier next time.
Credit card balances spiked in the third quarter to a $1.08 trillion record. Here’s how we got here. Credit card balances spiked by $154 billion year over year, notching the largest increase since 1999, the New York Fed found. Credit card delinquency rates also rose across the board, according to the New York Fed, but especially among millennials, or borrowers between the ages of 30 and 39, who are burdened by high levels of student loan debt.
US Debt Interest Bill Rockets Past a Cool $1 Trillion a Year. US Treasuries may face renewed selling pressure into the new year if one measure of the nation’s swelling debt repayment bill is any guide. Estimated annualized interest payments on the US government debt pile climbed past $1 trillion at the end of last month, Bloomberg analysis shows. That projected amount has doubled in the past 19 months from the equivalent figure forecast around the time.
Lloyd’s announces it will pay £52million in slavery reparations. Lloyd’s of London has announced it will pay a whopping £52million in equality initiatives as the world’s largest insurance market recognises the “significant role” it played in the transatlantic slave trade.
NYC Struggles With Post-COVID Recovery As Foot Traffic Falls 33%. First reported by the New York Post, the University of Toronto has published new recovery metrics showing foot traffic in crime-ridden NYC is down 33% compared with 2019, before the pandemic, indicating a souring economic recovery
Overdue commercial property loans hit 10-year high at US banks. Higher interest rates, an uncertain economy and remote work pile pressure on office space owners. The volume of past-due loans in which so-called non-owner occupiers have missed more than one payment jumped 30 per cent, or $4bn, to $17.7bn in the three months to the end of September, according to industry tracker BankRegData. The figure had risen by $10bn in a year.
DNA Shows Native Americans Have Origin in Western Eurasia. A recent DNA research on the bones of a boy who lived along the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia shows that one-third of his genome was that of Western Eurasians, prompting scientists to conclude that Native Americans share much of their genetic material with Middle Easterners and Europeans.