Member Info for nomlungu

I have had to reduce the oats in my gruel and add in bran nicked from my neighbours chickens.

Maybe some black tea as well if I can find a few used bags...

Gruel for breakfast tomorrow

Dow futures fall 1,500 points Sunday as Trump tariff market rout escalates: Live updates

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/06/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

5 Live - on Stephen Nolan show, he stated that Zuckerberg and Bezos [and others?] off to Mar-a-Lago to talk tariffs with Trump. Will there be some appeasement before markets open?

'The Chinese stock market, including major exchanges like the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), has been closed from Friday, April 4, 2025, through Sunday, April 6, 2025, in observance of the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day), a national holiday in China.'

So expect a delayed rout in China as they reflect Friday's carnage; it should not create contagion but will add to a sense of doom and panic.

Big Wall Street trading desks will be staffed for tonight’s futures open, preparing for 'intense' selling — Fox Business reporter

https://x.com/NewsWire_US/status/1908961611760497091

#grey_monday

Blue,

Tidal power is a grift... the Private Eye has been going on about it for years. Promises of unlimited power and jobs to poor areas, and then they whisper that they need even bigger subsidies than nuclear and some funding to develop the science.

And agrivoltaics has many advantages and will have a place on British farms. A couple of links that might interest:

https://lightsourcebp.com/news/agrivoltaics-what-it-is-and-why-its-key-to-scaling-up-solar/

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/solar-technology-could-meet-uks-electricity-needs-without-sacrificing-farmland

Https://x.com/RealJakeBroe/status/1908703714380308574

Blue - what about the lowering of costs when the wind was blowing and there was enough electricity to displace other more expensive sources of power? The fossil fuel lobby never include those savings in the propaganda they get published in the media.

'Trump needs to sell more US debt on better terms, a recapitalisation if you like!'

Good luck with that... He is gutting the IRS, so evasion will go up [some estimates are around $500b a year]. He is pushing tax cuts that will cost another $500b a year just to reinstate his 2000 cuts, which are due to expire soon. His tariffs are going to tank corporate profits and associated taxes, and job cuts will cut those taxes.

Add in a devaluing $ and where will he find willing buyers for all that debt? Firing Powell will just undermine the $ even more...

Ratcliffe: Brexit-backing billionaire Jim Ratcliffe says leaving the EU ‘didn’t turn out as anticipated’

https://www.independent.co.uk/business/jim-ratcliffe-brexit-immigration-mistake-b2547596.html

28 minutes ago: "I think the difference between now and 1987 is that the circuit breakers could slow things down. Will write about this in my CNBC investing club Sunday think piece"

https://x.com/jimcramer/status/1908620453741994445

CNBC's Jim Cramer warns of a 1987 "Black Monday" style stock market crash on Monday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IX8yaxhgT0

I did say earlier that more margin calls could create another crash... But 22% on Monday?

Jenrick is just manoeuvring to replace Badalot... he will say anything if it will advance his cause with Farage's base. He used to be a Remainer...

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/conservatives/2024/10/robert-jenrick-shapeshifter-or-ideologue

Why America's Reputation Will Not Survive This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COrd6uSAh0g

#insightful

FT - 'Hedge funds hit with steepest margin calls since 2020 Covid crisis'

https://archive.is/HEuGt

a - does this mean even more turbulence as stocks are sold to meet more margin calls after Friday's rout?

b - helps explain why gold dropped on Friday despite being a safe harbour; holders needed cash to pay their brokers

I have recently received a tax refund in ZA after an enquiry that lasted nearly 5 years [bureaucracy!]. The Rand has weakened 5% against the £ over the last month whilst I have been waiting for approval from the South African Reserve Bank to send the money to the UK so I feel like Trump has picked my pocket.

Still, getting a refund instead of owing them a similar amount is not to be complained about.

Inside the Chinese Army: PLA Ground Forces Explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idaSfpD1pBI

Buying the dips? 'Retail traders keep buying the dip — and they keep getting burned'

https://www.businessinsider.com/retail-investors-buy-dip-trump-tariff-trade-war-tsla-nvidia-2025-4

And this is a good read: 'Wall Street thinks Trump's tariffs will eat Main Street alive'

https://www.natesilver.net/p/wall-street-thinks-trumps-tariffs

This snippet caught my eye: "I’d almost tweeted something similar earlier this week when I saw Starbucks was reintroducing free refills. How did it fare? SBUX stock was down 11.2 percent yesterday."