Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed http://implode-explode.com/ Tracking the many faces of the global credit implosion. en-us iehi-feed-65617 Mon, 20 Sep 2021 14:29:00 GMT Evergrande debt: Collapse could have domino effect on China properties http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2021-09-20_EvergrandedebtCollapsecouldhavedominoeffectonChinaproperties.html While the struggling developers are tiny individually, compared to Evergrande, they make up about 10%-15% of the total market on aggregate, Zeng said. She warned that a collapse could result in a "systemic" spillover to other parts of the economy.

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Some economists have warned that the collapse of Evergrande could become China's "Lehman moment" -- a reference to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, which triggered the 2008 global financial crisis.

However, Capital Economics senior global economist Simon MacAdam described that narrative as "wide of the mark."

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iehi-feed-65582 Fri, 19 Mar 2021 19:33:53 GMT Do rising used car prices mean inflation is coming? http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2021-03-19_Dorisingusedcarpricesmeaninflationiscoming.html Since the pandemic began, used cars and trucks have seen the fastest price growth of almost any category of consumer goods, according data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The only categories that rival them are major household appliances and "flowers, seeds and potted plants," both of which have seen prices rise more than 10 percent between February of 2020 and this January.

So far, the sharp increases in these pandemic-popular segments have been offset by even sharper declines in the cost of categories most affected by covid 19-related travel restrictions, such as international airfare (down 28 percent from February of last year to this January) and spectator sports (down 18 percent).

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Powell and other economists also say it's not useful to compare inflation dynamics of the past with today's. The economy has changed so much since the 1970s and 1980s, they say, with globalization, technology and other forces combining to slow price growth.

A more globalized economy made it harder for businesses to raise wages or prices, since competitors and consumers could easily find a cheaper place to make a good or deliver a service. More advanced technology only quickened that shift.

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For years now, inflation has fallen short of the Fed's 2 percent target, even as the unemployment rate ticked lower and lower after the Great Recession. That reality spurred the Fed to reevaluate the connection between a tight labor market and rising prices. Economists had long believed that, as the labor market tightened and employers raised wages to compete for scarce workers, prices would rise as businesses passed high labor costs onto consumers. But such a relationship largely failed to materialize during the most recent expansion -- the longest in U.S. history.

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iehi-feed-65181 Fri, 07 Feb 2020 14:28:05 GMT Lender moves to foreclose on site of NYC hotel linked to Adam Neumann, Mexican magnate http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2020-02-07_LendermovestoforecloseonsiteofNYChotellinkedtoAdamNeumannMexican.html East West Bank is moving to foreclose on the loans secured by the Selina Chelsea NYC property, citing a missed payment last monthly.

In a complaint filed in state court Monday, the bank said it issued two mortgages totaling $31 million in 2013, but the borrower -- a limited liability company led by Mexican hotel magnate Moises Micha -- is in default.

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Just last month, the owner of the Blakely Hotel on West 55th Street told staff he was shutting down his operation because of financial pressures, a move he said was symptomatic of wider problems across the industry

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iehi-feed-64900 Tue, 27 Aug 2019 18:46:57 GMT Iceland's Purple Planes Are Grounded, and With Them, Its Economy http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2019-08-27_IcelandsPurplePlanesAreGroundedandWithThemItsEconomy.html ... five months after WOW's purple jets ceased flying, Iceland is suffering a pronounced drop in tourists that threatens to push the country into recession.... The downturn completes a cycle not unfamiliar to the 350,000 people who live on this boom-and-bust-prone island. WOW cannily exploited the financial crisis, which made the country a more affordable tourist destination. Then WOW helped turn Iceland's glaciers and waterfalls into the backdrop for countless selfies, bringing millions of visitors and propelling economic growth. Finally, WOW disappeared, sending Iceland back to trouble.

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Mr. Mogensen aimed to turn Reykjavik into a major international air hub, exploiting its position near the top of the globe to transport passengers between North America, Europe and Asia, cutting the time of the traditional routes through London and Dubai. Iceland would be an enticing stopover, if not the final destination.

... now tourism is rolling backward, with the number of international visitors on track to drop by 16 percent this year compared with the year before, and numbers of Americans on pace to plunge by 20 percent.

The sudden shortage of Americans -- widely celebrated as a free-spending people -- is bemoaned by merchants of Viking-themed tourist tchotkes, by whale watching tour operators and by real estate agencies.

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Iceland's unemployment rate spiked to 4.7 percent in May, compared with 2.9 percent in January. At the Reykjavik unemployment office, those out of work are growing resigned to settling for less-desirable jobs.

"It's much harder now," said Ivars Rapa, 48, a Latvian immigrant who recently lost his job at a fish processing factory that furloughed its several hundred workers.

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iehi-feed-64893 Fri, 23 Aug 2019 22:02:01 GMT Tesla short says Elon Musk should resign over solar panel fires http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2019-08-23_TeslashortsaysElonMuskshouldresignoversolarpanelfires.html iehi-feed-64752 Fri, 31 May 2019 14:06:11 GMT Tariffs, Mr. Trump's Miracle Cure http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2019-05-31_TariffsMrTrumpsMiracleCure.html iehi-feed-64681 Mon, 15 Apr 2019 19:24:30 GMT German prosecutors charge former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn with fraud http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2019-04-15_GermanprosecutorschargeformerVolkswagenCEOMartinWinterkornwithfr.html Prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig said on Monday they were pressing criminal charges against former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn in connection with the carmaker's manipulation of diesel emissions testing.

Four other executives are being charged, the prosecutors office said in a statement, without giving their names.

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Prosecutors said Winterkorn was accused of a particularly serious case of fraud, breach of trust and breaching competition laws because he had not acted -- despite having a special responsibility to do so as the company's CEO -- after it became clear on May 25, 2014, that diesel engines had been manipulated.

He neglected to inform authorities in Europe and the United States as well as customers of the illegal software and he also did not prevent the continued installation of such software, the prosecutors said.

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In a related case, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Winterkorn last month, saying U.S. investors were informed too late about the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal, alleging a "massive fraud".

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iehi-feed-64373 Thu, 08 Nov 2018 21:25:25 GMT Volkswagen reportedly planning to sell electric Tesla rival for under $23k http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-11-08_VolkswagenreportedlyplanningtosellelectricTeslarivalforunder23k.html Volkswagen intends to sell electric cars for less than 20,000 euros ($22,836) and protect German jobs by converting three factories to make the Tesla rival, a source familiar with the plans said.

VW and other carmakers are struggling to adapt quickly enough to stringent rules introduced after the carmaker was found to have cheated diesel emissions tests, with its chief executive Herbert Diess warning last month that Germany's auto industry faces extinction.

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VW's strategy shift comes as cities start to ban diesel engine vehicles, forcing carmakers to think of new ways to safeguard 600,000 German industrial jobs, of which 436,000 are at car companies and their suppliers.

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iehi-feed-64355 Fri, 02 Nov 2018 22:49:12 GMT Trump administration to reinstate all Iran sanctions http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-11-02_TrumpadministrationtoreinstateallIransanctions.html iehi-feed-64326 Wed, 24 Oct 2018 21:08:11 GMT Tesla rides Model 3's popularity to its first profit in two years http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-10-24_TeslaridesModel3spopularitytoitsfirstprofitintwoyears.html In total, Tesla wound up delivering 56,065 Model 3s in North America in the third quarter, which is 225 more than it said when it announced initial delivery counts for the quarter in early October. The company also sounds ready to cash in on demand in other markets, with Musk and Ahuja saying Tesla will start taking orders in Europe and China for the Model 3 "before the end of this year." After finally turning a profit on the Model 3 earlier this year, Tesla now says it is now pulling in more than a 20 percent margin on the car.

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Despite the boost in production's effect on Tesla's bottom line, the company is still running into problems related to that explosion in scale. Tesla has had problems with customer service, with Musk recently admitting that the company has "major gaps" in its nationwide coverage. And while the company's cars consistently earn some of the highest safety ratings in the industry, its widely documented quality control issues continue to plague customers new and old. Before the earnings letter dropped on Wednesday, Consumer Reports said that Tesla ranked the third worst for reliability among major automakers.

Musk, despite his foibles, may have bamboozled investors into funding Tesla long enough to pull off viability... but will Tesla be able to grow into the market at hoped-for scale with the majors also now producing electric cars?

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iehi-feed-64325 Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:25:59 GMT Saudi PR Implosion Threatens Silicon Valley's "Funding Secured" Nonchalance http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-10-24_SaudiPRImplosionThreatensSiliconValleysFundingSecuredNonchalance.html Softbank's Vision Fund is the largest single private equity fund in the world, with about $100 billion in capital commitments, of which about half comes from Saudi Arabia... The Vision Fund, and more generally the Saudi money behind it, is a classic fin de siecle undertaking. It is The Greatest Fool in a private equity world that must find greater and greater fools for their investment funds to work here at the tail end of a very long and very profitable business cycle. The Vision Fund and its Saudi money isn't just a lucky break for both the financiers and the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. It is an answered prayer.

And here's the crazy thing ... the Khashoggi murder could blow this all up. Not just the WeWork deal. Not just the next mega-fund that SoftBank puts together. But this fund. The Vision Fund. And if the Vision Fund is no longer viable as a player in Silicon Valley, then I don't think the unicorn valuations are viable, either.

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iehi-feed-64240 Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:13:36 GMT Kavanaugh Is A Creature Of Dark-Money Backing | Wall St. On Parade http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-09-27_KavanaughIsACreatureOfDarkMoneyBackingWallStOnParade.html The Kavanaugh Nomination's Money Trail Leads Back to Clarence Thomas, from the same writers.]]> iehi-feed-64208 Fri, 14 Sep 2018 19:10:23 GMT Trader blows €100m hole in Nasdaq's Nordic power market http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-09-15_Traderblows100mholeinNasdaqsNordicpowermarket.html One of Norway's richest men has blown a hole of more than €100m in a stability fund that ensures the safety of derivatives-trading in European electricity markets.Coming in the same week as the 10th anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, the trading losses will focus attention on the robustness of standards promoted by policymakers globally after the financial crisis.Einar Aas, a private trader who has been among Norway's highest earners in recent years thanks to aggressive bets in European power markets, saw his positions collapse on Monday after extreme market moves in German and Nordic energy markets.Nasdaq, the principal trading exchange where futures contracts tied to physical energy markets in the Nordic region are transacted, said Mr Aas had defaulted on Tuesday after he was unable to meet margin calls at its clearing house on lossmaking trades.

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Nasdaq cut the entire trade on Wednesday and the exchange confirmed that the loss accounted for all of the exchange's own default fund of €7m and swallowed €107m, or two-thirds, of its €166m mutual default fund that clearing house members must contribute to.

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With Nasdaq and members of its clearing house repairing the damage, questions as to how a single trader could come close to wiping out the clearing house's layers of protection will merit the attention of regulators, including the European Central Bank.Members of the clearing house include some of the biggest banks and energy traders such as Morgan Stanley, UBS and Equinor, Norway's state oil company... .The catalyst for the trading loss was a series of backfiring bets on the price difference between German and Nordic power markets, according to multiple sources in the industry.

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iehi-feed-64104 Wed, 11 Jul 2018 21:08:33 GMT Billionaires Have Already Written-Off The Rest of the Human Race http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-07-11_BillionairesHaveAlreadyWrittenOffTheRestoftheHumanRace.html When the hedge funders asked me the best way to maintain authority over their security forces after "the event," I suggested that their best bet would be to treat those people really well, right now. They should be engaging with their security staffs as if they were members of their own family. And the more they can expand this ethos of inclusivity to the rest of their business practices, supply chain management, sustainability efforts, and wealth distribution, the less chance there will be of an "event" in the first place. All this technological wizardry could be applied toward less romantic but entirely more collective interests right now.

They were amused by my optimism, but they didn't really buy it. They were not interested in how to avoid a calamity; they're convinced we are too far gone. For all their wealth and power, they don't believe they can affect the future. They are simply accepting the darkest of all scenarios and then bringing whatever money and technology they can employ to insulate themselves -- especially if they can't get a seat on the rocket to Mars.

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iehi-feed-64084 Wed, 04 Jul 2018 18:47:23 GMT 4th of July Gas Prices are Set to be the Highest Since 2014 http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-07-04_4thofJulyGasPricesareSettobetheHighestSince2014.html iehi-feed-64034 Sun, 17 Jun 2018 18:30:57 GMT Venezuela Orders Government Services to Accept Any Cryptocurrency http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-06-17_VenezuelaOrdersGovernmentServicestoAcceptAnyCryptocurrency.html iehi-feed-63985 Sat, 02 Jun 2018 11:50:40 GMT Trump May Have Brokered Massive, Sanctions-Violating Oil Deal In Russian Quid-Pro-Quo http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-06-02_TrumpMayHaveBrokeredMassiveSanctionsViolatingOilDealInRussianQui.html Evidence strongly indicates that President Donald J. Trump and his campaign associates brokered a massive oil privatization deal, where his Organization facilitated a global financial transaction to sell Russian Oil stock to its Syrian War adversary, the Emirate of Qatar... The end result allowed Russia to trade stolen emails to help to Donald Trump's election campaign (as well as that of many Republican Congressmen), in exchange for help circumventing American sanctions to transact the sale of Rosneft, which Putin desperately needed to finance his budget deficit.

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Carter Page met with Rosneft in December to assist with the deal, and he's on the record admitting it but claims he didn't meet Igor Sechin," said Dworkin incredulously... mighty brokerage fee to one of the Trump campaign advisors, Moscow-based investment banker Carter Page, is highlighted in the former MI-6 operative's report.

Theoretically, the former Merrill Lynch investment banker, Page, may have only been the "bag man" or go-between and someone else is the recipient of the cash premium in the dossier. Five hundred million dollars is a lot of money, and conceivably, many members of the Trump Organization, or family, could be involved in a deal of that scope.

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Nineteen and a half percent of Rosneft's stock was agreed to be transferred on December 7th, before the board was informed of the transaction's terms only after it took place.

The "matryoshka" (named after the famous nesting dolls) or complex deal structure is most likely designed to avoid American sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion against Rosneft, its CEO Igor Sechin, and its parent company Gazprom.

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iehi-feed-63977 Tue, 29 May 2018 16:06:04 GMT U.S. Futures Fall as Italy's Political Turmoil Hits Markets http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-05-29_USFuturesFallasItalysPoliticalTurmoilHitsMarkets.html U.S. equity futures tumbled, following global shares lower, as Italy's political turmoil deepened. U.S. 10-year Treasuries and the dollar advanced as the euro touched its lowest level since July. Oil extended losses after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are mulling a boost to production later this year.

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"There was a lot of complacency in the market recently, so this is a brutal wake-up call for investors who had forgotten about political risks in Europe and especially in Italy... The risk is that the populist parties gain ground in the next Italian election, which would be really bad news for the euro zone. Clearly, investors are moving to the sidelines for now."

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iehi-feed-63866 Sun, 15 Apr 2018 13:56:35 GMT World May Hit 2 Degrees of Warming in 10-15 Years Thanks to Fracking, Says Cornell Scientist http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-04-15_WorldMayHit2DegreesofWarmingin1015YearsThankstoFrackingSaysCorne.html The most recent climate data suggests that the world is on track to cross the two degrees of warming threshold set in the Paris accord in just 10 to 15 years, says Ingraffea in a 13-minute lecture titled "Shale Gas: The Technological Gamble That Should Not Have Been Taken," which was posted online on April 4.

That's if American energy policy follows the track predicted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which expects 1 million natural gas wells will be producing gas in the U.S. in 2050, up from roughly 100,000 today.

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"Whereas the worst-case scenario brought us to 1.5 degrees Centigrade in 2040," he adds, "we're almost there today." ... It's an alarming message -- even though the shale rush has stumbled somewhat as gas prices collapsed and many drillers went bankrupt, the cumulative impact of American fracking appears to have set the entire world on a collision course with climate change's most extreme effects.

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iehi-feed-63852 Wed, 11 Apr 2018 21:54:48 GMT Venezuela in apparent "Stealth Default"; stopped bond payments in September http://implode-explode.com/viewnews/2018-04-11_VenezuelainapparentStealthDefaultstoppedbondpaymentsinSeptember.html Venezuela stopped paying bondholders in September, according to central bank data, contradicting statements by President Nicolás Maduro that the country would continue to honour its debts while negotiating a resettlement with its creditors.The data show that regular foreign debt payments of hundreds of millions of dollars a month, in line with the country's sovereign obligations, fell to a few tens of millions from last October for fees and the legacy of a 1980s-era restructuring."This proves that Venezuela is deliberately hoodwinking bondholders and engaging in a stealth default," said Russ Dallen of boutique bank Caracas Capital, who follows Venezuelan debt closely.The data were posted in an Excel file as part of a recent revamp of the central bank's website and include monthly expenditures in US dollars on public foreign debt payments going back to 1996. Previously, data on foreign debt payments were published in the form of a ratio that revealed little information, Mr Dallen said. "This must have been posted by an intern," he added.

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The central bank data, which cover payments of sovereign debt only and exclude obligations by PDVSA and other state entities, show that just $83m was paid in October, compared with sovereign obligations amounting to $465m, according to data from Caracas Capital.Payments in November fell to $28m, compared with obligations of $183m, and in December declined to $23m, compared with obligations of $242m.

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"They have been doing it [defaulting] strategically to sow confusion. They have said they have begun the process of paying things they clearly did not pay, and blamed it all on sanctions."The US has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Venezuelan individuals and institutions. Adding to pressures last August, it also banned any involvement in new bonds or shares issued by the government or PDVSA. Last month it prohibited involvement in the country's proposed digital currency, the petro, as well

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