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Bracing Yourself for a Possible Near-Term Melt-Up

Published: 20:28 05 Jan 2018 AEDT

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Bracing Yourself for a Possible Near-Term Melt-Up
Thanks to a subscriber for this report by Jeremy Grantham which may be of interest. A section of this report is posted in the subscriber's area.

Eoin Treacy's view

A link to the full repoort is posted in the Subscriber's Area.  We do not yet have evidence of bubbly activity in the majority of assets, with bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies representing the most obvious exception.

 

Intel, Microsoft Deal With Widespread Computer-Chip Weakness
This article by Ian King for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

News of the weakness, found last year and reported Tuesday by The Register technology blog, weighed on shares of Intel, the biggest semiconductor maker, while boosting rivals including Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Intel’s silence for most of Wednesday added to investors’ unease.
Late in the day, Intel, Microsoft, Google and other tech bellwethers issued statements aimed at reassuring customers and shareholders. Intel said its chips weren’t the only ones affected and predicted no material effect on its business, while Microsoft, the largest software maker, said it released a security update to protect users of devices running Intel and other chips. Google, which said the issue affects Intel, AMD and ARM Holdings Plc chips, noted that it updated most of its systems and products with protections from attack. Amazon.com Inc., whose AWS is No. 1 in cloud computing, said most of its affected servers have already been secured.

Eoin Treacy's view
Every other month we have news of just how porous the devices we rely on for just about everything are to exposing our personal information. This is a significant challenge for the IT sector in all its forms. The argument for increasing reliance on the internet, cloud and Internet of Everything is completely dependent on security, lest the devices we employ be used against us. This represents a cost which both in terms of speed and convenience but potentially also money for consumers and represents a challenge for corporations to keep under control.

 

Supersonic. Hypersonic Is the U.S. Military's New Speed
This article by Justin Bachman for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

Boeing Co.’s XS-1 (Experimental Spaceplane), which the company dubs “Phantom Express,” got a green light this week by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa. The XS-1 is designed to quickly lift satellites as heavy as 3,000 pounds into orbit for $5 million or less, launching from the ground, deploying a small upper-stage module, and then landing like a traditional airplane—the key to reuse and lower operating expense. Darpa also has a separate program aimed at launching 100-pound satellites for less than $1 million per launch, using conventional aircraft.
“The XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a conventional launch vehicle but rather a combination of the two, with the goal of lowering launch costs by a factor of ten and replacing today’s frustratingly long wait time with launch on demand,” Jess Spoonable, a Darpa program manager, said in a May 24 statement.

Eoin Treacy's view
It has long occurred to me that the stealth bomber had its maiden flight in the late 1980s, but only entered service years later. Then I think about how different the original iPhone is from what I carry around.

 

Trump Administration Taking Step That Could Threaten Marijuana Legalization Movement
This article by Charlie Savage and Jack Healy for the New York Times may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

The Trump administration on Thursday will free federal prosecutors to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, most recently California.
The Justice Department is expected to rescind an Obama-era policy of discouraging federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that had legalized sales of the drug.
It was not immediately clear whether the administration intends to carry out a federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries, or is merely rattling its saber.
The Associated Press first reported the announcement, and a government official familiar with the matter confirmed that the change would be announced later on Thursday.

Eoin Treacy's view
This announcement acted as a catalyst for profit taking on cannabis related shares today as it introduces an additional risk to the market. Nevertheless, it also highlights the potential for a confrontation between the states and the Federal government about what is and is not permissible and who has sway over what can be consumed. Until the situation is resolved the potential for volatility is non-trivial.

 

 

 

Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

6 hours, 31 minutes ago