Note To Readers -- Notification Process Might Change -- August 1, 2021

The blogging platform that I use is "blogger app" owned by google. 

Some months ago I was notified that "blogger app" will no longer support some "subscriber notification" tool. I have no idea what this means, but possibly it means that folks who get notified that a  new blog has been posted will no longer be notified. I don't know. 

This will happen sometime in August, 2021, this month.

This is simply to let folks know that this will happen. I don't know what it means. The blog itself won't change, but apparently some e-mail notification application won't work after August. It's not your computer.

Who Saw This Coming? -- August 1, 2021

I've been traveling for a week or so. I haven't kept up with business news, but when I left more than a week ago, and still following the news, all the "experts" over at CNBC were suggesting that "Square" would be acquired by "someone."

Now this, what a shock! "Square" becomes the acquirer.

"Square" to buy Afterpay for $29 billion as "buy now, pay later" booms.

Link here. 

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It's A Spending Problem; Not A Revenue Problem

Link here to The WSJ:

After several weeks of encouraging premieres, Hollywood’s return to the box office has struggled with middling performances topping the charts.

The latest example: Walt Disney Co.’s “Jungle Cruise,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, which premiered to $34.2 million in the U.S. and Canada.

While it is a top performer in the pandemic era, the opening continues an uncomfortable reality for Hollywood as it struggles to emerge from Covid-19: Box-office performances that are good in a pandemic year are still going to have a tough path to profitability. For a movie like “Jungle Cruise,” which cost more than $200 million to make, that is certainly the case.

I see the same problem with EVs.  Cost of production is going to really cut into profits.

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Covid-19 Vaccination Rollout

Link here.

• delivered: 400,674,525
• administered: 346,456,669
• at least one dose: 191,498,983
• fully vaccinated: 164,757,423
  

Pork: Who Will Blink First? -- August 1, 2021

This was perhaps the most interesting non-energy story last week. 

2018: Californians overwhelmingly vote to ban pork if it did not come from "humane" sources, with the law to go into effect in "early" 2022.

Fast forward, 2021: Iowa pork producers are starting the campaign to keep this from happening. 

Link to story here. Two readers sent me the link. 

The headline: bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect.

My not-ready-for-prime-time reply to one of the readers:

This is fascinating.

This is a "who-blinks -irst" story: Iowa producers or California voters.

My hunch: if the Iowa producers hold firm, the Iowa producers will win.

In the big scheme of things I find it a non-story.

Question: why bacon only (see headline -- this tells me this is an Iowa-pork-producer generated story). It will affect all pork products? Why bacon only?

1. If bacon/pork goes away tomorrow, I can live on beef and chicken for the rest of my life. Oh, I forget, and lamb.

2. The Iowa producers knew this was coming from as far back as 2018. It's a "who blinks first" story. Fun to watch but I have no sympathy for either producers or consumers. The latter voted for this; the former were betting that voters would change their minds by 2022.

3. One pig source said they have 300 pigs, but under new rules could only have 250 pigs. If everyone is in the same boat, I think those with 250 pigs will figure it out.

4. For breakfast, instead of three strips of bacon, two strips: healthier lifestyle.

5. Great headline story but somehow I think folks will work this out. Great headline but once I step back, I just can't too excited.

I wrote about this in 2016, two years before the California vote. 

More at Schwa Nation.

 

Coal Demand Spiking In 2021 -- Source -- August 1, 2021

Link here to ZeroHedge via oilprice.

Amid all the talk of global warming, climate change-induced catastrophes, decarbonization and green finance, the global trade in “dirty” coal is enjoying an ironic renaissance. Bulk ships are busy transporting coal to Asia — and to eco-conscious Europe — boosting freight income for some of the very shipowners who publicly tout their environmental bona fides to investors.

“Turns out the news of the demise of coal has been greatly exaggerated,” said Stifel analyst Ben Nolan in a new client note. “Despite an unseemly carbon footprint, coal demand is actually accelerating this year.”

Coal is transported aboard larger bulkers known as Capesizes (ships with a capacity of around 180,000 deadweight tons, as well as on sub-Cape vessels such as Panamaxes (65,000-90,000 DWT) and Supramaxes (45,000-60,000 DWT). 

According to Clarksons Platou Securities, Capesize spot rates averaged $32,800 per day on Monday, with Panamaxes at $31,800 and Supramaxes at $31,600. It’s rare in dry bulk shipping for all three segments to simultaneously top $30,000, as they have for the past five weeks.

“Strong activity in the coal markets as well as robust minor bulk volumes remain the driving force of elevated rates across the different asset classes,” said Clarksons.

The Financial Times recently pointed out that coal commodity pricing is outpacing both real estate and financial stock returns this year. The price of high-grade Australian thermal coal (used for power generation) had risen to $151 per ton as of Friday, more than triple its price last September, according to Argus. The price of semi-soft Australian coking coal (or metallurgical coal, used for steel production) was $127 per ton, up almost 80% year to date.

“Year-to-date thermal coal exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast, where exports tend to be very price- and demand-sensitive, are up 194%,” said Nolan.

Much more at the link.

Lego T2 Camper Van -- August 1, 2021

Link here.