US Olympic Athletes have been told to leave their phones at home because Chinese hackers WILL gain access and spy on them.. I know China, "lies and denies" about those reports.. but .. should they? .. I mean.. shouldn't they be PROUD of that? .. "Hey, don't bother with extra security..we're gonna hack you one way or another.. we are THAT GOOD" .. Israel requires a fourth dose of vaccine to be "fully vaccinated" and they just released a statement that.. "That's not enough !!!" .. People are still getting Covid.. They say the 4th shot gives antibodies and protections against other variants but people are still getting Omicron... (Pssst.. let them.. you'll be at herd immunity soon) ... As Russia amasses troops on the border of Ukraine in "exercises" the world waits and holds their breath .. well.. Russia just evacuated their embassy in Ukraine.. Hmm.. I wonder what THAT means? .. (Psstt.. President Biden.. You see that? See what he is doing? Get EVERYONE OUT, FIRST !!!!) A British citizen held four hostage in a synagogue in Texas in an attempt to get a Pakistani terrorist freed from prison. Malik Akram was eventually killed by FBI and the hostages safely released. Akram's relatives in England said he was mentally unstable. Two friends of Akrams are in custody in England in relation to the attack .. and By the way, Mr Secretary of Education .. THESE are hate attacks.. THESE are "domestic terrorists" .. not soccer moms "fighting" for their children's safety and education.. and.. Incoming Virginia Attorney General, Jason Miyares was sworn in and immediately fired 30 "soft on crime" personnel and launched full investigations in the the Virginia Parole board and into the Loudoun County School district. Will sanity reign, again? Will this be a model for other broken, woke states? I dunno.. the new AG in NY City is a DISASTER.. Here's one to put in the memory banks. The security guards at the Smithsonian Institute are complaining LOUDLY that the place is "not safe". The "boss persons" are saying they have cut hours due to Covid and have enough guards to cover what's necessary. The Guards say, "BULL" ... The Smithsonian holds PRICELESS IRREPLACEABLE American artifacts and treasures.. If they don't address this, its gonna get looted.. or attacked by "activists" or something bad.. DON'T IGNORE THE GUARDS !!! .. and.. In Da Swamp: The Senate will waste their time today debating what they are calling a "Voting Rights Bill".. which is really a federal overreach and Unconstitutional Federal takeover of State's rights to control their own elections.. and it's a waste of time because they don't have the votes to pass it.. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is working remotely, the Pentagon has announced. One other member of the Joint Chiefs is positive, but the military did not say who. Doesn't matter who.. everyone is getting this.. EVERYONE .. Tuesday RIPs ... RIP to Sportswriter and fixture at golf tournaments, Tim Rosaforte, 66 after a bout with Alzheimers.. RIP to Ronnie Spector, 78 "Be My Baby" singer ... and RIP to Deon Lendore, 29. The Olympic bronze medalist died in a car crash.. RIP to rapper "Sad Frosty" , 24 .. and RIP to country singer Dallas Frazier, 82 .. SPORTS: PGA Tour: Sony Open: Hideki Matsuyama hits a 3-wood 277 yards to 3 feet for eagle to win the Sony Open in a playoff over Russ Henley. Henley could have won in regulation but missed a 10-footer. Tough loss but the $817,000 for second place doesn't stink !! .. NFL PLAYOFFS: Rams 34-11 over the Cards.. Bucs beat the Eagles 31-15 ..Bengals 26-19 over the Raiders and the Raiders fire their GM .. Bills 47-17 over the Pats.. 49ers beat the Cowboys 23-17 and the Chiefs 42-21 over the Steelers in what was likely Ben Roethlisberger's last game .. Get better Chrissy !! Tennis great Chris Everett announces she have ovarian cancer. Get Well, Chris ! .. Novax Djokovic WAS denied his visa in a second ruling and has been deported and will not play in the Australian Open.. and... Also, under current regulation Novax cannot play in the French Open. They require vaccination.. .. also.. so what.. he could just get a vaccine and avoid all this.. CELEBRIDIOTS: The Estate of Prince has finally been valued at $156.4 million after a long legal debate. Let me be the first to call, "BULLSH*T" .. I mean.. please.. Prince has a vault with hundreds if not thousands of works he never released. The list of artists that recorded stuff with him that was never released to the public is a MILE long.. I think a better range is $300-$500 million.. How do you like my Bangs .. HERE.. Look, Emily. I like your bangs.. and your long black hair.. and whatever you are wearing.. as long as its not your AWFUL bikini designs.. HERE.. Its like you're tying up loose newspapers to leave at the dump... You look better in NOTHING.. New Season of Ozarks Friday !!! From Seekingalpha.com 5G friction Do 5G signals affect aircraft equipment? The answer to that question is dividing the telecom and aviation industries, and many consumers are set to get stuck in the middle. At issue are altimeters, or devices that use radio frequencies to measure the distance between aircraft and the ground, and help planes land in bad weather. Aviation officials and the FAA worry that new cellular frequencies could endanger aircraft by throwing off the readings, while telecom-industry representatives say that is not the case, citing the stance of the FCC and other regulators around the world. What's happening? AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) are set to deploy their new 5G service on the C-band tomorrow after spending tens of billions of dollars on spectrum auctions (T-Mobile's (NASDAQ:TMUS) licenses only become available in late 2023). While the C-band auctions took place last October, tensions between the sides are coming to a head now because federal agencies did not act earlier to work through the disagreements. In fact, the drama has already delayed the latest 5G rollout twice, first by 30 days and then by two weeks, but this time around the release looks like it is actually happening. "Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded," the CEOs of American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Delta (NYSE:DAL), United (NASDAQ:UAL), FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and UPS (NYSE:UPS) warned in a letter - that referred to a "catastrophic" aviation crisis. "This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays. To be blunt, the nation's commerce will grind to a halt." Go deeper: AT&T and Verizon have already agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks, as well as other steps to cut potential interference for six months. However, airlines not only feel that the precautionary measures could be limiting, but would also render some aircraft types unusable, like Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787s, 777s and 737s. The battle comes as 5G cellular services are rolled out in several frequencies nationwide to keep the networks from becoming too congested. Volatility sticks around The rocky start to 2022 is continuing into earnings season as a jump in Treasury yields continues to unnerve investors. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed 6 basis points overnight to 1.83%, a level last seen two years ago, before the first U.S. COVID-19 case was recorded in Jan. 2020. Fears of tighter monetary policy (and the Fed's fight against inflation) have already dragged the S&P 500 and Nasdaq down 2.2% and 4.8%, respectively, in the first two weeks of the year, and futures linked to the indexes fell another 1.3% and 1.9% overnight. Analyst commentary: "It will be interesting to see if investors are tempted back in now that earnings season is underway," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. "The emergence of Omicron may mean that many companies don't enjoy the kind of performance that was expected before, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of positives to take away." Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 22.4% in the fourth quarter, according to data from Refinitiv, which would wrap up a record year where overall earnings soared around 49%. Meanwhile, 26 S&P 500 firms have already reported Q4 results, with 77% of them posting bottom-line results that beat analyst expectations. Reporting this week is Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), UnitedHealth (UNH), Procter & Gamble (PG), Netflix (NFLX) and Honeywell (HON). Outlook: More volatility could be in store based on real rates, or bond yields that have been adjusted for inflation. Those have been stuck in negative territory since the pandemic, meaning investors aren't expecting the upcoming moves from the Fed to make much of a dent on the current inflation landscape. The potential for a market repricing could weigh on sentiment, but that could also mean central bank policy could remain somewhat accommodative in the foreseeable future. Fourth dose The results are in for the Sheba Medical Center's landmark study of a fourth COVID-19 shot, which took place in Tel Aviv with the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE, BNTX) vaccine. While the trial was many times smaller than traditional studies (just 154 medical staff were given the extra booster in December), it is the only known study of the effects of a fourth dose. The findings are also preliminary and not yet published. Quote: "The vaccine, which was very effective against the previous strains, is less effective against the Omicron strain," said Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher in the experiment. "We see an increase in antibodies, higher than after the third dose. However, we see many infected with Omicron who received the fourth dose. Granted, a bit less than in the control group, but still a lot of infections. The bottom line is that the vaccine is excellent against the Alpha and Delta [variants], for Omicron it's not good enough." As a result, she is recommending a fourth shot be given to those at higher risk, but signaled that the current campaign, which offers the jab to anyone of 60, could be amended to only include even older groups. Regev-Yochay also noted that while the decision to give the fourth vaccine to the most vulnerable was the correct one, the results didn't support a rollout to the wider population. Snapshot: Israel was the fastest country to launch initial vaccinations against COVID-19 a year ago, and became one of the first to approve a COVID booster. In clearing a fourth shot, the nation hoped to keep the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant at bay, and avoid overwhelming the hospital system and shutting down businesses. As of Sunday night, over 500K Israelis out of a population of nearly 9.5M have been inoculated with a fourth dose. Trouble in China? Fresh data out of China has shown economic growth slowing to a 4% pace in the fourth quarter, from 4.9% Y/Y growth in the Q3, weighed down by property market crisis and new coronavirus outbreaks. While that exceeded economists' forecasts, it was short of the 6.5% growth recorded over the same period in 2020. "We must be aware that the external environment is more complicated and uncertain, and the domestic economy is under the triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shock and weakening expectations," the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. Policy action: Following the data, the People's Bank of China cut key interest rates for the first time since the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Specifically, the rate on its one-year policy loans was reduced by 10 bps to 2.85%, while the same amount was taken off the rate on its seven-day reverse repurchase agreements, which fell to 2.1%. The PBOC made the move while offering 700B yuan ($110B) via its medium-term lending facility - exceeding the 500B yuan coming due - while adding 100B yuan with seven-day reverse repos. The easing runs counter to the direction of the U.S., which expects quicker rate hikes due to rising inflation. However, China is dealing with other issues, particularly surrounding domestic demand, as it struggles to rebalance its economy. Retail sales growth slumped to 1.7% Y/Y in December and the country's "Zero Covid" policies are a big headwind to consumer spending. The trends also risk China turning to infrastructure and real estate spending to boost its economy, which are dealing with crises of their own. Commentary: "While the U.S. and some other economies were moving to gradually close the gap from the pre-pandemic path, China has fallen below [the] pre-pandemic potential path recently after a temporary above-trend growth," noted Tingting Ge, a greater China economist at JPMorgan Chase. "More stimulus measures [are] likely to be unveiled if domestic and external circumstances remain unfavorable," added Eswar Prasad, a former head of the IMF's China division. Today's Markets In Asia, Japan -0.3%. Hong Kong -0.4%. China +0.8%. India -0.9%. In Europe, at midday, London -0.7%. Paris -1.1%. Frankfurt -1.1%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.8%. S&P -1.3%. Nasdaq -1.9%. Crude +1% to $84.69. Gold -0.3% at $1810.80. Ten-year Treasury Yield +6 bps to 1.83% Today's Economic Calendar 8:30 Empire State Mfg Survey 10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index 4:00 PM Treasury International Capital Companies reporting earnings today » What else is happening... Unilever (NYSE:UL) sees investor backlash over $68B Glaxo (NYSE:GSK) unit bid. Goldman's chief commodity strategist sits down to discuss mega trends. Can Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) compete with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the car space? Walmart (NYSE:WMT) drawing up plans to enter metaverse, create a crypto. Crypto.com pauses withdrawals amid suspicious activity in some accounts. Dog-walking firm Wag in talks to go public through CHW Acquisition (CHWA). Biden emission reduction goals could triple reliance on electric grid. Will office demand rebound in 2022 after finishing 2021 on a strong note?
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing rajsearing@gmail.com "Raj Searing™”, "Read this First™", "@rajsearing™", "TheRantRoom™" and “TheRantroom.com™” are Trademarks of RRRAJ, LLC. All Rights Reserved-2003, 2008.
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