COMMUNISTS ORDER TECH FREE MARKET
China tells Alibaba, Tencent to open platforms up to each other - media

Sat, September 11, 2021,



China tells Alibaba, Tencent to open platforms up to each other - media

FILE PHOTO: China Internet Conference in Beijing

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's industry ministry has told technology companies including Alibaba Group Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd to stop blocking each other's website links from their platforms, the 21st Century Business Herald said Saturday.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed standards to companies on Friday for instant messaging services, telling them all platforms must be unblocked by a certain time.

The ministry said it may have to resort to other measures if the firms did not comply, the newspaper said.

The move is the latest in a regulatory crackdown spanning industries from tech to entertainment and gaming companies.

Companies that attended the meeting included Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, Baidu Inc, Huawei Technologies Co and Xiaomi Corp, the newspaper said. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China's internet is dominated by a handful of technology giants who have historically blocked links and services by rivals on their platforms, creating what analysts have described as "walled gardens".

Regulators in recent months have cracked down, accusing companies of building monopolies and restricting consumers' choices.

In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that Alibaba and Tencent were gradually considering opening up their services to each other, such as by introducing Tencent's WeChat Pay to Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall e-commerce marketplaces

EXCHANGE VALUE VS. USE VALUE

Spider-Man surpasses Batman and Superman as world’s most valuable comic
By Mike Hanlon
September 09, 2021

The comic containing the first appearance of a superhero is pure gold at auction and the price records prior to today have been all held by comics produced prior to WW2 – Superman in 1938 and Batman in 1939. Spider-Man came along at the time of the baby boomers in 1962, and hence today's new record represents a changing of the superhero guard.
Heritage Auctions / NewAtlas.com

The most valuable comic in the world has always been Action Comics #1 (the first appearance of Superman and the beginning of the entire superhero genre) … until a few hours ago when a copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man) sold for US$3,600,000 at Heritage Auctions. This is big news as it represents tectonic movement within the massive comic collecting industry.


The lynchpin of the entire Marvel superhero battalion, Spider-Man leapfrogged the world record by a fair margin, as the most expensive copy of Action Comics #1 sold for $3.25 million in April of this year (2021) in a private transaction brokered by online auction and consignment company, ComicConnect.com.

Action Comics #1 originally sold for 10 cents when it was released in 1938, and is highly sought-after because it was the first appearance of Superman. The comic is culturally significant because, beyond just Superman, the success of the comic's sales kickstarted the entire superhero genre. That first issue had a print run of 200,000 copies, though the frailty of paper and 83 years of attrition has whittled the number still in existence to around 100 copies.

Action Comics #1 became the first comic to sell for more than $1 million in February 2010 and has maintained the auction record price for a comic since it sold for $54,625 at Sotheby's annual auction of comic books and comic art in June 1994. On that day, a copy of Detective Comics No. 27, which introduced Batman in May 1939, brought $48,875, becoming the second-most-valuable comic in the world – a position it has maintained to this day … and a few hours ago.


Action Comics #1 set the most recent auction record price for a comic in 2014 at $3,207,852. Indeed, there are several different comics that have sold for more than $1 million, with Marvel Comics #1 (the first appearance of the Human Torch and the beginning of the Marvel franchise), Detective Comics #27 (the first appearance of Batman), Batman #1 (Batman's first stand-alone comic) and Amazing Fantasy #15 (first appearance of Spiderman) all having sold above that mark – and the record for Captain America #1 is $915,000 and it is generally regarded to be just a matter of time before that goes over the $1-million mark.

The finest-known copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 sold for $3.6 million on 9 September 2021 at Heritage Auctions during the third session of the Sept. 8-12 Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction. Graded CGC Near Mint+ 9.6, the 1962 Marvel comic is one of only four copies ever to receive such a high grade, and there is not a single known copy in better condition.
Heritage Auctions

Until today, the most expensive copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 to sell at auction was the CGC Near Mint 9.4-graded copy Heritage sold in March 2020. The issue sold for $795,000, though expectations were high for this auction because the it involved the finest-known copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15, one of only four copies ever to receive such a high grade. In March 2011, a copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 sold privately for $1.1 million.

Spiderman’s record-breaking day also included the sale of a CGC NM 9.4-graded copy of 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1, which sold for $264,000. That sale bests the previous world record for that book set in November 2016, when a CGC Near Mint+ 9.6 copy sold at Heritage Auctions for $262,900.

Heritage’s previous comic book record was set just last January, when the only known Batman No. 1 graded CGC Near Mint 9.4 sold for $2.22 million. That book shattered the previous $1.5-million world record set for a Batman title in November 2020, when Heritage sold a copy of 1939's Detective Comics 27 for $1.5 million. At the time, that was the highest price ever realized for any Batman comic book.

Previously, the title of most expensive comic book sold at Heritage belonged to the CGC 9.4 copy of Marvel Comics No. 1 that sold in November 2019 for $1.26 million.

SPIDER MAN NO WAY HOME Official Trailer #1 (NEW 2021) Tom Holland, Superhero Movie HD

That Amazing Fantasy No. 15 is now the world’s most expensive comic book should not surprise. The recently released trailer for the upcoming movie Spider-Man: No Way Home is the most-viewed video on YouTube over a 24-hour span.

SOCIALIST SWEDEN
Swedish IPO Frenzy Propels Stock Market Into Europe’s Big League

Charles Daly
Fri, September 10, 2021, 

2 / 2

Swedish IPO Frenzy Propels Stock Market Into Europe’s Big League


(Bloomberg) -- Sweden’s not only one of the best-performing equity markets in Europe this year. It’s also become the country that offers investors the most choice when it comes to picking stocks.

Sweden -- with a population of 10.2 million people -- now has almost 1,000 listed companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the most in the European Union, outstripping much bigger countries such as Germany and France. More than 80% of them are small caps, with market values of less than $1 billion.

The list is getting longer, with initial public offerings in the works from caller-ID app Truecaller and investment firm Storskogen Group AB, even as some investors start to question whether the market is in a bubble. Sweden is heading for its busiest year for IPOs in more than two decades.

The vibrant market for smaller companies reflects the Nordic nation’s thriving startup scene, less-cumbersome regulation and deep investor base, according to Jonas Strom, the Stockholm-based chief executive of investment bank ABG Sundal Collier.

Sweden has a “unique eco-system of investors,” Strom said in an interview. “Here there are many smaller professional investors that don’t need a 100-billion-euro transaction but are happy with 50 million euros.”

International bankers are looking to profit from the capital formation by challenging the domestic dominance of Carnegie and ABG Sundal Collier. The head of BNP Paribas SA’s Nordic business said in May he was adding staff in the region, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. moved its Nordic investment banking team to Stockholm from London.

Still, like many smaller markets, Sweden has seen some of its most promising startups look abroad. Music streaming company Spotify Technology SA and oat-milk maker Oatly AB both listed in the U.S. in recent years. Bankers will be watching to see if the next wave of unicorns, including $46 billion lender Klarna Bank AB and payments firm Trustly, do the same.

Plenty of other businesses are content to stick close to home. So far this year, 83 companies have gone public in Stockholm, raising $6.4 billion.

Sweden has “a lot of entrepreneurs that are willing to take risks and bet on new ways of doing things,” said Caroline Forsberg, a 25-year veteran of the country’s equity markets at SEB Investment Management AB.

That robust activity, and the surge in stock prices, is causing concern the market is overheating. Even before this year’s rally, a favorite valuation indicator of Warren Buffett -- market value as a percentage of gross domestic product -- showed that Sweden was far more expensive than other Nordic markets and the U.S.

Since then, the large-stock OMX Stockholm 30 Index has surged by 25% and a broader market gauge is up by 28%. The chief executive officer of investment firm Bure Equity AB said last month the market’s rally raises “questions over whether the stock market has become excessively overvalued.”

Stock markets for small- and medium-sized growth companies “are running out of fuel after an hysterical year,” said Joakim Bornold, an adviser at Soderberg & Partners.

Trading tantrum? Fed officials' personal dealings stir controversy, call for change

Fri, September 10, 2021, 
By Jonnelle Marte, Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Media reports this week that two of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional bank presidents were active traders has some of the central bank's most vocal critics questioning the rules that allowed them to engage in the transactions in the first place.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren made frequent or substantial trades in 2020, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported earlier this week. The trades occurred during a year in which the central bank took major actions to shore up the economy and swooning financial markets after they were broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic.

While the trades were permitted under the Fed system's ethics guidelines, their disclosure prompted some observers and a top lawmaker to flag possible conflicts of interest.

"Forget about the individual trades," said Benjamin Dulchin, director of the Fed Up Campaign at the Center for Popular Democracy, a group that advocates for the Fed to focus more on the needs of American workers. "The issue is that a president of a Fed bank - one of the handful of people who ... set our country's monetary policy - so clearly has his personal interests aligned with the success of our biggest corporations."

On Thursday, Kaplan and Rosengren said in separate statements that their trades complied with the Fed's ethics rules. They also said they would change their investment practices to address "even the appearance of any conflict of interest" and sell all individual stock holdings by Sept. 30, moving the proceeds into cash or passively invested index funds. Both Kaplan and Rosengren said they would not trade on those accounts as long as they are serving as Fed presidents.

The changes came after they both faced criticism for transactions made last year, dealings that were first reported by the Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/dallas-feds-robert-kaplan-was-active-buyer-and-seller-of-stocks-last-year-11631044094 this week. Each has since made his annual financial disclosures public.

The documents showed that Kaplan, for instance, bought and sold at least $18 million in individual stocks in 2020, mostly tech stocks like Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc and energy stocks such as Marathon Petroleum Corp. All of those transactions were reviewed by the Dallas Fed general counsel, said Dallas Fed spokesman James Hoard.

Rosengren, who has publicly shared concerns about potential over-valuation risks in the commercial real estate sector, held stakes in four real estate investment trusts and made other investment trades, as highlighted by a Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-08/fed-official-who-warned-on-real-estate-was-active-reit-trader?sref=HFh69AJb report.

"Regrettably, the appearance of such permissible personal investment decisions has generated some questions, so I have made the decision to divest these assets to underscore my commitment to Fed ethics guidelines," Rosengren said in a statement on Thursday.

CALLS FOR GREATER OVERSIGHT

Fed officials are subject to specific restrictions, such as not trading during the “blackout period” around each Fed meeting when policy-sensitive information is distributed, not holding stocks in banks or mutual funds concentrated in the financial sector, and not reselling securities within 30 days of purchase.

But the Code of Conduct has broader language as well.

“An employee should avoid any situation that might give rise to an actual conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest,” the code states. Those with access to market-moving information “should avoid engaging in any financial transaction the timing of which could create the appearance of acting on inside information concerning Federal Reserve deliberations and actions.”

The financial disclosures did not look strikingly different from prior years. But 2020 was a signature year for the Fed in which, by its own account, it crossed "red lines" to ensure financial markets continued to function. In a rapid-fire response to the then-unfolding pandemic, Fed policymakers in March 2020 slashed interest rates to near zero and rolled out programs meant to keep the markets for Treasury bonds, mortgage-backed securities and corporate bonds working smoothly.

The Fed's fast action was praised for helping to stave off a larger financial market collapse, an achievement Fed officials say helped to minimize the hit to the economy. But some criticized the Fed's moves for helping to boost asset prices while not doing enough to support small businesses and households on Main Street.

Some Fed-watchers say it may be time for the rules to be reviewed.

"This is more evidence that the oversight of the Federal Reserve regional bank presidents is broken," said Aaron Klein, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "I don’t know if this is a failure to enforce the rules, or a failure of the rules."

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, long one of Washington's most vocal critics of the central bank's approach to financial regulation, said Fed officials should not be allowed to trade.

"I've said it before and will say it again: Members of Congress and senior government officials should not be allowed to trade or own stocks," Warren posted on Twitter https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1436370981669462019 on Friday. "Period." (Reporting by Jonnelle Marte in New York, Howard Schneider in Washington and Ann Saphir in Berkeley, Calif. Editing by Dan Burns and Matthew Lewis)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Cayman Fund Ensnared in Fraud Case Files for Bankruptcy in U.S.

Robert Burnson
Fri, September 10, 2021, 


(Bloomberg) -- A Cayman Island mutual fund whose manager was charged in a $100 million bait-and-switch scheme filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. to protect its assets from lawsuits by disgruntled investors.Representatives of the so-called Income Collecting 1-3 Months T-Bills Mutual Fund asked a federal bankruptcy judge in New York on Friday to recognize their efforts to liquidate the company, which they said would include an attempt to pay back investors. Recognition of the foreign liquidation would put a hold on any lawsuits against the fund.The fund’s manager, Ofer Abarbanel, was arrested June 24 in Los Angeles and charged with securities and wire fraud. U.S. prosecutors said the California man told an investor group that its money would be primarily placed in short-term U.S. Treasury securities but instead put it in funds he controlled or was closely associated with.Two days before Abarbanel’s arrest, the fund was placed in liquidation in the Cayman Islands on the vote of its sole shareholder, NY Alaska ETF Management LP, according to court records.

The fund’s representatives said in court papers that the fund has “a particular need” for recognition of its liquidation efforts, given the Securities and Exchange Commission’s findings of “potential significant fraud against the fund and its creditors.”According to the SEC, the fund “had $106 million in liabilities against possibly only approximately $88 million in assets,” the lawyers said. “Based upon these serious allegations of fraud, it is likely that other parties may assert litigation against the fund. A stay of any pending and potential future proceedings will be important to the (representatives’) investigation and efforts to collect assets and wind down the fund.”

Plant-based meat creeps its way into McDonald, fast food — becoming a $14B opportunity

Brooke DiPalma
·Reporter, Booking Producer
Fri, September 10, 2021,

The competition among purveyors of plant-based protein is heating up the fast food industry with a frenzy that resembles the increasingly hot chicken sandwich wars.

On Thursday, McDonald's (MCD) announced its plan to test its first ever plant-based burger, the McPlant, it created with Beyond Meat (BYND) in a strategic three-year partnership. For now, however, the Sept. 29 launch is limited to 10 restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. On October 13th, it will expand to 250 locations before rolling out more broadly both the United Kingdom and Ireland by 2022.

After three years of research and development, the Golden Arches cooked up plant-based patty served on a vegan sesame bun with vegan cheese that's based on pea protein and a new vegan sauce. It is served with traditional toppers like onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard.

McDonald's also made it clear that it will be cooked separately from other burgers and sandwiches using dedicated utensils — perhaps taking note of the trouble that embroiled Burger King (QSR), which introduced its plant-based Impossible Whopper in 2019.

The chain was sued by a vegan customer who claimed the restaurant chain was taking part in “false and misleading business practices" when advertising its plant-based entree. Burger King later won the lawsuit in 2020 after a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.

Plant-based market: a $14B opportunity

(Courtesy: McDonald’s)

McDonald's pilot, and the mushrooming fake meat options in the notoriously meat-friendly fast food industry, are the latest sign of how the sector is adopting itself to a more health-conscious demographic. According to a new report from food intelligence firm Tastewise, menu mentions of plant-based meat spiked by a staggering 1,320% in the U.S. compared to pre-pandemic levels in early 2020.

Fake meat's march into fast food chains shows no signs of slowing down. Burger King's Impossible Burger was followed by Starbucks' June 2020 launch of the Impossible breakfast sandwich — which was then followed by Dunkin's Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich.

And 2021 has become the dawn of other plant-based entrees, like Morningstar Farms (K) to introduce the Southwest Veggie Power Breakfast Sandwich and Wendy's Spicy Black Bean Burger.

"This is one of those rare moments in history where the business opportunity and the betterment of the world align," Alon Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Tastewise told Yahoo Finance in an email. "Plant-based is both the right thing to do for the world, and for exponential growth over the next decade."

However, it's not just vegans being lured to meatless foods — evidence suggests there are many others who are making the shift for different reasons.

"Consumers from all lifestyles are expecting brands to address concerns about climate change, sustainability, and personal health," Chen said.

"This shift has created a $14B opportunity over the next decade, where the question is not 'if' every foodservice business must offer plant-based alternatives, but 'when' and which technology will prevail," he added.

Tastewise data shows the playing field is still tilted in favor of traditional meat, with plant-based options — at least for now — comprising a slim portion of menu options. However, many think there's a major opportunity for food producers: Right now, the total plant-based market is worth nearly $7 billion dollars in the U.S., with plant-based meat in particular lending just $1.4 billion dollars of that total.

(Courtesy: Yahoo Finance, sourced from Tastewise Report)

While opportunity exists within this market, 54% of Americans have already tried the meatless options at popular fast-food chains, according to a recent survey by Piplsay. Of that number, 70 percent said that they enjoyed it.

With Burger King being an early entrant in the competition, most have tried plant-based meat there. According to Piplsay, 41% of consumers have tried BK's meatless entrees, followed by 10% at Starbucks, 10% at Wendy's (WEN), 10% at Subway's, and 8% at Dunkin'. Elsewhere, less then 7% have tried it at other places including Del Taco, Qdoba, Carl's Jr. and others.

And plant-based chicken options are also on the rise. Recently Panda Express collaborated with Beyond Meat to bring Beyond the Original Orange Chicken to its menus, and Shake Shack (SHAK) offered a limited-edition vegan menu item.

Lastly, fake seafood is also making its way onto menus and bubbling up on the Internet — up 90.7% in social interest according to Tastewise. Recently, Long John Silver’s and Whole Foods have leaned in on the fish-less category.

Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

Biden's vaccine mandate:

Even Trump-friendly companies

seem comfortable with COVID

 restrictions

Ben Werschkul

·

Senior Producer and Writer

YAHOO FINANCE

Sat, September 11, 2021, 

On Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden announced that U.S. businesses with over 100 employees will soon need to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or tested weekly.

Within hours, the reaction in the political class was intense. The hashtag #wewillnotcomply was trending on Twitter, Biden was called an authoritarian and a fascist, and Republican governors and the RNC threatened legal action.

Brooke Rollins, the CEO of Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, was one of many to try to bring in the business community. “Businesses across the country should refuse to endorse this egregious violation of our most fundamental rights,” he said in a statement. JD Vance, a Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio and the author of "Hillbilly Elegy," told the business community, "DO NOT COMPLY."

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his plan to stop the spread of the Delta variant and boost COVID-19 vaccinations at White House on Thursday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

By Friday morning, President Biden still expressed confidence about his new mandate. When asked about the threats of lawsuits, the president replied, “Have at it.”

For their part, real-life businesses — including those aligned with Trump — have had a muted reaction so far to the new guidelines.

We ‘will comply’

During his speech on Thursday, Biden noted that United Airlines (UAL), Disney (DIS), and Tyson Foods (TSN) were already complying with the forthcoming rules.

Then he pointedly added “even Fox News” to that group already playing by the new rules.

Indeed, memos from the company from July and another in August lay out how the company has had detailed systems in place for weeks that likely ensure virtually all their employees will be either vaccinated or regularly tested

In contrast to the tone of much of their coverage late Thursday and Friday, Fox’s actual policy remains and shows no signs of changing. Virtually all of Fox News employees need to either provide proof of a vaccination or be tested regularly. Employees must report their vaccination status and there is testing on-site for employees in the New York office. The company even has a mask mandate in confined spaces like control rooms.

Another conservative-leaning channel, Newsmax, also offered up critical coverage of the new rule but appears to be willing to comply with it. 

The station is run by Chris Ruddy, who is a longtime friend of Trump's and a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club. His channel has long offered a platform for vaccine criticism including one notorious example of a host saying vaccines were “against nature.”

A statement to Yahoo Finance Friday said that “Newsmax has encouraged its readers, viewers and employees to get the COVID vaccine.” The statement added: “Newsmax has and will comply with all employee health requirements as set forth by the government.”

There has been at least one example of a pro-Trump outlet stating it won't comply with the Biden mandate. Daily Wire, a conservative website, announced that it will resist the vaccine requirement. "We'll use every tool at our disposal including legal action to resist," the site's CEO said in a video.

Other large companies in the Trump immediate orbit have likewise more often chosen to comply with health restrictions instead of defying public health guidelines.

Trump’s own hotels offer their guests extensive assurances online about their compliance with COVID regulations. Hotels like the Washington, DC location currently have an indoor mask mandate.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate: What top CEOs are saying about it

Brian Sozzi

·Anchor, Editor-at-Large

Fri, September 10, 2021, 

President Biden's harder line on COVID-19 vaccinations has corporate America talking about what measures they may have to implement toward employees. 

On Thursday, the president ordered new federal vaccine requirements for nearly 100 million people in the U.S. in an effort to control the Delta variant. 

"We have been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” Biden said in a speech at the White House. 

The influential Business Roundtable — led by top CEOs such as Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Walgreen's CEO Rosalind Brewer — was quick to release their thoughts on the measure. 

"Business Roundtable welcomes the Biden administration’s continued vigilance in the fight against COVID. America’s business leaders know how critical vaccination and testing are in defeating the pandemic, which is why so many have invested resources in encouraging and incentivizing their customers and employees to get vaccinated, including providing paid time off. Over the past several weeks many companies have decided to implement a vaccine mandate for some or all of their employees, a decision we applaud. Business Roundtable looks forward to continue working with the administration and leaders across all levels of government to defeat the pandemic," Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement.

To be sure, the debate on a vaccine mandate inside of the halls of corporate America is now only likely to heat up.

Here's what several top CEOs said on Yahoo Finance Live about Biden's tougher stance on COVID-19 vaccines. 

Traeger CEO Jeremy Andrus

"Since the very first day, the health and safety of our team has been the number one priority above all. We certainly have programs in place to support vaccination. We encourage it. I have been vaccinated. I am glad I was. In terms of mandating vaccination, we will wait and see where that goes. We think vaccination is smart, and we are encouraging it. In some cases we will put some incentives in place to ensure that happens. We feel very good about policies in place. We haven't had meaningful COVID issues within the office on the team, we do track that. We ask employees to notify us. We feel good about where we are."

Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner

"What we have learned is that we can perform in an excellent manner regardless of what is happening, whether people are working from home or working in the office. For us and our culture, we want people in the office as much as possible as it encourages collaboration. We already rolled out a process very similar to what President Biden has asked for a few weeks ago. So our team members are either vaccinated or tested weekly before they come into the office."

Academy Sports CEO Ken Hicks

"We encourage all of our team members to get a vaccination. We provide access. We also provide compensation to the hourly employees. And we will monitor that, and the OSHA and the Fed government guidance that comes out. Hopefully it will be something thoughtful that we can all support and live with."

PowerSchool CEO Hardeep Gulati

"Being remote right now [our workforce] that question [on a vaccine mandate] is moot. But as we push our reopening to the start of next year, and as we kind of get into that, we will be following the national and CDC guidelines to make sure we are providing the safety for every one of our employees."

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. 

Iraq Secures New Investments In Its Booming Oil Industry

Editor OilPrice.com
Sat, September 11, 2021

After recent announcements of new developments in Iraq by several oil majors, the country appears to be rebounding strongly from the coronavirus pandemic, looking to maintain its reputation for oil as well as establish itself as a renewable energy innovator.

Last week, French supermajor Total announced it would be constructing four large energy projects in the south of Iraq in a $27 million deal, expected to commence before the end of 2021.

The deal includes investments in improved crude oil recovery, a gas processing plant, enhancing the Iraqi gas market through greater production more competitive prices, and a solar power plant project. The funding will allow Iraq to boost crude output in its Artawi oilfield from 85,000 bpd now to 210,000 bpd as well as achieving gas production levels of 300 million cubic feet of gas per day.

But this is just the latest in several optimistic achievements in Iraq’s oil and gas industry in 2021, following months of developments after the worldwide oil slump in 2020. In August, Iraq announced that its oil exports had risen to 3.054 million bpd from 2.9 million bpd in July. This reflects the increase in global demand for oil experienced throughout the summer months, with Iraq’s August oil revenue reaching $6.5 billion and an average barrel price of $69.

This comes after the country finally returned to production levels not seen since April 2020 in July. Iraq produced 4.18 million bpd of crude in July, demonstrating an increase of around 150,000 bpd compared to June, above the agreed-upon OPEC production cut-off point. Overall, Iraq produces the highest quantity of oil of any OPEC country apart from Saudi Arabia.

This is an important turnaround for Iraq’s oil-dependent economy, which was hit particularly hard during the coronavirus pandemic, as oil demand dropped, and prices plummeted leaving Iraq’s economy in tatters. After several months of OPEC+ production cuts, Iraq is finally able to return to its pre-pandemic output, helping to support both jobs and the national economy.

Also in August, BP and PetroChina announced a joint venture to operate Iraq’s giant Rumaila oilfield. The oilfield will be run by state-owned Basra Energy Co. Ltd., with access to funding from BP. While the oilfield will continue to emit greenhouse gasses, BP hopes that the joint venture will provide the capital needed to invest more heavily in other low-carbon projects.

British supermajor BP has worked hard in recent months to shift public opinion of its practices, investing heavily in the development of renewable energy projects, with the aim of achieving 50 gigawatts of renewable energy in its portfolio by 2030, as well as maintaining its strong oil and gas portfolio. However, its operations in Rumaila have repeatedly caused the company to come under fire as Iraq is one of the biggest methane emitters globally.

BP has been developing the major oilfield since 2010, with new operations under the joint venture planned to run until at least 2034. Rumaila is one of the world’s biggest oilfields, producing over 1.4 million bpd.

This was positive news for Iraq, following the previous withdrawal of other international supermajors from the country due to political instability and the difficulties in foreign company terms within the country’s oil industry. Until recently, BP was expected to withdraw from Rumaila as it sought more carbon-friendly oil projects. However, the government has recently improved operating conditions for foreign oil companies in a bid to keep them in the market.

Changing regulations on foreign investment in the country’s oil sector comes as part of the oil ministry’s bid to raise oil production to an 8 million bpd of oil average by 2027, almost doubling its current output.

In line with this target, the Iraqi government has already provided several foreign oil firms with operating licenses to drill new wells as well as recovering existing ones in the areas of Kirkuk, Baghdad, Basra, Maysan and Nasiriyah; BP and Eni being two of the major international firms to pick up contracts. Iraq is also in talks with China’s CNOOC over the potential recovery of 150 wells in the Bazarkan field at an estimated cost of $160 million dollars. Several of these wells were abandoned during the pandemic due to the lack of demand. However, many are still viable and could go a long way to supporting Iraq’s 2027 oil production target.

As well as investing in the future of its oil and gas industry, Iraq is also showing its openness to new renewable energy developments. This September, Iraq’s finance minister made a call for OPEC to greatly consider the movement away from fossil fuels to more sustainable renewable energy projects.

Reiterating this message, deputy prime minister of Iraq, Ali Allawi, wrote to media outlet The Guardian urging oil producers to pursue “an economic renewal focused on environmentally sound policies and technologies”, including solar and nuclear power.

In recent months, Iraq has announced several agreements with international oil and gas players for the development of renewable projects in the coming years. As well as with Total, Iraq has also signed an agreement with PowerChina ink for the development of solar energy plants expected to produce as much as 2 GW of power. This would help the country to decrease its dependence on Iranian electricity.

While Iraq looks far from prepared to back away from its oil and gas engagements, with plans to develop the sector further over the next decade, it is also looking to lead OPEC member states on renewable energy as it works with foreign supermajors on the development of solar and other alternative energy projects.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

Apple Fires Manager Who Complained; She Gains Right to Sue

Apple Inc. employee Ashley Gjovik, who filed allegations with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board last month, said she was illegally fired in retaliation and will continue pursuing her legal complaints against the tech giant.

Vlad Savov and Josh Eidelson
Fri, September 10, 2021

(Bloomberg) --  Apple informed Gjovik that it’s terminating her employment for violating policies including the disclosure of confidential product-related information, according to documents that she supplied to Bloomberg News.

“I’m really disappointed because I love Apple,” she said in an interview Friday. “It’s incredibly frustrating that I knew this was coming since March when I started raising concerns about work conditions.”

Gjovik, a senior engineering program manager at the company, filed an Aug. 26 NLRB complaint, which alleged harassment by a manager, a retaliatory investigation and forced paid administrative leave. Her situation began when she voiced fears about whether pollution had made her office a dangerous place to work.

Apple said Thursday that it wouldn’t discuss any individual employee matters, out of respect for the privacy of the people involved.

“We are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace,” the company said. “We take all concerns seriously and we thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised.”

Gjovik also has filed complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, according to documents she provided. The California and U.S. civil rights agencies each issued a right-to-sue notice, giving Gjovik the option to file a discrimination lawsuit in state or federal court.

In her fair employment complaint, Gjovik alleged that she was humiliated, harassed, and discriminated and retaliated against by management, and that Apple employee relations “asked I not share my concerns with other employees” rather than addressing them.

“I have to think they know that I’m not going to let it go,” she said in the interview. “I still am very much devoted to holding them accountable for this and trying to make things better for my colleagues and other people in workplaces like this.”

(Updates with Gjovik’s right-to-sue notice in final two paragraphs.)

BRE-X SPECULATION!

Virginia Public Pensions Make a Direct Bet on Cryptocurrencies

WORKERS AND THEIR UNIONS NEED TO BE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
Olga Kharif
Fri, September 10, 2021, 



(Bloomberg) -- A couple of Virginia public pension funds that first dipped their toes into the world of digital assets by investing in venture capital two years ago are at it again, and this time they are making a more direct bet on cryptocurrencies.

The Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System and Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System are planning to invest, pending board approvals, a total of $50 million in Parataxis Capital Management LLC’s main fund, which buys various digital tokens and cryptocurrency derivatives.

The outlays come on the heels of the Fairfax funds -- which together manage about $7.15 billion -- investing several times in Morgan Creek Asset Management funds, and, earlier this year, in crypto venture firm Blockchain Capital. While some of these investments ended up going into coins like Bitcoin, the majority was invested into technology startups, so Fairfax considered them venture-capital investments. Parataxis, with its focus on actual coins, is different.


“We think that there’s going to continue to be volatility in crypto, and this is going to be good for value traders,” Katherine Molnar, chief investment officer for the police officers retirement fund, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “It’s an area that’s going to grow in adoption and interest. We think that it’s inefficient enough, so we think there are some alpha opportunities to take advantage of.”

While many pension funds and endowments are exploring cryptocurrencies, few besides Fairfax have publicly announced they are jumping in. Regulatory uncertainty and high volatility of the coins have been partly responsible for the hesitancy.

But that same volatility can lead to outsized returns, which have been one reason for Fairfax’s expanded investment. Molnar’s $1.95 billion police retirement fund was planning for 2% exposure to crypto via Morgan Creek and Blockchain Capital, but at the end of June crypto accounted for 7% of assets, due to appreciation, she said. Although Molnar couldn’t discuss exact appreciation, crypto “was not an insignificant contributor to performance” in the second quarter, she said.

While in recent months some companies such as MicroStrategy Inc. have begun investing their corporate treasuries into Bitcoin, Fairfax doesn’t want to invest into coins directly, Molnar said -- partly because there are still too few data points to draw conclusions from on whether Bitcoin can be likened to gold, for example, she said.

“Three years ago we weren’t comfortable making a bet on which cryptocurrency will rise to the top,” she said. “And I am not sure we are comfortable yet doing that today.”

Parataxis was started in 2019 by Edward Chin, previously an investment banker at Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings, and by Thejas Nalval, a former portfolio manager with digital-asset hedge fund LedgerPrime and head of asset management at the Element Group. Parataxis has about $55 million in assets under management, Chin said. The two Parataxis funds invest in everything from Bitcoin to derivatives to DeFi coins such as MakerDAO. It plans to launch another fund.

“This is our first pension fund,” Chin said in an interview. “We are in conversations with a couple more, and a couple of endowments as well. It’s clear that people are trying to get exposure.”

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