Honda Is Shipping Out of the UK
Honda (NYSE:HMC) is packing up and closing its Swindon factory by 2022, insisting that it has nothing to do with Brexit. The fact that it’s closing in 2022 and not, like, right now before Brexit takes place illustrates that Honda was probably looking for an excuse to get out and move to a country where manufacturing is much cheaper due to less regulations and other government interference in business. The Swindon factory employs 3,500 people. In another effort to deflect criticism for “hurting the economy” by doing what it needs to do to stay profitable, Honda is emphasizing that the move out of the UK will help it in the electrification process of future car models, because then if people protest Honda, they’re protesting electric cars, and you can’t do that. It’s politically incorrect.
SEE: Cannabis Stock News Daily Roundup February 14
16 States Including California are Suing Trump on Border Wall
California is suing President Trump over the border wall, together with Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Virginia. All of these states with the exception of Michigan went for Hillary Clinton on 2016. Only 4 US States share a border with Mexico in the first place, and only the blue ones are suing. Texas and Arizona seem fine with the whole border wall thing. The lawsuit states, in so many words, that the President can’t simply declare an emergency where none exists just because he wants to spend money where Congress didn’t allocate it. The case will come down to whether a judge believes that a state of emergency actually exists on the Mexican border, which comes down to political persuasion more than anything else really.
Oil Moves Past $56, Gold Past $1,330, Palladium at All Time Highs
Oil (NYSEARCA:USO) and gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) are moving up, and in a sign that either gold is underpriced or palladium is way too expensive, palladium (NYSEARCA:PALL) is now trading higher than gold, over $1,400 an ounce and at all time highs. Meanwhile, platinum (NYSEARCA:PPLT) is very depressed, trading at just around $800, which means the order of precious metals is now silver, platinum, gold, palladium, which sounds really weird. Platinum is trading at very long term support established back in April 1980. Something strange is going on in the metals markets. Oil meanwhile is approaching resistance at $57.50 with the 50DMA moving back up after falling since November.
$4,000 For a 15MPG GM Electric Bike? Sure!
What wants a brand spanking new electric bicycle that can rocket forward at 15 entire miles per hour and takes 3.5 hours to fully charge? We all do. This GM (NYSE:GM) creation, called ARIV, won’t go the way of the Segway, AKA the motorized dolly beloved by nerds everywhere. The first bikes are going to Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Ford is working on its own version of this monster bike after buying scooter firm Spin for $100M back in November. GM is closing 5 plants and laying off 14,000 workers, most of whom won’t be working on the bike.
JPMorgan Goes Crypto
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), the largest bank in the US by assets, is going into blockchain. It’s starting its own coin, dubbed JPM coin, which will basically be a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. The coin will be tested out on institutional clients who need to transfer a lot of money all at once in wholesale payments that could be done much faster through blockchain rather than through traditional wires. Is this bullish for Bitcoin (BTC-USD)? Some enthusiasts would say so, but it doesn’t seem to be the case because JPM Coin has nothing to do with the Bitcoin blockchain itself, and is its own independent blockchain. In that sense it will be a competitor to Bitcoin. That didn’t stop Bitcoin enthusiast Tim Draper from being wildly bullish on the cryptocurrency, predicting a move to $250,000 a coin by 2022. “Over time, when they start taking bitcoin, I’m going to be pretty much moving everything [out of the banks]. There is no reason to hold on to shells, when you’ve got gold,” he said. By gold, he meant Bitcoin, not actual gold.