The Pfizer vaccine is effective

Today they are starting to give the second shot of the Pfizer anti-corona vaccine. Till now no one with the first shot got corona. There are side effects, like muscle pain, but it is better than dying suffocated. 

The mood is resignation

Going over English-speaking media, the  dominant tone is jubilation, as Trump is accused of a failed insurrection, trying to force the legal authorities to annul the results of the election. The Democrats are poised to impose a strict authoritarian regime. The tone of the right is shock and resignation to a long Democratic winter. 

One blogger observes that in Georgia the unconceivable happened: they elected a Black preacher and a Jewish liberal. This would have never happened if not for the demographic changes  of the last 50 years. Looking at the numbers, that is not true, foreign immigration to the State is less than 2% of the population.  The proportion of Blacks is lower than the historical 50%. 

Commodities Alert!

 I have noticed a strange revival of the shares of ICL the local phosphate fertilizer company. I discovered that the tremendous rise in the demand of agricultural (and oil) commodities is behind it. The speculators are already discounting the yearlong corona crisis. I know what to do tomorrow on TASE.  

Military Lockdown

 The Israeli Army has closed its camps and the soldiers will receive no passes for the next month. It appears that the countrywide quarantine starting this afternoon with no definite end-time will be harsh. 

And boring. 

The Taking of the Capitol

 

Washington is, in many ways, the world's capital. Therefore it would be stupid to underestimate the significance of the opposition to the Democratic (Black) victory. AngloSaxon societies are very stable, and I don't expect America's descent into Venezuela style chaos. I'd even say that for such a large protest, this was a very peaceful. They broke nothing, stole nothing, burnt nothing. Probably because there were relatively few young men.  

Why the Sheqel is so Strong

 

The Sheqel has appreciated vis-a-vis the US$ 10% in the last month and it buys third of a dollar. Why the currency of this mini-country in the Middle Shithole is so sought after? Maybe Israel's success in dealing with the corona-virus has impressed the world? Or is the start-up people, who sold 10 billion dollars worth of trash shares on the Nasdaq are bringing home the spoils? May be American Jews - pondering Biden's leanings - are moving capital to Israel? May be a Viking treasure hoard (pic) was discovered under my garden? I'd have fancied that but, no, it was not the case. 

The Chinese beating the world

Huawei, the giant Chinese processor company, is already selling the 5 nanometer KIRIN9000processor for Android devices. Soon it was followed by Samsung Exynos 1080 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888.  The next-gen Kirin processor should arrive as the Kirin 9010 and it will be a 3nm chipset.  This means that the competition is accelerating like crazy and soon the standard will be 3 nm. The issue is that no other chipmaker is able even to approach the 3 nm standard. Intel fell badly behind and that means that Israel's largest exporter will not be able to compete with Made-in-China. Chinese domination of the chip making business will necessarily destroy American (and Israeli) highly paid jobs. I do not know how to fabricate 3 nm chips, so the process seems unstoppable.  The roadmap (pic) already is predicting 2 nm chips. Soon. After that quantum effects take over and the thingie is unmanageable.  Transistor density is not all, performance is all, and in that parameter, INTEL is still competing. It is complicated.