1) The newest supercomputer called El Capitan, which will become operational in 2023, is being built in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at a cost of $600 million dollars. The new computer will perform 2 exaflops or 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 floating point calculations per second. If the world population was to perform one such calculation per second it would take everybody eight years to do what El Capitan does in one second. The computer will be used to do simulations of nuclear explosions, genetics research, astrophysical modeling, aircraft/automotive design and climate change. It’s the size of two tennis courts, and will use 30 megawatts of power, enough for 12,000 homes.
2) The long time publishing giant Simon & Schuster, founded in1924, is up for sale by its present owner ViacomCBS. In the last few decades, the traditional publishers have been devastated by technologies and the internet, in particular publishing on demand services. Although Simon & Schuster is not losing money, the publishing industry is no longer a growth industry. The company will most likely be sold to another publisher seeking to reduce cost by merging assets.
3) Oil prices have plunged in response to demand caused by flight cancellations, factory shutdowns and slowdowns in passenger traffic, all caused by fears of the coronavirus crisis. Natural gas prices are also down at a near four year low. The oil and gas companies, who have piled on debt to capitalize on the shale boom, are facing serious fiscal problems and may not survive. The markets for energy have dropped seriously, both stocks and bonds, which in the past, have had a detrimental ripple effect on the rest of the economy.
4) Stock market closings for – 4 MAR 20: The Dow jumped more than 1,000 points after Biden Victories.
Dow 27,090.86 up 1173.45
Nasdaq 9,018.09 up 334.00
S&P 500 3,130.12 up 126.75
10 Year Yield: down at 0.99%
Oil: up at $47.20