Joe Rogan slams TikTok: ‘It ends with China having all of your data’

Joe Rogan expressed concerns Tuesday that TikTok, one of the most used social media apps in the world, poses a unique threat to Americans’ data privacy and safety. 

TikTok is owned by Bytedance, a Chinese company. China’s Civil Military Fusion Policy and 2017 National Intelligence Law requires private businesses in China to share information and data at the request of the Chinese government.

“I read TikTok’s terms of service, I went down a TikTok rabbit hole yesterday…This is so crazy,” Rogan said on the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. 

“Is it good or bad?” interjected his guest, podcaster and comedian Theo Von. 

“Bad!” Rogan responded. 

National security officials have previously raised concerns about the national security threat posed to America by TikTok. (Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

BIDEN TO SPEAK WITH XI AMID WARNINGS THAT CHINA POSES GREATEST THREAT TO US NATIONAL SECURITY

“Listen to this, this is from TikTok’s privacy policy,” Rogan said. “It said, ‘We collect certain information about the device you use to access the platform, such as your IP address, user region.’ This is really crazy.”

“‘User agent, mobile carrier, time zone settings, identifiers for advertising purpose, model of your device, the device system, network type, device IDs, your screen resolution and operating system, app and file names and types,’” he continued. 

“So all your apps and all your file names, all the things you have filed away on your phone, they have access to that,” he said. “‘File names and types, keystroke patterns or rhythms.’” 

“So they’re monitoring your keystrokes, which means they know every f—ing thing you type,” Rogan added.  

Joe Rogan expressed concerns about TikTok’s terms of service during a clip published Tuesday.  (Photo by: Vivian Zink/Syfy/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

PENTAGON OFFICIAL SAYS ‘ONLY A MATTER OF TIME’ BEFORE CHINA CAUSES ‘MAJOR’ INCIDENT IN INDO-PACIFIC REGION

“‘Battery state, audio settings and connected audio devices, where you log in from multiple devices, we will be able to use your profile information to identify your activity across devices. We may also associate you with information collected from devices other than those you use to log into the platform’” Rogan said. 

“Meaning they can use other computers that you’re not even using to log into TikTok. They can suck the data off that. That’s what you’re agreeing to when you download and start using TikTok,” he said.

Von asked Rogan, “It’s insane… Do you think they created TikTok just on purpose to have all that?”

“100 percent,” Rogan responded.

The TikTok logo is seen on an iPhone 11 Pro max in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on September 29, 2020.  (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Just tell me how it ends man,” said Von. 

“It ends with China having all of your data,” Rogan said. 

Rogan also mentioned the bank runs in China and the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency.

“What’s going on in China, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but they pulled tanks in front of banks to stop people from f—ing rioting because they just took all their money,” he said. 

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Rogan also mentioned the risks posed to freedom by China’s digital currency, which it weaponizes to control its population. “If you see what’s going on over there, with the digital currency, what they have is the ability to tell you, you can’t buy gas. Like, “Hey Theo, we don’t like the way you’re living your life, so you’re not going to be able to buy a plane ticket,’” Rogan said. 

This is a big week for earnings in both Canada and the U.S. Here’s what to watch out for

Investors are scouring second-quarter earnings reports, including a flurry landing in Canada and the U.S. this week, for signs of an economic slowdown and just how bad it could get. The impact of surging inflation and energy prices on profit margins, revenue growth and the outlook for the last half of this year will be some of the tell-tale signs.

Late Monday, Walmart Inc., the world’s largest retailer, cut its profit outlook for a second time in two months saying inflation is causing shoppers to spend more on necessities such as food and less on discretionary items like clothing and electronics. The warning has investors fearing similar moves from sectors struggling with the impact of four-decade high inflation on consumer spending.

Some investors believe consensus analyst estimates are too high across most sectors and will be looking to see how potential downward revisions could impact stock prices and broader markets. For example, analysts have been busy slashing expectations for Canadian tech giant Shopify Inc.’s second-quarter financial results amid a global rout for technology stocks. Its results are out Wednesday. Shopify also announced Tuesday that it was laying off 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 1,000 employees.

For the second quarter, total earnings for companies in the S&P 500 Index are currently estimated to rise by 6.1 per cent (or down by 3.3 per cent when excluding energy) year over year, according to Refinitiv data as of July 25. Total earnings for companies in the S&P/TSX Composite Index are currently estimated to rise by 22.2 per cent (or up 3.9 per cent excluding energy) year over year in the quarter.

Christine Poole, chief executive officer and managing director at GlobeInvest Capital Management Inc., will be following management commentary on demand trends for their companies’ products and services to gain more insight into the extent of a slowdown across various sectors.

“Many of the indicators we track to assess the health of the economy are signalling slowing growth and a rising likelihood of a downturn,” Ms. Poole says.

She’s also interested to hear more details about supply chain bottlenecks and transportation costs to gauge whether inflation pressures show any signs of easing.

“There are a lot of questions as to what companies are seeing and doing,” she says, including whether they’re pulling back on spending and hiring and if they’re able to pass rising costs on to their customers.

Ms. Poole says this earnings season will also reveal just how cautious consumers and companies are in the current economic environment.

“There are a lot of uncertainties out there and sentiment will play an important role in terms of consumer spending, as well as capital expenditures,” she says. “It’s an important quarter to see how much of that caution is being translated into retrenchment.”

Paul Harris, partner and portfolio manager at Harris Douglas Asset Management in Toronto, says analysts are “way too positive” on the economy and believes earnings estimates are “higher than they should be,” which could cause markets to fall further in the weeks ahead.

“The risk to the stock market is when analysts realize they have to bring their numbers down,” he says, something he expects to start happening soon as a huge swath of companies report earnings this week.

Some of those include big U.S. tech names such as Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. as well as General Electric Co., Ford Motor Co. and Visa Inc. The second-quarter earnings season also swings into high gear in Canada this week with reports expected from several large companies such Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., Canfor Corp., Canadian Utilities Ltd. Cenovus Energy Inc., Teck Resources Ltd. and Cameco Corp.

Mr. Harris says he’s looking for opportunities to buy good-quality stocks that drop on missed analyst expectations in the days and weeks ahead.

“I believe that we’re in a profit cycle that’s going down and that’s not represented in the earnings numbers,” he says. “I want to be a little bit ahead of that and buy some of these [overvalued] stocks that I think are great businesses at a cheaper level.”

Mike Archibald, vice-president and portfolio manager at AGF Investments, says he’ll be focused on the corporate outlooks for the second half of the year, following what he expects will be a “decent” second-quarter reporting season. He also expects analysts’ estimates to come down in the next two quarters and for 2023 as many companies lower their guidance.

One example is Canada’s Stelco Holdings Inc., which reduced its second-half earnings guidance on Monday due to falling prices of steel, a widely used commodity that’s considered a key indicator of economic growth.

The two sectors Mr. Archibald believes will provide the best clues for the economic outlook are industrials and consumer discretionary, given their direct connection to consumers.

“It will be important to pay attention to the guidance management provides … because that will give us an understanding of how resilient the consumer may be over the next six to 12 months,” he says.

Mr. Archibald expects the energy sector to continue to prop up the S&P/TSX Composite Index versus the S&P 500 as oil and gas prices remain elevated.

“We are continuing to see the same kind of playbook that we’ve seen for most of 2022, which is the bulk of the positive estimate revisions are coming from energy and to a lesser degree materials,” he says, noting that all of the other sectors in Canada have seen negative earnings revisions.

Morgan Stanley slashes oil price forecasts

Morgan Stanley oil analyst Martijn Rats has cut his oil price forecasts

“Over the last year we have argued that oil supply would be tight-enough-for-long-enough that some demand erosion needed to take place. In June, prices reached levels that achieved just that, and demand appears to be softening in response. As a result, we lower our near-term price forecasts … Prices reached levels that are hard to absorb: Add to this tightness in the refining system and this explains why diesel and gasoline prices reached ~$187 and ~$180/bbl respectively in June. In response to the commodity-induced inflation surge, central banks are now hiking rates in-sync. Of the 38 central banks globally, 29 (or 77%) have hiked rates in the last 6 months. That percentage is at a 40-year high, making this the most-synchronized cycle of rate hikes since the early 1980s … This combination of factors continues to drive rapid downgrades to GDP expectations in all main regions. Our oil demand forecasts were not stretched, but equally, they were not designed for the breadth of rate hikes and magnitude of GDP slowdown that now appears to be unfolding. With actual oil demand data also starting to come in softer than expected, we lower our 2022e growth estimate from 2.2 to 2.0 mb/d, and our 2023e estimate from 2.7 to 1.8 mb/d”

Mr. Rats has reduced his fourth quarter WTI forecast by US$20 to US$107.50 and his second quarter of 2023 estimate from US$107.50 to US$97.50.

“MS cuts oil price forecast” – (research excerpt) Twitter

Walmart Cuts Q2, FY Profit Outlook; Stock Down

Walmart Inc. (WMT) cut its profit outlook for the second-quarter and fiscal year 2023, saying that high food and fuel prices are hurting customer’s ability to spend on general merchandise categories. The company anticipates more pressure on general merchandise in the back half.

“.. Food inflation is double digits and higher than at the end of Q1. This is affecting customers’ ability to spend on general merchandise categories and requiring more markdowns to move through the inventory, particularly apparel,” the company said in a statement.

WMT closed Monday regular trading at $132.02 down $0.19 or 0.14%. In the after-hours trading, the stock further dropped $13.12 or 9.94%.

The Retail giant projects comp sales for Walmart U.S., excluding fuel, to be about 6% for the second quarter. It is higher than previously expected with a heavier mix of food and consumables, which is negatively affecting gross margin rate.

For the second quarter, the company now expects adjusted earnings per share to decline around 8% to 9%, operating income to decline 13% to 14% and consolidated net sales growth to be about 7.5%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $1.81 per share and revenues of $148.25 billion for the second quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items. The company said in May that it expected earnings per share to be flat to up slightly, and consolidated net sales growth of 5%.

Net sales for the second-quarter included a headwind from currency of about $1 billion in the second quarter. Based on current exchange rates, the company expects a $1.8 billion headwind in the second half of the year.

The company maintained its expectations for Walmart U.S. comp sales growth, excluding fuel, of about 3% in the back half of the year.

Looking ahead for fiscal year 2023, the company now projects adjusted earnings per share to decline around 11% to 13%, operating income to decline 11% to 13%, and consolidated net sales growth to be about 4.5%.

Excluding divestitures, the company now anticipates adjusted earnings per share for the full year to decline 10% to 12%, operating income to decline 10% to 12% and consolidated net sales growth to be about 5.5%.

The company said in May that it projected annual earnings to decline about 1% and to be flat, excluding divestitures. It also expects consolidated net sales growth of 4 percent in constant currency and about 4.5% to 5%, excluding divestitures.

Gold Slips as Investors Prepare for Fed’s Jumbo Rate Hike

Gold headed back down after posting the biggest weekly gain since May as investors weighed prospects for tighter US monetary policy and concerns over an economic slowdown.

Bullion hit the lowest level since March 2021 last week, only to rebound as Treasury yields eased following poor US economic data. After raising rates in June by the most since 1994, Federal Reserve policy makers are expected to approve another 75 basis-point hike when they meet July 26-27. Second-quarter GDP data will also indicate whether the US is in a technical recession.

Gold is heading for a fourth monthly loss as Fed tightening and a stronger dollar dim its allure as a haven, overshadowing concerns about inflation and a slowdown. Over the weekend, while former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers cast doubt on the likelihood of a soft landing for the US, incumbent Janet Yellen said that she doesn’t see any sign the economy is in a broad recession.

Additional downward pressure on gold has come from waning investor interest, with holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds ebbing for a sixth week, according to initial data compiled by Bloomberg. Hedge funds trading the Comex flipped to being net-short on gold for the first time since 2019, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“Shanghai traders are accumulating silver,” TD Securities commodity strategy head Bart Melek said in an emailed note. “In sharp contrast to gold, where outflows from most major participants have translated into a liquidity vacuum.”

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,719.46 an ounce at 1:52 p.m. in New York. Last week, prices sunk as low as $1,680.99 on Thursday before ending the week 1.1% higher. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index weakened 0.1%. All other precious metals fell except platinum. Silver went 0.8% into the red. Spot palladium lead with a 1.4% fall.

Cars, Gas power May Retail Sales

Canadian retail sales jumped 2.2% in May, beating economists’ expectations. Good news right? Well, not really. The gain was driven more by higher prices, especially for gas, than by higher volumes.

Moreover, a preliminary estimate from Statistics Canada suggests weakness to come with sales seen rising just 0.3% in June from the month before, which CIBC economist Katherine Judge says would represent a decline in volumes.

“Indeed, with consumption to shifting towards services, while inflation erodes consumer purchasing power, demand for discretionary goods will be under more pressure ahead,” she wrote.

Newmont’s (NEM) Earnings and Revenues Lag Estimates in Q2

Newmont Corporation NEM reported net income from continuing operations of $379 million or 48 cents per share in second-quarter 2022, down from $640 million or 80 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were 46 cents per share that missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents.

Newmont reported revenues of $3,058 million, almost flat year over year.  The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.5%. Higher average realized gold prices and copper sales volume were partly offset by reduced average realized co-product metal prices.

Newmont Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Newmont Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Newmont Corporation Quote

 

Operational Highlights

Newmont’s attributable gold production in the second quarter increased roughly 3.4% year over year to around1.5 million ounces in the quarter.

Average realized prices of gold rose 0.7% year over year to $1,836 per ounce.

The company’s costs applicable to sales (CAS) for gold were $932 per ounce, up 23.4% year over year. The increase was mainly driven by higher direct operating costs resulting from higher labor costs and increased commodity inputs, including higher fuel and energy costs.

All-in sustaining costs (AISC) for gold were up 15.8% year over year to $1,199 per ounce, mainly due to higher CAS per gold equivalent ounce.

Regional Performance

North America: Second-quarter attributable gold production in North America was 316,000 ounces, down 20% year over year. Gold CAS in the region was $1,124 per ounce, up 46% year over year.

South America: Attributable gold production in South America was 210,000 ounces, up 11% year over year. Gold CAS in the region rose 36% on a year-over-year basis to $982 per ounce.

Australia: Attributable gold in the region was 366,000 ounces, up 22% year over year. Gold CAS in the region was down 7% year over year to $710 per ounce.

Africa: Production in the region totaled 243,000 ounces of gold in the quarter, up 20% year over year. Gold CAS was $838 per ounce, up 10% year over year.

Nevada: Production totaled 290,000 ounces of gold in the quarter, up 2% year over year. Gold CAS was $1,035 per ounce, up 37% year over year.

Financial Position

The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $4,307 million, down 6% year over year. At the end of the quarter, the company had long-term debt of $5,568 million, up 11.6% year over year.

Net cash from continuing operations amounted to $1,033 million. Free cash flow totaled $514 million in the second quarter.

Outlook

For 2022, Newmont expects attributable gold production of 6 million ounces. The company also expects gold CAS to be $900 per ounce and AISC to be $1,150 per ounce.

Newmont’s cost guidance reflects the impact of lower production volumes and higher direct operating costs related to labor, energy, consumables and supplies due to sustained inflationary pressures.

Price Performance

Newmont’s shares have declined 14.9% in the past year compared with a 29.5% fall of the industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Newmont currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Newmont Announces Second Quarter 2022 Results

Business Wire – Mon Jul 25, 6:00AM CDT

Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) (Newmont or the Company) today announced second quarter 2022 results.

SECOND QUARTER 2022 RESULTS

• Produced 1.5 million attributable ounces of gold and 330 thousand attributable gold equivalent ounces (GEO) from co-products, an increase of more than 130 thousand total gold equivalent ounces from the first quarter
• Generated $1.0 billion of cash from continuing operations and $514 million of Free Cash Flow (97 percent attributable to Newmont)^*
• Reported gold Costs Applicable to Sales (CAS)^* of $932 per ounce and All-In Sustaining Costs (AISC)^* of $1,199 per ounce
• Adjusted Net Income (ANI) of $0.46 per share and Adjusted EBITDA of $1,149, impacted by increasing costs and declining metal prices
• Updated full-year guidance of 6.0 million ounces of attributable gold production, CAS of $900 per ounce and AISC of $1,150 per ounce; reaffirmed original guidance of 1.3 million gold equivalent ounces from copper, silver, lead and zinc with updated co-product cost guidance of $750 per GEO of CAS and $1,050 per GEO of AISC^**
• Updated full-year guidance for development capital spend to $1.1 billion; Provided trends on development capital costs and timeline related to Tanami Expansion 2 and Ahafo North
• Declared second quarter dividend of $0.55 per share, consistent with the previous seven quarters^***
• $1 billion share repurchase program to be used opportunistically in 2022, with $475 million remaining^***
• Ended the quarter with $4.3 billion of consolidated cash and $7.3 billion of liquidity with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 0.3x^*
• Advancing profitable near-term projects, including Tanami Expansion 2, Ahafo North and Yanacocha Sulfides
• Completed acquisition of Sumitomo Corporation’s 5 percent interest in Yanacocha, increasing ownership in Sulfides project to 100 percent
• Maintained a clear focus on managing the critical controls that must be in place at all times to prevent fatalities; 155 thousand critical control verifications completed by leaders in the field
• Published our 2021 Sustainability Reporting Suite, including our second Annual Climate Report, prepared in accordance with the Task Force for Climate Disclosure (TCFD) framework, detailing the pathway to achieve 2030 carbon emissions reduction targets and 2050 goal

“Newmont delivered a solid second quarter performance, producing 1.5 million gold ounces and generating $514 million in free cash flow. Through our industry-leading portfolio of assets and projects, our proven integrated operating model, our balanced and disciplined approach to capital allocation and our values-driven commitment to our purpose of creating value and improving lives through sustainable and responsible mining, Newmont remains well-positioned to safely manage through the evolving and unprecedented challenges that face our industry and the world at large.”

– Tom Palmer, Newmont President and Chief Executive Officer

Japan slashes fiscal year GDP growth forecast to 2% on global demand slump

Japan’s government slashed its economic growth forecast for this fiscal year largely due to slowing overseas demand, highlighting the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns and a weakening global economy.

The forecast, which serves as a basis for compiling the state budget and the government’s fiscal policy, included much higher wholesale and consumer inflation estimates as surging energy and food costs and a weak yen push up prices.

The world’s third-biggest economy is now expected to expand about 2.0% in price-adjusted real terms in the fiscal year ending in March 2023, according to the Cabinet Office’s projections, presented at the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy – the government’s top economic panel.

That marked a sharp downgrade from the government’s previous forecast of 3.2% growth released in January. The cut largely stemmed from weaker exports, which the government expects to expand 2.5% compared to 5.5% in the previous assessment.

The government projected 1.1% growth for the following fiscal year starting April 2023.

It released its projections days after the Bank of Japan downgraded expectations for growth for this fiscal year to March 2023 to 2.4% from 2.9% three months ago, and underscored the central bank’s stance to maintain massive stimulus even as several other economies have started to hike rates to curb inflation.

The government forecast overseas demand to subtract real gross domestic product by 0.3 percentage point for the current fiscal year, compared to an expected 0.2 percentage point boost seen previously.

It projected overall consumer inflation, which includes volatile fresh food and energy costs, at 2.6% for this fiscal year compared to 0.9% expected in the previous assessment in January.

Wholesale inflation was estimated at 9.8% for this fiscal year, much higher than 2.0% projected in January, as higher oil and food prices and a weaker yen pushed up raw material cost.

The higher consumer inflation was not expected to weigh greatly on private consumption as stronger spending on services such as travel was seen boosting this fiscal year’s economic growth, a Cabinet Office official said.

For fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023, the Cabinet Office forecast nominal economic growth of 2.1% and 2.2%, respectively. Higher nominal growth estimates point to government expectations for greater tax revenue.