Miniscule numbers of radioactive particles believed to have come from the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan have been detected in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik by Tuesday, the Reuters news service said.

Citing multiple diplomatic sources, the report said that radiation from the particles is not at a level that would negatively affect human health. It is the first time radioactive materials believed to be released by accidents at the nuclear power plant have been observed in Europe.

The radioactive materials were detected at a facility related to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, a Vienna-based U.N. body for monitoring nuclear tests, it said.

”It’s only a matter of days before it disperses in the entire northern hemisphere,” Andreas Stohl, a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, was quoted as saying. Stohl said there would be no concern about human health over Europe, according to Reuters

Vidare rapporterar Reuters bla att temperaturen i reaktor 1 är alldeles för hög i förhållande till vad reaktorerna skall tåla.

“He gave no more details, but a TEPCO executive vice president, Sakae Muto, said the core of reactor No.1 was now a worry with its temperature at 380-390 Celsius (715-735 Fahrenheit).

“We need to strive to bring that down a bit,” Muto told a news conference, adding that the reactor was built to run at a temperature of 302 C (575 F).

För vidare läsning medan Bernanke, Japan och Europas stödköper världens tillgångar.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110322?pageNumber=1

Med tanke på att världen ändrar skepnad över natten. Jordbävningar mindre än 7 orkar vi inte läsa om, Yemen oroligheter orkar vi inte heller reflektera över, än mindre situationen i Syrien. Radioaktivitet som nu enligt vissa mätningar tiodubblats får vi knappt läsa om. Däremot har vi en ekonomi som vi bör bry oss om. Inflation är igång, oavsett vad Fed kollar på eller ej. Nedan länk till det intressanta inflationsprojektet vid MIT. Vi kan konstatera att inflationen i USA skenar de sista månaderna. Med denna taktnår vi knappt 10% YoY. Kvantarna vid MIT kan i alla fall räkna….

http://bpp.mit.edu/daily-price-indexes/

Enligt CNBC brinner det i Kairo, igen Frågan är om de kommer öppna börsen som annonserat?

De europeiska index terminerna gör reversals/tar emot idag. Index har gått upp i motstånd, och tappar sakta fart under dagen. Risken finns att vi slagit i den kortsiktiga toppen, och ska nu inleda en ny fas ner. Samtidigt går silver priset vidare upp. En stängning över 36 kommer skapa stor squeeze uppåt. Likviditeten och volymerna i aktiemarknaden är under all kritik.

“Portugal faces an imminent political crisis that could force the government to resign, trigger a snap election and make an international financial rescue inevitable, according to government ministers and opposition leaders.

The minority Socialist government is almost certain to be defeated on Wednesday in a parliamentary vote on a new austerity package, leaving José Sócrates, the prime minister, with little alternative but to resign” (FT)

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a8721ea-5470-11e0-979a-00144feab49a.html#axzz1HKseidaC

Nedan Portugals 10 åring, som nu handlats över 7% länge….Bail out runt hörnet? Dessutom går det rykten om att Irland kan ha problem med att betala kupongen på en av sina obligationer. PIIGS is back?

“CPI inflation rose from 4.0%yoy to 4.4%yoy in February (vs. Cons. and GS: 4.2%). This is the highest rate of inflation since 2008 and was driven by a sharp increase in clothing price inflation (from 1.3%yoy to 2.8%yoy). The public-sector borrowing data were disappointing on the month (£10.3bn vs. Cons: £8.0bn, GS: £4.3bn) but that overshoot relative to consensus expectations was almost entirely offset by (net) downward revisions to previous months’ data.”

(Reuters)

Vi har de senaste veckorna skrivit en del om TEPCO och den japanska regeringens inblandning/mörkning av Fukushima. Med tanke på flera motsägelsefulla rapporter om strålning, vad som hänt och inte etc, så har vi väldigt svårt att ta informationen som kommer ut angående Fukushima seriöst. Falsk information, stödköp av aktier och valutainterventioner känns som en äkta bull. Se länk för hela artikeln.

“The Tokyo Electric researcher who prepared that presentation on the safety of spent fuel at the complex, Yumiko Kumano, could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for TEPCO declined to comment on its fuel storage decisions and whether they contributed to the crisis. “Our focus now is on responding to the situation at Fukushima,” he said.”

“The TEPCO presentation noted that the utility had taken steps to increase storage capacity for spent fuel at the plant complex beyond its original design. Those included “re-racking” the pools in the reactor buildings to increase their capacity and then building a separate large, pool outside and a separate hub of metal casks that do not need to rely on electricity.”

“While the band of TEPCO workers risk dangerous doses of radiation as they struggle to prevent a catastrophic meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi, the company’s chief executive has all but vanished from the public eye. Chief executive Masataka Shimizu has not made a public appearance in more than a week. He has yet to visit the crippled nuclear power plant north of Tokyo. And many Japanese, on a knife edge waiting to see if the nuclear power plant and its radiation leaks can be brought under control, are beginning to question how much he is in control of the crisis.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-japan-nuclear-idUSTRE72K47A20110321?pageNumber=1

Den senaste mätningen visar att Usa konsumenten väntar sig en ökad inflation, från 3,4% till 4.6%. Vi ser nedan tydligt hur bensinpriserna gått upp mycket. Även om Fed tittar på “core CPI”, så ser bensinprisets utveckling lite oroande ut. Bensinpriset har 5% vikt i CPI index, så 20% högre pris, ger ca 1% högre CPI. Stagflation next.