The Shit to Know Thursdays

What’s up,

It’s been a bit of a quieter week, but we’ve still sourced some top stories for you. Enjoy.

Market Indices & Commodities

Feature
Boeing 737 Crashes (Again) in Africa

They’re really starting to take the piss now, yet another Boeing plane has crashed.

The crash happened after a failed takeoff attempt which sent the Boeing 737-38J skidding off the runway at Blaise Diagne International Airport in Senegal.

This happened this morning, and literally just yesterday, another Boeing plane crashed. That time, it was a Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx which crash-landed at an airport in Turkey after a nose landing gear failure.

Boeing’s issues really appear to be mounting up here. Whistleblowers dying, planes crashing… it hardly seems like it could get any worse.

The company is also under some intense fucking investigations by the US government over the quality control of its aircraft. Not good news.

Don’t ask me how you can fuck up a takeoff. Bro literally just has to drive in a straight line and pull up. They must be giving out fucking Senegalese pilots licenses like pedos give sweets to kids.

Crypto  
Argentina to Use Stranded Gas to Mine Bitcoin

The Argentinian energy sector is starting to turn more and more towards bitcoin.

A state-owned energy firm, YPF Luz recently partnered with Genesis Digital Assets (GDA) to launch a gas powered mining facility. It will use 1,200 machines to monetize gas currently being flared into the atmosphere.

By repurposing stranded gas which is currently just being burned as waste, GDA expects this operation to reduce up to 63% of the carbon emissions.

Crazy how people still don’t see bitcoin as something to invest in. Governments are now starting to fund and use projects involving bitcoin, and this project specifically shows how bitcoin mining could transform energy byproducts into productive use.

China
Angola Agrees Deal With Chinese Bank to Ease Debt Crunch

Africa’s second-largest oil producer, Angola, has got access to cash from a Chinese state bank to pay interest on a vital loan.

The nation has agreed with the China Development Bank (the country’s largest creditor) to release cash held as collateral for a multibillion dollar loan.

Three years ago, Chinese creditors granted Angola a 3 year moratorium on its debt payments after Covid. However, Angola has recently experienced a sharp decline in its economy.

Angola owns roughly $17b to China, just over 1/3 of its total debt. This is mostly in the form of loans backed by loan. Angola is also Beijing’s biggest borrower in Africa.

Earnings
Uber’s Results Hit by Legal Costs

Uber had a shocker on their Q1 results day. Their operating profit significantly missed analysts’ expectations after payouts to do with driver lawsuits.

Uber reported operating profit of $172m for Q1, with analysts forecasting over $600m. Uber has attributed this massive shortfall to ‘discrete legal and regulatory reserve changes and settlements.’ The legal costs they’re facing include an agreement to pay $178m to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by taxi drivers in Australia.

How did the markets react? Uber’s share prices fell by 9% yesterday.

Uber is also facing a myriad of legal issues with regulators, and most recently, with over 10,000 black cab drivers in London.

Politics
Biden Says He’ll Stop Sending Israel Weapons If They Invade Gaza

Biden told Israel yesterday that he’s ready to stop transferring offensive weapons to Israel, if its military launches a full scale invasion of Rafah.

It is widely believed that this would include all bombs and artillery shells.

This actually probably isn’t a bad idea, as the human cost would be unimaginable were Israel to bombard Rafah, and pretty much have to go door-to-door to clear out Hamas.

Rare, based, Biden W.

China
Lawmakers Urge US Action to Halt China’s Organ Trade

A growing number of China critics in Congress are urging the State Department to ramp up its efforts to curb Beijing’s foul $1b forced organ harvesting trade.

In this, ethnic and religious minorities are targeted. This includes Uyghurs, Muslims, Christians and Tibetans.

This is just filthy. These guys are right, we gotta do what we can to stop this.

Thank you 
That’s all Folks

Enjoy tomorrow boys, you deserve it.