The war is turning the world upside down, closing sources, setting off an frenetic race for options… creating more opportunities for all of us than Carter had Liver Pills.
+ Let’s start with the stuff that Russia plies but nobody wants — not just oil and gas, precious metals and rare earth minerals. All the stuff we get cheap from Russia today we can get from someone else — perhaps a little more expensively.
+ It has been true for years: Mile for mile, it’s cheaper — and increasingly much cheaper — to recharge an electric vehicle than it is to refuel one with an internal combustion engine.
From CNBC: This chart shows how much it costs to add 100 miles of range to the average EV or internal-combustion vehicle . It’s getting cheaper and cheaper to drive an electric car.
CNBC has charts on Boston and San Francisco also. Click here.
Now comes word that Koch Industries has poured $750 million into U.S. battery makers over the past year and change. That makes Koch Industries one of the biggest investors in the sector after the auto companies.
Koch has made 10 investments, including about 10% each of the common stock of Freyr Battery SA FREY and Aspen Aerogels Inc. ASPN and about 8% of Standard Lithium Ltd. SLI. Koch Industries launched Koch Strategic Platforms in 2020 with a focus on energy transition investments, along with health care, automation, and computing., according to the Wall Street Journal.
Crucial to batteries is lithium. Look who makes this stuff:
Ask yourself: How many of these countries would I be happy to have my billion dollar electric vehicle (EV) factory reliant on? And now you know why the Pentagon has been sending teams out to find and fund rare earth mines in Australia.
Back to Nvidia
Nvidia rose 9% the day after my ebullient piece on the company. Nvidia is a chip maker without a fab, i.e. a factory to build its chips. I believe it uses our Taiwanese friends. Now there is talk that Intel could become Nvidia’s fab. Which would pump decent life into Intel that has been moribund for far too long. Look at this chart comparing NVDA to sleepy Intel.
You won’t believe this. But I’m actually considering buying INTC shares as a spec, pending some tie-up with Nvidia. Meanwhile I also own GFS, another local semiconductor fab, which NVDA may consider using.
Off-shoring was the big buzzword ten years ago. Now its on-shoring. And new sources. Ukraine makes the bulk of the world’s neon. Now many of their factories have closed. Neon is a byproduct of steel making. Maybe Nucor can make the stuff?
It’s an interesting new world.
Breckenridge is the perfect family resort town
It has everything year round from skiing to hiking and mountain biking in the most beautiful mountains in North America. It’s two hours to Denver’s gorgeous, ultra-efficient international airport. There are wonderful airbnbs all over the valley.
I think a well-chosen holiday home here could just be your best investment ever. Rent it on Airbnb during pricey school vacations. We paid $5,500 for a three-bedroom condo. Nothing fancy, but just 100 yards from one of Breckenridge’s 33 ski lifts.
Own it and enjoy the 15%-plus annual appreciation on your house.
This is son Michael yesterday morning 12,998 feet — the top of Breckenridge. Look what’s flying behind him — the Ukrainian flag. I teared up. Nice of them to do this.
Look at how clear the air is. You can see forever, including some of the surrounding resorts.
Having the grandkids around is a special treat
Their father bought them iPads for Christmas. Grandfathers like me can’t compete.
Except tonight I taught them how to make crepes from scratch. Start with flour, eggs, and milk. Beat to a nice thin batter. Heat a pan with butter. Ladle the batter in. Flip the crepes out. Coat with jam. Roll. Cover with sugar and lemon. Serve.
Result? They put down their iPads, paid attention to Papi (i.e. me). They loved what we cooked:
One minor problem: the sugar. Way beyond their bedtime, they were bouncing off the ceiling. Mommy and Daddy were not pleased.
Ditto for the sugar and me.. I stayed up until 2:00 AM writing this blog, which is really a plea to get an invitation to teach crepe-making to the other two grandkids. All four are a better deal then picking a ten-bagger. Maybe.
Need to think on that one.
Son Michael has an easier, more efficient solution. (They always do.)
Add water or milk. He embarrassed me by producing Kodiak Cakes for breakfast this morning. He added bananas and strawberries. They tasted great.
If you’re reading this blog in your Windows browser and find the charts are cut off on the right, hit Ctrl – (minus).
If you’re on an iPhone, switch to reader mode. You can also tap the pictures and charts to see them larger.
Ain’t technology fun?
See you soon. — Harry Newton
