Supplies of minerals like lithium and cobalt are already stretched thin as battery power becomes more prevalent in devices like phones and cars. Now, there are worries copper mines may no be able to keep up with heavy demand from the world's efforts to "go green," and get off fossil fuels. Daniel Yergin reports for the Financial Times: It is also nicknamed “Dr Copper”. Owing to its widespread use and its sensitivity to business cycles, its price has an uncanny ability to provide early warning of what’s ahead for the economy. The current fall in the price of copper is seen as a portent of … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2022
Paris: When Times Are Tough Your Survival Guy Finds Opportunities
Inflation, inflation, inflation. It’s everywhere. But let’s get right down to it. Inflation means different things to different people. If, for example, you’ve worked your entire life, saving until it hurts, you probably have a pile of money to help you through Your Retirement Life. Sure, it takes some planning, but higher prices shouldn’t keep you from living your dreams. You know how to do without because that’s what saving is—making choices and deferring gratitude. You’re a pro at that. Remember when air travel used to be a big deal (when you’d drive to Florida instead?) and not the … [Read more...]
Can Amazon Turn Itself Into a Influencer Mecca?
Amazon is working hard to integrate itself into the ecosystem of influencers who have grown up on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. They have star power Amazon wants to harness in order to sell its wares. David Lee reports in the Financial Times: Amazon has stepped up plans to crack the QVC-style livestream shopping market as the $1tn ecommerce giant aims to replicate the success of social media rivals in an attempt to revive flagging online sales. The group has been increasing investment in Amazon Live, a platform it quietly launched in 2019 but is now a central focus as it fights to grab a … [Read more...]
Wealth Creation is Best Served Over Time “My Precious!”
Do you have a solid plan to survive this market? Are you focused on wealth preservation, tax strategies, estate planning, and putting your lazy cash to work? I hope so. Because for so many, it’s in times like these that anxiety and fear put them in a state of paralysis analysis—as if studying extra hard will help. As you know from Your Survival Guy, failure to plan is a plan for failure. Know Thyself: “My Precious” Failure to know thyself is such a common pitfall for the average investor. Precious time is spent looking at stock prices rather than understanding one’s risk tolerance. Because … [Read more...]
Peloton to Outsource Bike Manufacturing to Taiwanese Firm
After trying to bring more production in-house during the pandemic, Peloton will outsource manufacturing of its bikes and treadmills to Taiwanese firm, Rexon Industrial Corp. Sharon Terlep reports in The Wall Street Journal: The New York company said Taiwanese manufacturer Rexon Industrial Corp., which has been working with Peloton for years, will become the primary maker of hardware for its bike and tread product lines. The change reverses a pandemic-driven strategy to bring its production in-house. It will reduce the cash burden on the business, said Peloton Chief Executive Barry … [Read more...]
The Justice Department Wants to Dismantle Google
The Department of Justice has been conduction an ongoing investigation into Google's anti-competitive business practices. Apparently, Justice has found a smoking gun of some sorts as the WSJ is reporting that Google has offered to separate its ad-tech business to end the investigation. Alphabet Inc.’s Google has offered concessions in an attempt to head off a possible U.S. antitrust lawsuit aimed at its massive ad-tech business, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign that legal and regulatory pressures on the tech giant are coming to a head. As part of one offer, Google has … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy Never Buys ESG Funds Ever
You’ve been reading about my concerns with ESG investing for a while now. Mutual Funds and ETFs that virtue signal about this stuff are taking their eye off the ball. If you’re in some of these fee gathering mutual funds/ETFs maybe it’s time to look for greener pastures. Andy Kessler writes in the WSJ: Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, which has around $10 trillion in assets under management, wrote in a letter to CEOs, “We focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists.” Let’s look inside. BlackRock’s ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has almost the same top … [Read more...]
Investors Hit with Tax Bills, Vanguard to Pay $6 Million
I’m not a big fan of target date funds especially in non-retirement accounts where the allocation is adjusted automatically based on your years to retirement. The stock side tends to hug the S&P 500 and the bonds have longer maturities than I’m comfortable with. In addition, the timing of the selling may not be in line with your tax situation in any given year. Last year institutional investors in Vanguard’s target date funds sold their positions when Vanguard offered them another set of funds to buy. That left retail investor holding the bag, stuck paying the tax bill on the realized … [Read more...]
Millennials Spending on Travel Rather Than Saving for Retirement
According to a new survey, Millennials are spending more time thinking about their next trip than about their retirement. Jane Thier reports in Fortune: Millennials are ready for a getaway, even if it comes at a cost. More than half (55%) of adults ages 26 to 41 say they spend more time planning for vacations than for their retirement, according to a recent Personal Capital survey. Among all 2,000 U.S.-based adults surveyed, millennials were the cohort least likely to cut back on travel as a result of inflation. Summer travel is expected to be 25% to 50% more expensive than last year, … [Read more...]
Flood of Withdrawals Breaking Crypto Platforms
Has the long-foretold cryptocosm arrived? It's hard to say given the stop/start tendencies of the recent crypto-collapse, but one scary thing is for certain, many crypto lenders are blocking access to customer assets. Kyle Barr reports at Gizmodo: The number of crypto lending platforms that actually let users take their crypto home with them is getting progressively smaller. One company even reported its users were draining their accounts of close to $198 million in total over the past three weeks. CoinLoan announced Monday it was putting a big hold on users’ abilities to withdraw most of … [Read more...]