Baltic
Dry Index. 1630 -04 Brent Crude 71.82
Spot Gold 2560 US 2 Year Yield 4.27 -0.07
Economics is a very dangerous science.
John Maynard Keynes.
In US stock casinos and cryptoland, the Great Trump euphoria bubble/mania bubbles on.
But is the real world economy already slumping into recession?
If it is and I think it is, the Great Trump Bubble will end badly. I think Warren Buffett’s correct. Besides when selling out of his giant corporate positions it helps to have manic buyers to offload to.
Asia-Pacific markets mixed after U.S. inflation
report reinforces Fed rate cut expectations
Updated Thu, Nov 14 2024 10:58 PM EST
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on
Thursday after the U.S. October consumer price index reading reinforced
expectations that the Fed would cuts rates again in December.
The CPI came in line with expectations,
accelerating slightly to an annual inflation rate of 2.6%. Core CPI, which
straps out volatile food and energy prices, gained 3.3% last month, also
matching expectations.
Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady in
October at 4.1%, as economists had expected, while the number of employed
people increased 15,900 from a month ago, falling short of the expected
25,000.
The participation rate, which measures the
share of working-age people currently employed or seeking a job, stood at
67.1%, slightly below an estimated 67.2%.
“It is clear that the labour market in
Australia is still very resilient, despite an extended period of restrictive
rates,” said My Bui, economist at investment management firm AMP.
Bui believes the Reserve Bank of Australia
is unlikely to deliver a cut in December, but sees room for easing in the first
half of 2025.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up
0.26%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.10%
while the Topix added 0.46%.
Japanese yen appreciated slightly against
the U.S. dollar to 155.36 on Thursday, after falling below the 155 benchmark
overnight, hovering near the lowest level in over four months.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.28%, while the
Kosdaq Index was up by 0.42%. The country’s markets opened an hour
later than usual on Thursday because of national college entrance exams.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down
0.69% in a choppy trading morning, following a multi-day losing streak that saw
the index shed 4% this week as of Wednesday’s close.
Hong Kong’s markets remained open even as
authorities issued a Typhoon warning, marking the first such occasion
since the city changed the rules to allow
trading in extreme weathers.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 tumbled 0.27%.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed
near the flatline following the release of the inflation report.
The S&P 500 inched higher by
0.02% to close at 5,985.38, while the 30-stock Dow ticked up 47.21 points,
or 0.11%, to 43,958.19. The Nasdaq
Composite ended the day with a 0.26% decline and closed at 19,230.74.
The inflation data puts the Federal
Reserve on course to lower interest rates next month, with markets pricing in a
80.8% likelihood of a quarter-percentage-point cut, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Asia-Pacific markets live: U.S. October CPI; Australia unemployment rate
Stock futures are little changed as postelection
rally shows signs of wavering: Live updates
Updated Thu, Nov 14 2024 12:56 AM EST
U.S. stock futures were little changed
Wednesday night, as the major averages’ postelection run began to show signs of
stalling.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
lost 56 points. S&P 500
futures fell 0.12%, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed
0.21%.
CNH Industrial shares jumped about 8% in
extended trading after Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn told attendees at
CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference that he took
a medium-sized position in the agricultural equipment company.
On Wednesday, the 30-stock Dow and S&P 500 closed out the
regular session near the flatline, with the former rising 47.21 points, or
0.11%, and the latter eking out a 0.02% gain. The Nasdaq Composite ended the
session down by 0.26%.
Those moves come after the October consumer
price index came in as expected, but nevertheless signaled the Federal
Reserve’s fight against inflation is yet to be won. Core CPI rose by 0.3% for a
third straight month, with the 12-month rate at 3.3%.
Investors are deliberating whether a
postelection rally following Donald Trump’s decisive victory last week still
has room to run after powering the major averages to new milestones. The Dow
closed above 44,000 for the first time on Monday, and both the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq Composite notched new highs.
Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at
Payne Capital Management, expects there’s still upside to be had, given the
cash sitting in the sidelines from investors awaiting more certainty on the
market.
“I don’t think the rally is necessarily
ending any time in the short term, but with that new money to add, I think
there’s a lot of other areas of opportunity that still have room to run,”
Garcia said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
On the economic front, the October
producer price index will be released Thursday, and the retail sales
report is due out Friday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak Thursday in
Dallas, Texas.
Elsewhere, Disney reports earnings before
the open Thursday.
Stock market today: Live updates
Analysts
say there has been one other post-election stock rally similar to Trump’s - it
was in 1928
November
12, 2024
Some
market analysts say the surge in stocks after Donald Trump was elected may not
be a positive omen as it resembles the market after Herbert Hoover was elected
- shortly before the crash that led to the Great Depression.
Analysts
are hailing the market after Trump clinched enough electoral votes on Wednesday
morning. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow rose significantly after his victory,
both closing at “record highs” on Friday, according to CNN.
“Recent
days prove markets’ unambiguous embrace of the Trump 2.0 economic vision.
Markets are signaling expectations of higher growth, lower volatility and
inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans,” Scott Bessent, the
founder of hedge fund Key Square Group and a potential pick for Treasury
secretary, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“President-elect
Trump is the most pro-stock market president we have had in our history,”
Jeremy Siegel, finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania, told CNBC.
But
Robert Burgess, a Bloomberg opinion editor, warned in a piece that the
post-election stock market might not be a positive sign. He noted that this
market is similar to the booming market after Hoover’s election — which came
just one year before the 1929 stock market crash.
Anthony
Scaramucci, Trump’s former White House communications director, also feared
that Trump’s policies — namely mass deportations and tariffs — would result in
a stock market crash similar to 1929.
“You
want to deport 15 million people? You’ll crush the economy; you’ll crush our
tax revenues; you’ll flip upside down the job market,” Scaramucci told Business
Insider.
“Let
me tell you something: If Trump enacted 50 percent of what he’s saying, you’ll
have a stock market crash, the likes that you haven’t seen since the 1920s,” he
continued. “And by the way, don’t go by me — Elon Musk is saying that.”
Musk,
the world’s richest person and a vocal Trump supporter, predicted on his
social media platform X just before election day that Trump’s policies could
result in Americans experiencing a “temporary hardship” for “long-term
prosperity.”
The National
Retail Federation has
also advised Americans to brace themselves for the impact of tariffs. “It will
drive inflation and price increases and will result in job losses,” the trade
association’s CEO said last week.
American
consumers could lose between $46 billion and $78 billion in spending power each
year if the president-elect’s proposals are implemented and prices of everyday
items could skyrocket — a $40 toaster would cost between $48 and $52 under
these policies — an NRF study found.
However,
Burgess remained somewhat hopeful, noting the similarities between Trump’s
post-election boom and Hoover’s may not be predictive. He charted the first few
days of the market after election day 2024 and election day 1928.
“A
primitive overlay chart is no kind of evidence that the stock market is
destined for a crash like 1929. The point is that the post-election rally
doesn’t prove anything either way,” he wrote.
Analysts say there has been one other post-election stock rally similar to Trump’s - it was in 1928
Finally, in other (bad) news, can’t anyone build cars that work, that people want and at a price buyers can afford?.
Audi abandons quest for investor to take over
Brussels plant
13 November 2024
Upmarket German carmaker Audi on Tuesday
abandoned attempts to find an investor for its plant in Brussels, which it
plans to shut down in February amid major cutbacks in its parent company, the
Volkswagen Group.
"The potential investor from the
utility vehicle sector has withdrawn its indication of interest," Audi
said from its Ingolstadt headquarters in Bavaria.
"There is no potential investor for
the production site, and so the active search for an investor has been
concluded," it said.
Audi has been negotiating with the works
council and trade unions for the past four months on a social plan for the
plant's 3,000 workers. No one is to be let go up to the end of the year.
Audi is also talking to the overall works
council in Ingolstadt on how to avoid compulsory redundancies at its German
plants.
The Brussels plant assembles a single Audi
model, the electric SUV Q8 e-tron, sales of which are in decline.
The plant has high logistics costs, as
there are few suppliers in the vicinity. Its location near a residential area,
railway lines and a motorway make expansion difficult and no alternative use
for the site has been found.
Audi abandons quest for investor to take over Brussels plant
Ford reduces working hours at German electric car
manufacturing site
12 November 2024
US vehicle manufacturer Ford is
implementing a reduced work regime in the western German city of Cologne due to
weak demand for electric cars.
"The significantly lower than
expected demand for electric vehicles, specifically in Germany, requires a
temporary adjustment of production volumes at the Cologne Electric Vehicle
Centre," a Ford spokeswoman stated.
The company will apply for short-time
work, a government furlough scheme, whereby workers are sent home by a company
in financial distress, but do not lose their jobs, with the government usually
paying a percentage of their salary.
The short-time work application to the
Federal Employment Agency was due to rapidly deteriorating market conditions
for electric vehicles, the spokeswoman said.
Ford has applied for short-time work for a
total of three weeks. In the Cologne plant, the electric models Explorer and
Capri are produced.
"We are producing more than we can
sell," the local Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper quoted the company as
saying in an internal memo.
Like the entire automotive industry, Ford
is struggling with weak sales in Germany and Europe. Consumer reluctance to
switch to electric cars and the end of government incentives in Germany are
proving challenging for carmakers.
Over the past few years at the Cologne
site, Ford has already cut thousands of jobs. In 2018, the carmaker had nearly
20,000 employees in the city; By this summer, there were only about 13,000
remaining.
Ford reduces working hours at German electric car manufacturing site
German camper van manufacturer Knaus Tabbert
pauses production
13
November 2024
The caravan and camper van manufacturer
Knaus Tabbert is pausing production at its factories in southern Germany and
Hungary.
"The management board decided today
to halt production at the sites in Jandelsbrunn [in Bavaria] and Nagyoroszi,
Hungary, from November 18, 2024 until the end of the year," the German
company announced on Wednesday.
The majority of the company's
approximately 4,000 employees work at the two plants.
The aim is to reduce production volumes
and thus bring levels of stock held by dealers down to an economically
sustainable level, and to reduce the company's own inventories.
The most recent revenue target of €1.3
billion ($1.4 billion) for 2024, which had already been significantly reduced
compared to the beginning of the year, will be missed by a wide margin.
Last year, the company generated revenues
of €1.4 billion. The company has already had to issue two profit warnings this
year. The chairman of the board, Wolfgang Speck, left the motorhome
manufacturer on October 31.
German camper van manufacturer Knaus Tabbert pauses production
US opens probe into 1.4 million Honda vehicles
over engine issues
November 12, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it is opening a probe into 1.4
million Honda vehicles after reports of serious engine issues.
Honda in November 2023 recalled 249,000
vehicles in the United States with a 3.5 liter V6 engine after the Japanese
automaker said a manufacturing defect in the engine crankshaft could cause the
connecting rod bearing to prematurely wear and seize, leading to engine
failure.
The U.S. auto safety agency said it has
173 reports of the issue in various Honda and Acura vehicles from the 2016-2020
model years. NHTSA's probe is to determine the severity of the issue and to
determine if the vehicles not included in the 2023 recall should be covered.
Honda said Monday it was aware of the
probe and "has already been in communication with the agency on this topic
and will continue to cooperate with the NHTSA through the query process."
Honda first opened an investigation into
the issue in 2020 and spent several years investigating before it announced a
recall.
The automaker said last year it had 1,450
warranty claims tied to the recall. Under the recall, dealers are inspecting
the vehicles will repair or replace the engine if needed.
NHTSA said all of the 173 reports
"display failures that have characteristics consistent with those
addressed" in the 2023 recall but are not covered.
The investigation covers 2016-2020 model
year Acura MDX, 2018-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Honda Pilot, 2017-2019 Honda
Ridgeline and 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey vehicles.
US opens probe into 1.4 million Honda vehicles over engine issues
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
The study of economics does not seem to require any specialised
gifts of an unusually high order.
John Maynard Keynes.
Trump's
proposed trade war raises the chances of a US recession to 75%, Wall Street
strategist says
Matthew Fox Nov 11,
2024, 5:26 PM GMT
Peter
Berezin, the chief global strategist for BCA Research, said the chances of a US
recession had jumped since President-elect Donald Trump's win last week.
In
a Friday note, Berezin increased the probability of an economic recession to
75% from 65%, citing the risk of a new trade war under Trump.
"The
prospect of a new trade war more than offsets the other pro-business parts of
Trump's agenda," Berezin said. "With the labor market already
weakening going into the election, the odds of a recession have risen."
On
the campaign trail, Trump proposed implementing universal
tariffs of 10% to 20% on goods imported into the US and a 60% tariff on
goods from China.
Berezin
said those tariffs would likely depress corporate investment and lower real
household disposable income for consumers, which would be an economic double
whammy.
He
cited a study from the Budget Lab at Yale that estimated Trump's proposed
tariffs would reduce real disposable income for the median US household by
$1,900 to $7,600.
Some
have speculated that Trump's tariff proposals are empty threats meant to get
leverage when negotiating with other countries, but Berezin isn't so sure.
"Whether
Trump carries out these threats is open for debate," Berezin said.
"The consensus view among market participants is that, for the most part,
he will not. Once again, I suspect the consensus is too optimistic."
And
while Trump's proposed tax cuts, if passed, could boost the S&P 500's earnings per
share by 4%, that's less than the 5% gain the index saw in the past week,
Berezin said. That suggests those proposed tax cuts are already priced into the
market.
Berezin
also expressed concern about the
surge in interest rates since Trump's election win, saying that
they're at "restrictive levels" that could put downward pressure on
economic growth.
More
Stock-Market
Outlook: Recession Fears Jump on Trump Trade-War Tariffs - Business Insider
Europe
faces a 'full-blown recession' under Trump's tariffs, a major Dutch bank is
warning
12
November 2024
The
eurozone economy faces the possibility of a looming recession as tariffs
promised by President-elect Trump look set to dampen growth, according to analysts
at a Dutch bank.
"A
looming new trade war could push the eurozone economy from sluggish growth into
a full-blown recession," a team including James Knightley, chief
international economist at ING, wrote in a note to clients.
Trump
pledged on the campaign trail to impose a
fresh era of
trade tariffs, building on policies he enacted during his first term as
president.
He
has vowed to impose a 60% tariff on goods imported from China and a 10% blanket
tariff on all other goods entering the US.
While
China was the primary focus of the tariffs the first time around, Europe could
be in the firing line in Trump's second term.
European
Union economic growth is already struggling, and has lagged behind the US in
recent years. The bloc expanded by 0.2% in the most recent quarter, compared to
0.7% growth in the US.
The
US is Europe's largest market for exports, particularly for industries like
automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and luxury goods, so any tariffs could cause
further pain. Germany's
stuttering auto industry, a crucial part of Europe's largest economy, could be
particularly affected.
"The
already struggling German economy, which heavily relies on trade with the US,
would be particularly hard hit by tariffs on European automotive," ING's
analysts wrote in a section of the note titled "Europe's worst economic
nightmare comes true."
Along
with potential tariffs, ING's analysts said the prospect of Trump reducing US
military support for Ukraine could also create a headwind for the European
economy.
"Uncertainty
about Trump's stance on Ukraine and NATO could undermine the recently
stabilized economic confidence indicators across the eurozone," they
wrote.
There
are also worries that if Trump reduces
financial aid to Ukraine, Europe will be forced to allocate more spending to
the conflict.
"Even
though tariffs might not impact Europe until late 2025, the renewed uncertainty
and trade war fears could drive the eurozone economy into recession at the turn
of the year," ING said.
ING's
view was echoed by Nigel Green, CEO of UK-based financial advisory firm deVere
Group.
He
said Europe's economic challenges, including high energy costs, sluggish
economic growth, and geopolitical instability, would only
get worse in the event of a tariff battle with the US.
"A
fresh trade war with the US under Trump's presidency could exacerbate these
problems, destabilizing the region's economy further," Green said.
Europe faces a 'full-blown recession' under Trump's tariffs, a major Dutch bank is warning
AMD
to lay off 4% of workforce, or about 1,000 employees
Published
Wed, Nov 13 20241 2:53 PM EST Updated Wed, Nov 13 2024 1:57 PM EST
AMD said on Wednesday that it
will lay off 4% of its global staff as the longtime computer chipmaker seeks to
gain a stronger foothold in the growing artificial intelligence chip space
dominated by Nvidia.
″As a part of
aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a
number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global
workforce by approximately 4%,” an AMD representative said in a statement. “We
are committed to treating impacted employees with respect and helping them
through this transition.”
AMD
had 26,000 employees at the end of last year, according to a U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission filing.
AMD
is the second-biggest producer of graphics processing units, or GPUs, behind
Nvidia. The company has said AI represents one of its largest growth
opportunities. AMD stock is down 5% in 2024 while Nvidia shares are up 200%,
making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.
AMD
produces powerful AI accelerators for data centers, including
the MI300X, which companies such as Meta and Microsoft purchase as an
alternative to Nvidia-based systems. But Nvidia dominates the market for
powerful AI chips, with over 80% market share, partially because it developed
the core software that AI engineers use to develop programs such as OpenAI’s
ChatGPT.
More
AMD layoffs: Company to cut 4% of workforce, or about 1,000 employees
Post Office will close 115 branches across Britain
and cut hundreds of jobs
12 November 2024
The Post Office will
reportedly close 115 of its branches after they made losses – leaving hundreds
of Brits without jobs.
Talks of the closures come ahead of an
upcoming meeting scheduled by Post Office chairman, Nigel Railton, with both
postmasters and Post Office staff invited to hear of the plans. The move would
be a major hit to the 3,000 staff in the company's head office, as well as
those in 115 city centre Crown Post Offices.
The company is believed to be switching to
a franchise model, whilst keeping the number of postmasters the same. It is not
yet known which branches will be affected. The Post Office earlier said it had
no plans to cut down on its approximately 8,500 branches, which are managed by
independent postmasters and local businesses.
There are also around 2,000 Post Offices
operated by retailers such as WHSmith and the Co-op, and not by Post
Office staff. The company dismissed earlier reports suggesting two-thirds of
postmasters could lose their jobs. The company said that cost savings would be
redirected towards increasing postmasters' pay and investing in automation,
including note counting machines and self-scanning tills, reports The
Sun.
A spokesperson said: "We will set out
a 'New Deal' for postmasters and the future of the Post Office as an
organisation. It will dramatically increase postmasters' share of revenues,
strengthen our branch network and make it work better for local communities,
independent postmasters and our partners who own and operate branches."
Martin Quinn from Campaign for Cash said:
"This is another nail in the coffin for communities who rely on the Post
Office network for access to cash services. The Government must immediately
demand that this closure programme be stopped, and treat the Post Office
network as national infrastructure."
Despite the challenges faced, the
364-year-old establishment, which has been at the heart of UK communities,
continues to operate about 11,500 branches, maintaining its status as the
nation's largest retail network, and remains fully under state ownership.
Whitehall sources have also acknowledged the Post Office's financial strain,
saying that without the annual government subsidy it receives, the institution
would struggle to stay afloat.
Post Office will close 115 branches across Britain and cut hundreds of jobs
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
COVID made Americans drink more. They haven’t stopped since
13 November 2024
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed
that excessive alcohol consumption among Americans has persisted in the years
following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to new data, the
percentage of Americans who consumed alcohol, which had already risen from 2018
to 2020, increased further in 2021 and 2022. Both the total number of alcohol
consumers and the number of people abusing alcohol showed an upward trend. New
research suggests that drinking did not stop as things returned to normal after
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers from the University of Southern
California conducted the population-based study using data from adults 18 years
and older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 2018 to
2022. The National Health Interview Survey is a nationally representative
survey that used complex sampling methods, with more than 24,000 residents of
the United States participating each year. The surveys included questions about
alcohol consumption, socio-economic and demographic factors, and the health status
of the respondents.
The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases
in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths. During the pandemic,
Americans experienced stress, isolation, and uncertainty. "People assumed
this was caused by acute stress, like what we saw with 9/11 and Katrina, and
typically it goes back to normal after these stressful events are over. But
that's not what we're seeing," said Dr. Brian P. Lee, a hepatologist at
the University of Southern California, according to The New York Times. He
noted an enormous surge of patients with alcohol-related problems early in the
pandemic, which has continued. Dr. Lee stated, "Alcohol can be addictive,
and we know that addiction doesn't go away, even if the initial trigger that
started it has gone away."
Rates of heavy drinking and alcohol-related liver
disease had been rising steadily for decades before the COVID-19 pandemic
struck. However, alcohol-related deaths surged in 2020 due to the pandemic. One
study reported a 25 percent increase in alcohol-related deaths in a single year
during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting an "alarming public health
issue," as alcohol is a leading cause of illness and death in the United
States.
More Americans reported heavy or binge drinking in
2021 and 2022, and this trend continued into 2022—three years after the start
of the pandemic, people had not returned to a healthy lifestyle. Researchers
suggested that potential reasons for this sustained increase include the
normalization and adaptation to increased alcohol consumption due to stress
caused by the pandemic and problems with access to medical services.
Dr. Divya Ayyala, whose comments were reported by
CBS News, attributed the initial increase in drinking to social isolation and
lack of access to healthcare during the pandemic, stating, "Originally,
the increase in drinking was due to social isolation, disruption and daily
activity and general lack of accessibility to healthcare and mental healthcare
during a really stressful time." She noted that sustained trends suggest
that either people don't know where to get help or they don't know that they
need help.
Sources: The New York Times, Gazeta.ru, CBS News
COVID made Americans drink more.
They haven’t stopped since
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section. Updates as they get reported.
Exclusive-Chinese
giant CATL pushes beyond batteries into power grids, EV platforms
13
November 2024
NINGDE,
China (Reuters) - Robin Zeng, the billionaire founder of CATL, aims to reinvent
the world’s largest battery maker as a green-energy provider and to slash the
cost of developing electric vehicles, upending the economics of the industry
that has powered its growth.
Zeng
told Reuters in an interview that he expects the business of developing and
managing "zero carbon" electric grids could be "ten times"
larger than supplying electric-vehicle batteries, a market CATL now leads with
a 37% global share. CATL, he said, aims to build independent energy systems big
enough to power a massive data center or even a city.
In a
separate strategic move, CATL plans to offer an off-the-shelf electric-car
platform with a long-range battery integrated into a chassis. Customers could
then launch their own customized EVs by designing only the interior and
exterior. The goal, Zeng said, is to sharply cut EV development costs - to
millions of dollars from billions - and open the industry to new competitors.
Zeng’s
initiatives aim to unlock new growth for his 25-year-old enterprise, which got
its first big break selling lithium-ion batteries for Apple’s iPod before
pivoting to EVs in 2011 with a BMW supply deal.
CATL
sold $40 billion worth of EV batteries last year, up from $33 billion a year
earlier. Hitting Zeng’s goal for electric grids of tenfold revenue growth would
put the battery maker on par with state oil giants Sinopec and PetroChina,
China’s largest companies.
CATL’s
strategic pivots into electric grids and EV platforms have not been previously
reported.
In an
exclusive interview with Reuters on Nov. 7 outside CATL’s headquarters in the
southern Chinese city of Ningde, Zeng also discussed the battery giant’s
readiness to invest in the United States if President-elect Donald Trump opens
the door; the path to profit for its European factories; and why the industry’s
fixation on so-called solid-state batteries as the next big breakthrough is
misplaced.
A
GIANT 'GREEN GRID' MARKET
CATL’s
energy-storage business grew 33% last year, outpacing its EV-battery business.
But Zeng sees a much bigger opportunity for CATL by supplying green-grid
systems including solar and wind power, dedicated storage and a smart system to
draw power from parked EVs.
China
has the world's highest EV-adoption rates; EVs and hybrids have accounted for
more than half of all new cars sold there in recent months.
CATL,
Zeng said, can build a zero-emissions grid big enough to power a massive mining
complex or a city. The firm aims to go well beyond energy-storage and into
power generation, Zeng said.
"That's
huge compared to EVs," he said.
The
grids, and CATL management systems, could serve AI companies scrambling to
secure green energy for data centers. CATL would partner with providers of
solar panels and wind turbines, Zeng said.
"A
lot of the data-center companies are asking me, 'Hey, Robin, can you really do
it 100% green?'" he said, noting they are often "giant"
firms. "They have money, but they don't have the technology."
CATL
plans a pilot project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with CMOC Group,
the Chinese mining company in which it holds a stake. The company is also
working with Hainan, an island province off China's southern coast, on a
larger, longer-term project that would combine energy storage with solar and
offshore wind turbines.
More
Exclusive-Chinese
giant CATL pushes beyond batteries into power grids, EV platforms
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt
Clocks (usdebtclock.org)
If
economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent
people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.
John
Maynard Keynes.
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