David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
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    Thanks to a subscriber for this thought-provoking article by Charles Gave. Here is an English translation:

    What are these risks?

    There is one and only one: that the dividends paid by the companies that make up the S&P 500 index do not collapse, as happened from 1929 to 1934.

    And so, for those who think that capitalism is finally going to experience its great final crisis, it is better to have gold.

    But in the event that this dear system of exploitation of man by man were to survive as it has always done throughout history, well, I could live to be two hundred years old without any problem, my capital remaining mine.

    Which is not nothing.

    But the value of my capital can vary very greatly, which I don't care about as only the dividend payments matter to me.

    Today, transforming my gold into shares is almost indifferent to me.

    Let's imagine that in the coming months, the stock market falls by 50%, that gold stays where it is, that the yield therefore increases from 1.7% to 3.4% and that the ratio goes from 1 to 1.5.

    At that point, I can sell half of my gold and buy the equivalent in shares, which allows me to double my annual income.

    If the ratio passes, after a fall in gold from 1 to 0.5, on the other hand, I must sell my shares to buy gold.

    And this is undoubtedly why the ratio has oscillated between 1.5 and 0.5 for a century and a half.

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    Morgan Stanley Sees Dojo Boosting Tesla's Value by $500 Billion

    Morgan Stanley Sees Dojo Boosting Tesla’s Value by $500 Billion 

    The supercomputer, designed to handle massive amounts of data in training driving systems, may put Tesla at “an asymmetric advantage” in a market potentially worth $10 trillion, said Jonas, and could make software and services the biggest value driver for Tesla from here onward. 

    The next version of Tesla’s full self-driving system, expected by year-end, and the company’s potential Artificial Intelligence Day in 2024 are worth watching, he added. Tesla has not formally announced an AI Day for next year. 

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    Huawei Debuts Even More Powerful Phone as Controversy Swirls

    This article may be of interest. Here is a section:

    The Pro+ similarly emerged without the typical marketing and fanfare surrounding a major product launch. A brief teaser video posted to Huawei’s Weibo account showcased a device very similar to its lesser cousin, with the same outsized back-camera array.

    The new devices have spurred an outpouring of nationalist sentiment on Chinese social media and were picked up by domestic news outlets that touted Huawei’s advances as a victory against sanctions.

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    Spiraling Offshore Wind Costs Show Limits of Biden Inflation Act

    This article may also be of interest. Here is a section:

    Orsted’s warnings are the most concrete example yet of the limits of the IRA, which was hailed as a key driver for America’s nascent offshore wind industry. While the law provides at least $370 billion in grants, tax credits and other incentives for climate and clean energy projects, that’s proving no match for rising inflation and borrowing costs. And by dangling higher incentives for companies sourcing US-made parts, it’s fueling demand before the domestic supply chain catches up, driving prices higher still.

    “The irony here is that the Inflation Reduction Act probably has had some part in stoking inflation for some of the green goods that it intends to encourage,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners LLC. The IRA is already spurring construction of new US factories to manufacture critical clean-energy gear, but that’s lagging behind renewable project development, exacerbating the issue in the short term. “It takes a long time to stand up a factory. It takes a long time to replace a foreign-sourced supply chain.”

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    Illumina Names Thaysen CEO After deSouza's Abrupt Departure

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Thaysen will need to decide how to proceed with Grail, a company Illumina acquired in 2021 that sells a blood test to identify dozens of types of cancer at earlier stages than typically diagnosed. Antitrust regulators in the US and Europe are trying to unwind the deal, which Illumina has vowed to defend despite steep costs, including a nearly $500 million fine in Europe. 

    Meanwhile, Illumina’s DNA-sequencing business faces more competition than ever. The company started shipping its latest machine earlier this year to help maintain its hold on the market. That investment has in part crimped profitability, something Illumina pledged to fix during its proxy fight with Icahn.  

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    Apple Falls on Report That China Agencies Are Barring iPhone

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    China also was one of the highlights of Apple’s results last quarter, helping offset a generally sluggish period. The company is preparing to unveil its latest iPhones next week, setting the stage for a holiday quarter that is invariably its biggest sales period of the year. 

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    Huawei Chip Shows US Curbs Are Porous, Not Useless

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section:

    It’s highly unlikely Chinese chipmakers can squeeze more out of old tools to get them beyond 5nm, which means they’ll be stuck while foreign rivals continue to advance. And if they do make further breakthroughs, the US and its allies have plenty of ways to tighten up their curbs, including broadening the scope of the equipment ban and adding materials to the list. 

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    Colin Huang Adds $4.5 Billion in Wealth as PDD Shares Surge

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest.

    PDD in recent years has used promotions to grab market share from more established Chinese rivals including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. In an attempt to replicate that success abroad, it created Temu, which was introduced with much fanfare during this year’s Super Bowl.

    Since it launched last year, Temu has exploded into one of the top US apps, targeting cash-strapped Americans with cheap unbranded products shipped directly from Guangzhou, China. In just seven months, the app has been downloaded 50 million times.

    The roll-out hasn’t been without hiccups. Temu is burning through money and squeezing its suppliers in a bid to take on Amazon.com Inc. It’s also involved in lawsuits with rival Shein over antitrust matters.

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    What's Driving the Coups Across Sub-Saharan Africa?

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section:

    3. Why has West Africa been so prone to coups?
    The events in Niger followed two coups each in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso and another in nearby Guinea. The leader of Sudan in the eastern Sahel was overthrown in 2021, the same year Chad’s military replaced its late president with his son, an army general. All these takeovers have been rooted in economic malaise and weak governance that have fed frustration among civilians and — in West Africa in particular — the spread of extremist violence. However, despite claims by the new strongmen that they are tackling insecurity, the number of people killed in the Sahel region surged in the first half of the year.  

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