David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
Category - Technology

    After underperforming the stock market for years, alternative energy is red hot

    This article by Debbie Carlson for Market Watch may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    Energy-market watchers say what makes today different than 10 years ago, when interest in clean tech also was hot, is that these power sources are now economically viable as subsidies fall away.

    Peter McNally, global lead for industrials, materials and energy at research firm Third Bridge, says aggressive investment by utilities in renewable energy has lowered the cost of clean tech and showed it was viable at scale. Just as utilities invested in natural gas 20 years ago at the expense of coal, they are now doing the same with alternative energy.

    "Clean-tech businesses are starting to stand on their own, and I think they got a big boost from the utilities," he says.

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    Email of the day on palladium's outperformance

    Dear Eoin, many thanks for the excellent commentary on these "interesting times"! is there a reason why Palladium seems to be trading better than Gold or Silver at the moment? Many thanks, A

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    Fed Officials Warn of Economic Risks in New Plea for Fiscal Help

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

    Federal Reserve policy makers on Wednesday highlighted the importance of fiscal stimulus for an economic recovery that recently has outperformed forecasts. Chairman Jerome Powell continued to wave the fiscal flag carefully at a congressional hearing -- amid a political stalemate over a new package -- saying that more support was likely to be necessary. Others were more full-throated, with Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester saying it was very much needed given the “deep hole” the economy is climbing out of.

    Chicago Fed President Charles Evans expressed concern the stimulus he penciled in won’t be forthcoming, while Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren suggested it’ll take another wave of infections to prompt action, and likely not until next year.

    Declines in the stock market, until recently attributed to a reversal of excessive tech-share gains, have increasingly been attributed in part to worries about the recovery and the need for more stimulus. The S&P 500 Index was down 1.7% as of 2:22 p.m. in New York, the fifth drop in six days.

    “The most difficult part of the recovery is still ahead of us,” Rosengren said in remarks Wednesday, saying he was more pessimistic than his colleagues over how many Americans will return to work over the next 15 months.

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    Tesla unveils battery puzzle pieces of smart material science, design, and manufacturing innovation

    This article by Fred Lambert may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    “Over the last few years, Tesla has been making a lot of moves related to batteries.

    We are talking about buying companies like Maxwell and Hibar, and applying for patents on new technology, like a tabless battery cell and a cell to pack design.

    While all these moves were mostly evaluated on their own merits, it wasn’t clear how all those things would fit together.

    That’s exactly what Tesla demonstrated at its Battery Day.

    Tesla explained how they have made major improvements in five key aspects of batteries:

    Cell design, specifically form factor.
    Battery cell factory design with manufacturing innovations
    New anode materials
    New cathode materials
    New battery pack design

    And then, by combining all these things together, Tesla achieves a battery cost breakthrough with a 56% reduction in cost per kWh:

    What is most impressive is how all those innovations work together. Each result in an incremental improvement to battery technology, but if you combine them together, you get breakthrough-level performance and cost:

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    Australia Unemployment Drops as Half of Jobs Lost Recovered

    This article by Michael Heath may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    The data’s strength was surprising because the period spanned Melbourne’s shift to Stage 4 restrictions and a curfew to contain a rapidly spreading outbreak, as well as nervousness in neighboring New South Wales that it was headed down the same path. The labor market’s ability to absorb this weakness and maintain its recovery is testament to the government’s signature JobKeeper employment subsidy -- that will extend into 2021 -- and central bank stimulus.

    Self-employed workers drove the monthly jobs increase. As part-time jobs returned at twice the pace of full-time, the ubiquitous food delivery services, with its riders pedaling the streets of Australia’s cities, are expected to be responsible for much of this rise.

    “The upshot is that the unemployment rate is now unlikely to climb to 8.5% over the coming months as we had anticipated, let alone the 10% predicted by the RBA and the Treasury,” said Marcel Thieliant, senior economist for Australia at Capital Economics. “Indeed, with restrictions in Victoria set to be loosened toward year-end, employment should continue to rise.”

    The Reserve Bank of Australia, which has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero since March, when it began buying government bonds to ensure the yield on three-year remained around 0.25%, had predicted the jobless rate would climb to around 10% later this year.

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    12 frightful slides before Halloween: Stocks boil and bubble, investors toil and trouble

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Stifel which contains a number of insightful charts and may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Industrials Conference: Strategy Sector Views + Analyst Stock Picks

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Morgan Stanley which may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Gilead and Merck's Billion Dollar Bets Face Tests as Ink Dries

    This article by Bailey Lipschultz for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    The European Society for Medical Oncology meeting, which begins this week, will be headlined by results from Immunomedics Inc. -- which Gilead is buying for about $21 billion; and Seattle Genetics Inc., which drew more than $1 billion dollars in an investment and partnership from Merck.

    The meeting will offer investors a peek into the blockbuster hopes for Immunomedics’ lead cancer drug and provide Merck holders added details on the effectiveness of a cancer drug the company has signed on to help bring it to patients.

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    ARM: UK-based chip designer sold to US firm Nvidia

    This article by Leo Kelion for the BBC may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:  

    But experts say one risk Nvidia faces is that the takeover could encourage ARM's wider client list to shift focus to a rival type of chip technology, which lags behind in terms of adoption but has the benefit of not being controlled by one company.

    "ARM is facing growing competition from RISC-V, an open-source architecture," wrote CCS Insight's Geoff Blaber in a recent research note.

    "If its partners believed that ARM's integrity and independence was compromised, it would accelerate the growth of RISC-V and in the process devalue ARM."

    Mr Blaber also suggested regulators might block the deal.

    "This process will take months if not years with a high chance of failure," he told the BBC.

    Mr Huang has said that he expects it to take more than a year to "educate" regulators and answer all their questions, but said he had "every confidence" they would ultimately approve the investment.

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