Value Drift

equities are living in fantasy land

The UAE has reaffirmed its $1.4 trillion U.S. investment pledge, amid Iran conflict. Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said deployment and funding plans will continue without disruption, adding that the country’s infrastructure and public finances remain strong.

People haven't wrapped their heads around how much the politics of renewables have been altered by the fact that Texas is kicking everyone's ass in building solar, wind, and batteries. Greg Abbot sounds woke when he talks energy now. That's a preview of what's coming nationally.

I live in Eindhoven, ASML town. Heard this from folks inside... Over the years ASML promoted a lot of strong EUV people into architect roles, group leads, management tracks. Built up serious layers. Classic growth pain. Then McKinsey comes in , says cut the management layers to speed things up. So now those same high performers, real good EUV experts, who got promoted are the ones on the block. About 3400 roles targeted, mostly management. Half will be reassigned, rest gone. Big hit in Veldhoven/Eindhoven area (~1400), some in US. Unncertainty is high, unions talking, details probably land around April. At the same time, ASML is still planning massive growth. The new campus near the airport just got final green light from city council. Construction starts soon, phased build-out. Long term they talk ~20,000 new jobs in the region (first wave ~5k by 2028). And the layoff packages are subpar. Philips is also based in the same town. And they had layoffs due to serious financial issues last year. Their layoff packages were much better than what ASML is offering. What a way to kill tje company culture. Especially at a time when the company is printing money.

IEA Urges Work-From-Home Measures as a Way to Mitigate Oil Price Pressure on Consumers

Every 1 million tonnes of lost urea production in the world in 2026 reduces grain production by 7-8 million tonnes. A sobering thought.

Victor Gao mocks the self-arrogant westnoids, powerfully: 🔻The British said China is their adversary. Victor Gao: "We're even preparing to send astronauts to the moon; we have no time to compete with you." 🔻There's a small European country Lithuania keeps saying China is its adversary. Victor Gao: "Give it a rest! China's not its adversary at all. We're thinking about the universe and sea."

Everyone on this plane watched dumb movies like a dumb goy while I sat here and read the first chapter of this book and looked at the flight path. It was a 4 hour flight.