I've been bullish on rareearth mining and processing companies for a while. This is just what companies like $MP Materials Corp.(MP)$ and $LYNAS RARE EARTHS LTD(LYC.AU)$.AX need to have a fighting chance against China's stranglehold on the RE market. Still, their capacities are nowhere close what China can - and does - supply to the West. This is a long-term story that everyone needs to pay attention to. US aiming to secure supply chain for rare earth-derived products could cause China to act sooner in playing its RE advantage.https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1790680587541598667

There's little logic in the move to tax or/and ban Chinese EV brands from Western markets. It would make sense if these were the largest markets for EVs. They simply aren't. China accounted for 60% of global EV sales in 2023. By 1Q24, it accounted for 70% of the global EV sales. No other market comes close.China is also growing faster than the global market, registering a 31% YoY 1Q24 growth vs. 21% global. In fact, US & Canada markets only grew 13%, while European markets grew a measly 7%.Why risk getting shut out of the world's largest EV market in the hopes of protecting uncompetitive and unprogressive firms? It will only breed inefficiency and hasten their decay. If this is a negotiating tactic, it's not well thought out. There's no position of strength. And it risks widening the t

I've been saying US consumers will need to forget the good ol' days of 2% or less inflation. They're not coming back - at least not in any sustainable fashion. The cost (and sins) of years of QE, binging on debt, and an overextended military have permanently eroded the purchasing power of the almighty US$. It's one key reason #gold $Gold - main 2406(GCmain)$ is doing so well. - Consumers are getting frustrated with stalling inflationSo true. The days of your dollar today buying the same goods next year and the year after... is OVER. Time to join the rest of the world in a more realistic expectation of inflation. And that's going to have a significant impact on the way people spend and invest their money going forward.

Talk about a red-hot market. China's overall car sales are up 7% YoY in March alone, with NEV sales +28 to nearly 700k units. Real estate might be sluggish but the consumer is alive and strong - and just waiting for better deals & more interesting models. $BYD Co., Ltd.(BYDDF)$ $BYD COMPANY(01211)$ $GEELY AUTO(00175)$ $Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.(GELYY)$ $NIO Inc.(NIO)$ $NIO Inc.(NIO.SI)$ $NIO-SW(09866)$ $XPeng Inc.(XPEV)$

SE $Sea Ltd(SE)$ 4Q23 results beat on rev and EPS. Nothing that exciting from the company. But no nasty surprises either. Shopee getting entrenched throughout Southeast Asia, Sea Money turning profitable & expanding, plus Garena halting the slide in its overall metrics. Cash position back up to $8bn.https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1764686487876964853

$Apple(AAPL)$ decision to scuttle EV ambitions is the right move.Tim Cook has been to China many times and knows the kind of competition his company will face apart from $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ .He also knows the industry can go through price wars even Tesla is not immune to. Apple doesn’t do price wars. He probably also knows that if you aren’t capable or don’t have a plan to beat Tesla, there’s no point wasting billions trying. The money is better spent on products within Apple’s core competence. I’m just not sure they’re there yet with Vision Pro.https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1762874257351254027

Regardless of this outcome, the outlook for AI-driven semiconductor growth will be bright. And there will be many more ways to play this beyond $NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$ . - Nvidia’s Q4 earnings will be a referendum on the AI trade as revenue expected to jump 265%https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1760293624175071719

$Apple(AAPL)$ ’s China sales crater 13% to $20.8B in 1QFY24 despite a 1.2% YoY growth in smartphone shipments in the country during the same period.Chinese consumers starting to tune out Apple products in favor of local brands Huawei, $XIAOMI-W(01810)$ $Xiaomi Corp.(XIACY)$ and Vivo. Xiaomi looks to be the biggest market share winner taking 12.9% by Dec (up from 8.5% in Sept).https://twitter.com/BrianTycangco/status/1753215838520590604