The COVID-19 pandemic triggered massive panic selling from February through March, killing the oldest bull market in stocks, while the economy collapsed into a deep recession. Quick and decisive action by the Fed to lower interest rates and inject the market with more cash as well as provide a huge...
Real estate thought it was going to breeze through the pandemic while it watched travel, retail and service industries plunge into COVID uncertainty, and while the industry isn’t crumbling, a visible slowdown will have to prompt change. The Spring 2020 real estate shopping season was pretty much a wash. Newly...
Every once in a while, word gets out about a looming shortage of a certain--usually niche--commodity. Natural resource companies, both large and small, then quickly “pivot” to said commodity, and the next thing you know a surge of investment interest and, frequently, commodity bubbles quickly follow. It’s a script that...
The design of the Tesla Cybertruck generated a wide range of reactions when it was first unveiled in November 2019. These reactions were mixed, with some people enthusiastic about its futuristic, angular, and unconventional appearance, while others expressed skepticism or disappointment. Here are some of the key mixed reactions...
Since the dawn of civilization, humans have used the science of biotechnology extensively in the food industry, especially in fermentation techniques for brewing and cheese-making. But what began as recipes for food production has evolved into technologies to enhance everything from farming to pharmaceuticals, with modern biotechnology largely dealing...
Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially cleared blockchain startup Blockstack to hold the first regulated security token offering (STO) under Reg A+ crowdfunding rules. This essentially means that Blockstack received regulatory approval to raise funds by selling Bitcoin-like, digital assets to the public. Just a day later,...
The End of Just-In-Time Manufacturing as we Know It Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s by Toyota. The approach was developed as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which aimed to minimize waste and improve efficiency in manufacturing processes.  The concept of JIT revolves around producing...
Phase Two of the $700B electric vehicle boom—the electric boat rush—is becoming just as crowded as its four-wheeled predecessor, with so many start-ups dotting this landscape it’s dizzying.  Loads of debt, problems getting into production, far-off delivery dates that make revenues a thing of the distant future—if at all—and failures-to-deliver...
A historical event without precedent in living memory, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the commodity markets, including metals and mining, in a variety of ways with many miners experiencing the downside of relying on global supply chains, specialization and ultra-lean operations.  Many mining operations have been disrupted through government-mandated shutdowns...
As global automakers transition to manufacturing Electric Vehicles (EVs), it’s critically important that the raw materials are available in the supply chain to ensure battery quality and availability.  Lithium is a critical component in the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and therefore, it is essential for the growth of...