Cobalt is a critical mineral used in numerous commercial, industrial, and military applications.
In recent years, it has gained attention as it is also necessary for batteries used in cell phones, laptops, and electric vehicles (EVs). This graphic by Elements / Visual Capitalist illustrates estimated cobalt production by country in 2023 in metric tons. The data is from the most recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries, published in January 2024.
Productivity rules
Source: Eric Parker on X
Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund on Wednesday posted first-half profit of 1.48 trillion kroner ($138 billion)
It has been primarily driven by robust returns on its investments in technology stocks. The so-called Government Pension Fund Global — the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund — said it had a value of 17.75 trillion kroner at the end of June. The fund’s overall return for the six-month period was 8.6%, which was 0.04 percentage points lower than the return on its benchmark index. “The result was mainly driven by the technology stocks, due to increased demand for new solutions in artificial intelligence,” CEO Tangen said in a statement. Source: CNBC
BREAKING: For those who were off the last 2 weeks, nothing happened: the $VIX is back to where it was on August 1...
Source: Stocktwits, Bloomberg
Global debt has officially reached $315 trillion
Source: IIF Global Debt
BREAKING: US crude oil production has officially hit a record 13.4 million barrels per day.
Daily oil production has increased by 22% over the last 4 years. Since 2008, production has skyrocketed 350% from ~3.8 million barrels per day. The US is now the world’s largest oil producer exceeding Russia's output by ~35% and Saudi Arabia by ~38%. The US is dominating global oil production. Source: The Kobeissi Letter, The Daily Shot
Torsten from Apollo: the reality is that firms on earnings calls talk less and less about recession
Source: Mike Z.
US July CPI inflation expectations:
1. Kalshi: 2.9% 2. TD Securities: 2.9% 3. UBS: 2.9% 4. Goldman Sachs: 2.9% 5. Citigroup: 3.0% 6. Morgan Stanley: 3.0% 7. Bank of America: 3.0% 8. Barclays: 3.0% The median July CPI expectation shows headline inflation at 3.0% and Core CPI inflation at 3.2%. If today CPI inflation comes in at 2.9% or lower, it will mark the first month with inflation under 3.0% since March 2021. Today's CPI report could solidify a hashtag#fed September rate cut. Source: The Kobeissi Letter
