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Is Copper the next lithium?

May 19, 2023

The Night Witches were an all-female Soviet Air Force regiment, who flew daring night bombing missions against the German forces. They flew in outdated, plywood biplanes called Polikarpov Po-2s, which were slow and vulnerable to enemy fire. Under the cover of darkness, the Night Witches would switch off their engines and glide silently towards their targets, dropping bombs on German positions. Despite the odds, they flew over 23,000 missions and dropped over 3,000 tons of bombs during the war. Germans named them Nachthexen or Night Witches.

Alright, so today we’ve got:

  • Student debt discussions escalate with a new proposal rule.

  • 67 million airbags could be recalled

  • Gold producer bets on Copper.

    Let’s do a scan.

The Big Picture

On Wednesday, the Biden administration proposed what is called the gainful employment rule. Essentially, it is supposed to hold private colleges accountable for student income outcomes.

Source: US Federal Reserve Data

Annual debt payments from private colleges will be no higher than 8% of their yearly earnings. The administration defines this as 150% above the poverty line. The rule also requires half the college grads to have salaries higher than a high school grad without higher education.

“We need to hold colleges accountable for unaffordable costs and better protect students from programs that fail to deliver real value and upward mobility" stated Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Student debt has been a hot topic recently with colleges that collect federal funds but leave students with debt, are now under the microscope. Students might receive debt forgiveness from colleges that provided fraudulent claims about job prospects.

Sector Sweep

Tech

  • Apple is expected to launch ‘mixed reality’ based VR headsets that would look like ski goggles.

  • Twitter sent a letter to Microsoft alleging they used Twitter API to illegally train data. Some of the use cases are in Bing and Open AI Chat GPT.

  • With the incoming crypto-mining tax by the Biden administration, Bit Digital is looking to mine Bitcoin in Iceland to manage regulatory risks and step away from the US if needed.

  • META gave researchers its AI software to test. The code got leaked on open-source platforms leading to homegrown tools propping up which attempt to rival ChatGPT.

Automotive

  • 67 million airbags are expected to be recalled by NHTSA, which might affect companies like GM, Volkswagen, and Hyundai Motors.

Geopolitics

  • Biden administration released a new set of sanctions on Russia, including goods and services like diamonds and semiconductors.

Food

  • There is growing research that processed meats like sliced ham, bacon and sausage are risk factors for heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Natural Resources

  • Gold producer Newmont has agreed to acquire Australian Newcrest mining, which works on copper. Electric vehicles and wind farms are expected to utilize copper much more as the world de-carbonizes.

Finance bro term of the day: Tax deferred.

Tax deferred status means holding interest, dividend and capital gains until receipt or until retirement. This is because tax payment of gains post retirement is much lower as they are not subject to premature tax penalties.

That’s all for today, folks. Watch out for our weekly email about stock deep dives and personal finance strategies this Saturday.

BTW, do tell us how we did. Just hit us with a reply.

Cheers!

Memetic Universe

Only if I closed my eyes, bad stuff goes away

Boomer investor who has seen 4 recessions and hears about a meme coin everyone is buying.