#27 - Pick Your Own Carrots

Author

Graham Schroeder
October 11, 2024

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Your home base for investing, finance, personal growth.

This week brought a mining acquisition, Tesla Cybercab reveal, and why you should embrace action over assumption.

Market Recap

  • Rio Tinto to Acquire Arcadium Lithium ($ALTM) for $6.7 Billion

    • Rio Tinto has agreed to acquiring Arcadium Lithium marks a significant expansion into lithium, a critical material for electric vehicles and energy storage. The acquisition price represents a 90% premium on Arcadium's recent stock value.

    • The deal comes as lithium prices have dropped significantly from their peak, positioning Rio Tinto for counter-cyclical growth. The acquisition provides the company with mining operations in Argentina and Australia, along with processing facilities in multiple countries, circumventing past setbacks in developing lithium projects independently.

    • Lithium investment is currently navigating a challenging landscape. Prices have fallen over 80% from their highs due to an oversupply and slowing demand in key electric vehicle markets. Long-term outlook for lithium remains strong, due to the global push towards decarbonization and EV adoption, investors are cautious given the market's volatility.

  • Tesla Reveals Robotaxi

    • Tesla introduced the Cybercab, a smaller and more streamlined version of the Cybertruck, at the "We, Robot" event, revealing plans to sell it for under $30,000.

    • The Cybercab aims to function as a low-cost autonomous ride-hailing vehicle, with an estimated operating cost of $0.20 per mile, and Tesla plans to begin production by 2026​.

    • The vehicles will feature inductive charging, and while they target Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities, there are still regulatory challenges to overcome before full self-driving can be realized.

  • Project Skydrop Winner Misses Out on Bitcoin Prize

    • Project Skydrop is a real-life treasure hunt created by game designer Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey. The hunt involves finding a hidden treasure made of 10 ounces of 24-karat gold, valued at around $26,000.

    • Although the first-place hunter uncovered the gold statuette, they did not follow the rule requiring a video recording of the discovery to claim the additional Bitcoin bounty worth $87,000. As a result, the cryptocurrency prize remains unclaimed, and a second-place hunt continues.

    • HBO Max released a new Bitcoin documentary on Tuesday night called Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. Completely unrelated to Project Skydrop the documentary goes through the origins of Bitcoin and some of its early contributors.

More From Last Week

Last week we dove into political rhetoric vs economic reality. This week there was more Federal budget data projecting that both Kamala Harris's and Donald Trump's proposed spending plans and tax policies would significantly add to the federal debt. Harris's agenda includes new spending programs that lack offsetting revenue sources, while Trump's plans for large tax cuts, including making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, would reduce government revenue without addressing the growing cost programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

This is just another reminder that regardless of what political party is in charge they will continue to build our nations debt and devalue our dollar. Focus on watering your own grass. Keep yourself out of consumer debt and keep stacking assets and investing any extra money you can. Otherwise risk being left in the dust from where our economy is heading.

The 32,481% Boom: First Disruption to $martphones in 15 Years

Mode saw 32,481% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, ranking them the #1 overall software company, on this year's Deloitte 500 fastest-growing companies list. Mode is on a mission to disrupt the entire industry with their “EarnPhone”, a budget smartphone that’s helped consumers earn and save $325M for activities like listening to music, playing games, and… even charging their devices?!

Mode has over $60M in revenue - this is your chance to invest in a $1T+ market opportunity!

This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile Reg A offering. Please read the offering statement at https://invest.modemobile.com/.

Freedom Fund Portfolio

Freedom Fund Background: I created the Freedom Fund as a public brokerage account back in October of 2022 to share that anyone with a social security # and a bank account can begin their investing journey by investing a couple hundred dollars a week. Every week and month I post on X (@GrahamInvesting) public updates about the purchases, exits, dividends, and growth of the fund if you want to follow in real time. The biggest obstacle people have to investing is just getting started so I decided to start a new account at $0 to start from nothing with you.

Quote of the Week

In investing, personal growth, and life, the wisdom behind "supposing is good, but finding out is better" serves as a reminder to embrace action over assumption. In the world of investing, we can speculate about market trends or potential stock performance, but true progress comes from digging deep, doing the research, and understanding the facts behind a company's value. The same applies to personal growth. Guessing at what might bring fulfillment or success will only give us minor insight. The consistent pursuit of experiences, learning, and real-life feedback is what shapes our path.

In life, we often find ourselves making decisions based on what we think will happen, but it’s when we step beyond the “what-ifs” and test our thinking in the real world that allow us to discover our true potential and build resilience. Commit to a mindset of curiosity and evidence, where we don’t just wonder about possibilities. It’s easy to rely on others or wait for things to come your way, real satisfaction comes from actively engaging in the process and working for what you want.

The purpose of this newsletter is to encourage you and our other 77 Gazette subscribers to start and stay consistent with your personal, professional, and financial journey.

Thanks for investing your time reading this.

Disclaimer: Graham’s Gazette provides information and resources related to investing, financial topics, and personal growth for educational and entertainment purposes only. The content presented is not intended to be construed as financial advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with qualified professionals before making any financial decisions. Graham’s Gazette and its creators do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information provided nor do they guarantee any specific results from such use of information.