Fast And Furious -- Fifteen Minutes -- October 1, 2020

GM:

• I was wrong. GM may be looking to take a bigger stake in Nikola. GM must have liked the video.
• why Nikola stock surges yesterday; The Motley Fool;
• GM-Nikola deal didn't close yesterday: GM might demand a bigger stake; link to Barron's; behind a firewall yesterday; not today; maybe because I'm using a different IP address?

Investing:

• stocks finish second straight quarter of big gains; link to The WSJ;
  

OPEC:

• in turmoil: getting worse as oil outlook worsens; link to Irina Slave;
• Saudi Arabia hit hard; link to Tsvetana Paraskova;
• Venezuela: see oil revenue drop 99%; link to Michael Kern;
• from $60 billion in 2013 to $0.5 billion in 2020

Job cuts:

• Disneyland went first; now the airlines: AA, UAL to cut 32,000 jobs; DC slow to provide relief;

Books:

• The Jefferson Bible review. I bought a copy of The Jefferson Bible years ago; not impressed. Don't know if I still have it or not; I've given most of my library away

Twin #2; grandson #2

Music:

• the making of Queen's "We Will Rock You"; link to The WSJ;

Lithium:

• one will start seeing a lot of stories on lithium; shortages, high prices, etc. But one thing remains: at the end of the day there will be a surplus of lithium. It may be expensive until supply and demand even out, but there won't be any shortage.
• major supply shortage; link to Tsvetana Paraskova;
• lithium recovery from oil and gas produced after (including the Bakken); link here to ACS Energy Letters;
• shale boom could fuel batteries; link to Earth: The Science Behind the Headlines;
• lithium: world class deposit, link to investingnews;
• see graphic below
  

Covid-19: best source for data, down to the county level.

• Cass County;
• Williams County;

Covid-19:

• insurers reducing coverage for telemedicine visits; link to The WSJ;
• why hospitals can't handle Covid surges; link to The WSJ;
• DOJ opens ventilator antitrust probe focused on Medtronic; link to The WSJ;

Divergent views:

• COP: oil demand will return and grow; link to Julianne Geiger;
• biofuels disappoint: link to story on Bayer at The WSJ;

Global economy / US dollar:

• a record level of global currency reserves -- $12.031 trillion; link to alKhaleej Today;

Later: how 'bout that lithium?