Bluesky: An Echo Chamber -- November 23, 2024

Locator: 44399ECHO.

Link here.

Tweeters, members in millions:

• X, Elon Musk: 600
• Threads, META: 275
• Bluesky: 22 (up from 13 million two weeks ago)

Bluesky is an echo chamber. But give the conservative base a chance to catch up. LOL.

• I'm on both.

• haven't seen any difference regarding how the each site works;
• superficially they seem identical
• it appears contributors cannot block readers or replies; we'll see;
• no proof of identity required ... yet
• but it appears they have quickly turned into
• Bluesky: liberals, progressives, unhinged
• Twitters: free-for-all but where conservatives will be found
• Bjorn Lomborg has not yet migrated to Bluesky; DeSmong News has (migrated to Bluesky)
• but, like me, DeSmog is still on Bluesky
• it appears Carl Q (CNBC) has quit twitter completely
• others who have not migrated to Bluesky: gas buddy, AOC.
  
• check out Bjorn Lomborg on Bluesky.
• it will be fascinating to see if Carl Q goes back to tweeting; otherwise he fades away. 
• Bluesky: Barron's  here.

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Price Gouging

Both Target and Albertson's / Tom Thumb three minutes away from where we live; across the street from each other. 

Fage yogurt, individual servings:

• Target, marketed as on sale, 20% off, at checkout: $1.49
• Albertson's / Tom Thumb: $1.00

One dozen eggs:

• Target: $3.79
• Albertson's / Tom Thumb: $1.79

GM -- EV Batteries -- November 23, 2024

Locator: 44398BATTERIES.

November 23, 2024: link here.

From the linked article:

General Motors cut its stake in a maker of rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.

GM Ventures, a unit of GM’s General Motors Holdings subsidiary, sold 13.3 million shares of SES AI on November 15, 2024, for $2.7 million, an average of 20 cents per share.

GM Ventures now owns 9.8 million shares, according to a form GM Holdings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Coupled with GM Holdings stake of 9.9 million SES AI shares, GM now has overall ownership of 19.7 million SES AI shares, a stake of 6.2%.

Of the SES AI shares owned by GM, 2.1 million shares held by GM Ventures and 836,826 shares held by GM Holdings are restricted earnout shares that GM has the right to acquire upon achieving certain stock-price performance targets.

In response to a request for comment, GM provided this statement: “GM Ventures is beginning the process of reducing its investment position in SES following a fruitful multiyear collaboration that includes the company’s public listing, and the completion of our joint-development research. These actions are consistent with GM Ventures practice after a portfolio company’s successful listing.”

Much more at the link.

EV Batteries -- More Confusing Than Ever -- Now It's All About "Volts" -- November 23, 2024

Locator: 44397BATTERIES.

Updates

November 23, 2024: link here. Also here.

November 23, 2024: beyond confusing.

November 23, 2024: 300,000 GM EVs since 2016 -- let's put that in perspective:

• 15 million x 8 years = 120 million total cars and light trucks
• 300,000 / 120 million = 0.0025 = 0.25% -- that's one-fourth of one percent
• we should be a lot farther along that s-shaped curve
• and volume matters not; what matters: margin and profit.

November 23, 2024: batteries? More confusing than ever --

• Rivian, backtracking? Link here. And link here.
• See if you even understand what he is saying, and that's the theme for this weekend.
• EVs explained: and after reading that article, I still have no understanding of this issue.

Original Post 

October 22, 2024: GM, 3Q24 earnings --

Let's look at GM's EVs:

• CEO says company on track to meet 2024 EV production and profitability targets
• still expects to manufacture 200,000 EVs in 2024
• through the end of September, GM has sold about 70,000 EVs in US
• EV production and sales "don't match exactly."
• assumption: GM doesn't sell more EVs than it manufactures
• GM press release: 3Q24 -- another record quarter of EV sales;
• 32,095 EV delivered -- that's a record! Wow.
  
• total vehicle sales: 659,601 vehicles
• other sources:
• battery cost, about $100 / kWh earlier this year
• GM may be closer to $90 / kWh now (3Q24)
• goal to mid-$80 by next year ("by next year" = end 2024?)
• goal to low $70 "in a couple of years"
• ICE (GoogleAI):
• average cost of replacing an ICE engine: $2,500 - $5,000
• average cost of replacing an automatic transmission for an ICE: $2,500 - $5,000
• suggesting: GM cost for powertrain for an ICE is about $8,000, tops
• average GM kWH battery:

Saturday Morning Potpourri -- Part 1 -- November 23, 2024

Locator: 44396ARCHIVES.

Tag: North Dakota hockey Austin Texas 

ND beer: link here.

• I now follow Susan Stroud!

Secretary of Agriculture? Kelly Loeffler? Wiki. Would have missed this had I only had Bluesky. That being said, it's amazing, the liberals that posted this news on Bluesky. Yes, it's accurate --

• Bluesky: an echo chamber; liberals, progressives, unhinged
• twitter: all views expressed; well-balanced, free for all

SAVE THE DATE: October 31, 2026 -- Halloween, 2026 -- link here.

Scaring the bejesus out of The New York Times readers:

COP29: 2024 climate summit has "run over." Delegates can't come to agreement.

• talks could very well collapse
• and then next year? Trump
• get caught up with Bjorn Lomborg.

Bluesky vs Twitter: I'm on both.

• haven't seen any difference regarding how the each site works;
• superficially they seem identical
• it appears contributors cannot block readers or replies; we'll see;
• no proof of identity required ... yet
• but it appears they have quickly turned into
• Bluesky: liberals, progressives, unhinged
• Twitters: free-for-all but where conservatives will be found
• Bjorn Lomborg has not yet migrated to Bluesky; DeSmong News has (migrated to Bluesky)
• but, like me, DeSmog is still on Bluesky
• it appears Carl Q (CNBC) has quit twitter completely
• others who have not migrated to Bluesky: gas buddy, AOC.
  
• check out Bjorn Lomborg on Bluesky.
• it will be fascinating to see if Carl Q goes back to tweeting; otherwise he fades away. 
• Bluesky: Barron's  here.
  

If accurate, this is amazing -- I though Bluesky marketed itself as "for everybody," but already banning some social commentary? I have no idea but it certainly appears that Bluesky is all "progressive, woke DEI" when it comes to social and political commentary. And it appears "Bluesky" is more appropriately "bluesky."

Industrial users' average electricity prices, link here.

Electricity, rates by state, link here, industrial / residential (cents / kwh):

• California: 25 / 32
• Connecticut: 20 / 33
• Pennsylvania: 8 / 18
• Texas: 6 / 15
• Florida: 8 / 14
• North Dakota: 7 / 13
• Ohio: 7 / 16

EVs:

• Rivian, backtracking? Link here. And link here.
• See if you even understand what he is saying, and that's the theme for this weekend.
• EVs explained: and after reading that article, I still have no understanding of this issue.
• ND is ramping up its EV charging installations, link here.
• Waymo: link to The Times.
  

Germany economy: theme for this week.

• google Germany recession
• link here;

and, here:

Merkel: Germany's biggest debacle since 1947.

Berkshire Hathaway: homepage.

Apple -- AAPL -- buyback:

• google aapl buyback:

• interesting factoid: MSNBC never, never, ever talks about AAPL as an investment except on very rare occasions and then usually when the ticker is downgraded.

Musk might buy MSNBC!

Market cap (in trillions), magnificent seven:

• NVDA: $3.48 -- this will have a market cap of $5 trillion by the end of 2026.
  
• AAPL: $3.47
• MSFT: $3.10
• AMZN: $2.07
• GOOG: $2.03
• META: $1.41
• TSLA: $1.10
• BRK: $1.03

Lego:

• Endurance
• Emirates Team

Trump 2.0: to nominate three physicians to steer health policy; link to WSJ.

This is serious: SiriusXM loses NY suit. Link here. Subscription cancellation.

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Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
  
• If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia.
• Longer version here.