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Good morning. America hit the debt limit yesterday: that means no more borrowing is possible until the debt ceiling is lifted. The government will keep running and paying the bills for a few months because funds have already been appropriated or because the extraordinary measures introduced by Treasury Secretary Yellen provide additional financial flexibility. The political back and forth has begun: House Republicans are vowing to force the White House to make tough choices on spending cuts while the Biden administration has refused to negotiate, calling this “economic vandalism”. ...

Good morning. The extent of yesterday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria is becoming clear and many difficult days of search, rescue and recovery lie ahead. Although tragic, something like this is outside the scope of this newsletter and I can’t do justice to such a fast-moving event so I won’t be continuing to cover the response unless there is a significant development. (As a reminder, there are many reputable organizations providing relief in the affected areas and they would appreciate your support if possible but do check the credentials of any organization before donating.) ...

Good morning. A few articles on the transition to renewable energy I found this week are worth a read. The first explains why crossing 5% usage is the ‘tipping point’ for mass adoption and what the current uptake looks like in different countries, and for different technologies. Read ‘Clean Energy Has a Tipping Point, and 87 Countries Have Reached It’ from Bloomberg here. The others concern the minerals we need to create the hardware and infrastructure needed to sustain this switch. This all comes down to mining enormous tracts of land to get at the minerals needed to make solar panels, EV engine components, and batteries. Congo and Indonesia are two places developing new mining projects at the moment, but China dominates the entire sector as either a source of rare earth minerals or as the backer of these enormous projects. As the US dominates the oil and gas sector, China now dominates the rare earth sector. ...

Good morning. The newly released 2021 Chinese census showed a surprising drop in population for the first time in 60 years which, while not unexpected, was earlier than many had expected. Meanwhile, millions in Asia are preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year which for many in China, means it’s the first chance to see family in years now that COVID restrictions have lifted. Sadly, that may be a bittersweet reunion for some as elderly, rural relatives may be exposed to COVID for the first time. However, the end of the celebrations in February will be the start of the big economic reopening. ...

DCDR research is a succinct, useable data feed that cuts through the noise to give you the critical information you need to make data-driven decisions. The project is the outcome of over 15 years work in this area as both an analyst and decision-maker. The intent: to give leaders a set of critical metrics in an easy-to-understand format to help speed up and simplify their decision-making. The full white paper and methodology will be published in December 2022 and you can request early access to the reports here. ...

We all want better information for our risk analysis (well, at least everything reading articles like this does) and DCDR Research is building a data feed to get you those metrics. But even when you’ve got that data, there’s often one other problem. How to use it? Not to worry. Here’s a guide on how to use these reports specifically and if you want some more general background on using metrics in your risk assessments, take a look at these blog posts. ...

Good morning. I had to take a personal day on Tuesday, so it’s just Chad with the metrics today. Apologies, and I’ll be back with a proper SITREP tomorrow. On to the numbers (Still not sure of how to use these metrics in your risk analysis? There’s a cheat sheet at the bottom of the email but the user’s guide is here. Want to know more? Read the white paper.) Relative Values (90-Days) Turn your phone for a better view ⟳ ...

ESG Compliance, a Drop in Ransomware Attacks, and a Chad’s on a Spa Day 🤖[ ESG Compliance, a Drop in Ransomware Attacks, and a Chad’s on a Spa Day 🤖 ESG Compliance, a Drop in Ransomware Attacks, and a Chad’s on a Spa Day 🤖 Good morning. There were a few interesting pieces of news on ESG compliance and regulations that are worth keeping an eye on. Many of these rules are yet to come into force, but companies should start thinking about how they will meet these requirements (and who will take the lead). Also, there’s some positive news on the ransomware front. ...

Good morning. There were a few interesting pieces of news on ESG compliance and regulations that are worth keeping an eye on. Many of these rules are yet to come into force, but companies should start thinking about how they will meet these requirements (and who will take the lead). Also, there’s some positive news on the ransomware front. Unfortunately, the metrics didn’t update properly today. I’ve sent Chad (the robot who manages the data) off for a spa day while I fix things, and I apologize that there aren’t any numbers today. ...

GM and welcome to the ‘So What’ briefing: a shot of additional angst to go with your morning chai latte macchiato. Let’s dive in 1,200 Words, reading time 5 mins 6 secs Nutritional information Today’s post contains hints of regulation ESG under attack as ‘woke’ capital In a lot of recent coverage, ESG (environmental, social & governance) is being termed ‘woke’ capitalism by both supporters and detractors of the investment class. This perception further strengthens the sense that, rather than measuring how well a firm or fund performs in some important non-operational ways, ESG is nothing more than a form of virtue signaling and/or a scam. ...