My TACO Tuesday morning train reads:
• See How the Energy Crisis Is Spreading Across the World: A WSJ visual breakdown of how the latest energy crunch is rippling across electricity, gas, and oil markets — and which countries are bearing the brunt. (Wall Street Journal)
• Farmers Are Pairing Solar Panels With Livestock — and the Results Are Turning Heads: An Oregon project running sheep underneath solar arrays is delivering gains for both the ranchers and the panels, adding to the case for “agrivoltaics” as a way to defuse rural opposition to utility-scale solar. (The Cool Down) see also Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash: ProPublica on how fears about solar farms — most without scientific support — have driven a wave of local bans and permit fights across Michigan and beyond. (ProPublica)
• It’s the Age of Electricity and America Isn’t Ready. Data centers and the power needs of artificial intelligence are actually a small part of a much bigger problem. Our grid is too old and our supply of electricity too small. If we don’t meet this moment, we will face an impoverished future of more expensive, less reliable energy, and slower economic growth. In a worst-case scenario, we could see Americans defect from the grid entirely, raising costs for everyone. Something needs to change now. (New York Times)
• Robotaxis Are the New Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy: Waymo and the rest of the robotaxi field are still pricing rides well below cost — effectively turning urban millennials into the next generation of subsidized lifestyle-tech consumers, the same playbook Uber and Lyft ran a decade ago. (Sherwood)
• Reading Palantir: Why the defense tech giant’s manifesto may signal panic inside the company: The more grandiose the manifesto, the shakier the underlying business. A close textual reading suggests Karp doth protest too much. The war tech firm is suffering from a lethal combo of stock price superinflation and midterms anxiety (Gazetteer)
• They Dared to Leave Merrill Lynch. How These Top Advisors Became Wall Street Renegades. When a group of financial advisors quit to open their own firm, their departure sparked a wave of resignations at Merrill—and a marathon effort to win over clients and $129 billion in assets. (Barron’s)
• ‘Wagyu’ Used to Guarantee Quality Beef. What Are You Paying for Today? Behind the scenes, competing forces battle for the’ (New York Times)
• US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says Friedrich Merz: Germany’s chancellor weighs in with rare bluntness on Trump’s Iran posture. The allies aren’t impressed, and Merz isn’t bothering to hide it. (The Guardian) see alsoTrump Seeks to Abolish Iran’s Atomic Stockpile, a Problem He Helped Create: The man who tore up the JCPOA now demands Iran dismantle the stockpile that grew because of it. A fitting policy ouroboros. (New York Times)
• Can A.I. Determine Which Artist Made a Painting? This New Brushstroke Detection Tool May Have Solved a Mystery About El Greco. While debating the authorship of “The Baptism of Christ,” one of El Greco’s final works, art experts long relied on their own analysis of brushstrokes. A new study tapped artificial intelligence to peer at the paint at a microscopic level (Smithsonian Magazine)
• Season From HeLLLLLLLLLLLL: Miserable Mets Can’t Stop Losing: After 12 straight defeats, surrender flags are out for the mega-payroll New York club. Obviously, it’s the mayor’s fault (Wall Street Journal)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with David Gardner, cofounder of The Motley Fool in 1993 (with his brother Tom Gardner). Originally launched as a print investment newsletter based on the idea that ordinary investors could beat Wall St., it gained traction when promoted on America Online (AOL) in 1994; it soon became a major presence on AOL and then Fool.com. His latest book is “Rule Breaker Investing: How to Pick the Best Stocks of the Future and Build Lasting Wealth.”
Despite a lot of fear mongering, over the past 3.5 years, the market has doubled
Source: @ryandetrick
Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.
