Almost a year ago, Russian president Vladimir Putin officially broke the globalized world economy when he decided to unleash hell on his neighbor, Ukraine. Now it’s true, the fault lines of the quid pro quo economic system politely called globalization were laid bare by the COVID pandemic and the breakdown of the supply chain between the U.S. and China.
If you aren’t aware of the Biden administration’s actions regarding China’s semiconductor industry, it’s pretty simple: American companies have been banned from selling advanced semiconductors to China. The ban also covers the equipment needed to make and test semiconductors.
Iconic American carmaker Ford just made a big mistake. In an effort to get around supply constraints for nickel and cobalt for electric car batteries, Ford decided to use lithium iron phosphate batteries for all of its electric F-150 Lightning trucks.
Given the state of relations between the U.S. and China, China’s ongoing struggle with COVID and its effect on supply chains for companies like Apple, and the importance of the Chinese consumer on companies like Tesla, it’s a pretty good bet that something “China” and “stocks” will be in the news pretty often.
They say the current shortage of amoxicillin – along with a bunch of other drugs, like ibuprofen and acetaminophen and local anesthetics like lidocaine – is the result of higher than average demand.
I expect I’m not the only one ready to close the book on 2022. Funny how a 20% drop for the S&P 500 leaves a bitter taste in your mouth… And I gotta say, the fact that stocks will finish in the red today, the final trading day of 2022, seems like a fitting tribute to a lost year for investors.