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And it will, obviously given what we are enduring today and tomorrow.
Another factor in inflationary issues is the fact that many, probably most if not all, mark up an additional amount for more profits. Sometimes an additional 10,15, 20% on top of the increase in supply costs. Grocery retailers are notorious for doing such, so are the manufactures and suppliers. We see this with smaller amounts packaged effectively inflating the actual cost for what you get. These actions are one of the largest causes to inflation.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/18/business/grocery-store-inflation-kroger-albertsons/index.html
Grocery stores are excited to charge you higher prices
By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business
Updated 11:52 AM ET, Fri June 18, 2021
New York (CNN Business)You might not be excited about paying higher prices for meat and vegetables, but your grocery store is thrilled.
The rising prices for staples like milk and pork affect grocery stores too, as they have to pay more to their suppliers. But while they are raising prices under the guise of increasing supplier costs, they're adding a little extra on top of that.
When grocery stores' costs rise, stores will "mark up the full rate of inflation plus a little bit more," said Burt Flickinger, the managing director of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. For example, if the price of meat that a store pays to its suppliers goes up 6 cents a pound, the store might raise the price it charges for that same meat by 10 cents.
Stores are betting most customers won't balk at price increases because they need to buy groceries, after all, and will still consider shopping a bargain compared to eating out at restaurants. Prices for food at restaurants are growing faster than prices at grocery stores, according to Labor Department data, giving grocers more flexibility to charge you extra.
Dollar stores are starting to offer fresh food after years of criticism
Dollar stores are starting to offer fresh food after years of criticism
And once the stores feel like they're safe raising prices a little — well, are you really going to notice if that gallon of milk you're buying has gone up to $3.85 instead of the $3.76 that the store could charge if it wanted to keep its margins steady? Nine cents on a single gallon probably makes little difference to anyone who isn't on a tight budget or doesn't want to do math in the milk aisle, but a store selling a lot of those gallons will eventually see a nice boost.
Inflation is the "greatest gift the supermarket sector could get," said Flickinger. "They have not had these inflation benefits in years."
Soaring demand, coupled with supply chain issues and materials shortages as the economy ramps up, is driving prices higher. Food prices for consumers increased 2.2% in May from the same month last year, according to the Labor Department. Pork prices rose 3.2%, fish and seafood prices rose 1.9% and milk prices rose 4.6%. Prices for fruit and vegetables grew 2.9%, including a 9% jump for citrus fruits.
Leading grocery chains such as Kroger (KR) and Alberstons have said in recent days that they expect to benefit from rising prices. Sales boomed at these chains and other grocers during the early stages of the pandemic, but have slowed down in recent months as more people return to eating meals out.
"Our business operates the best when inflation is about 3% to 4%," Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said on an earnings call with analysts Thursday. "A little bit of inflation is always good in our business."
Kroger can pass off costs to consumers when inflation hovers around that mark, McMullen said, and "customers don't overly react to that."
"Businesses like ours have done well when in periods where the inflation was 3% to 4%," Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said at an investor conference Tuesday.
Sankaran did not specify why inflation would help Albertsons, but his "sense is this inflation will just be passed through" to customers. Albertsons did not respond to a request for further comment.
There is a risk to grocery stores from inflation running too high though.
If prices on an item rise above 4%, customers may skip buying it, hurting grocers' sales, said Joseph Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group. Consumers may also trade down to cheaper brands or buy smaller pack sizes if inflation runs too hot, both analysts and grocers noted.
Sankaran said customers will be able to afford higher prices because the economy is growing and consumers have cash to spend.
"We've never had an environment like this with such a strong consumer where inflation goes higher," he said. "And inflation will have to go really high for it to start mattering where the consumer starts clamping down on purchases."
Other retailers have also said they expect to benefit from rising inflation, but for different reasons.
Discount toy chain Five Below (FIVE), for instance, expects budget-conscious consumers will increasingly turn to discount stores as prices go up around them.
"As far as inflation goes...I think it's an advantage for a value retailer like us," Five Below CEO Joel Anderson said this month.
CNN Business' Anneken Tappe contributed to this article.
SEC chair Gensler seeks tougher SPAC disclosure, liability rules
PUBLISHED THU, DEC 9 202112:36 PM ESTUPDATED THU, DEC 9 20214:38 PM EST
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/sec-chair-gensler-seeks-tougher-spac-disclosure-liability-rules.html
KEY POINTS
SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Thursday floated several potential SPAC rules he hopes the regulator will consider as it works to oversee the popular take-public option.
Among the ideas Gensler pitched were new rules around marketing practices, tougher disclosure requirements and liability obligations.
Gensler said he is concerned by a disconnect between the information that companies are required to provide through a traditional IPO versus the disclosures required from SPACs.
His comments come days after news broke that federal regulators are investigating a planned SPAC merger involving former President Trump’s media firm.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021.
Bill Clark | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Thursday floated several potential SPAC rules he hopes the regulator will consider as it works to oversee one of Wall Street’s up-and-coming ways to take companies public.
Among the ideas Gensler pitched were new rules around marketing practices, tougher disclosure requirements and liability obligations for SPAC “gatekeepers,” which could include sponsors, financial advisors and other bookkeepers.
Specifically, the SEC chief said he’d like to see new rules that compel SPACs to provide investors with more information about fees, expected equity dilution and conflicts, as well as better ways to access that information before an investment is made.
SPACs, or special-purpose acquisition companies, have been around for decades without much fanfare.
Also known as a blank-check company, a SPAC is a shell company that raises money and trades on public markets while looking to merge with a private company. Their eventual marriage will bring the private firm into the public marketplace, meaning that investors in the public SPAC will have an opportunity to own a piece of the still-private target.
The public push for new SPAC rules comes days after news broke that the SEC and other federal regulators are investigating a SPAC merger involving former President Trump’s fledgling media company.
The SPAC, called Digital World Acquisition Corp., disclosed in a filing earlier this week that regulators began asking for information about certain stock trades “that preceded the public announcement of the October 20, 2021 Merger Agreement” with Trump’s firm.
Gensler said Thursday that he is concerned by a disconnect between the amount of information that companies are required to provide through a traditional initial public offering versus the disclosures required from SPACs.
“Currently, I believe the investing public may not be getting like protections between traditional IPOs and SPACs,” the SEC chair said in remarks at the virtual Healthy Markets Association Conference. “Due to the various moving parts and SPACs’ two-step structure, I believe these vehicles may have additional conflicts inherent to their structure.”
Appointed by President Joe Biden earlier this year, Gensler said added rules clamping down on marketing prior to proper disclosure may also be needed to help anchor the value of the SPAC’s shares closer to the business’s actual worth.
Glitzy corporate presentation decks, hyped press releases and celebrity endorsements can balloon a SPAC’s equity well beyond a reasonable value long before proper disclosures are filed, Gensler said.
There are still billions of dollars in Covid relief funds the government hasn’t spent
Rupert Murdoch buys $200 million Montana ranch from Koch family
The SEC chairman wants to get tougher on SPACs
In the past two years, SPACs have blossomed into a popular alternative to traditional initial public offerings and a way to invest in start-ups.
The allure of possibly finding the next Amazon or Apple, prior to a young company’s entrance to public markets, has drawn billions from Wall Street in 2021. SPACs have raised as much money as traditional IPOs this year thanks to the support of big banks and investment firms.
But Gensler and others worry that insufficient SPAC disclosures leave investors open to steep losses in the future.
While Gensler did not offer more specific details on the rules he wants to see from SEC staff, his speech reinforces Wall Street’s belief that his tenure will result in a hands-on approach and that the chairman will serve as a stricter “cop on the beat” toward Wall Street.
He said he wants the SEC to ensure SPAC directors, officers, sponsors and financial advisors aren’t misleading investors with inflated financial projections only to stiff them with a backlog of bills — or a mediocre business — after the merger is complete.
“In traditional IPOs, issuers usually work with investment banks,” he said. “Thus, a lot of people think the term ‘underwriters’ solely refers to investment banks.”
“There may be some who attempt to use SPACs as a way to arbitrage liability regimes,” Gensler continued. “Many gatekeepers carry out functionally the same role as they would in a traditional IPO but may not be performing the due diligence that we’ve come to expect.”
While some take-public SPACs have seen success on Wall Street — electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group or personal-finance company SoFi, for example — others have seen mixed trading among investors.
Some of the well-known public companies resulting from SPAC mergers include space-tourism firm Virgin Galactic and online real-estate company Opendoor. Both have seen their equity slide more than 30% this year.
The proprietary CNBC SPAC Post Deal Index, which is comprised of the largest SPACs that have already completed a SPAC merger within the last two years, is down more than 33% in 2021.
A Surge in Trading Preceded Trump’s SPAC Deal
Trading in the merger partner’s warrants, which allow holders to buy shares later, spiked several times before the Trump Media agreement was made public.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/business/trump-spac-stock.html
Dec. 9, 2021
A few weeks before Digital World Acquisition announced a deal to merge with a fledgling social media company backed by former President Donald J. Trump, it was at the center of a sudden trading frenzy.
Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company, began allowing the trading of warrants — potentially lucrative contracts that give the holder the right to buy shares of a stock at a predetermined price at a future date. Such securities are typically offered to investors or executives as sweeteners, allowing them to buy additional shares of a company cheaply if the stock rises.
About 350,000 warrants of Digital World traded in the first two days. But on the third day — Oct. 4, a week after Digital World and Trump Media & Technology Group entered into formal talks that were not disclosed at the time — trading in the warrants exploded. More than 2.5 million changed hands that day.
The surge was unusual, especially for a little-known SPAC that hadn’t publicly identified a merger target, experts said. And with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority now scrutinizing the merger deal — particularly trading activity that took place before the companies announced their agreement on Oct. 20 — warrants could be under a microscope.
“FINRA may see something in the high volume of warrant trading that makes it wonder whether something improper drove the volume burst,” said Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan.
Daily business updates The latest coverage of business, markets and the economy, sent by email each weekday. Get it sent to your inbox.
Digital World disclosed the investigation by regulators in a corporate filing this week, but it did not specify what kind of trading was being examined. The filing said the “inquiry should not be construed as an indication that FINRA has determined that any violations of Nasdaq rules or federal securities laws have occurred.”
The company also disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission has requested information about some of Digital World’s investors and communications it has had with Trump Media. The investigation comes after The New York Times reported that the chief executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, had talks with representatives of Trump Media as far back as March.
Digital World declined to comment.
Warrants are one of Wall Street’s more esoteric securities, and have become a staple feature of special purpose acquisition companies like Digital World, which go public first and raise money with the intention of finding a merger target. Since the beginning of 2020, about 820 SPACs have gone public, according to Dealogic, and almost all have issued warrants along with shares.
Warrants cost only a fraction of what a share does because they can’t be exercised right away, but are a valuable commodity if share prices rise sharply. In the case of Digital World, a warrant is redeemable 30 days after the merger closes and can be used to buy a share at $11.50. Warrants were trading at roughly 50 cents each before the merger was announced, and closed at $21.50 on Wednesday. The price of a single share of Digital World was $65.42.
When a SPAC goes public, its shares and warrants initially trade as a single security, unless a company decides to trade them separately. Digital World announced its plan to separate them on Sept. 27, the same day it signed a letter of intent formalizing the merger talks, a person who was briefed on the matter said. The announcement did not mention the talks.
Few analysts closely track trading in warrants, so analyzing trading patterns can be difficult. Data compiled by FactSet shows that, on average, about 200,000 warrants in Digital World were traded daily during the three weeks before the merger was announced. That’s in line with how warrants in other SPACs traded after decoupling from their shares.
But there were unusual spikes in the trading of Digital World’s warrants: 2.5 million on Oct. 4, 900,000 on Oct. 7 and one million on Oct. 20, the day of the merger announcement, which happened after the market closed for the day.
Trading in actual shares of Digital World was far more tepid over that same period: Daily volume exceeded 600,000 shares just twice, and fewer than 50,000 traded hands on some days. Digital World’s highest volume in stock trading before the announcement was 1.3 million shares on Sept. 16, before the warrants could be traded on their own.
Mike Stegemoller, a finance professor at Baylor University who studies SPACs, said the trading volume in warrants on Oct. 4 was “particularly abnormal.” That may not indicate any wrongdoing, he said, but the handful of high-volume days coupled with the early deal discussions “are reason enough for FINRA to take a look.”
Mr. Gordon agreed that there might be nothing amiss in the trading. “These inquiries often fizzle out because nobody did anything wrong,” he said.
The flood of SPACs into the market has caught the attention of regulators.
In a speech on Thursday, the S.E.C. chair, Gary Gensler, said he had asked his staff to look into ways of making sure SPAC investors are adequately protected. Speaking before the Healthy Markets Association Conference, Mr. Gensler said investor protections with SPACs should be on par with traditional I.P.O.s “with respect to disclosure, marketing practices, and gatekeeper obligations” in order to reduce the potential for “information asymmetries, conflicts, and fraud.”
FINRA has already been looking closely at warrants because of the way SPACs have exposed more average investors to the once-obscure securities. The regulator issued an advisory in August cautioning investors to be mindful that warrants can become worthless if an investor misses a company’s deadline for redeeming them. FINRA said retail investors should be aware of “the risks associated with these speculative securities.”
The trading in warrants of Digital World has often been even more frenzied than the company’s stock.
On Oct. 21, the day after Digital World announced its merger deal, the stock rose more than 350 percent. But its warrants went from about 50 cents to $7 — a nearly 1,300 increase.
David Enrich contributed reporting.
Matthew Goldstein covers Wall Street and white collar crime and housing issues. @mattgoldstein26
A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 10, 2021, Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Trading Surge, Now Scrutinized, Preceded Trump’s SPAC Deal. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Am I sure about a might (maybe, possibility not any probability stated)? For sure and might are kind of opposite, so not sure of how to answer other than what I stated in the first place.
Sure about that? "The SEC might stop the DWAC within months"
I know I was ready to get ready by the end of last year when I realized what the previous administration was creating, causing, and starting. It was obvious to me what was going to transpire with inflation (it was already started). Not sure about everybody else. But again, what policies and actions certain political factions caused and how they continue to focus on degrading the people's financial abilities are for another board. Suggest going to a just politics board maybe or other place to discuss inflationary subjects.
But inflation, Covid Wars, different countries government policies, etc effect every stock for the most part. This is a LAC board, how SPECIFICALY will it effect LAC other than general fact that ALL companies are effected in an overall way.
As far as I know Musk selling shares or the fact he got an OK from the public (not that he needed that) doesn't have anything to do with LAC. Maybe that's a comment and discussion for that board, just a thought.
Also, I would say that is adhering to full disclosure, something I like to see. Unlike some other scam SPAC stocks that we see for example. Talk about insider enrichment, fraud, and lack of ANY disclosures, oh boy, examples like that are in the extreme.
They didn't increase anything but what they already stated they were going to do. Didn't you read the original filing? It wasn't that long or complicated, which I posted here.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=166966894
Here's the part that states it;
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1440972/000117625621000316/lithiumamericas6knr.htm
November 30, 2021 – Vancouver, Canada: Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) (NYSE: LAC) (“Lithium Americas” or the “Company”) today announced that it proposes to offer US$225,000,000 aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2027 (the “Notes” and the “Offering”), subject to market conditions and other factors. The Company intends to grant the initial purchasers of the Notes an option to purchase up to an additional US$33,750,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes, exercisable in whole or in part at any time until 30 days after the closing of the Offering.
I'm not sure if OTC:GMGMF US follows just an exact exchange rate or what with GMG. I know that Canada:GMG trades at times when GMGMF does not, then there is the Australian ASX:GMG. Not sure how they correlate and reconcile on the chart. OTC:GMGMF closed today at $4.19 (+6.89%). No trading in extended hrs but showing 3.90 bid 4.43 ask currently.
Pull up your chart with OTC:GMGMF and see what the comparisons are.
The SEC might stop the DWAC within months, but not after all the shenanigans profiting greatly. But for the rest, that's just everyday life of Rump. He lives and makes his spoils within the court system. He probably has court papers on his wall displayed like some musicians have their gold records. Most of his losses in court are just a win in his world.
New York attorney general seeks Trump’s deposition as part of civil fraud investigation
By Josh Dawsey and David A. Fahrenthold
Today at 9:37 a.m. EST
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-letitia-james-deposition/2021/12/09/01b10140-587f-11ec-a219-9b4ae96da3b7_story.html
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a deposition from former president Donald Trump early next year as part of her investigation into potential fraud inside the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.
James has requested to take his testimony on Jan. 7 at her New York office as part of a civil investigation into whether Trump’s company committed financial fraud in the valuations of properties to different entities, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing.
One of the people familiar with the investigation said James is examining whether widespread fraud “permeated the Trump Organization.”
In a statement, the Trump Organization decried the move as politically motivated.
July: Weisselberg, Trump Organization face charges in New York
The Post’s David Fahrenthold explained what we knew on July 1 about the charges against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg. (The Washington Post)
“This is another political witch-hunt,” the statement said. “The only focus of the New York AG is to investigate Trump, all for her own political ambitions ... This political prosecution is illegal, unethical and is a travesty to our great state and legal system.”
Fabien Levy, a spokesman for James, declined to comment. Ronald Fischetti, an attorney who has been representing Trump in investigations into his New York financial practices, also did not respond.
The deposition marks an escalation in the probe of the former president’s company and a critical moment for James. While the attorney general had declared a run for governor, she said on Thursday that she’s suspending her campaign.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has been conducting a civil investigation into possible fraud by Trump’s company.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has been conducting a civil investigation into possible fraud by Trump’s company. (Joy Malone/Reuters)
Both the attorney general and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are scrutinizing whether Trump’s company broke the law by providing low values to property tax officers, while using high ones to garner tax breaks or impress lenders, as The Washington Post previously reported.
James has said she is considering filing a lawsuit over the matter, and Manhattan prosecutors have convened a new grand jury to consider potential criminal charges related to the company’s financial practices, according to the people familiar with the investigations.
N.Y. prosecutors set sights on new Trump target: Widely different valuations on the same properties
Trump has not been personally accused of wrongdoing. He has previously attacked James and her probe into his businesses as a “witch hunt” being driven by a prominent New York Democrat who has promised to use her perch to investigate him and his company.
Privately, the former president has regularly expressed frustration about the investigation, according to people close to him.
If Trump refuses to appear for the deposition, James and her office could take him to court and try to force him to comply.
Last year, James’s investigators subpoenaed the former president’s son, Eric Trump — a longtime executive at the Trump Organization — seeking to depose him as part of the same investigation. Eric Trump initially refused to comply, with his lawyers citing “those rights afforded to every individual under the Constitution,” according to a legal filing from James’s office.
He later agreed to comply and was questioned in October 2020.
Earlier this fall, the former president sat for a 4½ -hour deposition in another case. In that lawsuit, he was questioned by lawyers for a group of protesters who have sued him, alleging that Trump’s security guards assaulted them in 2015.
Before taking office, Trump sat for numerous depositions as part of civil litigation, at times forced to acknowledged facts that he had previously denied.
“He can’t be scripted, and he’s injudicious, and he often doesn’t understand that the process is about events and facts, rather than being performance art,” said Tim O’Brien, a Trump biographer who battled him in a lawsuit. In the 2007 deposition taken for that suit, Trump was confronted by O’Brien’s lawyers with 30 false statements or misstatements.
In their inquiries, New York prosecutors are examining financial statements related to several of Trump’s properties, including his California golf club, for which he valued the same parcel of land at $900,000 and $25 million depending on the intended audience, and an estate in suburban New York, for which Trump’s valuations ranged from $56 million to $291 million. The valuations were all given in the five years before Trump won the presidency.
Appraisers have said it is highly unusual for a company to provide such widely different valuations of the same properties at the same time.
I'm waiting for GMGMF to hold solid above $5 US again. Had to let go of it due to my adherence to my own rules of holding above that price mark. Was breaking it a little, but went back to adhering to it. I figure any "disrupting tech" should hold above that mark and there is so much out there above five to keep me busy.
LWLG I went out of today at about 19.50. That stock is paying me to own it with all the flipping I've done with it. My average cost is below zero and that's after taxes. It's basically trading on exuberance of the crowd that always results in volatility worth flipping.
Here's hoping all of the "disrupting tech" shakes the world. There is so many stated "disrupting" stocks out there, if even half of what's out there disrupts, the tremors will have the ass blasters running wild. LOL
GOP Covid Wars continues and according to plan.
www.newsweek.com/town-hall-gop-senator-ron-johnson-says-standard-gargle-mouthwash-kills-coronavirus
In Town Hall, GOP Senator Ron Johnson Says 'Standard Gargle Mouthwash' Kills Coronavirus
BY DANIEL VILLARREAL ON 12/8/21 AT 11:01 PM EST
https://www.theguardian.com/us
December 8, 2021 06:34 PM ET (BZ Newswire) -- Politics
A former hedge fund manager is speaking out against the SPAC taking Donald Trump’s media company public.
What Happened: Whitney Tilson issued an update on Digital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:DWAC), the SPAC that announced a merger with Trump Media & Technology.
“To be clear, my view that this is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen and that this stock is going to implode, likely within days, has nothing to do with my political views,” Tilson said in his Empire Financial email.
The bear case for the stock is based on fundamentals, of which Tilson says there are none and that TRUTH Social "is nothing more than an idea at this point.”
One of the biggest reasons Tilson remains bearish is a belief the SEC could block the merger, which would send the stock back down closer to its $10 net asset value.
“If the SEC acts, the reason it will cite is that there were discussions between DWAC’s CEO and representatives of Trump before DWAC’s initial public offering, which is forbidden,” Tilson wrote, citing a New York Times article.
Related Link: 7 Key Takeaways From The Donald Trump SPAC Deal
Tilson also said the SEC could block the deal because of the way the $1 billion PIPE was structured, giving large investors shares at a discount to the current market price. DWAC PIPE investors are able to resell their stock after the merger closes, instead of a typical SPAC lockout period, according to Tilson.
“This is an indirect way to do a big meme-stock offering to retail investors, with some hedge funds standing in the middle and getting a cut," he said.
Tilson calls the deal a scam and said retail investors could get hurt in the short and long term: “Mark my words, there’s no way the SEC allows this to go through.”
Why It’s Important: Tilson issued reports on DWAC on Oct. 4 and Oct. 22, warnings investors to stay away from the company.
One new detail from the DWAC SPAC that was released this week was the company confirming the SEC requested information on the merger deal, including the identities of some investors.
Tilson highlighting the potential risks that are now in front of the SEC on the deal could provide a cautionary tale of a deal not being official until the merger vote goes through.
The market has seen several SPAC deals called off in recent weeks, with some being due to timing and delays based on filings with the SEC.
Price Action: DWAC shares were up 28% to $65.42 on Wednesday. Shares have traded between $9.84 and $175 since going public in September.
Copyright © 2021 Benzinga (BZ Newswire, http://www.benzinga.com/licensing). Benzinga does not provide investmentadvice. All rights reserved. Write to editorial@benzinga.com with any questions about this content. Subscribe to Benzinga Pro (http://pro.benzinga.com).
I'm sure it will end just fine for Nunes. In all the dirty scam stocks, the CEO gets a megaton of shares and options for basically free and DWAC is the head of the class of that group. He's in line to make millions upon millions of $ I'm sure. That's the deal he couldn't refuse. The way DWAC is set up, Nunes and others will win big even if DWAC fails and bigger if it doesn't. Just wait until all the millions of shares hits the market and watch the plunging rape of retail shareholders.
Along with that, he could be saying that he's retiring from congress, but then doesn't. It will be what ever is the most advantageous to him at the particular moment. He has no qualms in lying and conniving for his own means, just like Rump.
The only hope is that the SEC or somebody shuts it all down quick. That's the only way that it won't end well for Nunes, but even that he probably is already making $ in some nefarious way. But I'm not holding my breath for the "law" to come down anytime soon. Hope I'm wrong, but I just see a bunch of sheep about ready to be sheared and a bunch of babies without any candy, paying the criminality of it all.
Not everybody is happy about the new space industry. Progress is unstoppable, but we should do it responsibly. Of course, Musk hasn't really been known for that and I think the focus is on just launching the biggest rocket known to man, not really concerned for a few birds or wildlife (or the people that enjoy them).
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/disgruntled-neighbors-dwindling-shorebirds-jeopardize-spacex-expansion-rcna7792
Disgruntled neighbors and dwindling shorebirds jeopardize SpaceX expansion
Explosions, noise and beach closings have disrupted the peace and harmed wildlife in Boca Chica, Texas, residents and environmentalists say.
Dec. 8, 2021, 4:00 AM MST / Updated Dec. 8, 2021, 5:36 AM MST
By Olivia Solon
Celia Johnson, a retired social worker in her mid-70s, can still vividly describe childhood trips to the slender, sandy beach in Boca Chica Village, Texas. There she and her family spent their days running into crashing waves and collecting shells while feasting on sandwiches and watermelon.
“My dad couldn’t afford to take us to the movies,” Johnson said. “That was our entertainment.”
Thirty years ago, Johnson made sure to pass that dream on to her children by buying a three-bedroom brick ranch for her to retire there. Then she bought a second ranch house nearby to rent out to support her in retirement. For years, she spent her winters in Boca Chica, mainly driving from Michigan to escape the cold and welcome the ocean air that brought relief to her asthma.
Image: Celia Johnson.
Celia Johnson, a retired social worker in her mid-70s, right, spent her winters in Boca Chica.Courtesy Celia Johnson
“It was so peaceful, and at night it was so dark you could see a billion stars,” she said. “You are surrounded by nothing but nature. The beach was pristine and there were tons of different species of birds.”
But the idyll was disrupted when SpaceX, the aerospace company, came to town in 2014 to build a commercial spaceport. The company’s presence, while welcomed by local politicians lured by the promise of taxable income and employment opportunities, has become a nightmare for many residents and wildlife conservationists attempting to protect the sensitive habitat surrounding the development.
Since SpaceX started construction in late 2015 and testing rockets in 2019, explosions have showered debris across previously unspoiled tidal flats and blown out residents’ windows, including Johnson’s. Rare species of birds like the piping plover and mammals have dwindled, and intense periods of construction and testing have closed off public access to the beach for more days than were authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has federal oversight of the development. The company has also installed bright floodlights to illuminate the road and construction site.
“You can’t see the stars anymore,” Johnson said.
Now, the FAA is reviewing SpaceX’s plans to significantly expand the spaceport to allow for launches of the largest rocket known to man, an expansion that has alarmed many residents, environmentalists and wildlife conservationists.
Image: SpaceX facilities near Boca Chica Village in Brownsville, Texas on Dec. 5, 2021.
SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica Village, Texas, on Sunday. Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC News
SpaceX declined to respond to a detailed list of questions and allegations that it is lowballing homeowners and harming the environment, stating that the company did not have anyone available.
“As you can imagine, it’s an incredibly demanding time for the team,” according to an unsigned email from SpaceX’s communications team.
Neither Elon Musk, who founded the company and is its chief executive, nor his chief of staff responded to a request for comment.
Mushroomed scope
When SpaceX pitched its spaceport, dubbed Starbase, to residents and environmentalists in 2012, the company described a modest facility with a “small, eco-friendly footprint” that would launch a maximum of one rocket per month, according to a SpaceX presentation delivered at the time, seen by NBC News.
Over time, however, the project has mushroomed to accommodate the development of a new type of launch vehicle, Starship, which at 21 stories tall and with 29 rocket engines will be the largest space vehicle and rocket system known to man. Early this year, Musk announced his desire to turn Starbase and Boca Chica Village into a city with a private spaceport to the moon, Mars and beyond. The accompanying expansion plan, whose environmental impact, outlined in a 150-page draft assessment, is currently being reviewed by the Federal Aviation Authority. It includes the construction of a 250-megawatt power plant -- capable of generating enough power for 100,000 homes -- desalination plant, and liquid natural gas plant. If approved, the expanded Starbase would pave the way for humans to travel to and potentially live on Mars, but would make Boca Chica Village uninhabitable for humans and many animals due to the tenfold increase in the testing of rocket components and launches, and the associated risk of “anomalies” -- a space industry euphemism for explosions.
“We are interested in space exploration like many other people and are not trying to be obstructionist,” said Mike Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, which has been monitoring the decline of bird species around the spaceport. “But the scope of the project has changed and it feels like a bait and switch.”
SpaceX has bought out many of the villagers, offering them money for their homes that the company said in letters to the owners were three times an independently appraised valuation. But some villagers have said these offers are too low to buy an equivalent property away from the blast zone. Some residents felt pressure to accept SpaceX’s offer, which came with the looming threat of eminent domain. Residents like Celia Johnson and Maria Pointer, whose home now forms part of the SpaceX property, said that threat was communicated verbally by a real estate intermediary representing SpaceX. Eminent domain allows the government -- in this case the county through the Cameron County Spaceport Development Corp. -- to seize their property.
Cameron County did not respond to a request for comment.
Johnson, whose silvery-gray schnauzer Flash accompanies her everywhere, held out. The offer for her home was $150,000. She said that was insultingly low, based on valuations of inferior properties without ocean views. She would need about three times that much to buy a similar oceanfront property nearby. She had dreamed of leaving the two Boca Chica homes to her sons.
Image: Celia Johnson’s home in Boca Chica Village in Brownsville, Texas on Dec. 5, 2021.
Celia Johnson’s home in Boca Chica Village, Texas. Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC News
“That dream was destroyed by Elon Musk,” she said, noting that since SpaceX arrived, Cameron County changed its rules around how it handled residents’ utilities. Before, they could stop water deliveries and shut off electricity if they were away during the summer months. Now, however, residents must either pay to maintain utilities even if they are not there -- which Johnson said costs about $150 per month -- or risk being permanently disconnected, as happened with her rental home. Without access to water, owners lose their occupation license, which allows the county to condemn the property.
Image: Celia Johnson’s rental home in Boca Chica Village in Brownsville, Texas on Dec. 5, 2021.
Celia Johnson’s rental home in Boca Chica Village, Texas.Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC News
“I worked double jobs and whatever was required so that one day I would have a good retirement,” she said. “Then here comes SpaceX and they take my income away.”
Blame game
Some of SpaceX’s displaced neighbors are more sanguine. Pointer, a retired navigation officer in the Alaska Marine Highway System, said that she and her husband, Ray, decided to make “lemonade out of lemons” after the SpaceX development subsumed their Boca Chica home.
“When they first came to town I kind of welcomed it. I like technology. We loved the Apollo program, the moonwalks and felt like it was going to help Brownsville. We didn’t feel like they were going to impede on us except maybe a bit of noise,” she said. “They never mentioned they’d work 24/7 around the clock and have lights so bright you couldn’t sleep without plywood boards on your windows.”
The disturbance took a toll on the Pointers, who were both suffering from serious health issues. Ray had cancer and Maria was dealing with paralysis on one side of her body due to a latent spinal deformity. Neither could sleep because of the noise and the lights. “We were walking zombies half the time,” she said.
Maria started documenting the construction of the spaceport and launch vehicles outside her bedroom window, in the early days with her Samsung smartphone camera and in the last few years with a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, posting photos and videos to social media.
“If I’m going to be an independent lens, I’m going to show you what I see,” she said. “If there are birds dying and they are dropping down to the side of me from overpressures, I get to film it. I don’t get to fix it.”
Image: Maria Pointer, who used to own a home with her husband between the SpaceX facilities and Boca Chica Village, poses for a photo in her new home in Port Isabel, Texas on Dec. 5, 2021.
Maria Pointer, who used to own a home with her husband between the SpaceX facilities and Boca Chica Village, in her new home in Port Isabel, Texas, on Sunday.Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC Universal
In 2019, after Musk gave a presentation to residents about his vision for Starship, Pointer said she and her husband “knew we were toast.”
Pointer said she didn’t like the way SpaceX tried to buy residents out through what she called a “ruthless” third-party real estate firm called JLL.
“They used very intimidating language on some of these poor folks,” she said, noting that properties in Boca Chica Village should have been appraised based on how much it would cost to buy an equivalent beach-bay home somewhere like South Padre Island. “SpaceX hired the right people because they got some of those old folks so scared that they gave it away for far less than it was worth.”
JLL did not respond to a request for comment.
The Pointers held out, having initially been told their property was worth just $70,000 and being offered $210,000.
Pointer said they eventually sold for “substantially more.” Their Boca Chica home is now part of SpaceX’s production shipyard and has been converted into an office dedicated to hazardous environmental safety.
But Pointer blames state and county officials, not Musk or SpaceX.
“You don’t blame a corporation for what governments propose and what greedy commissioners and boards allow,” she said, adding that she’s excited about the prospect of space travel and the technology that enables it.
“There’s no way you can stand in the way of progress you want to see to bring us to an interplanetary world,” she said. “I hope I get to live long enough to see us back on the moon and on Mars. The idea brings tears to my eyes.”
Economic incentives
When SpaceX was first shopping around for locations for its private commercial spaceport in 2011, it negotiated tax breaks and other sweeteners with local and state officials in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and Texas.
By 2014, Texas won the company’s business and associated promise of jobs and economic development. State and local officials offered Musk’s company about $20 million in financial incentives, including a 10-year county property tax abatement, legal protection from noise complaints and laws altered to close the public beach at Boca Chica during launches, as reported by The Dallas Morning News in 2014.
While the project has brought construction jobs to the Brownsville area, one of the poorest urban areas in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, many community activists question whether it’s bringing sustainable economic development.
“How many of these jobs are long term? Most of the folks are doing contracting work,” said Michelle Serrano, a Brownsville resident and activist. “Is this going to have a sustainable economic impact for our community, or is it more trickle-down economics?”
Image:
The SpaceX facilities can be seen from Boca Chica Village, Texas.Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC News
In a document outlining SpaceX’s environmental and community impacts on the region, submitted to the FAA this year as part of the licensing process, the company states that the proposed development would employ up to 450 full-time workers, many of whom would move to the area from elsewhere, depending on when the expansion is approved. More than a quarter of those in Cameron County, where the spaceport is, live below the poverty threshold, which is more than twice the national average, according to Census Bureau data.
The document suggests that the main benefit to the community will come from trickle-down effects from SpaceX workers spending part of their earnings on housing, goods and services in the area. Transient SpaceX workers would also spend money on hotels, food and rental vehicles.
Image:
The SpaceX facilities are seen behind Airstreams adjacent to the homes in Boca Chica Village, Texas, on Sunday. Verónica G. Cárdenas for NBC News
“While the population under the poverty threshold may not directly benefit through employment and income, it may indirectly benefit as regional economic health is improved through the proposed increase in employment for commercial space exploration activity,” it states.
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“Even if it does result in some local hires, it doesn’t undo the destruction in the community,” said Bekah Hinojosa, another community activist, pointing to the regular closures of the “poor people’s beach” and the displacement of those living in Boca Chica Village.
Hinojosa pointed to comments made by Musk in 2018, during a news conference after the launch of SpaceX’s reusable Falcon Heavy vehicle. The billionaire was asked by a reporter how soon flights would be going to the moon or Mars. Musk said that test flights would need to take place first, most likely in Boca Chica, “because we’ve got a load of land with nobody around and so if it blows up, it’s cool,” he said.
The comments grated on some of Boca Chica’s residents, who have dealt with shattered windows and debris strewn across the beach and wildlife refuges after these explosions.
Hinojosa went further, characterizing Musk’s position as “environmental racism.” Musk has an estimated personal wealth of about $310 billion and is the world’s richest man, according to Bloomberg.
“We’re a poor community and a people of color community,” she said, “But he’s trying to erase us and claim that we’re not there.”
Environmental impact
Musk’s comments also irked conservationists tasked with protecting the wildlife in the surrounding area, one of America’s most biologically diverse coastal wetlands.
“Musk is a very smart man. But he either was ignorant of the ecology out there or he felt his project was so much more important that it really didn’t matter what he did to the area,” said local environmentalist Jim Chapman.
Chapman said he is alarmed to see rocket tests and launches taking place in such a “fragile and biologically important area,” adding that while tidal flats “are not very exciting to look at to the casual observer,” there’s a “whole web of life out there,” from algae to tiny crustaceans, that a food chain of birds and animals rely upon.
“This is a very important area for migratory birds as it’s a huge stopover area,” said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, who submitted comments to the FAA questioning the legality of the SpaceX expansion. “Even a power plant would be concerning. But here you have giant rockets powered by methane that tend to explode, causing debris and noise impact, and we want to make sure the impacts are mitigated.”
While the SpaceX launch site is relatively small, covering about 75 acres, it’s sandwiched between delicate, protected tidal flats, wetlands and a much-loved public beach. Not only does the area provide a habitat for migratory birds, including endangered species such as piping plovers and red knots, it’s also one of the only places where the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, the most critically endangered sea turtle in the world, comes ashore to nest.
Amid the constant construction noise, truck traffic, enormous floodlights over the site and debris from explosions, some species have already dwindled at an alarming rate, said David Newstead, director of the Coastal Bird Program for the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, a nonprofit group that works to protect the area's bays and estuaries.
Newstead conducted a study of the local population of piping plovers, sparrow-sized shorebirds that nest and feed in coastal sand and are protected under the Endangered Species Act. He found that the population halved from 2018 to 2021, correlating closely with the intensity of SpaceX operations in the area.
In addition to the piping plover, the FAA has identified at least nine other endangered species that would be adversely affected by the SpaceX expansion, including the red knot shorebird, northern aplomado falcon, Gulf Coast jaguarundi (a rare wildcat), ocelot and five types of sea turtle.
There are also plenty of unknown impacts to small mammals, reptiles and the marine worms the shorebirds forage from the sediment because of the reverberations through the land from launches and construction activity, Newstead added.
When one of the Starship prototypes exploded above the launchpad in March, it threw rocket debris five miles away, to the jetties at the southern tip of South Padre Island, as documented by local news media at the time. That prototype had just three Raptor engines. The Starship that SpaceX hopes to get approval to launch from Boca Chica will have at least 29 of them.
A swarm of more than 40 earthquakes in 24 hours is causing a buzz in the northwest US
By Pedram Javaheri
Updated 10:32 AM ET, Wed December 8, 2021
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/weather/earthquake-swarm-oregon/index.html
One of North America's most active fault lines sprung to life on Tuesday after a swarm of more than 40 earthquakes -- ranging from a magnitude 3.5 to 5.8 -- rattled off the coast of Oregon, catching the attention and concern of millions in the region.
The series of quakes, which began early Tuesday morning and continued into Wednesday, were all clustered between 200-250 miles west of the coastal town of Newport, OR, far enough to be mostly undetected on land, but given the area's seismic history, it is creating quite a buzz.
"If you had asked me yesterday where on Earth would be most likely to produce a bunch of magnitude 5.0+ quakes in a single day, this would have been high on my list," Harold Tobin, Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington, told CNN.
The fault line responsible for the quakes is the Blanco Fracture Zone. According to an analysis by Oregon State University, it is more active than the infamous San Andreas Fault in California, having produced more than 1,500 quakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater since the 1970s.
Not all quakes are created equal
What has been most impressive about this week's quakes is the swarm has included at least 9 tremors reaching a magnitude 5.0 to 5.8, with the majority occurring at a shallow depth of only 10 km.
The sheer number of magnitude 5.0 or greater quakes in the region triples the annual average (three 5.0+ quakes per year) since 1980, according to the USGS database.
When it comes to earthquakes, size matters but so does the terrain
When it comes to earthquakes, size matters but so does the terrain
Fortunately, according to the US National Tsunami Warning Center, none of this week's quakes have triggered a tsunami alert.
However, the activity has heightened the concern level for some, as the region is among the most earthquake-prone areas in North America and has already produced one of the largest quakes in the continental United States on January 26, 1700. The quake occurred on the neighboring Cascadia Subduction Zone, a megathrust fault much closer to land, where the Juan de Fuca plate dives underneath the North American Plate. This fault can not only trigger devastating tsunamis but also destructive shaking.
Will Marshall, Planet Lab co-founder and CEO, joins ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss the company going public via SPAC. Marshall explains what going public will do for the company going forward.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/12/08/planet-labs-goes-public-via-spac.html
ASTR Mon I accumulated a bunch more at $8.60 (my avg now about $8.80 this cycle). Connected to the new PL, it has suddenly getting some action, maybe just in sympathy with Planet Labs, not sure.
The news recently about launch for NASA;
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211206005293/en/
Astra Announces Launch for NASA from Cape Canaveral in January
Astra to begin operating out of second US spaceport
SLC-46, Cape Canaveral. Photo credit: John Kraus
SLC-46, Cape Canaveral. Photo credit: John Kraus
SLC-46, Cape Canaveral. Photo credit: John Kraus
December 06, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Astra Space, Inc. (“Astra”) (Nasdaq: ASTR) today announced that it plans to deploy its first satellite in orbit for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in January 2022. The launch from Cape Canaveral will be conducted out of Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46) and will be Astra’s first launch out of Cape Canaveral.
“Launching out of the Cape allows us to serve customers with mid-inclination delivery needs, broadening our market”
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“This historic launch site has been prepared for a new commercial launch partner in less than year, which is a tremendous milestone for our combined team, and illustrates how SLD 45 sets the pace for access to space,” said Brigadier General Stephen Purdy, Commander of Space Launch Delta 45 and Director of the Eastern Range. “SLD 45, Space Florida, and Astra have moved at a rapid speed to demonstrate critical and responsive launch capabilities. We are excited to welcome Astra to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
Astra and Space Launch Delta 45, a part of the United States Space Force, enabled Astra to launch out of Cape Canaveral in record time - shortening the multi-year approval time to months.
“Launching out of the Cape allows us to serve customers with mid-inclination delivery needs, broadening our market,” said Martin Attiq, Chief Business Officer at Astra. “This is an additional step in our global spaceport strategy and positions us to serve the broad low earth orbit (LEO) market.”
Astra's launch will be livestreamed in partnership with NASASpaceFlight. Updates will be shared on Astra’s Twitter feed, @astra.
About Astra
Astra’s mission is to improve life on Earth from space by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch service of any operational launch provider in the world. Astra delivered its first commercial payload into Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after it was founded in 2016. Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) was the first space launch company to be publicly traded on Nasdaq. Visit astra.com to learn more about Astra.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements made in this press release are “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “plan”, “outlook”, and “project” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements reflect the current analysis of existing information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including Astra’s failure to meet the projected launch targets. As a result, caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Due to known and unknown risks, actual results may differ materially from Astra’s expectations or projections including the following factors, among others: (i) delays in projected development and launch targets, including as a result of the decisions of governmental authorities or other third parties not within our control, weather and other suboptimal conditions that may make it difficult to perform a launch attempt; (ii) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (iii) the ability of Astra to meet its financial and strategic goals, due to, among other things, competition; (iv) the ability of Astra to pursue a growth strategy and manage growth profitability; (v) the possibility that Astra may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (vi) the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Astra, (vii) the ability to manage its cash outflows during its pre-revenue business operations and (vii) other risks and uncertainties discussed from time to time in other reports and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Astra.
We Rate Planet Labs A Buy As The SPAC Merger Completion Looms
Dec. 07, 2021 7:40 PM ETPlanet Labs PBC - Class A (PL)11 Comments16 Likes
Cestrian Space Select profile picture
Cestrian Space Select
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Contributor Since 2021
Cestrian Capital Research, Inc is an SEC-registered investment research business, covering the space and tech sectors. If you like our work, sign up for our FREE newsletter, here: https://newsletter.cestriancapitalresearch.com
Summary
Planet Labs is likely to complete its merger with the SPAC shell DMYQ shortly.
This Google-backed Earth observation business features solid revenue growth, improving gross margins, and what looks to be a high level of support from SPAC shareholders.
It's early days for the stock as a public security but there's much to like about the business.
We rate the stock a Buy and own the name in staff personal accounts.
Looking for more investing ideas like this one? Get them exclusively at Cestrian Space Select. Learn More »
Person Hidden in Bush Peeping with Binoculars and Spying Others
maradek/iStock via Getty Images
DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and in particular is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Cestrian Capital Research, Inc., its employees, agents or affiliates, including the author of this note, or related persons, may have a position in any stocks, security or financial instrument referenced in this note. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Companies referenced in this note or their employees or affiliates may be customers of Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. values both its independence and transparency and does not believe that this presents a material potential conflict of interest or impacts the content of its research or publications.
The Only Way Is... Up?
There's a famous quote about the stock market - it goes something like this: Nobody knows which way the market will move tomorrow, but I will tell you the direction of its move over the next 10 years, and that is... UP. And by and large that quote has held true. When a new hot sector comes along, and venture capital money flows into it, generally you can say... I'm not sure which of these companies will move up or down tomorrow, but I can tell you the direction of their move over the next ten years, and that is... UP.
This is the best way to look at space sector investments in our view. If you've read our work on the sector you've seen us say over and over since we got started on this beat in 2017 that the sector is early stage, risky, featuring heavy customer concentration and even heavier capex, and all in all not for the faint of heart. Now that a slew of space sector companies have made the public market their home, thanks to the SPAC boom, that view has not changed.
If you want an easy and relaxing time, consider following Mr. Buffett's advice and buy a passive S&P 500 tracker, feed it cash every now and then, and spend the rest of the time not looking at the screen but instead playing golf. Well, at least until the Big One hits. If on the other hand you wish to try your luck riding out the long-run gains we think are available among these new space stocks - you may like to consider owning Planet Labs (currently, the snappy-sounding dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV (DMYQ), soon to trade as PL).
Planet Labs is one of the venture capital-backed space startups that sprang up over the last decade or so as launch costs began to fall and satellite hardware costs follow suit. The company provides Earth observation services to government and commercial clients. "Earth observation" is a very widely used term and that wide definition leads to confusion in investors' minds about exactly what companies in the sector do for a living.
The clearest definition of this we've yet heard came directly from Spire Global (SPIR) CEO Peter Platzer. We recently hosted a live subscriber-only Q&A session with Platzer - he was asked the inevitable question, what's the difference between Spire, Planet and so forth. His answer was - satellites typically do one of three things: Watch, listen, or speak. Optical range satellites watch; RF range satellites listen; transmission spacecraft (think high throughput transponders used by Sirius XM, DirecTV and others) talk.
Planet uses optical-range spacecraft to image the Earth, collect and analyze data, and supply both images and data to its customers. It operates in the modern idiom i.e., it runs a large number of small devices with a high repeat-pass rate (eg. 10x/day average revisits by its SkySat devices). You could think of Planet as an iPad vs. the mainframe operated by Maxar Technologies (MAXR). If you want a high-powered, weapons-grade full-on security service-rated pass over your target, pay Maxar a whole lot of money. If you want a fast view of what's going on, and you want to monitor changes using that high repeat rate, you pay Planet less money. Simple. Planet's September investor presentation remains worth reading if you haven't already.
Financials on Planet will become clearer as the company delivers sequential SEC reports in its fully de-SPAC'd role. Until then we can highlight what we know from the scant material published thus far.
Source: Company SEC filings, Cestrian Analysis
The revenue line can be treated as reliable, and it shows solid growth, albeit at a declining rate. The company will need to arrest that decline and re-accelerate if it's going to deliver a medium-term gain in the stock price. Gross margin has improved materially - for a business like this, dependent on many third parties for satellite componentry and so forth, 40% isn't so bad. EBITDA you can take with a large pinch of salt, since we don't have the full underlying operating income, depreciation & amortization and stock-based compensation schedules; and as for cash flow, well, no idea, since we don't have time-series capex and change in net working capital data. Let's assume cash flow is ugly vs. EBITDA but let's also hope it can improve over time.
The balance sheet at the completion of the SPAC deal should look sound. Current indications are that at least $590m of net cash will land on the operating company's balance sheet. Don't be under the illusion that this is sufficient - it isn't, and at some point the company will raise further cash likely as dilutive equity until such time as debt becomes viable.
The stock chart is so young that it tells you nothing at all, yet.
Source: TradingView (full page chart here)
But that big move up you see at the far right edge of the chart? That's the market feeling good about the high level of shareholder acceptances in the SPAC deal. And we agree with that sentiment. We think Planet will be a speculative buy for some time yet, but a Buy it is in our view. In space as in all things innovation, low cost is the strategy to back. Nobody got poor buying a basket of cost leaders in the tech industry as it has evolved, and we think that's going to be true in space too - Rocket Lab (RKLB), a very low-cost launch provider, is proving this out already.
So as the SPAC deal completion is in the air, and the new ticker beckons, we rate Planet a Buy. If you own the stock or are thinking of doing so, we suggest you will consider the rather spiky risk profile of cash-burning companies this young in their lives as public securities. In staff personal accounts we solve for that with allocation size. We own DMYQ very happily on that basis and we're excited to see what comes next in the company's evolution once the SPAC deal is behind them.
Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. - 7 December 2021.
Space Select brings you exclusive space stock picks from leading independent research business, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc.
We cover the full range of stocks, from new-entrant SPAC deals such as RocketLab, Blacksky or Planet, through to the major prime contractors such as Raytheon or L3Harris, taking in established independents such as Maxar and Iridium.
Our member community includes many longstanding space sector investors and space sector professionals, which means our chatroom is unusually well informed!
Join Cestrian Space Select today.
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Specialist space sector service; capital gain, income & speculative picks.
Growth, Long-Term Horizon, Aerospace & Defense, Tech
Contributor Since 2021
Cestrian Capital Research, Inc is an SEC-registered investment research business, covering the space and tech sectors. If you like our work, sign up for our FREE newsletter, here: https://newsletter.cestriancapitalresearch.com
Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of DMYQ, SPIR, MAXR, RKLB either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. Business relationship disclosure: See disclaimer text at the top of this article.
Additional disclosure: Cestrian Capital Research, Inc staff personal accounts hold long positions in, inter alia, DMYQ, SPIR, MAXR and RKLB.
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About This Article
Ticker Covered
PL
Author's rating at publication
Bullish
Author's Rating History
Author's full rating history »
About PL
Symbol Last Price % Chg
PL
11.14
3.01%
1D
5D
1M
6M
1Y
5Y
10Y
Market Cap
$425.21M
PE
-
Yield (FWD)
-
Rev Growth (YoY)
-
Short Interest
1.63%
PL Ratings
SA Author
Very Bullish
4.50
Wall Street
Very Bullish
5.00
Quant
Not Covered
-
More on PL
Planet Labs rallies for second straight day after SPAC closing
dMY Technology stockholders approve merger with Planet
50% Pop Coming For Planet Labs
50% Pop Coming For Planet Labs
Satellite firm Planet Labs to use SPAC money for investment, customer boost
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4473961-planet-labs-at-buy-spac-merger-completion
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3778325-planet-labs-rallies-for-second-straight-day-after-spac-closing
Planet Labs rallies for second straight day after SPAC closing
Dec. 08, 2021 10:37 AM ETPlanet Labs PBC - Class A (PL)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor3 Comments
Wooden blocks with word SPAC. Special-purpose acquisition company. A easy way stock exchange financial instrument for attracting investments. Development of new simplified procedures for investment
Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock via Getty Images
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) is up 2.68% after gaining more than 9% yesterday in its post-SPAC public debut.
The company has raised more than $450 million in VC funding, most of which has gone to building out its satellite fleet, which has 450 launched since a 2010 founding
Wall Street analysts are quiet so far on Planet Labs, but the stock has pretty good backing on Seeking Alpha. Chris DeMuth and Cestrian Space Select both have favorable writeups. Read all the SA author breakdowns on Planet Labs.
Now Read: We Rate Planet Labs A Buy As The SPAC Merger Completion Looms
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4473961-planet-labs-at-buy-spac-merger-completion
We Rate Planet Labs A Buy As The SPAC Merger Completion Looms
Dec. 07, 2021 7:40 PM ETPlanet Labs PBC - Class A (PL)11 Comments16 Likes
Cestrian Space Select profile picture
Cestrian Space Select
Marketplace
Growth, Long-Term Horizon, Aerospace & Defense, Tech
Contributor Since 2021
Cestrian Capital Research, Inc is an SEC-registered investment research business, covering the space and tech sectors. If you like our work, sign up for our FREE newsletter, here: https://newsletter.cestriancapitalresearch.com
Summary
Planet Labs is likely to complete its merger with the SPAC shell DMYQ shortly.
This Google-backed Earth observation business features solid revenue growth, improving gross margins, and what looks to be a high level of support from SPAC shareholders.
It's early days for the stock as a public security but there's much to like about the business.
We rate the stock a Buy and own the name in staff personal accounts.
Looking for more investing ideas like this one? Get them exclusively at Cestrian Space Select. Learn More »
Person Hidden in Bush Peeping with Binoculars and Spying Others
maradek/iStock via Getty Images
DISCLAIMER: This note is intended for US recipients only and in particular is not directed at, nor intended to be relied upon by any UK recipients. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Cestrian Capital Research, Inc., its employees, agents or affiliates, including the author of this note, or related persons, may have a position in any stocks, security or financial instrument referenced in this note. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Companies referenced in this note or their employees or affiliates may be customers of Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. values both its independence and transparency and does not believe that this presents a material potential conflict of interest or impacts the content of its research or publications.
The Only Way Is... Up?
There's a famous quote about the stock market - it goes something like this: Nobody knows which way the market will move tomorrow, but I will tell you the direction of its move over the next 10 years, and that is... UP. And by and large that quote has held true. When a new hot sector comes along, and venture capital money flows into it, generally you can say... I'm not sure which of these companies will move up or down tomorrow, but I can tell you the direction of their move over the next ten years, and that is... UP.
This is the best way to look at space sector investments in our view. If you've read our work on the sector you've seen us say over and over since we got started on this beat in 2017 that the sector is early stage, risky, featuring heavy customer concentration and even heavier capex, and all in all not for the faint of heart. Now that a slew of space sector companies have made the public market their home, thanks to the SPAC boom, that view has not changed.
If you want an easy and relaxing time, consider following Mr. Buffett's advice and buy a passive S&P 500 tracker, feed it cash every now and then, and spend the rest of the time not looking at the screen but instead playing golf. Well, at least until the Big One hits. If on the other hand you wish to try your luck riding out the long-run gains we think are available among these new space stocks - you may like to consider owning Planet Labs (currently, the snappy-sounding dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV (DMYQ), soon to trade as PL).
Planet Labs is one of the venture capital-backed space startups that sprang up over the last decade or so as launch costs began to fall and satellite hardware costs follow suit. The company provides Earth observation services to government and commercial clients. "Earth observation" is a very widely used term and that wide definition leads to confusion in investors' minds about exactly what companies in the sector do for a living.
The clearest definition of this we've yet heard came directly from Spire Global (SPIR) CEO Peter Platzer. We recently hosted a live subscriber-only Q&A session with Platzer - he was asked the inevitable question, what's the difference between Spire, Planet and so forth. His answer was - satellites typically do one of three things: Watch, listen, or speak. Optical range satellites watch; RF range satellites listen; transmission spacecraft (think high throughput transponders used by Sirius XM, DirecTV and others) talk.
Planet uses optical-range spacecraft to image the Earth, collect and analyze data, and supply both images and data to its customers. It operates in the modern idiom i.e., it runs a large number of small devices with a high repeat-pass rate (eg. 10x/day average revisits by its SkySat devices). You could think of Planet as an iPad vs. the mainframe operated by Maxar Technologies (MAXR). If you want a high-powered, weapons-grade full-on security service-rated pass over your target, pay Maxar a whole lot of money. If you want a fast view of what's going on, and you want to monitor changes using that high repeat rate, you pay Planet less money. Simple. Planet's September investor presentation remains worth reading if you haven't already.
Financials on Planet will become clearer as the company delivers sequential SEC reports in its fully de-SPAC'd role. Until then we can highlight what we know from the scant material published thus far.
Source: Company SEC filings, Cestrian Analysis
The revenue line can be treated as reliable, and it shows solid growth, albeit at a declining rate. The company will need to arrest that decline and re-accelerate if it's going to deliver a medium-term gain in the stock price. Gross margin has improved materially - for a business like this, dependent on many third parties for satellite componentry and so forth, 40% isn't so bad. EBITDA you can take with a large pinch of salt, since we don't have the full underlying operating income, depreciation & amortization and stock-based compensation schedules; and as for cash flow, well, no idea, since we don't have time-series capex and change in net working capital data. Let's assume cash flow is ugly vs. EBITDA but let's also hope it can improve over time.
The balance sheet at the completion of the SPAC deal should look sound. Current indications are that at least $590m of net cash will land on the operating company's balance sheet. Don't be under the illusion that this is sufficient - it isn't, and at some point the company will raise further cash likely as dilutive equity until such time as debt becomes viable.
The stock chart is so young that it tells you nothing at all, yet.
Source: TradingView (full page chart here)
But that big move up you see at the far right edge of the chart? That's the market feeling good about the high level of shareholder acceptances in the SPAC deal. And we agree with that sentiment. We think Planet will be a speculative buy for some time yet, but a Buy it is in our view. In space as in all things innovation, low cost is the strategy to back. Nobody got poor buying a basket of cost leaders in the tech industry as it has evolved, and we think that's going to be true in space too - Rocket Lab (RKLB), a very low-cost launch provider, is proving this out already.
So as the SPAC deal completion is in the air, and the new ticker beckons, we rate Planet a Buy. If you own the stock or are thinking of doing so, we suggest you will consider the rather spiky risk profile of cash-burning companies this young in their lives as public securities. In staff personal accounts we solve for that with allocation size. We own DMYQ very happily on that basis and we're excited to see what comes next in the company's evolution once the SPAC deal is behind them.
Cestrian Capital Research, Inc. - 7 December 2021.
Space Select brings you exclusive space stock picks from leading independent research business, Cestrian Capital Research, Inc.
We cover the full range of stocks, from new-entrant SPAC deals such as RocketLab, Blacksky or Planet, through to the major prime contractors such as Raytheon or L3Harris, taking in established independents such as Maxar and Iridium.
Our member community includes many longstanding space sector investors and space sector professionals, which means our chatroom is unusually well informed!
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About This Article
Ticker Covered
PL
Author's rating at publication
Bullish
Author's Rating History
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About PL
Symbol Last Price % Chg
PL
11.07
2.41%
1D
5D
1M
6M
1Y
5Y
10Y
Market Cap
$425.21M
PE
-
Yield (FWD)
-
Rev Growth (YoY)
-
Short Interest
1.63%
PL Ratings
SA Author
Very Bullish
4.50
Wall Street
Very Bullish
5.00
Quant
Not Covered
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More on PL
Planet Labs rallies for second straight day after SPAC closing
dMY Technology stockholders approve merger with Planet
50% Pop Coming For Planet Labs
50% Pop Coming For Planet Labs
Satellite firm Planet Labs to use SPAC money for investment, customer boost
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3778325-planet-labs-rallies-for-second-straight-day-after-spac-closing
Planet Labs rallies for second straight day after SPAC closing
Dec. 08, 2021 10:37 AM ETPlanet Labs PBC - Class A (PL)By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor3 Comments
Wooden blocks with word SPAC. Special-purpose acquisition company. A easy way stock exchange financial instrument for attracting investments. Development of new simplified procedures for investment
Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock via Getty Images
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) is up 2.68% after gaining more than 9% yesterday in its post-SPAC public debut.
The company has raised more than $450 million in VC funding, most of which has gone to building out its satellite fleet, which has 450 launched since a 2010 founding
Wall Street analysts are quiet so far on Planet Labs, but the stock has pretty good backing on Seeking Alpha. Chris DeMuth and Cestrian Space Select both have favorable writeups. Read all the SA author breakdowns on Planet Labs.
Now Read: We Rate Planet Labs A Buy As The SPAC Merger Completion Looms
PL getting a little life. Trending up at the moment. $11.44 a high so far.
Notification Filed by National Security Exchange to Report the Removal From Listing and Registration of Matured, Redeemed or Retired Securities Initial Filing Amendments (25-nse)
December 08 2021 - 09:22AM
Edgar (US Regulatory)
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NOTIFICATION OF REMOVAL FROM LISTING AND/OR REGISTRATION UNDER SECTION 12(b) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.
Commission File Number 001-40166
Issuer: dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV
Exchange: NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE LLC
(Exact name of Issuer as specified in its charter, and name of Exchange where security is listed and/or registered)
Address: 1180 North Town Center Drive
Las Vegas,
NEVADA
89144
Telephone number: (702) 781-4313
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Issuer's principal executive offices)
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant
(Description of class of securities)
Please place an X in the box to designate the rule provision relied upon to strike the class of securities from listing and registration:
o 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(a)(1)
o 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(a)(2)
x 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(a)(3)
o 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(a)(4)
o Pursuant to 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(b), the Exchange has complied with its rules to strike the class of securities from listing and/or withdraw registration on the Exchange. 1
o Pursuant to 17 CFR 240.12d2-2(c), the Issuer has complied with its rules of the Exchange and the requirements of 17 CFR 240.12d-2(c) governing the voluntary withdrawal of the class of securities from listing and registration on the Exchange.
Pursuant to the requirements for the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE LLC certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing the Form 25 and has caused this notification to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned duly authorized person.
2021-12-08 By Lauren Frawley Regulation Analyst
Date Name Title
PL a little slow out of gate. Guess it doesn't have the criteria for clown pumping, fine with me. I got in premarket at 10.6 avg. Did a small trade and then got back in at $10.35. We'll see how it goes into next yr.
So, when can we change tickers here. PL Planet Labs
In PL early morning at 10.60 avg
5:29 PM EST, 12/07/2021 (MT Newswires) -- Planet Labs said late Tuesday it closed a merger deal with blank-check company dMY Technology Group Inc. IV (DMYQ) that would take the satellite imagery and Earth data provider public.
The merged entity is called Planet Labs PBC and its shares and warrants will begin trading under the PL ticker on the New York Stock Exchange starting Wednesday.
The transaction generated more than $590 million in gross proceeds, including a private investment in public equity from Alphabet unit Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and other investors.
Price: 11.03, Change: +0.22, Percent Change: +2.04
http://www.mtnewswires.com Copyright © 2021 MT Newswires. All rights reserved. MT Newswires does not provide investment advice. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
You might have a point. I don't watch the TV too much either and most all my news comes from print or PC. But I do observe the attack on all forms of media (except tightly controlled conservative extremist portions) overwhelmingly come from the GOP right wing factions. Goes for the biggest percentage of misinformation also. Has dominantly been created, nourished, and exasperated by the right wing conservative side.
Maybe some shorts are having a good day thinking that it will be an even better day tomorrow. You never know. LOL
How so? Given, that most opinion pieces are not fair but are what the author sees as causes and consequences to the facts (exceptions of course to the just plan bs opines based on nothing), just curious on your input.
An opinion piece based on a lot of facts.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/07/media-has-given-republicans-free-pass-assaulting-democracy/
Opinion: The media has given Republicans a free pass on assaulting democracy
By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
Today at 10:00 a.m. EST
The mainstream media’s fixation with false equivalency between the two political parties and fear of criticism from the right has led to distorted coverage and misleading characterizations of the assault on democracy.
Voter suppression is called “tighter voting requirements.” The Republican’s descent into authoritarianism and its dalliance with violence is explained away as “polarization.” Meritless cases to overturn the election are described as “lawsuits stemming from the 2020 election,” and rarely is it made clear that “concerns about fraud” is a red herring or that the 2020 election was the most reviewed and reaffirmed in history (thanks to the slew of audits).
The media talks about the “lack of civility” in politics. But when do Democrats post videos depicting violence against Republicans? When do they follow Republican members down the halls of Congress to harass and scream at them?
Marc Elias, the Democrats’ top voting rights lawyer, writes for Democracy Docket: “Avoiding discussing partisanship leaves out the who, the what and the why of what is happening to American democracy. Without the context of partisanship, a person has no way to make sense of who is supporting voter suppression laws, what these laws are doing or why all of this is even happening.” He adds:
Now, imagine if instead, the report stated: Republicans in 49 states have introduced more than 425 bills to restrict voting access, while Democrats introduced nearly 1,000 bills to expand it. Suddenly, it all makes sense. The inclusion of partisan information makes the seemingly contradictory claims understandable and clear.
Only one party, the GOP, protects members who post violent, outrageous material. Only one overwhelmingly opposed a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. Or tossed a party member out of her leadership position for refusing to lie about the Donald Trump-inspired effort to overturn the election. Or filibustered debate on any voting rights reform (with the exception of a single Republican senator from Alaska).
Not every Republican voting rule is designed to suppress minority voting or subvert the administration of elections, but voting suppression and election subversion comes from the Republican Party only. Even when high turnout favors Republicans (as in the Virginia gubernatorial race), Democrats still want to make voting easier. In short, one party is committed to democracy, and one is committed to subverting it to serve its interests.
The media assiduously covers the reluctance of Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) for their reluctance to fiddle with the filibuster, but Republicans senators are rarely if ever grilled about their opposition to reauthorizing Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, their refusal to consider meaningful police reform or their failure to censure (let alone remove) radical members of their party such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).
Why isn’t Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) quizzed as to how his party can take direction from a former president who plotted to overthrow the election? Why isn’t every Trump-picked candidate quizzed as to whether they buy the “big lie” of a stolen election and asked to renounce violence? Will debate moderators confront Republican candidates with questions as to whether President Biden won the election and whether they would oppose state legislative efforts to overturn the will of their voters by submitting an alternative slate of presidential electors to the House in 2024?
Part of the problem in identifying the source of the threat to democracy stems from the mainstream media’s refusal to recognize that we no longer live in a political world in which two political parties engage within acceptable bounds of democracy. But Democrats are apparently also temperamentally unsuited to calling out their opponents as anti-democratic or un-American. (How else would one describe the cheering for an unpeaceful transfer of power?)
Democratic consultants tell elected officials not to dwell on Trump, but they wind up giving a pass to the anti-democratic movement he unleashed. Some Democrats members talk about the need to reform the Electoral Count Act, but few if any bluntly state: “Unless we tighten the law, we cannot trust Republicans in the Trump cult to refrain from subverting the 2024 presidential election.”
And Biden, who’s been focused on trying to “reduce the temperature” (hard, when Republicans are torching democracy), has hesitated to label Republicans as anti-democratic or to make their aversion to democracy an issue for 2022. (To the contrary, he’s been holding on to the filibuster as if its survival is crucial to our democracy, thereby giving cover to Republicans.)
As the Republican Party strays further from democratic norms and standards of civil conduct, the refusal to pin blame on them for erosion of democracy serves to provide cover for their illiberal conduct and anti-democratic sentiments. A democracy that can no longer recognize existential threats is in no position to defend itself against shameless foes.
Did anyone expect anything else? "I don't like the way your asking about the crimes I committed, so I'm not going to bother even lying to you."
As expected, just delay tactics;
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/07/politics/mark-meadows-not-cooperating-january-6/index.html
Mark Meadows to halt cooperation with January 6 committee
Zachary Cohen
By Gloria Borger and Zachary Cohen, CNN
Updated 10:34 AM ET, Tue December 7, 2021
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will no longer cooperate with the House select committee investigating January 6 insurrection, according to a letter from his attorney to the panel, which was obtained by CNN on Tuesday.
"We agreed to provide thousands of pages of responsive documents and Mr. Meadows was willing to appear voluntarily, not under compulsion of the Select Committee's subpoena to him, for a deposition to answer questions about non-privileged matters. Now actions by the Select Committee have made such an appearance untenable," the letter from George J. Terwilliger II stated.
"In short, we now have every indication from the information supplied to us last Friday - upon which Mr. Meadows could expect to be questioned -= that the Select Committee has no intention of respecting boundaries concerning Executive Privilege," Terwilliger added.
CNN first reported last week that Meadows had begun cooperating with the committee, handing over thousands of documents and agreeing to appear for an interview this week.
Meadows' about-face is due in part to learning over the weekend that the committee had "issued wide ranging subpoenas for information from a third party communications provider," the letter notes.
"As a result of careful and deliberate consideration of these factors, we now must decline the opportunity to appear voluntarily for a deposition," Terwilliger writes.
Terwilliger writes that Meadows would answer written questions "so that there might be both an orderly process and a clear record of questions and related assertions of privilege where appropriate."
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.
It would be nice, but I'm afraid it will be a lot of foxes doing a lot of lip service to the hens.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/07/biden-tax-havens-pandora-papers/
Biden calls for sweeping new push to expose and punish financial corruption
The announcement comes ahead of a congressional hearing sparked by the Pandora Papers on the role of South Dakota and other U.S. tax havens
By Debbie Cenziper and Will Fitzgibbon
Today at 9:00 a.m. EST
President Biden has introduced sweeping new strategies to fight financial corruption, pledging a government-wide campaign to identify and punish bad actors who move illicit wealth in the United States and around the world.
Calling the effort a core national security interest, the administration said it would work with Congress to bring more scrutiny to trust companies, lawyers and other financial gatekeepers, seek to identify owners “hiding behind opaque” corporations and target those involved in real estate transactions used to hide or launder money.
The administration has also promised to ramp up anti-corruption investigations at the Treasury Department and other federal agencies and elevate U.S. efforts to partner with anti-money laundering regimes in other countries. The plan includes a call for greater diplomatic efforts to defend investigative journalists who expose corruption.
The so-called United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, announced by the White House Monday, represents the “most sweeping anti-corruption reform drive in American history," said Josh Rudolph, a member of the National Security Council staff in the Obama and Trump administrations.
“Spanning dirty money, diplomacy, foreign aid, accountability, and more ... the only historic comparison is all the legislation enacted after Watergate, but with that not possible in today’s Senate and the threat now transnational, Biden is combating corruption even more sweepingly through executive action as a national security imperative,” he said.
The plan, if properly backed by money and other resources, would bring badly needed reforms to industries open to exploitation, including the growing U.S. trust industry, said Ian Gary, executive director of the nonpartisan Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.
“Current law encourages the U.S. trust industry to compete on the basis of providing anonymity and shirking public accountability,” he said. “This effectively weaponizes our otherwise strong rule-of-law financial systems against us, undermining our national security and our democratic institutions domestically and internationally.”
The announcement from The White House came ahead of a scheduled Congressional hearing to probe the rise of the United States as a global tax haven. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, citing the Pandora Papers, plans on Wednesday to focus on why South Dakota and other states enacted customer-friendly laws that have allowed the wealthy to move and hide assets in the United States.
The revelations were part of a global investigation by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post, which described South Dakota trusts that held assets connected to people and companies accused of fraud, bribery or human rights abuses in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
Foreign money secretly floods U.S. tax havens. Some of it is tainted.
“Millions of Americans are right to feel the system is rigged when they see the powerful and big business tycoons hide their money,” subcommittee chair Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ), said . “The sunlight of the Pandora Papers investigation exposed yet more ways those at the top avoid paying their fair share in taxes that ultimately cheats us all, especially working-class Americans.”
Based on more than 11.9 million secret documents, the Pandora Papers also uncovered the financial secrets of 35 current and former world leaders and hundreds of politicians and public officials, including the King of Jordan and the presidents of Ukraine, Kenya and Ecuador.
More than a dozen countries have announced probes into activities revealed by the Pandora Papers, including an investigation of Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso. In the United States, a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed the most significant overhaul to anti-money laundering rules since 9/11.
The hearing Wednesday will address “blind spots” in U.S. laws that allow affluent people to take advantage of the growing trust industry, according to the subcommittee’s memo on the hearing.
“We will focus on investments in the U.S. and try to understand why South Dakota and other states have enacted laws that are friendly or advantageous for those hiding wealth and/or avoiding taxes,” according to the memo.
Read key takeaways from the Pandora Papers investigation
South Dakota Gov. Kirsti L. Noem (R) declined an invitation by the committee to participate, saying she had prior commitments. The committee is scheduled to hear from several witnesses, including Vanderbilt University Law School professor and taxation expert Beverly Moran.
“The Pandora Papers were a huge shock to most Americans who realized that the United States is a tax haven and that all sorts of bad actors are pouring money into the U.S.,” she said. “At the very least, we should be applying the same rules to this industry as we apply to organized crime so that the lawyers, accountants and bankers who help the tax haven industry have some limits on what they do and promote.”
Only made about half that with RIVN at about 12% (all out currently). All that pumping and couldn't get the 25%. Maybe later. RIVN trending down at the moment at about $113.
Al Root
Wall Street seems to agree that Rivian Automotive is a stock to own. Analysts arrive at that conclusion in very different ways, though. However they justify Rivian ratings, analysts still prefer shares of the electric-truck startup to Tesla stock.
Brokers, beginning Sunday, launched coverage of Rivian (ticker: RIVN) after the company completed its initial public offering in early November. Brokers have to wait 25 days to publish research, if they worked on the IPO.
Now nine out of 13 analysts, about 70%, who cover Rivian stock rate it at Buy. The average analyst price target is $134 a share.
All 13 Rivian analysts also cover Tesla ( TSLA), and seven of them rate Tesla stock at Buy. None of the 13 analysts, however, has a two ratings-tier gap, according to Bloomberg data. In other words, none goes as far as to say sell one and buy the other. That would be two tiers -- skipping over Hold. The biggest difference in Rivian and Tesla ratings among the analysts is equivalent to the difference between a Buy and a Hold.
The new bullish skew sent Rivian stock up almost 12% Monday, closing at $116.78 a share. The S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively.
The analyst consensus is Buy, but how each analyst gets there is different. Barron's has looked at seven of the 13 new ratings so far. Sales estimates in 2030, from Buy-rated analysts, range from $66 billion to $123 billion .
That's a gap wide enough to drive an electric truck through. Investors should remember that valuation methodologies differ, too. Lower 2030 sales doesn't mean an analyst can't be as bullish as someone else. In fact, one of the lowest 2030 sales estimates corresponds to the highest price target on the Street.
For Rivian, analysts are using, for the most part, price-to-sales multiples and discounted-cash-flow, or DCF, models to value the stock and generate price targets. In the DCF models, discount rates range from 8% to 14%, and terminal growth rates -- how quickly earnings are growing in the last year of a DCF -- range from 3% to 11%.
A discount rate in a DCF is, essentially, the rate investors will earn on the stock if they pay the target price. Lower rates translate into higher target prices. What's more, how fast a stock is growing in the long run also pushes up target prices.
It's hard to project something out to 2030. Sill, investors should know there are many ways to arrive at any target price -- as Rivian financial models show. In the shorter run, estimates aren't as spread out.
For 2022, sales estimates range from $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion with an average of $3.3 billion . For 2023, sales estimates range from about $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion with an average of $8.2 billion .
Investors can use those numbers to begin to track 2022 and 2023 performance at Rivian.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-07-21 1046ET
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
https://www.axios.com/conservative-social-media-crypto-publishing-internet-56a77cbd-89c6-480a-a8a4-6092b7eea481.html
Dec 6, 2021 - Politics & Policy
Right wing builds its own echo chamber
Axios
Sara Fischer, Dan Primack
Data: Apptopia; Table: Axios Visuals
Conservatives are aggressively building their own apps, phones, cryptocurrencies and publishing houses in an attempt to circumvent what they see as an increasingly liberal internet and media ecosystem.
Why it matters: Many of these efforts couldn't exist without the backing of major corporate figures and billionaires who are eager to push back against things like "censorship" and "cancel culture."
It's still not clear whether demand will match supply.
Driving the news: Rumble, a conservative alternative to YouTube, agreed to go public at an implied $2.1 billion valuation via a SPAC merger.
The SPAC is sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm led by billionaire and Trump fundraiser Howard Lutnick.
"I'm excited to support Rumble and its ability to operate the neutral video platform," Lutnick said in a statement.
Donald Trump's new social media company, called Truth Social, also plans to go public via a SPAC and on Saturday said that it secured $1 billion in so-called PIPE financing.
The SPAC is currently trading at a market value of $1.6 billion, down from its $4.5 billion peak in late October. Truth Social has yet to name a CEO.
Gettr, a social app launched by ex-Trump aide Jason Miller, has not disclosed all of its investors, but Miller has acknowledged that one of the app's funders is the family foundation of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.
Aside from social networks, conservatives are pushing to create alternatives to other tech tools and communication platforms.
Book publishing: Trump allies recently launched a book publishing house called Winning Team Publishing, run by former Trump campaign aide Sergio Gor and Donald Trump Jr. The imprint will publish the ex-President's first book, a coffee table tome that's picture-focused.
Cloud storage: Trump's new social media company will be hosted online by RightForge, an internet infrastructure company that courts conservatives. As Axios' Margaret Harding McGill notes, relying on a conservative web hosting service could help Trump avoid the same issues Parler faced when Amazon pulled its web services following the Capitol siege.
Crypto: A new cryptocurrency called "Magacoin" has already caught the attention of high-profile conservatives, per The Guardian.
Phones: A young Bitcoin entrepreneur is developing a "Freedom phone," a device being marketed to conservatives.
Yes, but: While politicians seem eager to find new, unregulated avenues for political speech, data from Apptopia shows that consumers aren't sprinting toward new alternatives.
Conservatives flocked to a slew of alternative social networks during the election an in the weeks following Donald Trump's de-platforming amid the Capitol insurrection, but downloads have since slowed.
The bottom line: Conservative media has been a powerhouse for a long time, but this phase of its expansion isn't just about more or louder conservative voices — it's about building an entire conservative ecosystem.
Go deeper
Yes, it sure is. Definitely shows that DWAC is just a share selling scheme (not that we didn't know that anyway). No different than the stinky pinkies from the past. I'm sure that's the "deal to good to refuse" involves quite a few of the shares being printed and sold. It was always that Trump and his ilk could be compared to the scams of the past and owners of dirty pinks and dirty CEO's. And of course it's the main part of Rumps MO to shout out statements continuously that have no facts or proofs behind them, just made up bs for the cult and partners in crime. The bigger the lies, the more the sheep believe, and they know it, and use it to the full extent.
Rump has always used the courts as his private defender and this "investigation" will just be part of his everyday way of life. Rump believes he owns the courts, and to a great degree he's right. Just continuously wear down his victims and marks draining them of time and money and succeeding to just dragging out things and continuing to get away with murder and mayhem for his own purpose and grift.
Now he's got most of the GOP and their followers behind him doing the same thing. Making their own "alternative facts", using fuzzy math to eliminate any numbers in equations and certain equations entirely that might stop them from their intended results of bs, and just brute force where those things don't work. Numes suing everything is no joke and followed the play that rump has played his entire life. Drain money and time from the less powerful adversaries. Most of the GOP doing the same tactics along with owning the courts to their favor, suppressing the vote, and using Stalin's theory of control of counting the votes to their benefit. Devious and well thought out plans that are succeeding in causing detriment and destruction for generations to come.
Also this is an attempt to control more media and mass following in the same way Russian, China, and the like do, and the way they have had with Faux. If they succeed they win, if it fails they win, millions maybe billions raped from people along with keeping the sheeple in line with continuous falsities.
Paying crimes in the midst of an enabling right-wing copycat city.
DWAC is one of the last stands against everything wrong of todays problems and really needs to be brought down and exposed. But we can only hope, will it happen, or just another drawn out criminal activity.
They said that Mon would be a slew of analysts ratings. And there was. Over largely bullish saying RIVN "the one" to challenge Tesla and rated better than they rated Tesla, faster growth. Wells Fargo equalweight $110; Morgan Stanley Overweight $147 target; BofA Securities $170 Buy rating; more, just examples. The worst rating I saw was something like "a good buy in the future, but wouldn't recommend now", but rest were from equalweight to overweight and outperform, 110-170 target that I saw, didn't read every one.
If they say it's so, people will go.
Also they announced earnings for Thursday, Dec 16 after market.
Well, that's a good thing. They say that the Christian thing to do is to look for something good from everyone. There you go.
Trump is backing a loser. Everyone in the state knows it.
Ted has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination.