The End Of Globalization

We can’t remember when was the last time we agreed with BlackRock’s Larry Fink, but he’s right — we’re witnessing an incredible and rapid end of globalization. This is from MarketWatch:

This article was originally published by Capitalist Exploits.

“I remain a long-term believer in the benefits of globalization and the power of global capital markets,” said the head of the world’s biggest asset manager. “But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades.”

That disconnectivity between people, nations and companies got a head start from two years of the pandemic. “It has left many communities and people feeling isolated and looking inward. I believe this has exacerbated the polarization and extremist behavior we are seeing across society today,” he said.

It was back in June 2020 when we commented in Insider Weekly:

De-globalisation would take what has been a disinflationary environment which markets had become ever so accustomed to, and flip it on its head. Markets and sectors were and still are not prepared for this. Well, COVID-19 is an accelerant like no other to halting globalization.

Here we are almost two years later, with de-globalisation in full force. And yet, ironically the pointy-shoes don’t see this taking place. Or rather, they refuse to admit it.

On that note, Chris recorded an entire video last year on how all this would play out and where to look for investment opportunities. You can watch it in full here.

  ALL THINGS TRANSITORY…

Feels like a lifetime ago, when — back in February 2020 — we started warning that lockdowns will bring about inflation and shortages. Fast forward to today, and this pesky stuff is now part of our daily lives. We recently set up a dedicated inflation channel in our Insider private forum, where members can share their own experiences with all things “transitory”.

This week, Insider member Sean shared the following:

My sister (who lives in the UK) just told me that her electric/gas bill last year was £160pm and it is now £300pm!

Never one to let a crisis go to waste, the UK government is sending out these letters:

We’re from the government, and we’re here to help, right?

  COMMODITY STOCKS: LEADING THE PACK

The following chart caught our attention this week. It ranks the top 10 performing stocks of the past two years:

One thing that jumped out immediately was the overwhelming number of companies from the resource sector.

If you’re a long-time reader, this won’t be a surprise, but out of the 10 stocks, 6 are “toxic, dirty, left-for-dead” commodity stocks. Funny how quickly things can change, heh?

  STUPID?

Some investment advice from the Perrier-sipping pointy shoes:

This strikes us as a perfect contrarian signal. We agree with our friend George Gammon, who commented:

I think coal is today’s tobacco or lead. Both turned out to be incredible investments once they were deemed “uninvestable.”

Now, don’t tell the UN head honcho that, but coal stocks have been absolutely on fire over the past 12 months.

So with that in mind, we can live with being called stupid by some life-long government bureaucrat.