Juggling Dynamite

IKEA is experimenting with onsite container farms at some of their Swedish stores to supply all of the fresh produce used in IKEA restaurants.

The farms use hydroponic technology and food waste from the store to create a nutrient solution to feed the lettuces.

See IKEA wants all restaurants to be self-sufficient in herbs and lettuce:

Since they’re grown onsite, the lettuce can be used almost straight away, meaning they’re fresher, tastier and contain more nutrients. They also grow faster, with less water and waste than conventional farming and without the use of pesticides and herbicides. A life-cycle assessment shows that when the urban farm is powered by renewable energy, the carbon footprint of the lettuce is 30% smaller than the ones we would usually use. IKEA is planning to extend urban farming so that they become self-sufficient in herbs and lettuce across all store restaurants.

The financial sales machine loves young articulate analysts who are smart and look good on camera but have little real cycle experience to impede perpetual optimism on corporate securities.

Those of us who have lived through a few decades on the front line tend to have a more risk-conscious view–that is, at least, those who aren’t willfully blind and/or sociopaths.  Near the end of their sell-side careers, it is common for people to become more focused on their legacy and to appreciate the lasting impacts of loss to real people; Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd seems to have graduated into this category.

Then there are the talking head hosts who are paid by the sponsors to ‘sell’ buy ideas to the masses at all times.  The clip below is a classic combination of all of these characters.  Learning opportunity here.

Guggenheim Partners Global CIO Scott Minerd said in a letter to clients that the elevated prices in financial markets show a “cognitive dissonance” from economic reality that has created a dangerous bubble among debt assets.

Liquidity from the Federal Reserve and other central banks and increased demand for bonds from ETFs are masking the problems in the market, Minerd said, and the coronavirus outbreak is an example of an economic shock that could prick the bubble. The money manager said GDP growth in China in the first quarter could be as bad as negative 6%.

“This will eventually end badly. I have never in my career seen anything as crazy as what’s going on right now,” Minerd said.  Here is a direct video link.

Danielle was a guest with Kerry Lutz on The Financial Survival Network talking about recent developments in the world economy and markets.  You can listen to an audio clip of the segment here.
Listen to “Tesla Always Goes Up – Danielle Park #4667” on Spreaker.