Juggling Dynamite

In typical initial public offering (IPO) marketing frenzy, PetroChina was sold to investors at the peak of the 2007 commodity cycle for a record $1 trillion.  Since then the shares have lost 80% of their market value and counting.  Here is the chart.

The many good reasons for the price decline include:   hype and speculative fever in the stock bubble of 2007 (similar to now), as well as the 62%+ plunge in oil prices to present, the rise of renewable energy technology, and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious plans to promote electric vehicles and move the country away from commodity-intensive development (and air pollution).  See The biggest stock collapse in the world has no end in sight.   Here is a direct video link.

The PetroChina story should also serve as a cautionary tale for would-be-investors as the Saudis work to talk up the value of their planned Aramco Oil IPO.  Hint:  the Saudis too hope to raise cash for renewable energy investment.

More than ever before, Australians are struggling to pay for their power.  In a country of vast natural resources the strife is surprising, and innovative solutions readily at hand.

Australian faces huge challenges in the future to provide cheap and reliable electricity into the grid. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is building the world’s largest Lithium Ion battery in South Australia but is it really the solution?

Here is a direct video link.

Interesting insight and discussion based on decades of personal observation and investigative reporting long before the Donald became POTUS.  Consistent themes throughout.  And spoiler alert:  Johnston is not a Clinton fan either.

Republican, investigative journalist and winner of a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for journalism DAVID CAY JOHNSTON is a long-time reporter for the New York Times and the former president of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE), he is also the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including Perfectly Legal and Free Lunch. He has won the IRE Medal and a George Polk Award for his investigative reporting, and is a columnist for the Daily Beast, National Memo, and USA Today. Johnston teaches at Syracuse University College of Law and lives in Rochester, New York.

His 2016 book is “The Making of Donald Trump.”  Here is a direct video link.