July 7, 2023

 

(HAWAII LUNCHEON REPORT)

July 7, 2023

Hello everyone,

Throughout the week I was there, the weather was awful. Wind, rain, and mostly overcast skies. However, the change of scenery and pace was very welcome.

John’s lunch was on Friday.

Seven of us were there including John. Topics of discussion were varied, and they included:

Ukraine and Russian conflict
Alternative energy and its effect on the economy
Covid and its effect on the economy

Ukraine and Russian conflict

John believes the conflict will be hard fought, but Ukraine will eventually triumph. Sanctions have eaten into Russia’s economy, but Russian people are used to doing it tough and they believe that Putin is doing the right thing. However, many young people have left the county for fear of being drafted into a war where soldiers are used as cannon fodder. It seems most are completely untrained. Russia is already looking to North Korea and Syria for assistance in providing weaponry, etc. The U.S.is supplying tanks, missiles, etc as is Germany and several other countries. Factories in the U.S. are working overtime to keep up the production of armaments.

Alternative energy and its effect on the economy

Solar is going to be the future. It will be cost-efficient and readily available. It will be an added benefit for businesses as it will reduce costs. It will open the possibility of developing solar energy businesses in remote geographical locations. It’s all about acquiring land and thinking about what’s possible 10 years from now.

Covid and its effect on the economy

This pandemic stopped businesses paying slave labour wages, particularly in hospitality. Nobody is going to work again for those wages, so many restaurants won’t open for lunch again, because they just cannot get the staff.

In hotels, there are no China cups anymore, only paper cups. There is no room service. You wear a bracelet on your arm to enter your room. Many services have been discontinued.

Many airline staff have never returned to their job since the pandemic. Or they have returned briefly only to put up with some obnoxious behaviour from airline customers, which quickly depleted the airline staff as many sought early retirements.

In the U.S., there are hiring signs in business windows everywhere. If they don’t let some of the Mexicans across the border to live and work in the U.S., those signs will stay there.

The pandemic forced everyone online and this is the way many of us will continue to do business. Many staff left their company as conflicts arose over vaccines and these people have carved out new businesses online and are working for themselves. Many people died and many took early retirement.

The effects of covid on the economy are still being worked out and analysed. We still have another two to three years of covid effects to work through.

The market is messy. Volatile this year due to inflation and post-pandemic factors. Gold will likely rise and the U.S.$ will fall. Two favourite stock picks would be Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA). And remember only buy them on dips.

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Jacque

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than life spent doing nothing.”