CIOs & Bowties articles 16th July 2020

Greg Silberman with a quick roundup of what's going on and interests our readers in the invest ment universe.

LIBRA DIGITAL CURRENCY

Andreessen Partner predicts more Libra type crypto efforts and reckons cash will be all digital by 2030. The US mint recently stopped minting the one penny coin and cash has gone out of fashion for a lot of stores as a result of potential COVID transmission. Libra announced Stuart Levy, the former US treasury department executive, as its first CEO. You will recall Libra was Facebook's effort at a digital currency. Venmo and PayPal are already well accepted as forms of digital currency. So, we are not very far away from being all digital. Andreessen are on their second fund with $515 million focused on digital currencies.

Andreessen Partner Predicts More Libra-Type Crypto Efforts

Be sure to check out our Private Client Group for our next members only deep dive into Blockchain and Crypto investing with expert guests and some of the largest fund managers in the space!

WHY THE SECOND WAVE HASN'T SPOOKED THE MARKET YET

This article, deals with ten reasons that "the second [COIVD] wave" hasn't spoiled the stock market yet. IMO some of the more important reasons are:

1. We already went thru the first wave and it wasn't so terrible … so this emboldens us a little bit.

2. It is clear what the Feds reaction to any selloff will be. They will open the spigots, print, and buy up all sorts of securities.

3. Lastly, and this one is really interesting, because it explains the day trader Robinhood phenomenon. Day trading craziness may be due to regular sports commentators having nothing to do so turning their attention to stock speculation. GS: such speculation might be an early indication of a market high.

Ten reasons the "second wave" hasn't spooked the markets (yet).

Distressed deals are starting to appear and we are finding some good opportunities already - take a listen to our Asia Conglomerate Distressed Co-Investment webinar

EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE HAVE THESE 12 TRAITS

GS: We love these articles that deal with Emotional Intelligence because we feel it's a large contributing factor to what makes someone a successful investor. Here are 3 points we found especially important:

Self-awareness is very important. Understand your own strengths and limitations; allows you to operate from competence and know when to rely on yourself or on someone else on the team.
Self-management is the ability to keep disruptive emotions and impulses under control. This is a powerful skill for leaders, especially during a crisis — because people look to them for reassurance, and if their leader is calm, they can be, too.
Social awareness indicates accuracy in reading and interpreting other people's emotions, often through non-verbal cues.

Overall, it's kind of like the old blood in streets saying, right? If there's fear out there, and you can recognize it both within and without, yet still maintain yourself and act accordingly. That's what is known as moving against the herd! A highly valuable investment approach.

Harvard researcher says the most emotionally intelligent people have these 12 traits. Which do you have?

CME GOLD AT 7-YEAR HIGH

There are a number of things interesting about this article.

Firstly, it's over 1-month old and still garnered a lot of attention; Secondly there are very few other articles extolling the fact that Gold is now at 7-year highs (bullish by contrarian).
Gold reached $1,807 on the CME. That compares with its all-time high of $1,923 in 2011.

What are the reasons behind Golds recent rise?

1. Fed stimulus & the CARES Act.;

2. Civil unrest in the US;

3. Unemployment's in Germany and

4. The resurgence of COVID.

The giant SPDR GLD ETF now holds 1,129 tons of gold. To give you an indication there are 3,300 tons mined every year. So, one-third of annual production is now held in GLD.

The discrepancy between spot Gold in Shanghai, India, and London reached about $14/oz - you can't freely trade or move bullion out of those countries.

The equivalent Silver ETF, SLV holds 14,772 tons. Silver is currently at $982/oz versus it's 2011 high of $49,82. So Silver still has got a LONG way to go and may be the better bet for precious metal bulls.

Silver and Gold Slip But Investment ETFs Expand Again as Consumers China and India Glutted with Bullion

Leverage the next Gold Bull Market – Palisade Webinar - metal mining merchant Bank

RENEWABLE ENERGY FIRM 800 MEGWATTS SOLAR & WIND

Brazil's private equity firm, Patria, formed renewable energy group Essentia Energia, with 800 megawatts of solar and wind projects. Patria is 40% owned by Blackstone. The movement towards renewable energy is picking up steam, unabated, despite lower carbon-based energy prices. .To give you an idea, it takes about 9-kilowatts to power the average house for one month. 800 MW is monster!

Their solar project called Sun of the Sertao and the wind project is Winds of Sao. The company has long-term power purchase agreements with Minas Gerais state electric company Cemig.

Brazil's Patria forms renewable energy firm with 800 MW of solar, wind projects, sources say

GS: We continue to see a lot of interest in renewables, see our discussion with Alante Capital and FullCycle.

That's what captured our readers attention for the past week.

Take care,

Peace and love

Greg with CIOs

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