I was recently shopping for an UPS + couple 100Ah Batteries solution and failed to find an easy way to buy something not manufactured in China. Northvolt seems to not be present in retail at all. Are there any good places I should've checked out?
Most suppliers in this industry do b2b sales. Northvolt would be producing battery cells for use in automotive in large volumes. Volvo is one of their customers. I don't think they do retail sales in small quantities.
In general, it seems more common in China for companies to do business with each other via e.g. Alibaba. You can actually order non trivial amounts of raw materials via Alibaba. For example if you search for 1080 steel, you can actually order tons of steel from various suppliers.
As far as I can tell, essentially the entire "portable" battery (like car batteries in the 100Ah range) is essentially a sturdy plastic container around generic manufactured battery cells.
There are only a few companies that actually manufacture their cells in the USA.
China won almost total dominance of LFP batteries, apparently because Hydro-Quebec enforced steep patent royalties everywhere else. It's no coincidence that manufacturers are starting to look elsewhere now that the patents are expiring.
Generally have been satisfied with Anker, though that stuff is made in China the chargers and batteries have been good. Monoprice used to be good but I haven't used anything from them in a while
Well sure, because they're an investment company. They manage people's money. A lot of people seem to talk about BlackRock as if they're investing their own money, which would be similar to pretending your bank owns all the money that you put in it. They have $10Tn under management, but they have a market cap of $100bn. So the vast majority of what they're doing is just brokering deals for their investors. The fact that Blackrock did this deal doesn't tell you anything about who is exposed to the upside or downside.
Agree on all points except the comparison with banks. The banks do technically own the money you put in it - and what you get in return is an IOU. So a bank is a very different sort of thing.
<The fact that Blackrock did this deal doesn't tell you anything about who is exposed to the upside or downside
Can you explain this part more? Does blackrock not invest its own money in deals? And are specific deals specific to blackrock customers or do they just take a percent of their overall holdings and invest them in individual deals?
Blackrock even manages a large part of Jerome Powell's, the chair of the Federal Reserve, money. It appears to be a conflict of interest but maybe I don't understand the intricacies of the monetary system.
"The Fed Is Subsidizing the Money Market Funds Operated by Larry Fink’s BlackRock as BlackRock Manages a Big Part of Jerome Powell’s Wealth" [0]
The fed choosing an asset management firm is similar to choosing a vendor. That in itself isn't a "conflict of interest". That only arises if there's reason to believe that the Fed or its officials are making decisions that benefit themselves personally at the expense of the fed. For instance, if they hold outsized positions in blackrock and chose them despite not being the best choice (eg. vanguard is is cheaper).
Virtually every rich person in America might have some funds with BlackRock, whether directly or indirectly.
The site you linked is doing a favorite exercise of conspiracy therorists; A is related to B which is related to C which is related to D. Therefore, A and D have conspired, despite in reality not having anything to do with each other.
What’s the rate on the note? US treasuries are paying 5+%. Unless there’s some bonus exercise rights for the conversion, this must add some significant credit risk premium.
Are they comparable? The primary objective of a convertible note lies in securing a favorable share conversion, rather than primarily focusing on the interest rate (which can often approach 0%, leading to the emergence of SAFEs).
If the obligation involves repaying the note in cash along with interest, instead of settling it via shares plus a supplemental amount stemming from the interest, typically something has gone awry.
Good question but arguably they don't have to match 5%, they might put these notes in things like a low climate impact fund where conscious investors accept lower returns for the sake of the climate/environment.
I'm just thinking out loud though, I'm just an armchair investor, for all I know these notes are paying 10%, although I doubt it.
Blackrock doesn't 'own' Tesla, or any company really. They hold and manage stocks for their customers. If you own an iShares ETF or mutual fund, you own the companies, not Blackrock.
People parrot this, but do they? Or is it just the case that they are one of the largest ETF issuers in the world, and it is through those vehicles that they are “invested”?
Readit News
In general, it seems more common in China for companies to do business with each other via e.g. Alibaba. You can actually order non trivial amounts of raw materials via Alibaba. For example if you search for 1080 steel, you can actually order tons of steel from various suppliers.
https://northvolt.com/products/
scroll down to footer PRODUCTS heading for more vague marketing splurge.
There are only a few companies that actually manufacture their cells in the USA.
But they are often assembled in USA from foreign components, so you have to dig further into what cells they’re using.
The only retail product we offer at the moment is:
https://northvolt.com/products/systems/voltpacks/mobile/
and I am not even sure you can just outright buy it or only lease it
You can't just ship by mail such big cells due to fire hazards so I don't expect you will be able to just buy one
But not really consumer products either.
Dead Comment
Feels like BlackRock have touched almost everything
Can you explain this part more? Does blackrock not invest its own money in deals? And are specific deals specific to blackrock customers or do they just take a percent of their overall holdings and invest them in individual deals?
1- https://www.pionline.com/money-management/blackrocks-aum-cli...
"The Fed Is Subsidizing the Money Market Funds Operated by Larry Fink’s BlackRock as BlackRock Manages a Big Part of Jerome Powell’s Wealth" [0]
[0] https://wallstreetonparade.com/2021/10/the-fed-is-subsidizin...
The fed choosing an asset management firm is similar to choosing a vendor. That in itself isn't a "conflict of interest". That only arises if there's reason to believe that the Fed or its officials are making decisions that benefit themselves personally at the expense of the fed. For instance, if they hold outsized positions in blackrock and chose them despite not being the best choice (eg. vanguard is is cheaper).
The site you linked is doing a favorite exercise of conspiracy therorists; A is related to B which is related to C which is related to D. Therefore, A and D have conspired, despite in reality not having anything to do with each other.
Dead Comment
'I produce nothing, I do nothing, I own'.
Having said that, Blackstone/rock has grown far too much. People need to stop sending their money to their index funds.
Is the idea that if you're profitable before the note expires then you have the ability to buy the note back without losing equity?
If the obligation involves repaying the note in cash along with interest, instead of settling it via shares plus a supplemental amount stemming from the interest, typically something has gone awry.
I'm just thinking out loud though, I'm just an armchair investor, for all I know these notes are paying 10%, although I doubt it.
Are there kilofactories and megafactories? The rarely seen obscure myriafactories?
Dead Comment
Not sure about trademarks though.