Every administration can focus on what it believes is the correct path for the country, that is why they were elected. Sometimes it is doing what the others were not doing; it is easy to believe a previous administration was wrong in its policies and fixing that is a top priority. This means every administration picks winners and losers and in the Trump administration oil and gas is a winner and green energy is losers. If you are a business, the government policies can either help or hurt you, because in the oil and gas sector, the Trump administration is cutting regulations, although for a commodity-based product, cutting regulation still requires a higher price to do more. Ideally, the administration wants prices to be lower. If energy prices go higher, people look for alternatives.

For a company, they need to look past the current administration to 5 to 10 years down the road, what will the economy be like? what will customers pay for?

In an article by Jack Ewing of the New York Times News Service, German carmaker BMW said it will be producing electric vehicles by end of the year.

The iX5, a midsize electric SUV will roll off the Spartanburg, South Carolina factory by the end of 2026. By 2030, BMW will be producing 6 electric vehicles at the plant, the biggest and most important part outside of Germany.

BMW exports about half the 400,000 vehicles it produces in South Carolina.

In Europe, electric vehicles account for 20% of total sales, versus 6% in the US.

Other carmakers scrapped plans to make electric vehicles in the US, with Honda stopped plans to build 3 plants or a $9 billion restructuring charge. Ford stopped making the F-150 Lighting and took a $19.5 billion hit. GM and Stellantis revised plans and booked losses on EVs.

The BMW X5 is the best selling model in the US and will come in electric, diesel, and plug-in hybrid versions. BMW will start selling a smaller electric SUV called the iX3 in the fall.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, ideally each administration in Washington is a net positive to the companies you invest in. However, all administrations have people in the Cabinet who favor some industries more than others, it is a normal course of events. Google had a motto do no harm, ideally Washington does no harm to the industries you invest in. Sometimes. politics or ideology or sound bites or something gets in the way. Does your companies have the ability to weather the storm?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.