There is a movie called Miss Congeniality movie starting Sandra Bullock who goes through a makeover from FBI agent to beauty queen pageant contestant. In the movie, she makes the finals and is caught up in the expression’s beauty contestants say, after giving a demonstration of self-defense tactics, says I really do want world peace. Hopefully we all want world peace.

In an article by Eric Reguly of the Globe and Mail, the reconstruction of Gaza will require a repair bill of a minimum of $70 billion. About 85% of the built environment has been severely damaged or outright destroyed. Water purification systems, the electrical grid, fiber-optic networks, urban sanitation systems and farmland has been destroyed. Most hospitals and schools no longer exist or require reconstruction. Millions of people were displaced.

Israel and Hamas signed a peace treaty, but who will pay for the rebuild and under what conditions can the rebuild happen? Who has authority to award contracts? Who will govern Gaza to ensure stability of the long-term projects?

It is likely that the funding will come from the wealthy Gulf States, the EU, the US, the World Bank, the IMF, and the UN Development Program.

Turkish companies would get most of the work if Palestinians had their way. Turkish President Erdogan has been a consistent supporter of the Palestinian, but the risk is the Israeli military could disrupt the supply lines for any Turkish company.

The major Turkish construction companies are: Limak Holding, Ronesans, ENKA Insaat and Kalyon Construction. ENAK has done a lot of work in post war Iraq and Libya. Kaylon helped build the new Istanbul airport, one of the world’s largest private airports.

Egyptian companies that likely would participate include Orascom and Consolidated Contractors. CCC is one of the world’s largest construction companies.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when peace is present people will build and construction happens. There are large construction companies in the USA as well as the rest of the world. If you want to diversify your portfolio looking at companies that will benefit from the rebuilding of Gaza can be a good thing to do.

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

Sometimes owning a stock means the price stays in a small trading range, the company makes money or profits but is not seen as a growth story. Then some good news from the customers of the stock sends the stock price up.

In an article by Mimosa Spencer, Mateusz Rabiega and Alun John of Reuters, LVMH shares had their best day in more than 2 decades or 20 years on improving demand in China.

The world’s top luxury group, which owns brands from Louis Vuitton bags to Moet champagne soared 14% and it beat forecasts for its quarterly sales.

Luxury sector shares bad begun some transaction in recent weeks, with expectations that sweeping management and creative overhauls will bear fruit.

Sales in mainland China, a traditional growth driver turned positive. Chinese nationals account for about 1/3 of global luxury sales at LVMH, as well as the sector as a whole.

In addition, a new report stated that those in America who make more than $$250,000 a year or the top10% of the earnings were powering 50% of consumer demand. Many were staying at luxury hotels, and spending money on luxury goods.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in the 1930’s John Dillinger was asked why did he robbed banks, and he said that is where the money is. Times have changed but asking where those that have disposable income spend their money can mean those places are good investments. There is homework to be done, such as how much sales need to be done before profits are made? but you are on the right track.

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

Every industry has a relationship with the government and the government of one level or another has the ability to push forward or slow down the industry. Sometimes it is the government of the day favors one sector other another; sometimes the government has many different pitches and it picks the legacy one; there are other multiple reasons, but it is safe to say governments can help or hinder projects.

In an article by Rebecca F. Elliot of the New York Times News Service, it is clear President Trump favors oil and gas and coal industries over solar and wind power. The President has said as such many times and equally important Congress is rolling back clean-energy tax credits and thrown up legislative road blocks for wind and solar farms to be built.

However, the pipeline to build wind and solar is so big that analysts expect the US to add a record amounts of renewable energy and batteries through 2027. BloombergNEF, a research firm, recently raised its forecast by more than 10%.

Wind and solar projects must be under construction by July to be eligible for federal tax credits. To hit that deadline, many developers have ordered custom power transformers – devices used to increase or decrease voltage – solar panels and other equipment much sooner than they would normally have in an effort to show the IRS the project is under way.

Part of the reason for the demand for solar and wind is due to the AI demand because solar and batteries can be installed much faster than installing new natural gas, nuclear or coal plants. There is no offshore wind farms being built, because the Trump administration shut them down.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the important issue is the demand of whatever the company sells. If demand is rising, which is a good thing, then it is easy to see profits being made and dividends paid. You learnt about supply and demand and for many industries those simple lines are the key to understanding what is going on with your investments. Ideally, the government is supporting the industry.

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

At the moment, the real estate sector is active to provide data centers to power the AI revolution that has started. This is a good thing but the US has a problem, and the problem is an aging infrastructure and aging power transmission lines, but maybe China can help.

In an article by Keith Bradsher of the New York Times News Service, in China the longest ultrahigh voltage power line stretches more than 3,219 kilometers or the equivalent of transmitting electricity from Idaho to New York.

The power line starts in a remote desert in northwest China where vast arrays of solar panels and wind turbines generate electricity on a monumental scale. The line goes southeast, follows an ancient river between the mountains and reaches the Shanghai area home to electric car and robot manufacturers.

China has 41 other lines crossing the country. Each is capable of carrying more electricity than any utility transmission line in the US. Why? the line is more efficient that those in the US.

China is leading the world in producing clean energy, but most of it the sunny, windy western and northern regions. 90% of the people of China live near the ocean or in the east.

Many of China’s ultrahigh voltage lines use direct current technology, which allows them to carry electricity long distances with barely any transmission losses.

In addition to the vast solar and wind components of electricity generation, China is the world’s largest of coal to generate electricity.

China already consumes 2 X as much electricity as the US.

China can build faster because of its top-down industrial planning, government control of information and intolerance for public dissent.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if you are a dividend investor, you like utility companies and one of the reasons is their ability to persuade the electricity regulators to raise rates to meet the demands of new infrastructure and keep profits coming. China has different utility technology, and which has concerns, but not losing electricity in the generation is a big benefit. In your search of new technology, what is the world adopting, that could lead to more profits?

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

You often heard invest in something you know. One of the ways that manifest itself is to examine what do you buy and who are the companies behind the things you buy. Unless you feel you are an exception, chances are reasonably high other people buy similar things. Then you do your homework to narrow down your field and invest in the best of the breed. A number of years ago, you would have looked at your computer and which company makes the computer work – many people would have seen the advertising logo – Intel inside.

In an article by Tripp Mickle of the New York Times News Service, for a time investing in Intel was an easy win, but then things happened which made the stock go sideways and from an investment point of view lost opportunity, however things maybe changing.

Outside of Phoenix, Arizonia Intel has spent $20 billion on a 4-story manufacturing plant that it hopes will turn its future around. The plant known as a Fab 52 is designed to make more powerful and efficient computer chips. The process uses the tools from ASML, a Dutch manufacturer of lithography machines. to manufacture cutting edge semi-conductors in the US.

10 to 20 years ago, Intel was the number one place to be for computer chips, but it fell behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) after it failed to develop ASML technology. Intel was dropped by Apple and missed the mobile phone computer chips.

Since then, a number of CEOs have come and gone, the latest is Lip-Bu Tan. He agreed to the Trump’s administration of $8.9 billion investment in treasury shares for 10% of the business. The administration then released the funds from the Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act.

Intel is trying to go back to the time it was the leader in new technology. There is no guarantee but if Intel can persuade others in the tech industry that the process works better than TSMC, they are off to the races.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, most of us are fascinated and interested in new technology, we think it can change the world for better and make money at the same time. There are always a number of ways to play the new technology – the makers or the users. Sometimes one is better than the others, but if you invest in the makers, part of the process of your homework is to ensure the company stays at the forefront of new technology the marketplace is adopting and using.

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

All governments make decisions and then the policies are rolled out, people elect governments to make decisions. Then people decide if the decision is good for them and that is where unintended consequences happen. In the case of President Trump, he decided the US needs tariffs. For the past 60 plus years the world has said we would all not want very few tariffs, but President Trump decided on a reset. Prices are up because of the tariffs, but in 2 years maybe they will fall. One of the unintended consequence is on the farm belt.

In an article by Nathan Vanderklippe of the Globe and Mail, the reporter interviewed Elliot Uphoff who has a family farm of 2,000 acres with his father in Shelbyville, Illinois for the past century. The last time the Trump administration sent him a check, he bought a mini excavator to fix drainage issues.

The big crop is soybeans and 60% are sold to foreign buyers with the largest China. In the trade war tariff, the US has not yet made a single sale from this year’s soybean crop to China. China has bought soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.

President Trump has said some of the money collected in tariffs, rather than going to pay the debt or about $16 billion trade aid bailout of farmers.

Around Decatur, the central Illinois city which refers itself as Soy City, farmers would rather have the market instead of government check, according to Tim Stock, EVP of the Macon County Farm Bureau.

Across the US, we are going to lose farms this year, guaranteed.

China’s half to soybean prices has not sent prices plummeting. An Illinois farmer can sell a bushel of soybeans today for nearly the exact same price as this time last year.

The reason, US farmers are harvesting less soybeans, the lowest since 2007. They grew more corn.

Michael Langemeier, the director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University where he is a professor of agricultural economics, said if China does start buying, prices would be 10% higher.

Matt Furr, who farms 4,500 acres with his family, has purchased only 10% of the futures contract he would normally buy to lock in an advance price for his crop. He is hoping better prices arise in spring or early summer. Similar to all farmers, they would rather work, but they will take the money if offered.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, most of these companies are large enough that there are plenty of government incentives to help them make decisions. Ideally the decision is made first and the government just adds to the returns, but all companies are dependent on government policies. Hopefully the companies you own investments in expects government money to be part of their analysis.

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

Since President Trump has been in office, he has signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production and cutting off grants for solar and wind projects. Perhaps he wants every child to have a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking. In the rest of the world, change is happening.

In an article by Susanna Twidale of Reuters, renewable energy sources generated more electricity than coal globally for the first time in the first half of 2025. The growth of large solar farms in India and China help make the transition according to the think tank Ember.

Renewable, such as wind and sold supplied 5,072 terawatts hours (TWh) while coal supplied 4,896.

Global electricity demand increased 2.6%.

China, the world’ s largest electricity consumer, reduced fossil fuels by 2% and increased its solar and wind production by 43% and 16% respectively. (one of the largest solar farms is in Tibet covering 610 square kilometers – the size of Chicago)

India increased the use of power by solar and wind by 29% and 31% respectively, while coal and oil fell by 3.1%.

In the US coal generation rose by 17%.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, solar and wind are essentially utilities which means there is a high capital cost, but then long-term investment returns (personally my solar panels pay for the taxes and water consumption of the house). In all places in the world, the sun shines on a daily basis, some more than others, it makes sense to capitalize of the sun rays. As more and more solar panels go up, the cost to put them up goes down and the return goes up and that is a good investment. It would be same idea for computers or laptops.

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

This year more than others, the price of gold has gone up for normally it takes 5 to 10 years before the price went from $3,00 to $4,000. When a commodity increases in price similar to gold the market leaders make more money, the secondary companies or junior companies have viable companies because at $4,000 most mines can actually make money. All around the world there are gold mines, most do not make money, because the process to get gold out of the earth has not changed a great deal in centuries. That means where gold mines are located, there will be arsenic pools which separate the gold from the earth. Would you like an arsenic pool in your backyard? hopefully no, but you like to see the gold.

In an article by Joe Rennison of the New York Times News Service, investors, money managers and central banks have been buying gold this year.

Gold is often seen as a haven during times of turmoil, is having its best year since 1979, when the prices surged over 100% during a period of high inflation, a depreciating dollar and a geopolitical crisis in the Middle East (the price of oil went up).

Gold has attracted buyers because other traditional havens such as the dollar and US government bonds, have lost some of their allure. The Federal Reserve will likely cut interest rates again, and the dollar has slumped 10%. Larger deficits in Washington have cast a cloud over America’s creditworthiness.

Ryan McIntyre, a senior managing partner at Sprott, an investment firm that specializes in precious metals, said uncertainty has largely driven the rally in gold.

Goldman Sachs noted exchange traded funds that buy gold have purchased over 100 metric tonnes of the precious metal in September. Analysts were expecting gold to reach $4,300 by year end.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in all industries there are multiple methods to find safety in dealing with increased prices of commodities. The senior companies often pay dividends, there are companies that specialize in the industry, because unlike 1979 shortly afterwords the price of gold fell to a level, you needed to own for 10 years to make your money back. If you want to diversify your holdings, always do your homework to find the best in the breed.

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

All industries face some sort of disruption, somebody or some company always figures a method to offer cheaper way. In the airline industry it was the discount airlines.

In an article by Nira Chokshi of the New York Times News Service, discount airlines reshaped the US aviation industry by offering cheap fares and charging extra for pretty much every service imaginable. And they made a lot of money doing it.

Now those same companies known as ultralow-low carriers are in trouble. The companies expanded rapidly, now they are struggling to manage rising costs and to compete with one another and giants like Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holding Inc which co-opted the strategies that make them so successful.

Spirit Airlines is seeking bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a year. Other discount operators such as Frontier Group Holdings Inc are in better shape but not profitable.

Dan Akins, an economist with Flightpath Economics, an aviation consulting firm, noted the mainline carriers have effectively figured out how to compete.

No-frills carriers have been flying for decades under the simple principles: fly planes full and often, cot costs as much as possible, offer low fares but charge for extras.

Spirit reported annual profits from 2007 to 2020. Other airlines that came around were Frontier, Sun Country Airlines, Breeze Airways, Avelo Airlines, and Allegiant Air.

American Airlines Group Inc, Delta and United adopted some budget airline tactics. Pretty much every US airline now charges fees for checked bags, seat selection and other services.

The airlines started selling basic economy tickets that cost less but have more restrictions.

At the major airports, the largest airlines have the best gates which means there are fewer gates for the discount airlines or fewer flights.

As they grew, the discount carriers brought larger planes and began flying to bigger airports, putting them in more direct competition with the big airlines and other budget carriers. According to Cirium, an aviation data firm, Spirit and Frontier each doubled their share of all US flights.

Despite their rapid rise, ultra-low carriers account for 11% of the seats on domestic flights. American, Delta, United and Southwest control nearly 79%.

One of the methods the big airlines make billions of dollars in annual revenue from credit cards.

Allegiant flies on more than 575 routes, about 75% of which are not served by another revenue. It also earns revenue from its airline credit card and by selling travel packages that include hotel rooms, ground transportation and other services. The airline is sharply focused on the preferences of leisure travelers, who are its target customers.

Sun Country, a small carrier, has reported profits in each of the past few years. Sun primarily connects its home base of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to other destination, but the airline earns 20% of its revenue from charter flights and half as much from operating cargo flights for Amazon.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, every industry has disruption and then the established companies have to respond. Sometimes they adopt the same tactics, sometimes they consolidate through use of larger resources, and usually it takes time before profits can be made consistently. As your investments see disruption, understand it will take time to respond and to see if their strategy works.

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