In every community, the desire to be connected to the internet is around and every level of government has embraced the idea. There are some governments around the world which says connection to the internet is a right. If it is right, that means the government has to ensure all its citizens have internet access and it is affordable or essentially free. Most governments want its citizens connected for people to search the internet and generate economic returns. Technically the more places are connected, the more people can work from anywhere even though if you listen to people in Washington, they want people in the office.

In an article Eessi Lehto and Andrius Sytas of Reuters, in Finland an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged and 4 internet lines were broken. Was it an accident or done on purpose. The main culprit is a Russian ship carrying oil named the Eagle S. In the world of shipping, ships are registered in tax hazens around the world and the Eagle S is registered in the Cook Islands which is in the South Pacific Ocean.

The Finnish Coast Guard crew boarded the Eagle S to investigate according to the director of Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, Robin Lardot. This was grave sabotage.

The Eagle S is believed to be part of Russia’ shadow fleet of aging tankers that seek to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.

Two of the fibre-optic cables owned by Finnish operator Elisa linked Finland and Estonia. A third cable is owned by China’s Citic. The 4th cable is owned by Finnish group Cinia runs between Finland and Germany.

Both the Finnish and Estonian governments held extraordinary meetings to access the situation.

Baltic Sea nations have seen a number of internet connections broken since 2022, although it is always a possibility that it was a technical malfunction and/or an accident.

The Eagle S Panamax oil tanker crossed the Estlink 2 electricity cable at 10:26 GMT, a Reuters review of Marine Traffic ship tracking data showed, identical to the time with the power outage occurred. The time to fix the outage can be months.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, infrastructure is a key element of every country and working infrastructure allows for economic growth. If the infrastructure is damaged, then something will be weakened. Supplies, access, customers go the ability to make profits. The world has changed to what infrastructure is and what countries will do if the infrastructure is damaged.

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

A few year ago, Russia invaded Ukraine and the Russia was expecting the same response from Europe as the previous time. A slap on the wrist and then everything would be normalized. This time, the western countries said no and the war between Russia and Ukraine became a normal awful war and Europe and the US imposed sanctions on Russia. Financial assets were seized, they are helping to pay for the war, as well as shutting down oil and gas from Russia. Although the world concentrates on the Middle East as oil producing countries, Russia is one of the world’s largest producer of oil and gas and much of the economy was based on budget surpluses from the sale of the products.

Since the war, Russia has concentrated on alternatives to China and India and Europe paid the price of the sanctions. Germany and Italy were the biggest customers, and the result was oil and gas prices went from the lowest prices in Europe to some of the highest prices, with a direct effect on the economies of the countries and manufacturing costs.

In an article from Reuters, Russian oil and gas is slowly making a comeback into Europe with Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said exports are up 18% from last year.

The increase admittedly is coming from a low base, when European supplies fell 55.6% to 28.3 bcm, but they are now up to 32 bcm according to Gazprom.

There are problems for the oil and gas, even though there is conflict between Russia and Ukraine, about half of Russian gas flows from Russia to Ukraine to Europe. The exports are allowed by a 5-year agreement which expires in 2024 and Ukraine said will not be renewed.

The other half goes through the TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea.

LNG supplies have been on the rise with Europe taking half of the Russian exports. The EU said it will try to take less LNG and go to alternatives from Norway, the US and Qatar. (President Trump has said he wants more LNG supplies to go to Europe).

Linking to dividend paying stocks, geopolitics is something companies get involved in once they export and import from other countries. The best solution is always peace and stability, but the world is complicated, with every country having their own agenda and hopefully they are similar to where you have your investments. If they are, life is simpler and that is a good thing.

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

In every industry there are trends and disruptions which eventually leads to changes in business models or adaption or mergers and acquisitions. For example, we all know that sports programming because it is live, has many viewers which means it is valuable. However, how people watch the sports has changed from a TV to streaming services. At some point in the past, after buying a stereo and a TV, people needed to pay a cable company for access to programming. Then came Netflix and streaming services and people cutting the cord or only paid for streaming services. The cable companies make less money and need to do something.

In an article by Scott Murdoch, Anousha Sakoui and Chandin Monnappa of Reuters, News Corp which is based in Australia and owned by Rupert Murdoch has agreed to sell its Australian cable TV unit Foxtel to a British sports network DAZN for $2.1 billion.

News Corp will gain a board seat with DAZN and hold a 6% share in the company. DAZN gains rights to Australian Football League and the National Rugby League.

Foxtel saw the rise in sports rights costs and competing against global digital companies, Brain Ha, an analyst with Morningstar, said the sales multiple of 7 times earnings was higher than expected.

DAZN, which streams in North America, Europe and Asia and the portfolio is valued at $35 billion. the majority ownership is Len Blavatnik, a dual US and British citizen. Mr. Blavatnik owns DAZN through Access Industries which owns a majority stake in Warner Music Corp.

In Europe, DAZN broadcasts European football in partnership with Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1.

In Australia, the Australian Football League has a $4.5 billion Australian dollar 7-year deal with Foxtel that runs until 2031, while Cricket Australian receives $1.5 billion.

News Corp will focus on its core operations of Dow Jones (think of the Dow Jones Index) and other financial assets including the Wall Street Journal, digital real estate company REA Group and book publisher HarperCollins. The deal with DAZN is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, every industry has trends and disruptions in their midst and it is a tough battle to remain profitable and pay dividends. Companies have to adjust, acquire new partnerships sometimes with companies that did not previously exist in their orbit a few years before. If the companies, you invest in are standing still standing still, you should be looking at alternatives. Many years ago, there was a company who was content to wrap up its annual meeting in less than 10 minutes and was happy about it. In the present environment that is a recipe for selling off assets.

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

All companies look at the landscape to determine what is? and what can be? Nobody knows the future although there are hints what is coming in the next few years because most of the future is dependent on many things happening before profits are made. If you live in a city, you look at the office buildings, are people working from the office or home? If they work from home, do we need more office buildings. However, developers believe we will continue to work from offices and if they can received signed leases they are happy to build more office buildings because of what is.

In an article by Eric Atkins of the Globe and Mail, a couple of years ago, Canadian Pacific merged with Kansas City Southern to become CPKC. The CP runs east and west across Canada and the KC runs north and south from Mexico through Kansas City to Chicago and up to Canada. The merger was done at a cost of $27 billion and went through. One of the biggest shareholders CPKC is Bill Ackerman who holds it as a core company.

Part of what is includes free trade as first through NAFTA and then renegotiated to USMCA act which essentially keeps the idea of free trade. Trans-border shipments made up 41% of CPKC’s revenue in 2023. CPKC offers customers longer hauls with fewer interchanges which is a time-saving and efficient service or lowers costs for CPKC.

The railway has partnered with Americold Realty Trust to build a chilled container facility in Kansas City that will send pork and beef to Mexico. The hub will have Mexican food inspectors on-site to ensure rapid shipments south and a seamless border. (it is less expensive to cut meat in Mexico).

The 2 companies are looking at moving Mexican fruit and produce north to markets in the US and Canada. In addition, the company built a second bridge connecting Mexico and the Texas doubling its capacity to move trains. Also, many vehicles move back and forth between the US and Mexico, CPKC opened an automotive yard near Dallas for finished vehicles.

Mexican trade accounted for 22% of CPKC’s 2023 revenue or $3 billion. Of this total 55% is US exports, 23% is Mexican imports and 1% is Mexico to Canada.

President Trump has talked about imposing tariffs on the deal he negotiated or the USMCA. Other people in or near the administration have talked about tariffs as negotiating tools. No one really knows, but billions of dollars of investment based on the what is? have been made and will slow down or stop on the words of the President.

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

In North America and Europe, investors love utility companies. The companies have long term horizons, they tend to capital intensive which helps stop competition, they are regulated by the government which tends to mean price increases every year, if you examine the economy of the area many people and companies use the product which tends to mean good cash flows and the companies are well managed. There is a lot to love above the investor-owned utility. In addition, the demand from big data and AI is a good thing for utilities. All the wonderful things investors like about utilities makes them vulnerable to wartime attacks.

In an article by Eric Reguly of the Globe and Mail, Ukraine’s largest private power producer is called DTEK and before the war with Russia generated 25% of Ukraine’s electricity. CEO Maxim Timchenko announced emergency power cuts in Kyiv and the Dinpro and Donetsk regions. The Russians have been sending drones with missiles to target Ukraine’s generation and transmission systems in an effort to freeze the people of Ukraine. DTEK has 8 coal-burning power plants. At the beginning of the war, Russia targeted the transmission systems, but now it targets the coal plants. In April of this year, 90% of the plants were damaged or destroyed. However, with foreign funding and surplus parts from Europe, over half the power was restored.

In November and December, Russia launched 700 missiles and drones and 210 went through most of the targeting the infrastructure system which had been repaired. DTEK is repairing once again.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, no utility company wants to go through the war outside of nature’s natural disasters, but a war can teach how to get operations up faster and continue the process to earn cash flow. If you own utility stocks, which many have done well, it is important to ask what lessons have they learnt from the ability of Ukraine’s utility to bounce back.

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

In the past, what politicians say is important, now days it seems what they actually mean is subject to interpretation. No politician identifies this more that President Trump. After he says something, then his advisors interpret the words, and they tend to mean something else. President Trump could have good reasons, but as he moves into his Presidency, we will see how the words reflect affect reality.

In an article by Gram Slattery of Reuters, President Trump threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal accusing the Canal authority of charging too high of rates for ships to cross to connect the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The Panama Canal was started by the French but they could not complete it. The zone was taken over by President Teddy Roosevelt era and they had a 100-year lease. In 1997, the US and Panama signed a treaty that reverted the Canal to the government of Panama and in 1999 the Panama government took full control. The Canal initially provided a quicker way to move goods from the East Coast to California during the gold rush era. With the rise of container ships, the canal has increased in size to accommodate larger ships carrying goods from China to the US.

The President of Panama Jose Raul Mulino said every square inch belongs to Panama and we are keeping control for us. For the US to gain control, it would tend to mean a war, not just a monetary buyout or acquisition.

Linking to dividend paying companies, if you pay attention to the messages of corporate Presidents, the words have been written and vetted by senior management. If the numbers are positive, what the President says can mean less, because the company is profitable. However, the words will be analyzed by many investors to see what is says and does not say. President Trump maybe an exception, but words matter and resources are allocated based on words.

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

Where you are born, you tend to be concerned about that country. For those who move away to another country for better opportunities, you are concerned with that country as you move about being a citizen. For the rest of the population, when a country changes or stabilizes from the past it is a good thing, however as an investor you have to narrow your alternatives.

In an article by Patricia Cohen of the New York Times News Service, for most people in the world the changing of the government in Syria is a good thing. The past Bashar Assad’s government sent half the population outside the country and the rest was essentially a war zone. The infrastructure needs to be replaced and 90% of the population is living in poverty. However the country does have assets.

Before the war, Syria produced 383,000 barrels of oil a day, at present that is down to 90,000 according to the World Bank. The country has been importing more oil than it exports and the pipelines to deliver oil and gas to Iraq, Jordan and Egypt need repairs.

In terms of the government, Ahmad al-Sharaa, leader of the rebel coalition has taken power. However, the US government has a $10 million bounty for his head due to his previous links to al-Qaida. Will the US take off the bounty and over sanctions to Syria? Some of the other sanctions were financial, to try to slow down financial abilities of the Assad’s government. These sanctions do not allow people to send money to family in Syria. Will banks be allowed to send money?

In every war, the middle income people move with their feet or flee the country. In Syria more than 8 million fled the country, will they come back? will some of them want to come back?

To the north of Syria is Turkey. The country has more than 3 million refugees, will they go back to Syria. At the moment, one method to capitalize on the country’s infrastructure needs is Turkish companies are expected to win some contracts. On the Turkish exchange, stocks in steel and cement companies have risen. However, with all construction projects, they take time to bid on the contract, win the contract and do the work. How the safety and security of the country will depend if the companies do any work.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there is always hope for more, but more tends to mean better supply systems and the country seemingly normal in operations. You may or may not like the government, but if there is reasonable peace and security, money can be made in the country. Ideally, profitable companies have evaluated many countries in the past and will continue to evaluate them which allows them to move forward with plans knowing the returns will meet expectations. If it is good for the company to move into the market, perhaps it is good for you to look at alternatives.

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

In every economy there are choices or allocation of resources and comparison to other countries. Every time the economy grows, there can be surpluses which can mean one of 2 things – either collect less or do more. In every country there are people are less well off than others so doing more is always an option, the big problem is the turnout at the election box tends to be less. The other choice is collect less by cutting taxes and that is an option because those that pay more in taxes vote in higher percentage. What should politicians do? If you think back before the holidays, the US congress had a vote on deficits and eventually the bill passed. The US deficit to GDP is about 6.5%.

In an article from Reuters, the second biggest economy in the world is China. For the past 2 decades China’s economy was in a growth state and running surpluses or it was the envy of the world’s economy. Then COVID happened the economy was shutdown by government regulations and property prices fell, along with high local government debt and slowing consumer demand which led to a weakening economy which led to deficits. The Chinese government and the US government are in the same position – the debt to deficit is rising with China’s number to come in around 4%.

The Chinese government is projecting growth by 5% which is a long way from the double digit growth of the past. In China the press looks to the Politburo. The government had been projecting a 3% deficit but has increased it to 4% which translates into an extra $255 billion in spending.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in most things in life including with investing there are alternatives or choices. With all alternatives there are positive and negatives with each but one needs to be selected. The hope is with increased data analysis and a helping of AI, the expected outcomes can be narrowed or can be switched before too much time has elapsed. There are always choices or alternatives, and the idea is to have looked at the alternatives before you make a decision, not to justify it afterwards. The is always homework to do, benchmarks to make and be ready to know when your idea did not work. Often times investing in profitable companies gives you the luxury of time to make your decision.

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

If you are involved in politics besides voting, but belonging to a party and being active in it, you will quickly realize that when you are in opposition you will not like something the party in power is doing. When tides shift as they often do, your party will be in power and they will have to govern. The first thing the party in power will do is to change the regulations they do not like. It does not matter if the regulations make the world better, the party in power does not like them and they will be changed. Eventually the party will have to govern and often later will deal with the consequences of changing the regulations.

The classic example is pollution laws or environmental laws. A plant makes a product, the plant generates jobs which is good for the local economy. The downsize is the plant’s process dumps garbage into the river which someone downstream has to drink. Overtime whatever is in the river gets into people, they get sick and sue the company. The company has to change the process but what about the people? If they have good lawyers, they find the company knew that someone was going to get sick and the company will need to pay compensation in the cost-benefit equation. Often times to pay compensation, companies will be reorganized to limit the overall effect to the company. What is better for the plant to produce the item or to produce the item and protect the environment? There have been many lawsuits in the past, and likely will be in the future.

In an article by Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Kirkham of Reuters, the Republican transition team is recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging systems and to block lower cost electric vehicles from coming into the US from China according to documents seen by Reuters.

It is well known, President-elect Trump besides being friends with Elon Musk does not like electric cars or the charging systems need to ensure electric cars are run. He likes vehicles that run on fossil fuels and wants to promote them with the slogan Drill Baby Drill.

In the US, electric vehicles are expensive, although in China the cost can be less than $10,000. The more expensive vehicles have received a $7,500 tax credit for vehicle EV purchase, the Trump team wants to clean up the tax code and eliminate the deduction.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all companies benefit from the government in power, sometimes it is easier to see and sometimes governments make it more difficult, but governments play a role. Sometimes regulations make it difficult to compete, which has the effect of helping existing companies, sometimes regulations allow in the competition, there is a balancing act. Governments will change as people change, as an investor you love stability to make profits.

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