OSINT Drip 2-9-2022
The US House passed a bill to boost chip manufacturing and R&D On Friday the US House of Representatives passed a bill that will equip America to boost semiconductor production and lift its economy to compete better with China. The law bill, called the America Competes Act of 2022, includes $52bn in funding to help semiconductor companies build new factories, and to fund research and development.
Some of the key firms that will benefit are Intel, Samsung who have been the most vocal. Meanwhile, Ford confirmed production downtime next week for the Ford Bronco and Explorer SUVs; the Ford F-150 and Ranger pickups; the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric crossover; and the Lincoln Aviator SUV at plants in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and Mexico due to the parts shortage. The cuts come a day after Ford significantly missed Wall Street's earnings expectations due to supply chain issues, sending shares to tumble 9.7% on Friday.
Semiconductor shortages in the past two years are expected to have resulted in revenue misses of more than $500 billion worldwide for suppliers and customers, according to a Deloitte report.
Inflation
Overall construction input prices are up 22.3% from a year ago, with nonresidential construction prices up 23.2%, according to the Association of Builders and Contractors.
Google Searches for the term inflation has taken off since May as has Interest Rates, meanwhile searches for mortgages have tapered off signaling that housing interest may have peaked.
Commodities:
Brent crude prices hit a seven-year high of $91.70 a barrel on Jan 28 and are currently trading at about $90. Current crude oil prices are hovering around US$90 per barrel, which has already taken fuel prices in major markets of Europe to above 2-2.15 euros per liter.
Several analysts, including Goldman Sachs, argue that the very thin spare capacity could push oil prices over the $100 mark later this year.
Despite demand, OPEC+ oil production levels are going to stick to previously announced plans, the groups said on Wednesday, despite high prices on international markets. That means the alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, will stick to a plan to boost daily production by 400,000 barrels in March, in line with increases in previous months.
Political tensions between Russia, Europe, and the US could put indirect pressure on western oil firms such as BP and Exxon.
PE Market
A 2021 UBS Global Family Office Report highlighted how private equity is now the preferred asset class for over half of the world's 191 largest family offices, with over three-quarters of these making growth equity investments. The chart above shows that 2021 was a deal time for PE funds having more transactions going back to 2007.
In 2021 there was more than $1.5 trillion worth of M&A transactions that have already been announced this year, the highest since 2015.
Despite the potential growth within the PE domain Google search interest has remained flat showing that PE is mostly a non-factor for mainstream investors, which is likely to change over the next few years.
Stocks to Watch
The following firms have had some of the lowest gains over the last year and could be good candidates for an uptick in the next few week(s).
Vincerx Pharma, Inc. (VINC)
Upstart (UPST)
Harmonic Inc. (HLIT)
DocGo (DCGO)
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC)
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