These are the 2 topics that occupied my time and thinking this week.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was looking for a business opportunity as a consultant for a microfinance firm based in Myanmar. My ex-colleague is now the CEO and he recommended me to the group CEO who was the owner of one of the largest agricultural groups there. He finally arranged for a face to face lunch meeting on Thursday where I met the group CEO, COO and CFO. It was a day trip for me, taking the 3 hours flight there and back on the same day. I am glad to say that the lunch meeting went well. We had a very fruitful discussion and putting a face to the names always help to build the business relationship. Let’s see how we can take this from here.
Myanmar seems to have changed a lot again after my last trip there almost 2 years ago. There seems to be a buzz of activities and people are excited about their future prospects. Having been shut off from the world for so many years, they have now opened themselves to the world in a rapid fashion. The people have tasted materialism and now want more. It is the infrastructure, both physical and policy-wise, that is lagging far behind which the new government is grappling with. Without the military at the front seat now, the newly elected leader is overwhelmed and under delivering. She is not getting enough technocrats into the team but fighting political battles that seemed to have toned down her previous campaigning rhetoric. I hope that this will change as they move back on track to rapid country development in a sustainable way.
The other thing that gave me a light bulb flashing moment this week : batteries. It may have been triggered by Elon’s Tesla reveal of their new toy last week. He showcased their new electrical truck and surprised the crowds with a brand new sports car too, all run by batteries. I started to realize that we have so many things we use in our daily lives which have a battery in them. We have mobile phones, watches, cars, drones and even homes for the storage of power from solar panels.
Battery technology is so old, starting from Nickel Cadmium and now to Lithium Ion, which has been around for many years already. I would have guessed by now that there should have been a quantum leap in new battery technology which can last much longer, right? There is a persistent conspiracy theory that battery manufacturers are trying to hide this new technology in order to maintain their current factory production. I think it may be more about the cost per unit issue which the new ones could be expensive to make at the moment. I need to do more research on this.
As a side note, I read somewhere that our bodies are a living battery. What if we can harness it for our devices? It will be a perpetual machine! Thoughts about the Matrix and the Bible’s Revelations come to mind immediately.
Imagine if a company can introduce a breakthrough in batteries? This should be a huge investment opportunity as we all need longer battery life! My next immediate task will be to learn about the new technology and seek out a company where I can invest in.
The only name I can come up with at the moment is China’s BYD. Warren Buffet invested in it many years ago and its share price has doubled this year alone. They rolled out EV (Electrical Vehicles) buses in China way before Elon came out with trucks last week. They have the capacity and breath to do vertical and horizontal manufacturing of batteries and their by-products.
More research needs to be done for my next investment idea on battery development. It will also be good to know as this breakthrough, like blockchain, will really impact many industries.
Finally, to cryptocurrencies. They continue to surprise me in a pleasant way. Seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to jump in now. I got in around late Sep and to date, in less than 2 months, my portfolio (of invested funds) is already +40% in absolute terms. I just bought the top 7 currencies from the start to try to understand more about them. Bubbles forming? Who knows? The high volatility is really steepening my learning curve fast! From a Treasury background, I can see how and why they are moving up, as the market capitalization is relatively small and traders like hedge funds are moving in for the kill. The trend is your friend as they say in the FX markets. The future is coming : Blockchain => cryptocurrency.
Leave a Reply