(Almost) Daily Musings

Evening all

in the Grate Gatsby the green light is a sign of hope. In Microsoft Teams it is the same. Of sorts. A sign of hope that you will receive that slide you had been longing for. The model you have been iterating.

While I hope that your green light succeeds in fulfilling your hopes today, I share my musings.

Cheers
Philip

Chart Art

Moon

We recently (yesterday) noted the lead of Europe in space research. Just to stir the pot: satellite launches per year are mooning in recent times. Most notably however: Starlink. 53% of active satellites in orbit are Starlink. Just about 5k in total.

Budget X

The FT sheds some light where Musk’s cost cutting plans could fall. Currently Department of Health and Social Securities are the biggest spenders. The axe is proposed to cut USD 2tn of a budget currently totalling USD 6.75tn. Some notes:

• Fear persists that the National Highway Traffic Safety - a thorn in Musks side - will get a hefty cut

• Defence, social security, and healthcare make up about 2/3 of spending

• His compadre in legal crime: Ramaswamy has previously proposed cutting the Department of Education would cut a mere 4 per cent from the federal budget…

• Musk has hinted previously that he plans to find savings within the US defence department and the National Institutes of Health

• During his campaign to be the Republican nominee, Ramaswamy unveiled an: FBI? Not needed.

• Implications still unclear but perhaps security and infrastructure innovation could get an upwind as agencies are decreased while the mission critical nature of the related assets is undeniable. To mind come:

  • Gauss Control

  • Pluto Technologies

  • Cepton

Wonderwomen

Love seeing this. US Women are outpacing men in degree completion. Context: Female Founder funding is breaking records. My thesis: More momentum to come. Some Female founded companies and VCs to highlight:

• Clare&Me

• Flexport

• Levy Health

• Cityblock

• Glossier

• Harbinger Ventures

• Araya Ventures

• BBG Ventures

• Halogen Ventures

• Avestria Ventures

Export Import

While drinking Modellos on a ferry I learned that Modello is the most drunk beer in the US - at least the ferry bartender - a natural source of unequivocal truth - said so. Appears the US is now importing more from Mexico than from China or their northern neighbors. While I hope this is due to beer consumption, other reasons may appear more prevalent:

• DJT promised tariffs of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada but to top it off he adds a 10% addition mal peg on Chinese imports

Macro

Government in France in Turmoil. And even as Germany has its own political volatility, the 10Y yield delta is widening to record highs