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The Contrarian Investor Podcast Posts

The Coming Credit Crunch and Death of Unicorns: Leo Schmidt (Szn 4, Ep 11)

Published April 18, 2022

Leo Schmidt of River Eddy Capital Management rejoins the podcast to discuss the coming credit crunch, its impact on stock market sectors, and where to invest to protect one’s portfolio.

Content Highlights

  • So-called “unicorn” companies, or the darlings of the VC crowd, and others that cannot generate cashflow, will face a tough reckoning (3:17);
  • Undermining this is “a complete change of psychology” in terms of velocity of money (6:27);
  • What if the Fed reverses course? It’s not so simple (8:52);
  • Oil is a short: “Oil is the ultimate liquid commodity” but there is a place for pipeline stocks… (11:38);
  • What stocks can thrive in this type of environment? Look first to medical company spin-offs (19:13);
  • Another area to look: Business development companies, or BDCs. This is a risky part of the market but there is at least one BDC making first-lien loans, which are the safest part of the capital structure… (26:23);
  • Quick epilogue on China’s latest Covid lockdown. There are ways to play the move away from supply chain issues that result (35:58);

Quick Highlights From Our YouTube Channel

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The Fallacy of Renewable Energy: Leigh Goehring, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates (Szn 4, Ep 10)

Published April 6, 2022

Leigh Goehring, managing partner of Goehring & Rozencwajg, joins the podcast to discuss his view that most renewable energies are ineffective at reducing carbon output and pointless as investments.

Content Highlights

  • The consensus opinion is that renewable energy will solve many of the problems of CO2 production and energy needs. This is false (3:12);
  • The “terrible energy efficiency” associated with renewables will make the world poorer (5:00);
  • What is the problem with solar and wind and why are they so inefficient? (7:20);
  • It’s no coincidence that the energy crisis started in Germany, which is now forced to import coal (12:20);
  • Vaclav Smil and the premise that there has never been a new technology with inferior energy efficiency that displaced the old technology (13:59);
  • The ulterior motives behind China’s green energy push (18:33);
  • The “great hope” for a Moore’s Law of wind mills and solar panels is a fallacy. Input prices have declined because energy prices have (21:05);
  • Where does that leave electric cars? (25:00);
  • Background on the guest (33:42);
  • What parts of the energy industry are better targets for investment right now? Look to uranium for starters, “the perfect solution to our problems” (37:17);
  • Copper is “the quintessential green metal” also facing a supply/demand imbalance. Also agricultural commodities, grains, fertilizers, nitrogen, and potash (41:26);
  • Mosaic (MOS) is one of the world’s largest phosphate and potash producers, and a stock the guest is particularly bullish on — it trades at just 5x earnings versus 25x at the peak (47:07);
  • An agricultural crisis could soon be upon us, leading to hoarding of supplies (49:58).

More Information About the Guest

Quick Highlights From Our YouTube Channel

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Revisiting Leo Schmidt’s Bullish Takes on Energy, Aircraft Leasing, 5G Stocks

Published April 4, 2022

Leo Schmidt, chief investment officer of River Eddy Capital Management, favored energy, aircraft leasing and 5G infrastructure development stocks in a February 2021 episode.

Among energy stocks, Schmidt liked natural gas transmission company Equitrans Midstream (ETRN). 

“No matter what you think about the price of natural gas, it needs to be moved,” he said. “And we have the cheapest natural gas in the world, except for Saudi Arabia.”

Airline leasing companies were a “fantastic idea” due to “pent-up demand.”

His picks were AerCap (AER) Air Lease Corporation (AL). 

Schmidt also said 5G infrastructure developers would be big players, with Nokia (NOK) and Ericsson (ERIC) at the forefront. 

“Interestingly, Nokia is the only one out of those three that has supply in the United States to all the legacy carriers,” he said.

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