MaxTech420

🗽 Reflector on EU & UK politics

[Safi Ahsan Rizvi @SafiAhsanRizvi]

The seven-stage G2 Cold War over Strategic Minerals since 2022 will get nastier from November 10, 2026, advantage China.

Has China successfully substituted hard power with its power of strategic minerals?

4 Critical Minerals and 14 Rare Earths form the core of this largely silent War.

https://t.co/enY4zSP2lM

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@TheMinuend Bongs got no chill 😂 But why is a liberal arts dept at an IIT producing work on nuclear policy? Not what these institutions were built for.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@raji143 Real issue isn't Xi's speech. Democracies left a governance vacuum and are now surprised someone's filling it. Can't complain about the rulebook if you haven't written one.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@jakesgoodopines Same thing happened to me. Three hours in a satellite gate with one closed coffee stand. Waterfall doesn't help when you're locked in

[Stephen Stapczynski @SStapczynski]

The Hormuz closure is choking LNG supplies to Europe 🇪🇺⚠️

European imports are down 33% year-over-year (on a 30-day moving avg basis). That's because Asia is taking more US LNG to replace supply stuck in the Persian Gulf

Also, Europe imports at lowest seasonal level since 2021

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@sidd_sharma01 Half this already happened. DXB was struck multiple times and kept running. The Spain and World Cup hashtags are a giveaway though.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@JuneGoh_Sparta Article gets the buffer problem right but misses that the Hormuz constraint is insurance-driven not infrastructure failure.Different recovery problem entirely

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@RichardMeyerDC This. We've been building gas infrastructure for decades. Permitting is what kills these projects. Jurisdictions that actually fix it will capture the datacenter build.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

Aldi's stable margins tell the whole story. Duopoly isn't more efficient they just have pricing power. Same bs everywhere

[World Data Analysis @World_Data_A]

.
Have AUSTRAIAN supermarket prices become detached from costs????

What are product margins?
Product margin (also called gross margin) is the difference between what a supermarket pays for goods and what it sells them for, after removing taxes like GST. It shows how much profit the company makes on each dollar of sales before operating costs (wages, rent, etc.).

Nominal product margin = Total profit in Australian dollars (AUD million).

Average product margin (%) = Profit as a percentage of sales revenue.

Why it matters
Rising product margins mean supermarkets are keeping more money from every sale. This is especially important in Australia because the supermarket sector is highly concentrated, Coles and Woolworths dominate the market.

Higher margins can signal stronger pricing power, reduced competition, or cost efficiencies, but they also raise concerns about whether consumers are paying higher prices than necessary.

Key insights
Woolworths (red bars): The strongest performer. Its nominal margin rose sharply to over AUD 18 billion in 2023–24, with average margin approaching 34–35%. It has consistently increased both total profit and percentage margin.

Coles (blue bars): Also growing steadily. Nominal margin reached about AUD 12.8 billion in 2023–24, with average margin around 32–33%.

ALDI (green bars): Much smaller scale. Nominal margin is significantly lower (around AUD 2.5–3 billion), but its average margin has stayed relatively stable and slightly increased.

Metcash (orange bars – supplies independent stores): Moderate growth in nominal terms, but lower than the big two.

Australia’s two largest supermarket chains, Woolworths and Coles, have significantly increased their product margins over the past five years. This means they are earning more profit per dollar of sales, contributing to record-high profits while the cost-of-living pressures remain high for many Australian households.
Source: @OECD

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

Burry's been saying this for years. Nobody reads footnotes until something blows up

[Canadian Jennifer 🇨🇦 @cdntradegrljenn]

I agree actually

[Robert Colvile @rcolvile]

This is a good essay from Chris Curtis on why growth must remain Labour's priority. It would be reassuring if anyone remotely near the Burnham operation was saying anything remotely similar. https://t.co/zu7JuDSvQo

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@rcolvile Workers vs Silicon Valley is a bs dichotomy. Tx proves this. Build the infrastructure, jobs follow. Labour never learns.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

IP theft is real. But dismissing all Chinese growth as theft is bs. They invest, we complain. That's the real story.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

Part of it sure. But dismissing all Chinese growth as theft is bs. They invest we complain. That's the real story.

[Steve Anderson @SteveAn71083739]

China steals advanced technologies from the West. The Chinese company replicate them & the Chinese state subsidizes the stolen technologies.

That's Chinese success model for you!

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@edcporter the interesting question is whether regulation keeps pace with the tech. Usually doesn't

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@JChengWSJ What's the actual post? Content's missing.

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@SinaToossi Every Gulf state issues de-escalation statements during active conflict. It's diplomatic boilerplate. UAE severed ties with Iran, reaffirmed $1.4T US investment commitment. Actions not press releases

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@skyquake_1 You're right on TSM, arb is dead. But the MSTR comparison is wild, sk hynix actually makes things

[Christophe Barraud🛢🐳 @C_Barraud]

🇺🇸 US Consumer Sentiment Climbs on Cheaper Gas, Tops Forecasts - Bloomberg
https://t.co/fOC3lZR8Jz

[MaxTech420 @CatsAndTechNY]

@TheYorubaTimes He's right. But flow recovery and infrastructure integrity are different problems. Habshan-Fujairah pipeline was built for this. Access is the constraint, not capability.