After 35 years of stockbroking for some of the biggest houses and investors in Australia and the UK, the Secret Broker is regaling Stockhead readers with his colourful war stories — from the trading floor to the dealer’s desk.
 
You have to love living in Australia, with its easy laidback lifestyle. But every time a politician stands up and opens their mouth, you just wish they were taken outside and shot.

This would not only put them out of their misery but also us out of ours.

I cringe every time there is some kind of election coming up, with all the upcoming candidates vying for everyone’s attention via the radio, papers and TwitToks.

So, here I am on holiday and trying to avoid the online clickbait articles and listening exclusively to my ‘if I was in a coma’ Spotify playlist, when I spot something glistening in front of my face.

This shiny bit of news informs me that someone from America has signed off to build a world class, state of the art factory in Australia.

In the official news release, the American company stated that it will create “thousands of jobs and attract large-scale investment from key players in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and other parts of the world”.

Surely these are politician words, I think to myself and have to double check the release to see if it contains the word ‘The Right Honourable Blah Blah Blah’ in its official sign off.

Nope.

It’s genuine. No gun needed.

Even the company that is promoting this states it is a ‘Berkshire Hathaway Company’. So this gleaming bit of news only gets better and is now well worthy of a deeper dive.

It turns out that this American company wants to regenerate an industry that has been completely destroyed by our beloved politicians, even though it directly and indirectly employed over 200,000 people.

They managed to destroy the very soul of Australia by carefully orchestrating the exit of both Ford and Holden, so now, when we all sit down to watch the Bathurst 1000, we have to endure foreign cars racing each other.

The rivalry between Holden and Ford fans has now become Camaros vs Mustangs.

But wait. Don’t fret pet. It gets better.

To race, they must be rebadged with either a heritage Holden or Ford badge, which I guess are made in China, as they can’t be made in Australia.

So, in a breath of fresh air, the press release stated:

‘Recharge Industries™ is establishing a large-scale lithium-ion battery cell production and research capability in Australia. Using world leading artificial intelligence (AI) and multinational research partnerships, we are finding ways to make batteries better, safer, and longer lasting. We are powering the transition to a low emissions future by creating advanced battery cell manufacturing capabilities onshore.’

How about that?

They have worked out that, in all of the lithium mining hype, if you actually keep it onshore, you can then generate profits and more importantly, thousands of jobs.

It’s been a long and painful journey for us to circle back to this realisation, but we made it. (Sorry to those 200,000 people who lost their jobs.)
 

It’s intelligence, Jim, but not as we know it

I did state in my 2023 predictions that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) would be something to watch out for this year and it has managed somehow to get a mention in producing longer lasting batteries.

Not sure what role AI plays in all of this but with scant details on their website, I can only assume that it is heavily used in their R&D unit.

However, their website did mention they are also building an exact replica of their Australian plant in America at exactly the same time.

How’s that for scaling up? Two for the price of one.

At long last, instead of just producing minerals and exporting them, only to buy them back as a manufactured product, Australia will be able to cut out the middleman.

Hallelujah.

I find all of this very exciting, as now electric motors can replace just about any internal combustion engine which historically provided their power.

It’s not just about getting from point A to point B anymore.

It’s now about sustainability and performance whilst getting you from point A to point B in style and in a record time.

And all powered by Australian produced lithium.

So, this Australia Day, when you are all waving your ‘Made in China’ Australian flags, I will be deep in research mode, looking for the right ASX listed companies who can leverage from what I hope is the resurgence of an Australian car manufacturing industry.

Even my beloved Indian-owned (but still Made in England!) Jaguars will no longer be powered by petrol engines from 2025. Their Formula One E Team will be putting all of their racing R&D know-how, directly into their street cars.

So, even my right foot will benefit directly from all of this knowledge.

Who knows, one day maybe the Bathurst V8s will be replaced with electric cars and even though they may not be Australian built, the batteries certainly can be.

Maybe we have to wait until they can do 1000km without needing a recharge, otherwise very long extension leads will be required.

Will 2027 be the year? Just depends if any politician escapes being shot.

Then it could be as soon as 2050!

 

The Secret Broker can be found on Twitter here @SecretBrokerAU or on email at [email protected].

Feel free to contact him with your best stock tips and ideas.

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