Uranium, it's kind of a big deal

and another Fed member caught trading around announcements...

The news coming out about uranium is getting hot and heavy. On Saturday, Doomberg put out a piece about the EU push to make nuclear “green”. That smart chicken linked to a EuroNews story that draws the battle lines out for us.

The letter, which was initiated by France, has been sent to the Commission with the signature of nine other EU countries, most of which already count nuclear as part of their national energy mix: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.

Currently, nuclear power accounts for 26% of the electricity produced in Europe. If nuclear were to be classified as “sustainable” and “green”, I see nuclear power accounting for no less than half of EU power generation. This is because of their push for “green” energy and their current reliance upon natural gas, 90% of which has to be imported. France already obtains 70% of its power from nuclear.

Unfortunately, not all EU countries are in agreement about designating nuclear as “green”.

On the one side, Germany, which plans to shut down all its reactors by 2022, is leading the anti-nuclear cause, together with Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain.

This means the petition will not be a quick. This could drag out for sometime. In fact, the EU Commission believes a decision could be expected before the end of the year. I find that to be highly optimistic. Expect this to go into extra innings, but I believe the need for reliable power generation will triumph over the nuclear naysayers.

A report from the Commission's research unit released earlier this year indicates Brussels could eventually side with the pro-nuclear team. The paper says greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear plants are "comparable" to those released by hydropower and wind, an assessment shared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the United States Department of Energy.

This is all good news for the nuclear thesis. We are still in the early innings in this story so it is not too late to get in. I’m personally holding UUUU and NXE. While this story is going to lift all the ‘u-boats’, I think these two have the opportunity to run laps around the others.

In addition to the Euro-story, the world’s largest producer and seller of uranium announced that they will participate in a uranium fund. Kazatomprom out of Kazakhstan is responsible for producing 40% of the global uranium supply. They put out this press release to show how they will copy-cat Sprott’s Physical Uranium Trust. Since Sprott started their trust, we’ve had Uranium Royalty Corp (UROY), copy them. Now we’ve got the largest uranium producer and seller doing the same thing. I’m not sure we can total grasp what is happening here but you know this is kind of a big deal. When Kazatomprom announced their new fund, they’ve dedicated $50 million towards holding the physical commodity as a long-term investment. At the second stage of this project, they’ll allocated $500 million from outside institutions and investors.

Previously, I thought it was an embarrassment of riches to have two companies competing to hoard available uranium. Now we’ve got a third who has immense involvement and history in this industry.

And in truth, this story is still in the beginning stages. We have a double on our hands and I’m of the belief that it could turn into a grand slam. I’m personally holding UUUU and NXE. I added more last week and I’m looking to add more if there are any dips.

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Another Fed member got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. When these revelations first started coming out, I said

“The next few questions hammered on the Fed officials who were trading stocks. It sounds like this could grow legs and turn into a story. The Fed is trying to figure out the best way to handle it. In time, I imagine it’ll get swept under the rug just like Congress’s insider trading issues. Time will tell.”

As time is passing, the Fed is looking like a deer-in-headlights. They are getting steam-rolled with every new report that comes out about it. They have been slow to respond and defend their members. The Fed was under prepared to handle the public pressure that is being put on them by this story. As a result, they are dropping like flies. The latest revelation has the potential to blow this story into the stratosphere.

The American Prospect (a very lefty rag) published today that “Jerome Powell sold more than a million dollars of stock as the market was tanking”. Fed Chairman Powell sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF). This occurred on October 1, 2020. If you look at the tale of the tape, this was actually a terrible time to sell.

After Powell sold, the market dipped to a second bottom then took-off for the next 10 months. The American Prospect’s article really tries hard to paint this in the worst possible light for Powell but I know their agenda. They want Lael Brainard to head the Fed. They aren’t interested in dismantling the Fed and letting the unfettered free market dictate prices and interest rates. No, they want their lefty gal in there leading the ship. The idea that the Fed isn’t a political beast is being challenged heavily. The latest story about Powell is nothing short of an attempted overthrow. Anyone at the Fed that doesn’t believe the lefty agenda is a target. It might be time to brush up on MMT as it looks like it is closer to coming that previously expected. Powell’s chances at a renomination look less and less likely. This latest article will only give Liz Warren more arrows to go after more Fed scalps.