Rare finds

China's elemental advantage

Good morning, resource researchers. This is your Stock Market Rundown for February 13th, 2024. Thanks for joining me again today. Let’s dig in:

TODAY’S TOP STORY: RARE EARTH RIDDLES

When you’re firing a dank meme off to the groupchat, you probably aren’t thinking about the fact that your cellphone wouldn’t even turn on without help from some obscure metals mined in Inner Mongolia. 

But rare earth metals are a key component of our modern technological world. They’re a group of 17 elements that are critical to electronic components and industrial processes, used in everything from electric vehicles, to wind turbines, to fighter jets.

Despite the name making them sound scarce, they’re actually abundant in the earth’s crust. Problem is, they’re exploited using open-pit mining methods that can cause icky pollution. Waste slurry doesn’t exactly make for an Instagram-worthy landscape.

For the past 30 years, China’s been doing the world’s dirty work—the country controls 95% of the production and supply of rare earth metals. But with geopolitical tensions between China and the US flaring, there have been rumblings that China could restrict the rare earths supply, or even ban exports outright.

One idea to boost supplies? Recycle the rare earths in disused phones, hard drives, and electric motors. They don’t get consumed with use, so recycling them from old devices could replace mined supply. 

Your old phone sitting in a junk drawer could be a valuable source of reclaimed rare earths. And you thought all it was good for was playing BrickBreaker on a screen the size of a postage stamp. 

SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

• It’s a grim season in the media, with publications from the Wall Street Journal to Sports Illustrated cutting staff. Now, even The New York Times missed expectations as advertisers slashed budgets. In 2024, being a Twitch streamer might actually be a more stable career than being a newspaper reporter.

• Yum Brands, the owner of Pizza Hut, missed expectations, with inflation-hit global eaters opting for more meals at home. Sad: a tuna-on-Wonder Bread sandwich is no stand-in for hot honey pizza and cinnamon sticks.

• Roblox made a billion dollars last quarter thanks to in-game purchases. Schools being closed for Christmas break had more kids fishing mom’s credit card out of her purse to buy an Orange Sparkle Time Fedora.

• Microsoft is partnering with news organizations to provide AI content. Getting your job replaced by automation: it’s not just for parking lot attendants and fast-food cashiers anymore.

That’s a wrap for today, team; I’m already looking forward to checking in with you tomorrow. Yours in capitalism, The Axe