Boneless Wings #30

**NOTHING HERE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INVESTMENT ADVICE**

Good morning to all my wingmen and wingwomen out there. Here are a few noteworthy and tasty bites worth digesting. Enjoy!

The CEO of BlackRock (…the world’s largest asset management company with $10 trillion in assets under management) believes globalization is likely over, as we’ve known it the last 30 years post the Cold War, due to the Russian initiated war in Ukraine.

Specifically stating to shareholders, “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades. It has left many communities and people feeling isolated and looking inward. I believe this has exacerbated the polarization and extremist behavior we are seeing across society today.”

I’ve heard people argue that this may be a bit extreme. Perhaps a more necessary and nuanced stance would allow for globalization while ensuring countries who are committing genocide don’t get a ticket to the party!!

Basically, if you can play nice in the sandbox, then you can bump and grind on the dance floor with everyone else. But if you can’t, you will be isolated and left to fend for yourself. Without McDonalds, Xbox, Facebook, etc….. to keep you fed and entertained!

I imagine that may shape up these rogue regimes quickly!

As a follow up to the above, I figured worthwhile to highlight some of the comments from Larry Fink’s 2022 Chairman’s Letter. Given BlackRock’s position in the world, it’s worthwhile to highlight. And if you’re like me and you enjoy this type of stuff, it’s worth a read!

If you’re interested but don’t want to read the whole thing, I’ve tried to summarize it quickly (….that’s always relative) highlighting below the ripple effects of the Russian initiated war…both the knowns and unknowns at this time.

Fink opens stating how an “attack on a sovereign nation is something we have not seen in Europe in nearly 80 years – and most of us never imagined that in our lifetimes we would see a war like this waged by a nuclear superpower.” He also highlights how the consequences of this war are not limited to Ukraine and Eastern Europe alone.

The end of the Cold War proved overwhelmingly beneficial to the whole world. Benefiting from global peace and the expansion of globalization. How does that benefit the world? 

• Accelerated international trade

• Expanded global capital markets

• Increased economic growth

• Dramatically helped reduce poverty around the world

A comment on global flourishing….

“But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades. Access to capital markets is a privilege, not a right.” Amen to that! And Putin is now feeling the repercussions of his insanity by getting shunned and cancelled by the private sector. Access to free markets has provided nations a demonstrable shot at flourishment…..just look at the world the last 30 years. Russia will no doubt feel the downside of their decision for years to come.

How will this further impact how Nations will think about globalization?

“Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its subsequent decoupling from the global economy is going to prompt companies and governments worldwide to re-evaluate their dependencies and re-analyze their manufacturing and assembly footprints – something that Covid had already spurred many to start doing.”

That’s good right? Maybe…..or maybe not!

“….a large-scale reorientation of supply chains will inherently be inflationary.”

What are less discussed aspects of the war?

“… potential impact on accelerating digital currencies. The war will prompt countries to re-evaluate their currency dependencies. Even before the war, several governments were looking to play a more active role in digital currencies and define the regulatory frameworks under which they operate.” #cryptoFTW!!

How does this impact the energy transition?

Short term: “In response to the energy shock caused by the war in Ukraine, many countries are looking for new sources of energy. In the US much of the focus is on increasing oil and gas supply, and in Europe and Asia, coal consumption may increase over the next year. This will inevitably slow the world’s progress toward net zero in the near term.”

Long term: “….recent events will actually accelerate the shift toward greener sources of energy in many parts of the world. During the pandemic, we saw how a crisis can act as a catalyst for innovation. Businesses, governments, and scientists came together to develop and deploy vaccines at scale in record time.”

I find the full letter to be worth the read! But all in all, Fink’s letter can be summarized with the following. The world will experience short term pain, for long term gain. But as we’ve learned these last 2 years, nothing is guaranteed! 

The first 4 games (…. and 8 teams) of Round 3 and the Sweet 16 kicked off yesterday.

Here’s a few quick comments and update of those games:

• First off, the Duke Blue Devils made some clutch plays in the end to get their legendary coach (Coach K) back to the Elite 8 at least one last time in his last season as head coach. Yesterday’s win ended up being the 100th NCAA Tournament win for Coach K…. impressive. It would be outstanding to see him win it all during his last dance! What was more impressive to me, was the team’s ability to bounce back…..they started off with some awful early-game-jitter-type of mistakes which ended up costing them around 10 points pretty quickly. But as we’ve seen before, staying calm and poised has its benefits.

• Both Gonzaga and Arizona, both #1 ranked teams, lost to Bill Clinton’s Arkansas Razorbacks (Soo Pig to my Razorbacks out there) and the Houston Cougars respectively. And with Gonzaga’s loss my bracket is royally screwed. And given #1 Baylor lost last weekend to North Carolina, I’m not alone as there is only one remaining #1 seed left in the tournament with the Kansas Jayhawks. #RockChalkJayhawk

Scores from last night:

• #4 Arkansas def #1 Gonzaga: 74-68

• #5 Houston def #1 Arizona: 72-60

• #2 Duke def #3 Texas Tech: 78-73

• #2 Villanova def #11 Michigan: 63-55

If you want to go deeper into stats and the box score, click HERE.

By now, yall already know what day it is! Enjoy the weekend my people! 

Deuces. ✌️