Pesti Vicc

 

How old are you?

Eleven.

At your age, I was already twelve.

You have to be Hungarian to get the point. 

Esperanza

Institutional investors, local and foreign, have left TASE. Yet there is an opportunity in the battered local stock market: The shares here are cheap. It's like a spring waiting for things to clear up, and when that happens there will be a big upside here.

I am not consistent and believe only half-heartedly in myself. Yesterday I bought an American hi-tech ETF. 

Tired

 

 "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I
see of this truth..." said Franklin. I have lived a longer time than Franklin; the longer I live, the more I see myself getting increasingly tired. 

Franklin too had a big beer belly. 

Gafni: This Government lost "Heaven's Approval"

 "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?... I believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a bye word down to future age."  Thus spoke Benjamin Franklin.

Gafni, a leader of the religious parties, protests in the Knesset that the current coalition is not fulfilling its promises. Christians use to add to their promises a "With God's Help", the Muslims say "Inshallah" which is the same, and we Jews write on every letter דסיעתא דשמיתא   Desiata Deshamayta which in Aramaic means "With the Help of Heaven". The Chinese may say that Heaven retired the Emperor's legitimacy. Gafni's discontent refers to the coalition's difficulties in keeping its promise of passing a law that the so-called ultrareligious should not be drafted into the army. Gafni and his followers are totally insensitive and blind to the horrible war Israel is waging on two fronts (and three counting Iran). Currently, the religious are granted a self-renewing deferment. 

Boycotted or not

I carry shares of ELBIT, an electronic weapons factory, with an order book of 20 billion US$. The company is profitable and pays off dividends of 40% of the profits. Yet its stock has lost some 15% lately, which is very bad. The cause of its recent loss of value is caused by large investors selling Elbit - they want to avoid being identified with Israeli armament enterprise. This problem will not be solved for a while.

ICL, the Israeli potash company, has also lost a lot lately. I do know the reason, although world fertilizer prices have been falling. Prices of phosphate and potash have retreated since the back half of 2022 from their peak levels attained in the first half riding on the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war and disruptions due to the sanctions in Belarus. Lower prices are expected to weigh on the company’s sales and profitability in the near term. The problem with the Houties who have closed the port of Eilat may be affecting ICL. 

In general, TASE bourse is maintaining its level and not sinking. Israel's economy has not collapsed because of civil disturbances and the war in Gaza, but it is growing. Paradoxically, in 2024 total economic activity (GNP) is rising. Many working men are in the Army, Palestinian workers are not allowed in Israel, and foreign workers have left because of the war, so it is not clear what is happening. 

Ivri

 Cabezon.

China Still Cannot Feed Itself

China, the world's biggest agriculture importer, has set targets to drastically reduce its reliance on overseas buying over the coming decade in line with its push for food security, but they will be exceedingly difficult to meet, experts say.

With limited land and water, China will have to sharply increase farming productivity through technology, including genetically modified crops, and expand the area under cultivation to meet Beijing's 10-year projections.

The government envisions 92% self-sufficiency in staple grains and beans by 2033, up from 84% during 2021-23, according to a document released in late April, on a path toward Chinese President Xi Jinping's goal to become an "agriculture power" by the middle of the century.

From: Japan Times. 

So China has not been able to solve how to feed its people. When I first visited China, the issue on the table was famine, the population was growing, and agricultural yields were low. I thought that by now they were past this issue.