Bleeding Edge postscript news

[Joseph Tracy]

Guess those middle easterners tucked away in Grab Real Ice’s tech machine are sending messages back to the Kingdom on investment strategies for what they call a post oil future. How these bisinesses will run without fuel may be the next bleeding edge of the futures market. ( JT)

Bin Salman Buys American <https://substack.com/redirect/ef25941f-bf83-49f6-a3d4-35e6c4b580b6?r=4ueud> Just after a PR fiasco of a presidential trip to Saudi Arabia and the approval of a controversial weapons sale by America to its Saudi allies, the kingdom made an aggressive move to buy a bigger share of American commerce. In a replay of a strategy employed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund earlier in the pandemic, the Public Investment Fund, chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, bought $7 billion worth of stock in American companies like Starbucks, Microsoft, BlackRock, Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, Zoom, and others. “The PIF, as the fund is known, is doubling down on its bet on technology investments despite a rout in valuations,” is how Bloomberg put it. The Saudis have a goal of doubling fund assets by 2025 and reaching $2 trillion by 2030, and are riding a surge in crude oil prices, which reportedly will deliver the kingdom its first budget surplus in a decade. Saudi purchases of everything from the Newcastle soccer team to stakes in Activision Blizzard and electric carmaker Lucid Motors are part of a plan called Vision 2030, which is designed to help the biggest crude-exporting state prepare for a “post-oil future <https://substack.com/redirect/3756701b-580e-4c72-a23d-cc7d80983f54?r=4ueud>,” and collapsing stock market valuations are providing an opportunity to increase the Saudi stake in America.  ( Matt Taibbi’s weekly news roundup)