We’ve got a hodgepodge of reader feedback today. First, a couple of readers discuss global shortages…

“I seriously doubt shut-down [semiconductor] facilities can produce high-end chips,” a reader says. “Thanks again to our globalist economy, encouraged by President Obama.”

To be fair, Obama was by no means the first president to encourage outsourcing. Also, the majority of chips we use for products including appliances and automobiles aren’t “high-end” chips. But chipmakers overseas don’t want to manufacture these standard, run-of-the-mill chips because there’s not a lot of profit margin. So, arguably there is a vacuum that U.S. companies could fill.

Our next reader covers a high-stakes shortage. “We need to start manufacturing all of our medicine in the U.S., particularly those that are for life-threatening illnesses… Literally ALL of our medicines -- including anaesthesia, heart and cancer meds -- are all made in China.”

While not all our drugs are manufactured in China, we’re still incredibly dependent…

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Your Rundown for Monday, November 22, 2021...

Mail Call (Continued)

We took note of our reader’s concern back in June. “Lower costs have been a key decider in relocating a significant share of [pharma] manufacturing capabilities to China and India… in the last ten years or so,” Global Trade Magazine reported.

Take, for instance, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) -- the building blocks of drugs which bring about their intended therapeutic effects. “Almost 40% of registered sites for APIs were located in India or China, according to FDA data published in 2019.”

Trade publication Contract Pharma said recently: “We see… growth [in the U.S.] for high value manufacturing areas, such as high potent and complex APIs, biologicals and cell and gene therapies.” An example of insourcing? We’ll see…

Our next readers address the “green revolution”: “Just another way to screw the little guy,” one says. “The average taxpayer can’t afford a $120,000 electric Hummer, but the rich can. And the taxpayer picks up $7,500 of the price. If the buyer is a union member, he gets an additional $4,500 rebate from the taxpayer. Guess who gets to fund the charging stations? Yes again, it’s the average taxpayer who will never use one.”

We hear you. The electric Hummer that President Biden used for a photo op last week is definitely out of most Americans' price range: the 2022 vehicle’s MSRP is $108,700.

That said, “the average price for EVs dropped 10.8% from May 2020 to May 2021, from $58,863 down to $52,486,” according to Green Car Congress. Again, that’s the average, meaning there are some affordable options out there.

The EV tax credits are still being hashed out in Congress with the House version of the BBB Act awarding “an additional $4,500 -- for a total tax credit of $12,500 -- only to otherwise qualified EVs and PHEVs that are built in the U.S. with union labor,” says an article at Forbes.

The Senate version has no such stipulations and would allow a $7,500 tax credit for EV car buyers.

Our next reader disapproves of tax incentives altogether. “The feds should stay out of incentives for EVs and all green technology. Let these companies grow and stand on their own. I am all for the transition to green energy, but let the best of the rest rise to the top on their own.”

Free market, you say? If only… The EV revolution is happening regardless, and while we might not agree on incentives or federal spending, there’s still a way for Main Street investors to profit.

Market Rundown for Monday, Nov. 22, 2021

The S&P 500’s reached another all-time high today; at the time of writing, it’s up 35 points to 4,730.

Oil’s up 1% to $76.69 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is down 1.8% to $1,818.70 per ounce.

Bitcoin is down 2.4% to $5,130.

Send your comments and questions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

Hope you enjoyed a little change of pace today… and if you’ve got something on your mind, drop us a line. 

For The Rundown,

Aaron Gentzler
Editor, The Rundown
TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com