Dear Reader,
Today I want to talk about the U.S./China trade truce, and some surprising trade data I found this weekend.
Plus update you on where we stand with the stocks we like for the weight loss drug megatrend.
We fit a lot into <5 minutes in this Monday update you can watch here:
On Friday, news started to break that the U.S. and China reached what looks like a more formal trade truce.
China claims they’ll lift rare earth restrictions.
A lot of people are excited, cheering that, but I say “curb your enthusiasm,” because it’s not really clear yet what we’re giving up in exchange for that.
Regular Diary readers and viewers know that this is a major irritation for me…
It’s one of those things that gets under my skin, makes me hotter than a hornet – really…
To think about how Japan, for example, was so prepared to handle a rare earth shutdown from China because after it happened years ago they took steps to protect their supply chain…
And how the U.S. – both administrations – Democrat and Republican – have left us so vulnerable.
So I’m not excited about a deal till I see what we gave up in return.
Anyway, I was looking at the U.S. trade figures this weekend (I know, I need to get a life, apparently), and here’s an interesting little statistic I want to share with you…
China, as is well-known, has the largest trade and goods deficit with the United States, about $100 billion.
But the second largest really is surprising.
It’s Ireland.
Ireland has the second largest trade deficit with the United States.
China has 1.4 billion people.
Ireland only has 5.4 million people.
So, how on earth could Ireland have such a large trade deficit with the United States?
Believe it or not, it’s because of weight loss drugs.
Ireland has become a place that makes drugs.
Very wisely for them, it’s a major hub for U.S. drug manufacturers.
AbbVie’s Botox is made in Ireland.
Merck’s best-selling cancer drug Keytruda is made in Ireland.
And, of course, Eli Lilly makes their weightloss drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound in Ireland.
So there’s a $71 billion deficit with Ireland, and $36 billion of that comes from weight-loss drugs. It’s really astonishing.
Now, we recommended weight loss drugs in a special report on May 15, 2023.
And this was before Eli Lilly’s drug was approved.
And you know, that initial report gave us some massive winners.
Eli Lilly was a double. Viking Therapeutics went up 100%.
Altimmune went up big.
We just did very, very well.
We unfortunately rode Novo Nordisk up and back down but I’m still a big believer in Novo Nordisk which is why I haven’t recommended selling it yet.
We have so many exciting new reports coming out.
We’re doing a project on minerals. We’re doing one on robotics.
We’ve been doing a lot of things behind the scenes to really keep our finger on the pulse of all these exciting new opportunities for you.
So stay tuned.
Anyway, I just thought that was very interesting.
I still think Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), which was the centerpiece of that report on weight loss drugs is a BUY. I urge you to check it out.
Because basically, I had some insight on weight loss drugs because I was the fat kid growing up.
The one good thing about being the fat kid is, you’ve had the thought, “I wish I could eat anything I want and just take a pill.”
Well, I don’t feel that way as an adult anymore – I think it’s kind of a bad thing, but here we are…
We have finally invented a world where they’re coming out with a pill to help people lose weight. It’s an injection now, but they’re coming out with a pill!
Wow – this is really sci-fi stuff.
If you had told me in the 1970s and 80s that this was coming I would have just said, “yeah, maybe.”
It’s just like Jetsons kind of stuff here.
Anyway, happy Monday, last day of the month…
I just wanted to say, hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow.
“The Buck Stops Here,”
P.S. People are always asking me about A.I. stocks – and I just released two of my absolute favorites in a live webinar last week.
But my marketing team tells me our webinars are intended for live audiences only and they are pulling the recording offline at 11:59pm TONIGHT.
So, please – if you haven’t gotten these stocks yet, here’s your “last-chance” link.
