"Believe me when I say that those developing cryptocurrencies are not thinking about the customer; they are thinking about themselves," Charlie Munger asserts.
Queensland's borders may open earlier than expected. Assuming that the borders of Victoria and NSW remain open despite Omicron, we should see a more rapid recovery in tourism.
Queensland is expected to reach its vaccination target over the weekend, thereby opening its borders to its eastern neighbours.
Now all that remains is for Western Australia to open its borders, which appears unlikely to occur until well into next year.
Let's hope it occurs sooner rather than later.
Although it is improbable that speculation about the Queensland border opening had an effect on the ASX, the market is higher in early trading today.
The S&P/ASX200 index has gained 18.90 points or 0.26 percent to 7,244.10 so far this morning, following a new 20-day low.
This index has lost 0.48 percent in the last five days but is up 9.97 percent year to date.
At the time of press, the index's best-performing stocks were ALS Limited, up 3.90 percent, and Nickel Mines Limited, up 2.55.
Despite border talks, Flight Centre was one of the morning's losers after Regal Funds Management cofounder Phil King urged investors to sell shares in the travel company at the Sohn Conference in Sydney.
King believes Flight Centre has recovered too strongly from its 2020 low point and will have to contend with a higher volume of online travel bookings.
TPG Telecom's shares fell more than 7% at the open, while Newcrest Mining fell 1.9 percent to $22.47.
Among the other gainers and losers are Chalice Mining, which is up 4.4 percent, ALS, which is up 3.5 percent, and Sims, which is up 3.3 percent to $14.60.
Consumer staples fell, led by supermarket behemoths Coles and Woolworths, which both lost more than 1%.
Health care stocks also fell.
The mining sector was generally stronger, with BHP scrapping its dual listing to concentrate on the ASX and gaining nearly 2%. In 2022, BHP will merge into a single listed entity on the ASX.
Banks and energy stocks are also on the rise at the moment.
Should cryptocurrency be outlawed?
Cryptocurrency should be prohibited, according to American billionaire Charlie Munger, who serves as vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK).
Munger stated during the Sohn Conference in Sydney, "I wish they had never been invented."
And once again, I admire the Chinese; I believe they made the correct decision in banning them outright. In my country, English-speaking civilisation has made the wrong choice, and I simply cannot bear taking part in these insane booms in any way.
"It appears to be working; everyone wants to join, and I have a different attitude – I want to make money selling people healthy products, not unhealthy ones.
"Believe me when I say that those who create cryptocurrencies are not thinking about the customer; they are thinking about themselves," he asserts.
Munger was outspoken during the conference, describing Costco (COST) as a significant threat to Amazon and Jeff Bezos as one of the great leaders.
"Amazon may have a greater fear of Costco than Costco has of Amazon. Costco, I believe, will eventually become a massive internet player. The public trusts it, they have enormous purchasing power to negotiate lower prices, and they practise extremely efficient distribution methods.
"With whom would you like to compete the least in the future world? It would be the worst-case scenario if I had to compete with Costco."
On Bezos, Munger stated, "He is a brilliant man who has worked extremely hard and is somewhat fanatical, and he has achieved an extraordinary result."
"And he purposefully caught a large wave and rode it harder than almost anyone else, making Jeff Bezos an interesting example of a Lollapalooza effect. Now, he would not have been as successful if there had not been an internet wave for him to ride, but there was an internet wave, and when he saw it, he jumped on board, he set aside everything else in his life, and he's been surfing ever since."
Supporting renewable energy sources
Munger has also been a strong supporter of renewable energy.
"Even if there were no global warming problem, I would advocate for significantly increased use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar," Munger said.
"I believe that preserving hydrocarbons for future generations rather than blowing them all up in one big blast would be a prudent course of action even in the absence of global warming. As a result, I'm thrilled that we're rapidly reducing our reliance on coal, gasoline, and diesel... and replacing them with renewable energy.
"I believe that is a prudent course of action for the world to take, and it would be prudent even if there were no global warming."
While he may be one of the few voices praising China, Munger unambiguously supports them and believes Australia should mend fences with China while continuing to sell it our minerals.
"I believe China was correct to crack down so hard on corruption, and I believe the man in charge of China has done a lot of things right," Munger said.
"In the history of the world, no major corporation has risen to prominence as quickly as China. They were correct to rein in some of the financial markets' excesses.
"I believe Australia was extremely fortunate to have China become so prosperous; it has been a tremendous blessing to Australia. I believe that Australia, with its extensive ties to China, can play a constructive role in encouraging the United States and China to be more reasonable."
Will BHP benefit from the iron ore revival?
As we do each week, we asked Dale Gillham, founder and analyst of Wealth Within, for his take on a topic of the week. This week's focus is on iron ore.
"In the aftermath of China's announcement earlier this year that it would reduce steel production, the price of iron ore fell by more than 50%. As a result of the decline in iron ore prices, BHP Group Ltd fell 34%, Rio Tinto Limited fell 36%, and Fortescue Metals fell 47%, although this has since changed following China's recent announcement to ease steel manufacturing restrictions.
"As a result, the price of iron ore has risen by more than 12% in the last two weeks. BHP has also gained more than 4% this week and more than 11% since early November.
"Intriguingly, while Fortescue Metals is only slightly higher this week, it has increased by more than 24 percent since early November, while RIO is slightly lower this week but has increased by more than 5 percent since early November.
"However, all three stocks were rising well before the news of the relaxation of restrictions, demonstrating that, while we would like to believe the market is efficient and everything is always known, reality is not that simple.
"While it is encouraging that BHP, RIO, and FMG have improved in the last month and may continue to do so well into 2022 if China eases steel production restrictions, caution should be exercised as nothing is guaranteed.
"We must keep in mind that the world is still determining the impact of the new COVID variant Omicron on our economies. If there are few to no mass lockdowns worldwide and China eases restrictions, all three of these stocks will perform exceptionally well in 2022.
"My pick is BHP, followed by RIO, though I would caution investors about Fortescue Metals, which can move quickly in either direction."
At the front of the small cap
The share price of West Wits Mining Ltd is up 12.90 percent. West Wits Mining has updated its JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE), increasing its gold resource by 724,000 ounces to 4.28 million ounces at a grade of 4.58 g/t gold, a 20% increase.
Kazia Therapeutics Ltd (KZA) has increased by 3.97 percent. KZA announced the completion of its Phase 2 clinical study of paxalisib, a first-line treatment option for patients with glioblastoma.
