With interest in growing storage needs and the expanding electric vehicle market driving demand for batteries, we spoke with geologist Phil Thomas at Recharge Resources. We chat with Phil on the various end markets that consume lithium, including construction and ceramics, but as will come as little surprise he shares Recharge is preparing for the expected ramp in global EV demand. The why behind that is the expected mismatch between lithium demand and supply. During our conversation, Phil shares the intricacies of lithium mining, and why Recharge opted for the locations it has, a key consideration for mining companies. We also discuss the steps ahead for Recharge, which is a pre-revenue company, a factor that will keep the AAP portfolio on the sidelines at least for now.

Folks that want to know more about the lithium market and how its mind, may want to review Recharge’s latest investor relations presentation and the forecasts shared for lithium demand.

As we approach the height of the corn planting season, Chris Versace sits down with Sal Gilbertie, CEO of Teucrium ETFs to discuss the levers to watch in the coming months for key ag commodities corn, wheat, and soybeans. Building on his experience trading commodities and overseeing Teucrium’s ag commodity ETFs, Sal discusses the ag commodity cycle, sharing why he focuses on the cost of production, global supply, and demand dynamics, and a longer view on global ag commodity stocks. Chris and Sal also touch on what is shaping up to be a rice shortage as well as why the outlook for farmer income and ag equipment continues to be bright.

On this week’s AAP Podcast, Chris Versace speaks with Mike Jenkins, CEO of Orion Energy (OESX), and Kathleen Connors, the head of EV charging business Voltrek which was acquired by Orion in October of last year. During the conversation, Mike provides a thorough overview of Orion’s core light emitting diode (LED) installation business, touching on why cost savings as well as ESG and carbon footprint concerns are driving that business. Mike also describes the strategic thought process behind acquiring Voltrek when Orion did with Kathleen explaining the tailwinds behind that EV charging business. While headlines focus on public funding that sees the buildout of EV charging in 2024 ramp considerably, Kathleen also discusses how private funding is driving that market today. She also describes the typical build-out for an EV charging project, how Voltrek works with its various partners, including ChargePoint (CHPT), and shares which EV best replicates the combustion engine driving experience.

We are coming at you a day earlier than usual with this week’s AAP Podcast so Chris Versace, lead portfolio of TheStreet's Action Alerts Plus, and Todd Campbell, editor of TheStreet Smarts, can prepare you for the March Consumer Price Index report and its implications for the market as well as monetary policy. Chris and Todd discuss not only the consensus forecast of +5.6% year over year for core March CPI but also delve into what the Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcasting model sees ahead for April for both the CPI and the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index. The short of it is neither points to meaningful progress on inflation, which as Todd and Chris discuss has a long way to go to the Fed’s 2% target. The bottom line is the March CPI report has the potential for the market to begin re-thinking the rate cuts it sees per the CME FedWatch Tool.

The two then move to talk about what they will be watching as bank earnings start to roll in and then move into discussing several stock valuation tools they use. From when and how to use the price to earnings (P/E) metric as well as some of its shortcomings to other tools ranging from price to sales, dividend yield, and enterprise value to revenue. You’ll also hear why Todd isn’t a fan of using EBITDA, as well as what one of his go-to valuation metrics is. Chris and Todd recap some rules of thumb you’ll want to factor into your thinking and share why you need to listen to math.

On this week’s podcast, AAP’s Chris Versace and Street Smart’s Todd Campbell waded deep into the sea of March economic data, sharing their thoughts on what it means for the economy and monetary policy. They also discussed recent comments from AAP team member Doug Kass about the rangebound market and ones from Helene Meisler for a potentially challenging time for tech stocks in the very near term. That moved into a conversation about how they are approaching the market between now and the start of the March quarter earnings season.

From there, the conversation morphed into a review of Nvidia’s (NVDA) strong stock performance as it touted AI, and that led to a discussion on March search engine market share data. What was most interesting in that data was what it showed for Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI-enhanced Bing search engine vs. Google's (GOOGL).

The two also touched on recent Competition Authority investigations into Meta Platforms (META), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Google as well as Foxconn’s (HNHPF) warning for the June quarter. Closing out the podcast both Chris and Todd share what they will be focusing on next week amid the fallout of the March Employment Report, March CPI and PPI data, and the March Retail Sales report. The two also share their go-to Easter candy.

In this episode, Chris Versace welcomes back Street Smarts editor Todd Campbell to the podcast following a stint on vacation and about of pre-season baseball. It’s been a bit since Chris and Todd last chatted and they quickly run through a number of things ranging from the Fed, monetary policy, tightening credit prospects, CME FedWatch Tool projections, the economy, the recent bank failures, earnings from Micron (MU), and the upcoming February PCE Price Index data. It’s quite a bit of ground to cover but along the way the two touch on key reports to watch, including the next iteration of the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending, upcoming March PMI data from ISM and S&P Global and next week’s March Employment Report. Todd asks Chris how the Action Alerts Plus portfolio adds a new position to the portfolio and build its exposure over time. And Chris asks Todd his thoughts on why 2024 EPS expectations for the S&P 500 are, out the gate, calling for double-digit growth vs. 2023. All that and much more on this, the 29th episode of the AAP Podcast.

On this episode of the AAP Podcast, lead portfolio manager Chris Versace chats with Brian Roth, CEO of solar equipment company Three Sixty Solar.

We’ve had several AAP member questions about solar and that was one of the factors in our chat with Brian. We were also intrigued by how Three Sixty is approaching the solar market from a design and revenue model perspective. But Brian’s comments about supply chains and potential revenue bundling really caught our attention and you’ll want to hear why Three Sixty is poised to benefit from the EV charging station buildout.

As we draw several insights from the Three Sixty conversation, we would note the company is pre-revenue and for this reason, we simply cannot get involved through the AAP portfolio. However, as Brian mentions, Three Sixty is addressing a few pain points we will keep them on our long-term radar screen.

In this week’s AAP Podcast, lead portfolio manager Chris Versace is joined by AAP team member Bob Lang to discuss the Fed’s March monetary policy statement and comments made during Fed Chair Powell’s corresponding press conference. In a prior note to members, we shared our initial reactions to the policy statement and updated economic projections, but as we learned during the presser, the Fed does not see any rate cuts ahead in 2023. As we’ve been sharing that disrupts the current market narrative depicted in the CME FedWatch Tool, and those comments led the market to turn down.

Moreover, depending on the impact of tighter credit conditions, the Fed could do more than telegraphed in its updated economic projections for the fed funds rate. The tighter credit conditions reflect the fallout from recent bank failures, which as Powell said could act as a rate hike to the fed funds rate. However, because we are still in the early days of those tighter credit conditions, the full impact will take more time to understand. This means the market didn’t receive a definitive answer as to when we are likely to reach the terminal level for the fed funds rate. It also means we must continue to watch the labor market and upcoming inflation data. Powell confirmed what we’ve been saying to you, that recent inflation data was running hotter than expected, and based on the updated economic projections both the core PCE and PCE inflation metrics aren’t expected to hit 2.5% until the end of 2024.

We discuss all of that in much greater detail, and Bob runs through the technical levels he’s watching for the S&P 500. We also share the two things that surprised us between the March policy statement, Powell’s comments, and the updated economic projections.

In this week’s AAP Podcast, Chris Versace is joined by Real Money contributor and Head of Macro Strategy at Academy Securities, Peter Tchir. From the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to discussing the impact of the February CPI report on expectations for the Fed and monetary policy, Chris and Peter cover quite a bit of ground. Peter shares likely next steps as the ripple effect of Silicon Valley Bank is had and parts with some interesting thoughts on what helped contribute to the inflationary environment the Fed is now trying to lick. Chris and Peter also discuss the mixed message the market is giving when it comes to monetary policy later this year, but also why the market should focus on the Fed’s other policy tools, not just the fed funds rate. The conversation then pivots toward defense spending and the debt ceiling with Peter explaining why he closely watching to see if China sells weapons to Russia.

Now please sit back and enjoy this timely conversation between Chris Versace and Peter Tchir.

Over the last few weeks, there have been quite a few announcements and even more headlines when it comes to artificial intelligence, or “AI” as it is usually referred to. On this week’s AAP podcast, we are taking a pause from the usual market-related conversations Chris Versace has been having of late with Todd Campbell, the brains behind the Street’s Smarts product to share a recent conversation between Chris and Raj Suri, the CEO of Presto Automation (PRST).

Presto is an AI company focused on addressing labor-related issues for the fast-food industry, one that is contending not only with the tight labor market but also increasing minimum wages across the company. With more fast-food companies, including the AAP Portfolio’s Chipotle (CMG), as well as other types of retailers leaning into drive-through service, there is a pain point that needs to be addressed. As Raj explains, one solution is AI, and longer-term he sees more automation taking hold within the fast-food industry. Raj also shares some of the productivity and other metrics that led to Checkers deploying Presto’s voice ordering solution as well as the recent win with Jack in the Box’s (JACK) Del Taco.

We at AAP will want to keep our eyes on PRST and watch for further deployment announcements from the company. For now, however, given our average daily trading volume restrictions and its average daily volume of 65,000 shares, we will have to admire the company’s progress from afar. Currently, the company with the lowest average daily trading volume of just over 300,000 shares is Chipotle, but that is an outlier compared to the rest of the portfolio.