Rare earth elements in all your stuff
This is off-topic, but might be of interest to many out there, especially those concerned with future “green” technologies and high-tech products.
Rare earth elements (lanthanoids and a few more) are something you’ll be seeing more in the news eventually, once the somnolent US Congress wakes up to the fact that our electronics, smart bombs, predator drones, wind turbines and battery-powered cars like the Prius cannot be built without rare earths. Of course, the US has no strategic stockpile, having had the foresight to sell it off.
Parts used in your digital camera and computer LCD and flat-panel display all need rare earths too. Which means the Japanese are none too happy about the supply situation.
The Chinese control 97% of the world supply at present (that’s not a typo), which explains why T Boones Pickens Texas windmills are all made in China! So much for green power and economic stimulus here in the USA.
Here’s the most concise and clear rare earth investment perspective I’ve yet seen, and yes, I am invested in rare earths, but I am not advising anyone else to do so.
