Group offers energy and industrial playbook for countering China
Why it matters: "The rise of China as a global economic and military competitor presents one of the most existential challenges the United States has faced in its history," it finds.
The U.S. is "increasingly reliant on foreign adversaries" for minerals, tech, and supply chains that power the economy and our defense.
The big picture: The report blends geopolitical analysis with detailed policy ideas.
It's grouped around reinforcing four "pillars of power" that underpin security — materials for defense needs are a theme here — and industrial resilience:
Expanding and securing supplies of minerals and materials.
Satisfying energy security needs.
Promoting new tech that maximizes efficiency and diversification.
Increasing manufacturing capacity.
Between the lines: It's quite Trump-y in some ways while implicitly rejecting some of his policies in others.
A spin through the often-detailed recommendations shows many are consistent with Trump 2.0 goals in areas like LNG and domestic oil and critical minerals production.
Yes, but: Elsewhere, citing manufacturing competitiveness goals, it backs tech like EVs and solar that Trump officials disdain as they yank away federal support.
"EVs will likely play a major role in the future of the automotive industry — and the United States must lead the transition for both national and economic security reasons," it states at one point.
And it calls for an even more aggressive industrial policy at a time Trump officials are already moving in this direction via efforts like taking a direct stake in rare earths company MP Materials.
Zoom in: Here are just a few of the 30 detailed policy recommendations that caught my eye beyond the usual stuff like permitting reform...
New DOE and DOD-led cost-sharing initiatives with battery manufacturers and other downstream industries.
Direct Pentagon purchasing of small modular reactors.
Expanded Transportation Department grants for zero-emissions vehicles.
"Congress should reprioritize existing loan guarantee programs to support advanced energy, manufacturing, and dual-use manufacturing capacity."
Using the Defense Production Act and export finance agencies to enhance access to help allies develop minerals the U.S. does not possess.
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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Is MP Materials Stock Your Ticket to Becoming a Millionaire?
Key Points The company has become a key geostrategic partner for the Department of Defense. The game-changing deal with the government has secured MP Materials' future. It will help ensure the availability of rare-earth materials for both defense and commercial needs in the U.S. Execution and political risks are not insignificant here, and shareholders could face further dilution. 10 stocks we like better than MP Materials › MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is a unique company with a crucial role to play in America's defense policy and its geostrategic positioning. Currently, it's the only company operating a rare-earth mine and processing facility in the U.S., and it has recently become a partner of the Department of Defense and Apple. Does that make it a stock likely to turn investors into millionaires over time? MP Materials stock is on a roll There's no other way to put it. The stock is up a whopping 305% year to date as of the time of writing, and took off after the recent DOD deal was announced on July 10, with another leg up in the share price occurring after the Apple agreement was announced on July 15. The good news just kept coming for MP Materials as a $500 million stock offering on July 16 saw strong demand, leading to an upsize offering of $650 million worth of stock priced at $55. For reference, the stock price at the time of writing is $63.22. Sentiment is very optimistic over MP Materials, but can it last? Why rare-earth materials matter To understand that question, you have to look at the deals and put them into the context of the U.S.'s need to secure a reliable domestic provision of rare earths and rare-earth magnets -- essential materials used in mobile phones, computers, wind turbines, electric vehicles, drones, missiles, and many other applications. Brazil, India, Russia, China, and Vietnam dominate the market share of global reserves. Not only does China dominate reserves, but it also dominates rare-earth element production, holding a 70% global share, and refined production, with an 87% share. The reliance on China's rare-earth magnets (the most common use for rare earth elements) is such that export to the U.S. surged by 660% in June compared to May after a trade deal with China resulted in a resumption of imports to the U.S. This is an uncomfortable position for the U.S., and it's also somewhat problematic, at least over the near term, for MP Materials because according to its latest 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), "Currently, the Company sells the vast majority of its rare-earth concentrate to Shenghe Resources (Singapore) International Trading Pte. Ltd.," a subsidiary of a Chinese company, Shenghe Resources. It's no coincidence that the U.S. signed a mineral deal with Ukraine and President Donald Trump has mooted the possibility of acquiring Greenland, a country with substantive rare-earth reserves. It's also the reason behind the game-changing deal with MP Materials, which creates a highly unusual public-private partnership through the DOD. Game-changing MP Materials deals The DOD is investing $400 million in preferred convertible MP Materials stock (which could result in it owning 15% of the company) and providing a $150 million loan. At the same time, the department has agreed to ensure that all the rare-earth magnets produced at a to-be-built facility ("10X Facility") will be purchased by "defense and commercial customers with shared upside." Additionally, the DOD has established a price floor commitment of $110 per kilogram of NdPr (Neodymium-Praseodymium) that MP Materials sells or stockpiles. As such, the department has acted to secure the future earnings and cash flow. With known revenue streams and price floors, it has made it easier to raise capital for its magnet manufacturing facility. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have steeped in with a $1 billion loan in addiiton to the $650 million equity raise. The deal also influenced an agreement with Apple for the tech giant to invest $500 million ($200 million prepaid) for rare-earth magnet supply from an MP Materials facility in Texas. Is MP Materials a millionaire maker? The securing of MP Materials' mining and magnet manufacturing facility is a significant plus and likely to lead to more interest and deals from American companies looking to secure rare-earth magnet provisions. At the same time, it's incredibly challenging to predict the future prices of rare-earth materials and magnets, particularly if you are seeking upside from the DOD price floor. Similarly, building a major facility entails execution risk, which could lead to additional equity raises that dilute existing shareholders. Moreover, there's always political risk to consider when the public sector takes a share in a private company. These factors could limit the upside, and while MP Materials has significant upside potential, there are too many complicating factors to confidently conclude that this is a stock that will make millionaires of ordinary investors. Do the experts think MP Materials is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did MP Materials make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,040% vs. just 182% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 858.13%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Goldman Sachs Group, and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends MP Materials. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is MP Materials Stock Your Ticket to Becoming a Millionaire? was originally published by The Motley Fool
USA Today
42 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
BALMEDIE, Scotland − Long before talk of hush-money payments, election subversion or mishandling classified documents, before his executive orders were the subject of U.S. Supreme Court challenges, before he was the 45th and then the 47th president: on a wild and windswept stretch of beach in northeast Scotland, Donald Trump the businessman was accused of being a bad neighbor. "This place will never, ever belong to Trump," Michael Forbes, 73, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, said this week as he took a break from fixing a roof on his farm near Aberdeen. The land he owns is surrounded, though disguised in places by trees and hedges, by a golf resort owned by Trump's family business in Scotland, Trump International Scotland. For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 − its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. One Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course said that before Trump the area was nothing but featureless sand dunes and that his development, carved between those dunes, made the entire landscape look more attractive. Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes – and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house – without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark − you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rising Fiscal Deficits Drive Billions Into Credit
(Bloomberg) -- Investors are showing signs of pulling money out of government bonds and plowing it into US and European company debt. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy If the moves persist, money managers could be shifting what for decades has been market orthodoxy: that nothing is safer than buying US government debt. But as US fiscal deficits climb, hurt by tax cuts and rising interest costs, the government may look to borrow more, and company debt may be the safer option. In June, money managers pulled $3.9 billion from Treasuries, while adding $10 billion to European and US investment-grade corporate debt, according to EPFR Global data. In July, investors have added another $13 billion to US high-grade corporates, the largest net client purchasing in data going back to 2015, according to a separate note from strategists at Barclays on Friday. Michaël Nizard, a portfolio manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, started making the switch from government into corporate debt at the end of last year and is holding on to the position. And in a note in the latest week, BlackRock Inc. strategists wrote, 'Credit has become a clear choice for quality.' To the extent this shift is happening, it's a slow change. The US doesn't have foreign currency debt, and can print more dollars as it needs to. When money managers were alarmed about tariff wars in April, US Treasuries still performed better than corporate bonds, even if prices for both sectors broadly fell. And foreign demand for Treasuries has remained resilient, with holdings climbing in May. But tightening corporate bond spreads in recent months may be a function of government debt looking relatively weaker now. The US government lost its last triple A grade in May, when Moody's Ratings cut it to Aa1. The bond rater pointed to factors including the widening deficit and the rising burden of interest, noting that payments will likely absorb around 30% of revenue by 2035, compared with 18% in 2024 and 9% in 2021. And US President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut bill could add about $3.4 trillion to US deficits over the next decade, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. At the same time, corporate profits remain relatively strong, and although there are some early reasons for caution, high-grade companies are generally generating enough earnings to easily pay their interest now. More US companies are topping earnings estimates this reporting season than the same period last year. Valuations for company debt have been high recently, reflecting investor demand for the debt. High-grade US corporate spreads have averaged below 0.8 percentage point, or 80 basis points, in July through Thursday. That's far below the mean for the decade of about 120 basis points, according to Bloomberg index data. Spreads for euro-denominated high-grade corporates have averaged about 85 basis points in July, compared with about 123 basis points for the decade. To some money managers, high valuations for corporate credit are cause to be wary. Gershon Distenfeld, a fund manager at AllianceBernstein Holding LP, pared back a position that favored credit risk to rates risk earlier this month. Dominique Braeuninger, a multi-asset fund manager at Schroders Investment Management Ltd., agrees that corporate bond spreads are too tight to make them attractive. And even if BlackRock is generally positive on corporate debt, it is underweight long-term high-grade notes because spreads are tight, while being overweight short-term credit. But to many market observers, the world appears to be shifting, and it makes sense to hold more corporate debt now. 'What we've seen on the government fiscal side is not great news,' said Jason Simpson, a senior fixed income SPDR ETF strategist at State Street Investment Management. 'Corporates seem to be chugging along nicely.' Week In Review The US leveraged loan market saw more than $83 billion of launches in the latest week, the second busiest on record, including a $7.57 billion two-part deal from Medline that is set to be the market's biggest pricing since 2015. Repricings were an important driver of volume, representing about two thirds of the tranches, as companies look to cut borrowing costs. Many of the loans that were repriced had already been repriced before The return of billion-dollar M&A deals was supposed to be a boon for Wall Street's leveraged finance desks. It's turning out to be anything but, as private equity cuts them out of many of the most coveted deals. Lenders are demanding higher pricing from two European leveraged-loan borrowers, a rare sign of difficulty these days in the buoyant market for sub-investment grade debt. Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. has agreed to some key restructuring terms a group of bank creditors had demanded, potentially easing the path for an overall debt deal. PepsiCo Inc. sold $4.7 billion of bonds in a pair of offerings that included the longest-dated euro-denominated corporate new issue since February. FedEx Corp. followed Pepsi with a rare two-part euro debt sale as some of its existing notes in the single currency near maturity. Meanwhile, General Electric Co. sold $2 billion of investment-grade bonds, as did Lockheed Martin Corp. Saks Global Enterprises launched a debt exchange after weeks of negotiations with creditors as its $600 million fresh financing takes shape. Separately, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. launched a multi-currency debt tender. Banks led by UBS Group and Citigroup have offloaded about $2 billion of debt to support Patient Square Capital's acquisition of Patterson Cos., reviving a deal more than three months after the bonds and loans got stuck on their books due to tariff turmoil in the market. Patterson received about $1 billion of orders for the $500 million junk-bond part of the sale. Dog walking service Wag! Group Co. won court permission to try to slash debt and hand control to senior creditor Retriever LLC as early as next month. On the Move Carlyle Group Inc. recruited Alex Chi, who was most recently co-head of Americas private credit at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s asset management arm, to lead its direct lending business. Chi will join Carlyle in early 2026. BMO Capital Markets hired Nii Dodoo as head of private credit financing. Dodoo joins from BTIG, where he was a managing director. Christina Chan, BNP Paribas' regional head of loan sales and head of corporate loan syndicate, Asia Pacific, has left the bank. Toronto-Dominion Bank's US credit trading unit has re-hired Sarah Classen from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for its voice-trading business. Classen starts in mid-September as a director in TD Securities' global US dollar fixed income trading team, based in New York. Ares Management Corp. hired Sarah Cole as a partner and co-head of Ares Global Capital Solutions to bolster its partnerships with banks, insurance companies and across capital markets broadly. Hedge fund Squarepoint Capital LLP recruited Nathan Fabius, a former strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to cover Latin American debt. Fabius joined Squarepoint this month and is based in New York. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. plans to double the number of people on its credit secondaries team by the end of 2025, as demand has surged from investors who want to buy and sell existing exposure amid a dearth of fresh deals. Ardagh Group SA creditors are set to pay billionaire owner Paul Coulson as much as $300 million as part of a deal to hand over the keys to the company. Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. 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