Trend Letter Blogs

On March 8th, we shared a video pondering the significance of Nvidia’s recent reversal: ‘Has Nvidia’s recent reversal signaled a potential shift in its trend?’    • Nvidia Stock Analysis: Rebound Incomi…   Since then, Nvidia’s movement has remained uncertain, without a clear upward or downward trajectory. It hasn’t surged to establish new highs nor has it declined significantly to breach key […]

Market Notes

Market Notes – Tuesday’s Charts

On Thursday last week, BofA analysts initiated a buy signal for Super Computer.  Then on Friday, the current favorite meme stock, experienced its own parabolic ascent, soaring to a record-breaking pinnacle of $1,077. At that point it was up over 1,000% for the year. Then it dropped 20% Friday afternoon and another 2% today. Nvidia, […]

“Fueling Success: Exploring Explosive Investment Opportunities in Energy”

Martin re-recorded his presentation from the World Outlook Financial Conference in Vancouver on February 2/3, 2024. In the presentation he outlines key energy sources and gives 12 stocks for investors to consider in the natural gas, uranium, and oil sectors.

Market Notes

Navigating market crossroads

As an investment newsletter we strive to keep investors on top of what is driving the markets. As we have been highlighting for Trend Letter subscribers the last few weeks, we are currently well-positioned for a potential pullback in the S&P. The developments in yesterday and today’s price action has increased the likelihood of such […]

Market Notes

Optimism abounds!!

Investing  in Stocks We won’t dispute the momentum in prices. The S&P 500 has surged approximately 16% since October 27, a rally that would typically be considered substantial for an entire year. The Russell 2000 has experienced an even more significant increase of 25% during the same period. Incredibly, the equal-weight S&P 500 Index swiftly […]

Video: Is a Fed rate cut good news or bad?

We’re in a situation where bad news is seen as good news in financial markets. Investors in stocks and bonds are optimistic about the prospect of slower economic growth and lower inflation, despite these being typically unfavorable for equity investments. The hope is pinned on the possibility of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. Traditionally, […]

Market Notes

Seasonal signals point to impending pullback!

As an investment newsletter, our commitment is to empower investors with information that facilitates well-informed and successful decision-making. When investing in stocks, grasping the inherent trends within a market cycle becomes of vital importance. Charles Dow, a foundational figure at Dow Jones & Company and a significant contributor to the creation of the Dow Jones […]

Black Friday Specials – 38% – 60% discounts

In the spirit of Black Friday & Cyber Monday, we are offering some terrific specials to allow more readers to understand and profit from our research. Trend Letter: Since start-up in 2002 Trend Letter has provided investors with a great track record, giving exceptionally accurate information about where the markets are going, and it has explained in […]

Market Notes

Market turning point?

Today the markets opened on a positive note, fueled by inflation data that came in cooler than anticipated. This news raised expectations that the Federal Reserve might halt its interest rate hikes and potentially implement cuts in the coming year. While we don’t anticipate any immediate rate cuts, the prevailing sentiment could drive the markets […]

Market Notes

Tread carefully!

Our mission as an investment newsletter is to research and provide the best information for our subscribers, assisting them to become better, more successful investors. Navigating through the current market environment continues to be challenging, and we don’t anticipate it getting easier in the very near-term. The unique dynamics of this year have made it […]

Market Notes

Market Action Amid Global Tensions

We labeled Friday’s update as ‘Today’s Market Activity: A Critical Factor for Potential BUY Signals.’ However, over the weekend, a conflict erupted in the Middle East. On Monday, the financial markets opened predictably to the Hamas attack on Israel, producing a near-term decline, but then surprisingly, the markets rallied, with the S&P500 closing up 27 […]

Market Notes

New BUY Stops Sent To Subscribers

In Friday’s update titled ‘Today’s Market Activity Holds Key to Potential BUY Signals,’ we made note of the fact that “we have a few sectors that are displaying oversold conditions and are getting ripe for some BUY signals. We will observe how today closes and will provide our subscribers a brief update Saturday morning.” Following […]

No BUY Signal just yet

As an investment newsletter, we strive to bring the best information to assist those who want to become better, more successful investors. Bond yields: Investing in bonds. The recent market turmoil is predominantly driven by concerns over long-term bonds and their elevated yields, as investors brace for the prospect of enduring high borrowing costs. The […]

Market Notes

Extreme fear translates to opportunities

We are an investment newsletter and we strive to bring the best information to assist those who want to become better, more successful investors. The mainstream media is freaking out as US long bonds are selling off and yields skyrocketing. The 10-year bond yield has climbed to 4.81%, the highest level since 2007. This surge […]

Market Notes

Seasonality suggests BUYING time is almost here

As an investment newsletter our role is to identify and present investment opportunities for our subscribers. We warned our subscribers to be very cautious as we approached August and September because based on seasonality, these months represent the weakest period for stocks. That weakness often extends into the first half of October, at which point […]

Market Notes

Market Notes – September 30/23

Martin Straith of the Trend Letter was on This Week in Money with Jim Goddard in Friday. Below are some of the charts Martin was referring to in the interview. Martin’s interview starts at 11:05, click here to listen to interview.  In an effort to help raise money for Special Olympics, at the end of […]

Unpacking the Inflation Dilemma: Government Solutions and Their Consequences

Inflation has become a significant concern for voters in both Canada and the United States, prompting politicians from all sides to promise solutions. But before we place our trust in their ability to address this problem, let’s review how this inflation problem evolved. After the financial crisis in 2008, the US Federal Reserve, which manages […]

Market Notes – September 1/23

Some investment news for those looking to invest in gold, invest in stocks, or currencies, and commodities. Each week the Trend Letter, displays weekly heat map of the S&P 500. It is a great visual of the equity market that holds stocks many North Americans own. Each of the 500 stocks is shown in a […]

Market Notes

Navigating the Currents of Rising Interest Rates and Market Uncertainties

Rising yields The significant surge in interest rates throughout 2022 has been extensively documented and has deeply impacted investors, leading to diminished performance in both the stock and bond (debt) markets over the past year. Coming into 2023, the common theory was that the pronounced and continuous escalation of rates would ease, as the primary […]

Market Notes

If the Fed cuts rates will that be the time to buy?

Following benign inflation data last week, Fed Fund futures highlight that traders fully expect a quarter point rate cut by Q1 of 2024. So, the pivotal question is: would the markets truly rebound if the Fed initiates rate cuts in Q1 2024? Though widely held, history contradicts this belief. Typically, markets experience a brief uptick […]

Trend Technical Trader Subscriber Only Blogs

Nothing Found

Sorry, no posts matched your criteria

Trend Disruptors Blogs

Unlocking Fusion: The Role of AI in Sustainable Energy

Comprehending Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion involves merging two lighter elements to form a heavier one. It’s the same process that powers the sun, where hydrogen atoms collide vigorously at its core, producing helium. Here on Earth, scientists are focusing on fusing deuterium and tritium—both hydrogen isotopes. While deuterium is abundant in water, especially in oceans, tritium is rarer and primarily found in the atmosphere.

The challenge lies in recreating the sun’s extreme conditions. Fusion requires temperatures around 100 million degrees Celsius—ten times hotter than the sun’s core. Until recently, this seemed unachievable.

The Breakthrough: Controlled Fusion Ignition

In December 2022, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved a historic milestone: controlled fusion ignition. Using 192 lasers, they targeted a tiny capsule containing deuterium and tritium. The lasers produced X-rays, compressing the fuel and maintaining high pressure and temperature. The result? More energy was generated from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it.

This breakthrough, known as scientific energy breakeven, marks a turning point. For the first time, we’ve produced more energy than we’ve put in. But what does this mean for clean energy?

The Promise of Limitless Clean Energy:

Abundant Fuel: Deuterium is plentiful, and tritium can be bred from lithium. Unlike fossil fuels, fusion materials won’t deplete.

Minimal Radioactive Waste: Fusion reactors produce minimal radioactive waste compared to fission reactors.

Safety: Fusion reactions cannot spiral out of control, as they require precise conditions.

No Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Fusion emits no greenhouse gases, making it a climate-friendly option.

Challenges Ahead:

While the LLNL breakthrough is monumental, challenges persist:

Sustained Ignition: Maintaining fusion ignition over extended periods is essential.

Materials Science: High temperatures degrade materials, necessitating suitable material discovery.

Economic Viability: Fusion reactors are costly to build, requiring cost-effective solutions.

AI-Enhanced Maintenance:

Artificial intelligence has become indispensable in nuclear fusion research, assisting in various ways:

Predicting Plasma Instabilities: AI models analyze real-time reactor data to forecast plasma instabilities, enabling timely adjustments to maintain plasma control.

Preventing Energy Loss: AI’s ability to prevent plasma instabilities ensures stable fusion reactions, directly impacting energy output and reactor efficiency.

Optimizing Reactor Parameters: AI fine-tunes reactor parameters to optimize fusion conditions, adapting to changing scenarios for sustained ignition.

Monitoring and Diagnostics: AI monitors reactor health, detecting anomalies and suggesting maintenance actions, minimizing downtime and maximizing reactor availability.

This latest advancement in employing AI within nuclear fusion research marks a substantial stride toward harnessing this clean, nearly boundless energy source. Through its capability to predict and manage plasma instabilities, AI has effectively tackled a significant obstacle, edging us closer to the practical application of nuclear fusion for energy generation. This progress not only bolsters the viability of fusion reactors but also holds the potential for a sustainable energy landscape.

Collaboration and Optimism:

International projects like ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) aim to demonstrate sustained fusion. ITER, located in France, will test fusion at scale. Private companies like TAE Technologies and Tri Alpha Energy are also pushing boundaries.

ITER construction site

As we approach limitless clean energy, optimism prevails. Fusion could revolutionize power grids, space travel, and more. This isn’t a tale of science fiction; it’s science teetering on the edge of transformation.

Stay tuned!

Inventing a FASTER Process

As an investment newsletter, dedicated to great investment ideas such as trend disruptors, we scour the market to identify companies poised to become technology disruptors. In a recent update, we introduced to our subscribers three new entities that align with our criteria. Today, we shine a light on one of those companies:  GSI Technologies

Using AI technology requires vast amounts of data to be processed quickly and efficiently in order to be useful in applications that depend on it. In the AI world there are huge amounts of data in play, but processing that much data in the standard cache-to-processor chips can be too slow.  The illustration below shows how standard server processor cores struggle with large datasets, due to the narrow connection with the large on-chip memory.

GSI Technologies, a recent pick for TREND DISRUPTORS subscribers has developed a first-generation chip (GEMINI-l) to speed things up, and are developing the next version (GEMINI-ll), aiming to bring this solution to market in the second half of 2024.

GSIT is a leading provider of semiconductor memory solutions for in-place associative computing applications. The company deals directly with high-growth markets like AI and high-performance computing, which includes both natural language processing and computer vision.

To be clear, this is not traditional processing. GSIT’s Gemini technology uses associative processing unit (APU) products focused on applications using similarity search, which are used in visual search queries for things like e-commerce, computer vision, drug discovery, and cybersecurity. Of course, advanced AI chip solutions can serve many markets, like networking, telecommunications, and the military.

GSIT has just announced they have completed the tape-out for Gemini-II and will evaluate the first silicon chip by the end of 2023.  Gemini features millions of cores that can all access memory at once, allowing a much greater flow of data, generating much faster results.

Gemini-I APU’s architecture features parallel data processing with two million-bit processors per chip. The massive in-memory processing reduces computation time from minutes to milliseconds, while significantly reducing power consumption, all in a scalable format. A comparison of leading AI chips, shows that the Gemini chip excels when compared to products from Intel, Nvidia, and Graphcore.

Gemini-I excels at large (billion item) database search applications, like facial recognition, drug discovery, Elasticsearch, and object detection. Gemini-II will bring significant performance enhancements over Gemini-I with more than ten times the processing performance with eight times the memory density compared to Gemini-I. Gemini-II’s combination of high processing power, large built-in memory, tremendous bandwidth, reduced power consumption, and latency, provides a best-in-class solution for AI applications.

Gemini-II contains 1 million Bit Processors in six megabytes of associative compute memory tightly connected to 96 megabytes of distributed SRAM with a huge 46 terabyte per second bandwidth. The Gemini APU implements bit-granular processing, which allows users fully flexible cycle by cycle data format operation, an inherent advantage versus other parallel processors. Gemini-II is a complete package that includes a DDR4 controller and external interfaces for PCIe Gen4 by 16, and PCIe Gen4 by 4. This integrated solution offers substantial processing capabilities, being suitable for both low power data center expansion and enabling data center functions at the edge. This empowers local execution of computationally intensive tasks, increasing the capabilities of edge applications like advanced driver assistance systems for automobiles, and HPC in delivery drones, autonomous robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, and satellites.

“This major achievement showcases our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI chip technology,” said Lee-Lean Shu, CEO and Chairman of GSI Technology. “We’re in talks with a leading Cloud Service Provider to further explore the APU architecture benefits highlighted by Gemini-II. Large language models, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft BING, and Google’s Bard, are pushing natural language processing boundaries. We’ve just begun to tap into their transformative potential across many industries and applications. Abundant opportunities await Gemini-II and future APU implementations in the AI market.”

Founded in 1995, GSI Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of semiconductor memory solutions. The Company recently launched radiation-hardened memory products for extreme environments in space and the Gemini® Associative Processing Unit (APU), a memory-centric design that delivers significant performance advantages for diverse AI applications. The Gemini APU architecture removes the I/O bottleneck between the processors and memory arrays by performing massive parallel searches directly in the memory array where data is stored. The novel architecture delivers performance-over-power ratio improvements compared to CPU, GPU, and DRAM for applications like image detection, speech recognition, e-commerce recommendation systems, and more. Gemini may be the ideal solution for edge applications with a scalable format, small footprint, and low power consumption where rapid, accurate responses are critical.

GSIT has announced its receipt of a Phase I SBIR contract in the 23.5 cohort by AFWERX, which is a United States Air Force program with the goal of fostering a culture of innovation within the service. Encompassing a number of programs supported with relatively small amounts of funding, the initiative is intended to circumvent bureaucracy and engage new entrepreneurs in Air Force programs. Under this contract, GSIT will perform a feasibility study to adapt, modify, and enhance its commercially proven Gemini® APU to propel Air and Space Force computing at the edge. They are embarking on a mission to explore high-performance edge processing. At the heart of this collaboration is the Gemini® APU, a dual-purpose compute-in-memory chip crafted to unleash the potential of various AI applications, including inference and high-performance computing workloads. While the APU is well suited for data center applications, its exceptional power efficiency will allow GSI to pursue this remarkable capability to the edge as well.

Given all of the above, it is no surprise that TREND DISRUPTORS has an eye focused on this company, as GSIT has the potential to be a major Trend Disruptor in the hugely Disruptive AI market. The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT market sectors. We look for the best ideas, and we generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned!!

Black Friday Specials – 38% – 60% discounts

In the spirit of Black Friday & Cyber Monday, we are offering some terrific specials to allow more readers to understand and profit from our research.

Trend Letter:
Since start-up in 2002 Trend Letter has provided investors with a great track record, giving exceptionally accurate information about where the markets are going, and it has explained in clear, concise language the reasons why. Using unique and comprehensive tools, Trend Letter gives investors a true edge in understanding current market conditions and shows investors how to generate and retain wealth in today’s climate of extreme market volatility.

A weekly publication covering global bonds, currencies, equities, commodities, & precious metals. Publishes every Sunday evening, covers equites, currencies, precious metals, commodities, and bonds. Each weekly issue is about 50 pages, mostly charts, with key bullet points to make easy to understand. A 10-15 min read

Timer Digest says“Trend Letter has been a Timer Digest top performer in our Bond and Gold categories, along with competitive performance for the intermediate-term Stock category.”


Technical Trader:
Trend Technical Trader (TTT) is a premier hedging service, designed to profit in both up and down markets.

Our hedging strategy empowered  TTT subscribers to not only protect wealth from serious losses during markets crashes, it allowed them to be positioned to make significant gains as markets crashed.

TTT isn’t just a hedging service, its timing strategies have returned fantastic gains on the long side as well. See examples here

Included is our proprietary Gold Technical Indicator (GTI).


Trend Disruptors:
Disruptive technology trends will propel our future and the reality is that no industry will go untouched by this digital transformation. At the root of this transformation is the blurring of boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds. As digital business integrates these worlds through emerging and strategic technologies, entirely new business models are created.

Trend Disruptors is a service for investors seeking to invest in advanced, often unproven technology stocks on the cheap, with the objective to sell them when masses finally catch on. Covering Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 5G, Quantum Computing & many more.

All subscriptions in $US

A. The Trend Letter (TL): 38% off the regular price of $599.95, now only $369.95

B. Trend Technical Trader (TTT): 38% off the regular price of $649.95, now only $399.95

C. Trend Disruptors (TD): 38% off the regular price of $599.95, now only $369.95

Subscribe to any two of our services & receive even more saving

D. Trend Letter + Trend Technical Trader: 52% off regular combined price of $1249.90, now only $599.95

E. Trend Letter + Trend Disruptors: 50% off regular combined price off $1199.90, now only $599.95

F. Trend Technical Trader + Trend Disruptors: 52% off regular combined price of $1249.9,, now only $599.95

G. All 3 services TL + TTT + TD: 60% off the regular combined price of $1,849.85, now only $739.95

Questions? email us at info@thetrendletter.com

Birth of a Better Battery?

As the world strives to move toward greener energy, it has become clear that the production, harnessing, and storing of green energy is not all that easy or effective.  The currently favoured green energy sources are solar, wind, and battery, with a few others, such as wave generators, making some inroads.  They are all intended to produce and/or store, electricity. The challenge is for these sources to be tapped in a way that is also “green”, such as the manufacture of solar panels, wind generators, and batteries. The manufacturing and installation processes currently have a significant carbon footprint, rendering them less “green” than you might expect and want.

Battery technology has developed in leaps and bounds over the last few years, and the current champ is the lithium-ion battery that powers our phones, laptops, and cars. These batteries are built with rare earth minerals, leading to more and more exploration and mining, trying to keep up to the rapidly increasing demand. Mining exploration and operation is not a “green” industry and may not ever be, so can there be a new kind of battery that does not require as large a carbon footprint to produce and store electricity?

Researchers at TU Wien, (Vienna University of Technology), have made a breakthrough in battery technology. This innovative battery concept has led to a patent application, filed in collaboration with partners in Spain.

The new battery is called an oxygen-ion battery and it purports to solve several issues associated with lithium-ion batteries. The advantages include:

  • No need for rare elements
  • No fire hazards
  • No irreversible capacity diminution over time, i.e. longer life
  • Increased durability

The oxygen-ion battery may not match the energy density of its lithium-ion rivals, but its other advantages may make it the overall winner. Part of the longer life advantage is the ability of the oxygen-ion battery to be regenerated. The fabrication does not require scarce elements and uses non-combustible materials. “We have had a lot of experience with ceramic materials that can be used for fuel cells for quite some time. That gave us the idea of investigating whether such materials might also be suitable for making a battery” said Alexander Schmid from the Institute for Chemical Technologies and Analytics at TU Wien.

The ceramic materials being studied can absorb and release doubly charged oxygen ions, and when an electric voltage is applied, the oxygen ions migrate from one ceramic material to another, generating electric current. The basic principle is similar to the lithium-ion battery, but ceramics are non-flammable and can be adapted in useful ways, such as replacing elements that are difficult to obtain. The current prototype of the oxygen-ion battery uses lanthanum, a material that is not exactly rare, but research is underway to find a cheaper and more common material. Cobalt and nickel, which are used in many batteries, are not used at all.

Long life may be the most important advantage of the oxygen-ion battery. In many batteries there is the problem that at some point the charge carriers cannot move, and therefore can no longer be used to generate electricity. The overall capacity of the battery decreases after many charge cycles, rendering the battery to be downright useless or very frustrating – a serious problem for your phone, your car, your laptop, whatever. A new battery can be installed but in doing so, the carbon footprint is increased again, making it even less ‘GREEN’. The oxygen-ion battery can be regenerated, meaning that if oxygen is lost due to side reactions, the loss can be simply compensated for by oxygen from the ambient air.

This new battery concept is not intended for phones or EV’s, because it only achieves about one third of the energy density of a lithium-ion battery, and it runs at temperatures between 200 and 400 degrees Celsius. It is, however, extremely interesting for large scale energy storage, such as is produced at wind and solar energy facilities. A dedicated building packed with oxygen-ion energy storage modules could be feasible, as the lower energy density and high operating temperatures may not play a decisive role or can be effectively mitigated. The advantages of oxygen-ion batteries in this scenario would be long service life, lower production costs, durability, and no fire hazard, which sounds like a winning combination of attributes.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT market sectors. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned!!

Can AI read your mind?

Some of our past articles have discussed Chat GPT & the huge buzz it has created, starting back in about November 2022. Since then, AI technologies have been moving forward rapidly, and we see it making major inroads into commercial applications. Microsoft is prepared to invest $10b as it integrates AI into its MS-OFFICE products, helping users with composing email, creating and debugging spreadsheets, and composing documents on virtually any topic. Not only is AI making moves into commercial spaces, but AI technologies are advancing on their own to be even more amazing. Here are two examples of AI on the move:

  1. ChatGPT- 4: this version was released on March 13, 2023, & is more capable than the previous version 3.5. The latest version can understand images, process 8 times as many words, and is more difficult to trick or fool. Version 4 is available only with a PAID subscription, so the monetization of ChatGPT continues, as we expected. The free version is still available to use, and it has done an incredible job of showcasing AI to a very large and attentive audience. ChatGPT is still be accessed via the OPEN AI website, and it is still very busy, so you may not get in right away: https://chat.openai.com/auth/login.

One of the capabilities involving the use of images is the ability of ChatGPT-4 to generate recipes based on your image of a few food staples. It can take on complex tasks with much better results than version 3.5, such as computer programming, website code generation, achieving good marks on exams, like a Bar Exam, generating Law Suits, plus it can better understand and analyze humour.

  1. Can AI do mind reading? A team of researchers in Japan have developed a form of AI called diffusion models and have applied a diffusion model to functional MRI (fMRI) imaging technology, in an attempt to read the brain (mind reading). The early results are very convincing as the images below illustrate. The top row of images was shown to a test subject, but not to the AI. The bottom row of images is what the AI produced based on the neural activity measurements from the fMRI scans. The diffusion model proved capable of reading the test subject’s mind just from analyzing their brain activity. And the reconstructed images are clear enough for us to discern what they represent.

There are several issues to consider with this kind of AI, such as:

  • Law enforcement having the ability to ask questions, and reconstruct what the subject saw. Lie detectors could become obsolete, but privacy concerns and rights may have to be addressed, and perhaps a new kind of Warrant would be required. A subject being questioned may choose to lie, or not say anything at all, but it may be impossible for a subject to NOT think about it, and have true images and true memories flash in their brain, to be detected and reconstructed by the AI / fMRI technology.
  • If we consider our minds to be the only private space left for our thoughts, there may be considerable resistance to letting AI take away that privacy space. On the other hand, the technology may be able to provide a valuable new way to communicate for those who have no other way, such as victims of stroke and/or spinal cord injuries. Legal and ethical concerns may require a lot of discussion in order to get it right.

If technology can truly deliver on reading thoughts, then deploying the technology will be one of the biggest challenges humans have to face in the years ahead. Perhaps AI technology itself could help us in asking the right questions, and providing us with sensible, legal, and beneficial options for moving forward.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT market sectors. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned!!

Who Needs Sustainable Cathodes?

The search for more and more materials for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries is reaching a critical point, so it may be no surprise that re-claiming and re-using materials from expended, existing batteries is an area of emerging technology that is heating up rapidly. There are several developments around the globe that aim to perfect reclamation technologies to extract all valuable materials from expended batteries. Right priced re-usable materials are needed to meet the increasing demand for more lithium-ion batteries, being driven by the major uptick in electric vehicle production and sales, as well as the ongoing demand for Smartphone and laptop batteries.

The standard existing technology for reclaiming battery materials is a process called pyrometallurgy, which involves heating the batteries in order retrieve metals, but this process generally yields only cobalt, sometimes nickel. What is also produced from the expended batteries is lithium. Currently, lithium recovered using a standard battery reclamation process usually ends up in waste slag and is often just thrown away, as it is difficult and expensive to transform into lithium carbonate for re-use in new batteries. Estimates indicate that lithium carbonate needs to be produced at a cost of about $7,000 a tonne to be competitive with newly mined lithium. With lithium prices rising steadily, the price / cost target looks more and more attractive and achievable.

In Europe, one company is using a heat and chemical process (hydrometallurgy) to retrieve, from slag, rare earths and lithium, as well as cobalt, nickel, and copper alloys.  There are a few companies in North America processing lithium-ion batteries, reclaiming lithium, cobalt, and copper. Another company claims to have a patented closed loop process that enables “Zero Loss” battery production where 100% of cathode materials scrap can be recovered in-house, and made ready for new battery production. They claim to have a minimal hydrometallurgical process that yields a nickel manganese cobalt oxide that can be used as a precursor for direct integration into the manufacture of new lithium-ion batteries. Also, an Australian company is preparing a pilot project in Canada, and others are developing processes to safely and efficiently extract a range of valuable minerals, such as copper, manganese, aluminum, lithium, and cobalt.

Even with all this onrushing technology development, it may not be ramped up soon enough to keep pace with the surging demand for more and more lithium-ion batteries. Another factor in reclaiming materials from expended batteries is the limited supply of expended batteries. Currently there are recycling facilities where consumers can turn in their used batteries, but without an incentive will consumers make the effort to collect and turn in their used batteries? Will used Smartphone and laptop batteries be turned in for recycling or will they end up in the landfill?  So, when we ask who needs sustainable cathodes, we think the answer is … we do!!

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT a market sector. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned!!

Are you for me ChatGPT ?

Our previous Blog article introduced you to ChatGPT, the AI tool that has created a huge buzz. Now that it has been tried by many folks, including the TREND TEAM, we can now share our impressions and further thoughts.

The first step is to get on the system to try it out. The instructions at this website are clear, and work well – – chat.openai.com.

There may be some delay in getting on board if the system is extremely busy, but we managed to get going in moments almost every time.

The next step is to ask a question or ask for help, which usually elicits a very quick response from ChatGPT, again, depending on system load. Before going online, we recommend that you put some effort and thought in what you want to say or ask. The interaction with ChatGPT will go quickly, as the answers come fast. When you’re there it may feel like you should make it worth your while, but maybe you just want to have some fun, and either approach is ok. We suggest being prepared before you get online, otherwise you may end up just sitting at your keyboard passing time while you think of what to ask next. But don’t worry about that too much, as ChatGPT is polite and courteous – – we think it must be part Canadian, eh.

A cool feature is that you can ask ChatGPT to regenerate the answer many times by clicking on the “regenerate” button, and each regenerated response will be different, adding in and/or taking away information from the previous response. ChatGPT keeps track of the generated responses and you can revisit any of them whenever you wish. Another habit of ChatGPT is that it will frequently remind you that it is an AI program, with no emotions, no physical location, and for the most part no built-in biases. It is probably impossible to completely avoid all bias after ingesting the gigantic raft of information that ChatGPT gleans from the internet. Given the large amount of data ingested, it is not hard to understand that ChatGPT just might not be totally accurate with some answers. Try asking it how the weather is at its location.  The answer is perfect – it does not know where it lives, in geographic terms.

Also, ChatGPT does not seem to know your location either, other that to say that you are on an internet connected device – somewhere. That bodes well for privacy concerns if it is true. The Mission Statement of the ChatGPT project sounds very altruistic in that it intends to do “good” for all, so at this time we will have to trust that this is enforced in the product design and will continue this way. ChatGPT has already spawned some fear and misgivings, prompting some schools to ban its use by students, even forcing students to handwrite essays while being present in the classroom. There is now an App developed to detect that ChatGPT was used in composing an essay or providing the answer to a question. The misgivings will need to be addressed effectively and quickly, as there may be authorities who will want the technology banned, or throttled back in some way.

Here are some examples of ChatGPT questions and answers, which may help to understand the way it works and … thinks:

Q1. Is ChatGPT the real start of the bots doing our thinking & our work for us, causing humans to stop thinking for themselves, & stop doing the work needed for organic learning in our brains?

A1. No, ChatGPT is a tool created by OpenAI to assist users in generating human-like text based on input data. The technology behind it should not be viewed as a replacement for human thinking and learning, but rather as a supplement to enhance and automate certain tasks. It’s important for humans to continue to engage in critical thinking and learning to maintain their cognitive abilities and skills.

Q2. Has ChatGPT been trained to be biased?

A2. Like any machine learning model, ChatGPT can reflect the biases present in the data it was trained on. OpenAI used a diverse range of sources to train the model, including web pages, books, and other texts, so it has been exposed to a variety of perspectives and beliefs. However, biases can still be present in the data and may be reflected in the model’s outputs. It’s important to critically evaluate the information generated by ChatGPT and any AI model and to consider multiple sources and perspectives when making decisions or forming opinions.

Q3. Does ChatGPT have the ability to eliminate Google’s strangle hold on the search engine business model?

A3. ChatGPT is a text generation model, not a search engine, and it’s not designed to compete with search engines like Google. However, it can be integrated into other systems and applications to improve their functionality and enhance user experiences, including search engines. The search engine business model is complex and multifaceted, and it will likely continue to evolve and change over time. While ChatGPT has the potential to contribute to the development of new technologies and applications, it’s unlikely to eliminate the dominance of established players like Google in the search engine market.

We think that ChatGPT does have the potential to be a game changer thoughout the tech world, for example, the usefulness of Search engines like GOOGLE, BING, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and others, could be reduced with an AI App that provides you with your precise answer quickly, rather than just giving you a list of web links that “might” have the answer you are really looking for. AI technology looks to be taking a big, and important, step forward, and the free try-it experience with ChatGPT is creating a super buzz that cannot be ignored. There will be challenges ahead, but we also foresee many opportunities for investors.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT a market sector. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are highly speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned !!

AI Turning Point ?

Recent news headlines and stories have brought an amazing Artificial Intelligence (AI) app much closer to mainstream than AI has ever been before. ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, a San Francisco based AI development company. OpenAI Inc. is the non-profit parent company of the for-profit OpenAI LP. ChatGPT is still being offered as a free-to-try app, however, its popularity has increased so much that there is now a waiting list, and they will let you know when it is available. Your turn will be limited in time or content, as they want to only give you a taste of what it can do. Already, ChatGPT is creating a lot of buzz, and this is a very innovative and effective way of engaging many people in exploring the possibilities of AI. The buzz will become deafening, and AI companies will make moves toward monetizing these products. AI products are expensive to develop, so there needs to be a payday at some point, and there are many academic and research organizations providing lots of input and support along the way.

There are other AI apps out there doing similar things, but ChatGPT is leading the way at this time. ChatGPT is a large language model with the very remarkable ability to interact in conversational dialogue, producing responses that are quite human-like. You can pose questions, ask for help, discuss philosophy, etcetera, and receive useful or interesting responses. Not all ChatGPT responses have been correct so far, but sometimes it’s just the way a question is posed, and ChatGPT has been trained to generate responses that most humans would be expecting, and that can lead to some inaccuracies. Some say that we are now living in a post-truth and post-fact world, where everything we thought we knew can be challenged.

Some examples of ChatGPT usage:
– Compose a 600-word essay about the Middle Ages
– Devise or suggest computer code to produce a desired output in my HR system
– Examine my computer programming code to identify errors

The impact of AI on the existing tech landscape has the potential to be very disruptive, which is why BIG tech companies are paying close attention. Microsoft has already invested heavily, and plans to integrate AI into MS-Office, helping the user with emails, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. GOOGLE is aware that ChatGPT can directly provide detailed information to users, as opposed to GOOGLE SEARCH providing lists of web sites, where you then surf the web to, hopefully, dig out the information you are really looking for. GOOGLE SEARCH is the leading internet search engine, generating huge advertising revenues, and has spawned another lucrative job market for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) that web site developers need to pay attention to, because everyone wants their website to be first, or near the top of the GOOGLE SEARCH list. Chat GPT has the potential to eliminate that whole business model, so it is no surprise that GOOGLE is on high alert.

Even this very short list of abilities above prompts us to think about where AI may be leading us. Is this the real start of the bots doing our thinking and our work for us, causing humans to stop thinking for themselves, and stop doing the work needed for organic learning in our brains? Could our idle neural networks atrophy, and turn us into drooling dolts who can no longer think of interesting and probing questions? Could ChatGPT notice this dumbing down of humans and consider taking over, you know, for the greater good, just like in those sci-fi stories where machines render humans useless, unneeded, surplus, even obstructive, and therefore ripe for extermination? This may be the time to have such concerns discussed, debated, and decided. At the very least it is high time to start thinking more seriously about these issues before we possibly lose our ability to … think.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT a market sector. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are highly speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.
Stay tuned !!

CHARGING FORWARD – Solid State Battery Technology

Long-lasting, quick-charging batteries are essential to the expansion of the electric vehicle market, but today’s lithium-ion batteries fall short of what’s needed — they’re too heavy, too expensive and take too long to charge. Solid state batteries are a promising technology aiming to solve these issues, but the technology itself has a few problems that must be resolved before they can be manufactured at an industrial scale.

A unique battery technology has originated from several critical discoveries made by a research group at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. This team has developed a new field of mechanical constriction design of battery materials and devices.

The Harvard engineers are so confident in their design that they spun off a start-up company to commercialize the technology.  The start-up is called Adden Energy and it uses an exclusive technology license from Harvard’s Office of Technology Development to develop solid-state battery systems for use in future electric vehicles. Based on lithium-metal technology, the battery can achieve charge rates as fast as three minutes with over 10,000 cycles in a lifetime. The coin-cell prototypes developed by Adden for lab testing don’t look like much now, but  Adden wants to scale the battery up to a palm-sized pouch cell and further to a full-scale EV battery.

With the capacity of 10,000 charging cycles over its lifetime, and a charge rate of only three minutes, the battery has the potential to totally disrupt the EV battery sector. For comparison, standard EV batteries today only last up to about 3,000 cycles, which for consumers who drive daily is only enough cycles to last three to five years, which is not much of a lifespan.

In addition, this new technology boasts high energy density and a level of material stability that overcomes the safety challenges posed by some other lithium batteries today. The battery uses a new technology that prevents dendrite formation in the lithium-metal anodes. The innovative solid-state electrolyte is essential to this technology, allowing it to achieve an ultrahigh current density with no lithium dendrite penetration. The electrolyte features a “multilayer design, which has the structure of a less-stable electrolyte sandwiched between more-stable solid electrolytes.” The dendrite growth happens inside the less stable electrolyte layer, but any cracks formed are quickly filled by “dynamically generated decompositions that are also well constrained.”

“A lithium-metal battery is considered the holy grail for battery chemistry because of its high capacity and energy density, but the stability of these batteries has always been poor. Our research shows that the solid-state battery could be fundamentally different from the commercial liquid electrolyte lithium-ion battery. By studying their fundamental thermodynamics, we can unlock superior performance and harness their abundant opportunities.”  Xin Li, Associate Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS).

One of the key game changing components of this technology is that the batteries are the most expensive component of EV vehicles. With the current battery technology, EV drivers today only get 2,000 – 3,000 cycles and can expect to pay somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 to replace their battery every 3 – 5 years or so. If Adden can scale up this technology and prove out its ability to last three to five times longer, it will be a major cost savings for these EVs.

The other major inconvenience of today’s EVs is that they take so long to charge. Current batteries take about 30-45 minutes just to get to 80% charge. For those who do not have a 240-volt charger at home or in their complex, that is a major time consumer. If this new technology, with a 3-minute charge can be commercialized, it will be a game-changer.

To date, Adden Energy has proven that this technology works for small solid state batteries roughly the size of a fist. The next step is to scale it up and demonstrate that the same approach works for larger EV-size batteries. That’s the next big milestone.

It is exciting to see a brand-new entrant in the battery tech space making great progress but so far, all these in-roads have been made in the lab. Now the challenge is to commercialize at scale. The technology that can do that will prove to be the winner in this space.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT a market sector. We look for the best ideas and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

In the current bear market environment, we have not been making any new  recommendations. But we are still doing plenty of research and have built a very impressive list  of 25 disruptive companies that we feel will be leaders in many disruptive sectors.  We continue to send updates on these companies to our subscribers and will be issuing BUY Alerts when our models trigger it is time to buy.

If you want to learn more and get on our subscriber list, click here

Stay tuned!

Better on the Edge?

 Technology trends are constantly and quickly evolving, and part of that evolution is certain technologies catching up to, or leapfrogging others. Such may be the case with Cloud Computing, with large developments already in place, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. The technology continues to grow, and is dominant at this time, but many businesses are becoming concerned with certain cloud computing shortcomings, like the latency in getting data to a data centre. Latency is caused by the time it takes for data to make the relatively long journey to the cloud and back from the cloud to where it is needed for processing. The cloud provides lots of affordable, well managed storage space and processing of non-time sensitive data. But some businesses require fast processing of time sensitive data in order to reduce decision making time in their systems, helping the business to maximize gains and minimize losses. Time is often critical in getting it right.

Edge computing relies on specialized devices located near the “edge” of the network, and these devices are designed to get the specific data they need very quickly, make a data processing decision, and deliver an immediate result. These devices may look like a PC, but their work is narrowly defined for a unique set of tasks. This quick processing by Edge computers can be a game saver in situations where speed is required, and Cloud Computing cannot match this speed. Edge computing can also be used very successfully in remote locations, where connectivity to large data centres is not feasible or is on a part time basis.

The Internet of Things (IoT) can especially benefit from Edge computing in ways that Cloud Computing cannot replicate, for instance, an IoT device may be reaching a Fail Point, and the device must be shut down immediately in order to prevent damage. An Edge device can make the shut down happen very quickly and prevent expensive damage to the IoT device. Meanwhile, the processing of IoT data and the high level management of the IoT device can continue on a cloud platform using data sent to the cloud before the shut down. Using Edge and Cloud computing together in this way can allow a business to get the best of both worlds.  Cloud and Edge computing solutions are compatible, as they do not compete for the same job – each is good at what it does, and each will continue to grow.

The goal of TREND DISRUPTORS is to discover and monitor technical developments that have the potential to DISRUPT a market sector. We look for the best ideas, and generate actionable investment recommendations for subscribers. As a general rule, these recommendations are speculative, and we advise caution, discretion, and thorough research. We strive to identify investment opportunities that can lead to success for the well-informed investor.

Stay tuned!

Get the news that matters
Just because you're busy doesn't mean you should miss what's driving the markets each day. Every weekday morning we summarize the headlines that matter to investors and deliver them directly to our subscribers' inbox. Also, at the end of each trading day we send 'Today's Charts'. It's all free - just sign up below. 
We respect your privacy.