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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 2 August 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Air conditioning is crucial
  • US-EU trade deal is about optics
  • Energy is the AI bottleneck
  • Levered up
  • Higher taxes lead to lower tax revenue

Air conditioning is crucial: As Lee Kuan Yew highlights, temperature is critical for our performance. Hence, without air conditioning, productivity would be much lower in the tropics.

US-EU trade deal is about optics: The EU imported US$420n worth of energy in 2024, and only about 15% of that came from the US. So how is the EU supposed to buy US$750bn worth of US energy before 2028?

Energy is the AI bottleneck: Even if Meta wants to spend US$150bn on Capex for AI infrastructure, they can’t. Transformers, power equipment, cooling equipment, and the availability of power it is all limited right now.

Levered up: Investors have now plowed US$139bn into leveraged ETFs, the highest amount in history.

Higher taxes lead to lower tax revenue: Not surprisingly, when possible, people tend to prefer paying less taxes. As shown, it’s not as simple as raising taxes to increase the tax revenue.

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Weekly market performance

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Chart of the week

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Podcasts we listened to this week

Richard Werner Exposes the Evils of the Fed & the Link Between Banking, War, and the CIA – The Tucker Carlson Show

“World-renowned economist Richard Werner on where money comes from: banks just create it out of thin air, and keep a pile for themselves.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

The meaning of your life isn’t a puzzle to solve

“There’s a strange irony in the search for meaning: the harder you chase it, the more elusive it becomes. But learn to wrestle with the question instead of demanding an answer, and meaning stops running. It starts dancing.”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius by Donald J. Robertson

“Donald Robertson weaves the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius together seamlessly to provide a compelling modern-day guide to the Stoic wisdom followed by countless individuals throughout the centuries as a path to achieving greater fulfillment and emotional resilience.”

Get the book on Audible or Kindle.

Audible is great; have you tried it? If not, click here to get 2 books for free.

Memes of the week

New My Worst Investment Ever episodes

Enrich Your Future 40: Why Passive Investing Gives You Back What Wall Street Steals

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. In this series, they discuss Chapter 40: The Big Rocks.

LEARNING: Passive investing will give you the freedom you need.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. In this series, they discuss Chapter 39: Enough.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 39: More Wealth Does Not Give You More Happiness

SIA Engineering Company Limited (SIE SP): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was up compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is above average performance compared to 1,430 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read SIA Engineering – World Class Benchmarking

SK Telecom Company Limited (017670 KS): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was same compared to the prior period’s 5th rank. This is average performance compared to 250 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read SK Telecom – World Class Benchmarking

Uni-President Enterprises Corporation (1216 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was same compared to the prior period’s 8th rank. This is below average performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Uni-President Enterprises Corp – World Class Benchmarking

China South Publishing & Media Group Company Limited (601098 SH): Profitable Growth rank of 4 was up compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is above average performance compared to 250 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read China South Publishing & Media Group – World Class Benchmarking

DISCLAIMER: This content is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Readers should not consider statements made by the author(s) as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. While the information provided is believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. The author(s) cannot be held liable for any actions taken as a result of reading this article.

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