🚢 Anchored ports

…and Exxon’s plastic problem (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Cargo anxiety   Presented by Hey Snackers, A GameStop customer [found]( a redemption code for one bitcoin — worth about $63K — in a $30 crypto-themed trading-card pack. Talk about a loot box. Stocks kept [climbing yesterday]( after last week’s record high. Fed officials suggested they were open to another jumbo rate cut at some point in the coming year.   DOCKED [A massive East Coast dockworker strike could crunch early holiday shipments]( Your Minion costume may be delayed… A looming dockworkers’ strike at 36 ports from Maine to Texas could [shut down]( trade hubs that account for 60% of US shipping traffic (yikes). If port employers and workers don’t reach a contract deal by next week, 45K members of the International Longshoremen’s Association could stage a walkout. It’s not looking good as negotiations haven’t even been scheduled. A strike would mark the ILA’s first in nearly a half century — and could cost the US economy up to $7.5B/week. - Uncontained: The strike-threatened ports include half of the 10 busiest in North America. Fun fact: two-thirds of bananas arrive at East and Gulf Coast ports. - Freight’s rate: The ILA wants a 77% wage hike over six years — more than double the 32% raise West Coast dockworkers won last year — arguing that shipping cos have raked in huge profits. - Knotty: Under federal law POTUS could end a strike, but the Biden admin has said it’s not considering the move. Going full throttle… Shippers are racing to deliver before a potential work stoppage, which would threaten their holiday-shopping inventory. $34B worth of goods is on its way to the affected ports. And last month imports at US shipping hubs were up 21% from a year earlier. Many shipments are being diverted to West Coast ports, leaving some with their highest import levels ever. Still, importers worry that diverting too much cargo could cause traffic jams. - Precious cargo: The cost to ship a 40-foot container from Shanghai to NYC hit $10K in July (more than double February’s rate). THE TAKEAWAY Timing’s everything… Dockworkers are using the coming holiday season to their advantage, hoping that retailers — who’ve said they need every port at full capacity — will pressure ports to deliver a deal. United Airlines flight attendants are using a similar tactic, staging their potential strike for Thanksgiving travel. [Read this online](   Presented by EnergyX Last Call to Ride the Lithium Wave The “white gold”1 mines in North and South America are still untapped — and a wave of demand for lithium may be on the horizon. Lithium is one of the most critical and short-supplied commodities in our economy, as the key component in batteries for phones and EVs. EnergyX has honed their extraction technique for nearly a decade, and [they’re accepting investors for a limited time](. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods — [where it typically takes 12+ months, EnergyX needs just two days](. They earned a $5M DOE grant toward a recently-announced US lithium plant and 100,000+ acres of lithium-mining rights in Chile. The energy storage market is projected to reach $546B by 20352 — and riding the lithium wave could make EnergyX an industry leader. [Become an early investor before October 3.](3 Presented by EnergyX Last Call to Ride the Lithium Wave The “white gold”1 mines in North and South America are still untapped — and a wave of demand for lithium may be on the horizon. Lithium is one of the most critical and short-supplied commodities in our economy, as the key component in batteries for phones and EVs. EnergyX has honed their extraction technique for nearly a decade, and [they’re accepting investors for a limited time](. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods — [where it typically takes 12+ months, EnergyX needs just two days](. They earned a $5M DOE grant toward a recently-announced US lithium plant and 100,000+ acres of lithium-mining rights in Chile. The energy storage market is projected to reach $546B by 20352 — and riding the lithium wave could make EnergyX an industry leader. [Become an early investor before October 3.](3   REUSE [California sues ExxonMobil, saying it’s lied for years about the recyclability of plastic]( Still waiting on my 10 cents… California sued Exxon yesterday, [accusing]( the oil behemoth of running a deceptive recycling campaign. FYI: Exxon is the world’s largest producer of the resin needed to make single-use plastics like water bottles and straws. The lawsuit is the culmination of a two-year investigation into Exxon’s role in the plastic-pollution crisis. California says that for decades Exxon’s marketing has misled the public into believing that all plastics are recyclable, when the reality is more complicated (only about 5% of US plastic waste gets recycled). - Water bottled: Exxon was accused of deceptively pushing the green “chasing arrows” symbol on plastic products to make consumers think they were recyclable. - Full refund: The suit also says Exxon’s “advanced recycling” tech doesn’t create new plastic products but instead turns the waste into fuel. - If found guilty… Exxon could face billions in fines and have to redistribute money from its plastic profits. A plasticky situation… Humans produce about 400M tonnes of plastic waste each year, half of which is single-use goods like soda bottles and plastic bags. This pollution threatens marine life and the environment. Energy cos like Exxon and Chevron have long faced criticism for their role in the plastic crisis because nearly all plastic comes from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. Backlash is growing: - Cap it: The US (the world’s largest plastic producer) is said to have agreed to support a global treaty that would curb plastic production. - BYOB: Yesterday, California signed a law banning all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. THE TAKEAWAY You can’t change what you don’t know… and many don’t know that their plastic isn’t being recycled. While the world slowly transitions from gas cars, it’s estimated that plastics will drive nearly half of oil demand growth by 2050. But California’s unprecedented suit could help hold oil companies accountable. [Read this online](   ON SHERWOOD [Harris is far outspending Trump online]( Trump’s focus is on Boomers and Gen X while Harris wants to win women of every age. [Read more.](   What else we're Snackin' - Boeing made its “[best and final](” contract offer to 30K machinists as their strike continues to hold up jet production. - Telegram said it’d [turn over]( users’ IP addresses and phones #s to authorities with valid legal requests as it tries to shed its shady rep. - VP Kamala Harris promised to [support digital assets]( as she works to win over the crypto constituency. - Oyo is buying budget chain Motel 6 for $525M as the Indian hospitality company [expands farther]( into the US. - The Biden admin called for a ban on Chinese software and hardware in cars, saying the [anti-spy measure]( would protect national security.   Snack Fact of the Day [More than 43% of all websites run on WordPress software](d   Tuesday - Home-price index - Consumer-confidence index - Caroline Ellison’s sentencing - Earnings expected from AutoZone, Thor Industries, and KB Home Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Exxon Advertiser's disclosures: 1 Lithium is referred to as “white gold.”[Center for Strategic and International Studies](, August 2021. 2[“Global battery energy storage market could grow to $546B, says analyst,](” Renewable Energy World, 2020. 3 Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX’s Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the [offering circular]( and [related risks]( at [invest.energyx.com](. 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