Postcards: The Homeowners Association from Hell

You have two choices... You can get angry and write letters to people who won't read them in Washington... or you get get "pissed" and make some money off these idiots. ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more You are a free subscriber to Postcards from the Florida Republic. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Republic Risk Letter, [subscribe here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Postcards: The Homeowners Association from Hell]( You have two choices... You can get angry and write letters to people who won't read them in Washington... or you get get "pissed" and make some money off these idiots. [Garrett {NAME}]( Mar 20   [READ IN APP](   Market Update: Moment of truth. The Fed’s not cutting rates, but the question is whether the number of expected rate cuts drops or rises. The market isn’t doing much ahead of the 2 p.m. meeting. As always, watch for price action to get wild from [2:35 to 2:37 p.m. as the market picks a direction.]( Beware the last hour if the market rallies into 3 p.m. Funds may use it as an exit point and commence a selloff. Dear Fellow Expat:  A few years ago, my wife and I moved out of a development in Naples, Florida.  We now live on a 1.25-acre lot - with no homeowner’s association (HOA).  There’s a reason for that.  I attended a few HOA meetings on behalf of our rental property’s owner.  The HOA boards are masters of spending other people’s money, making grandiose speeches about nothing, and moving to vote on foolish ideas without any insight from the resident stakeholders in their communities. I can’t help but wonder where I recently heard similar, incredibly detached plans… Oh yeah…  From America’s very own homeowner’s association -  the Biden Cabinet. [Upgrade to paid]( Your American HOA At Work Imagine you live in a community with an HOA… And they got together and said: By 2032, 67% of our residents will need to own electric vehicles. That’s two out of every three cars in the neighborhood. You’d probably sell your house… but so would your neighbors (which would kill home prices).  You might revolt against that board, but they’ll claim you’re a bigot who hates the Earth.  Or you might give up and pinch whatever pennies you can to afford the high-powered golf cart. Regardless, many will be angry.  “We didn’t vote for this,” some residents would scream. But they did vote for this… because they voted for the idiots in charge of the HOA.  Now, expand this to 50 states and a few hundred million residents… America’s federal agencies are the Homeowners’ Association from Hell®. And they just struck again. The word out of Washington today is this gem: The Pending Death of the Gas-Powered Engine. The symbol of freedom… [one of the greatest inventions ever]( and now… regulated nearly out of existence.  The Environmental Protection Agency is expanding mandates that will force Americans to buy electric vehicles in 2032, largely because those vehicles will be the only option on lots. Now… the media will try to deflect this and say otherwise. “There’s no ban on gas-powered cars,” the shills will say.  But remember how they said certain states wouldn’t ban gas stoves? [They did.]( Remember how they weren’t going to make washing machines way less efficient? They did. And now they are “definitely” not coming for your gas-powered car, future gas-powered cars, and all related personal consumer choices. They are…  From the [White House presser]( “Overall, under the proposal, which EPA unveiled in April 2023 and will go into effect in 2027, the White House projected that 67% of the new sedan, crossover, SUV, and light truck purchases would be electric by 2032. In addition, up to 50% of bus and garbage trucks, 35% of short-haul freight tractors, and 25% of long-haul freight tractor purchases could also be electric by then.” The EPA is again changing electric and gas-powered vehicles with the stroke of a pen that will damage the future of America's industry while claiming that we’re reducing climate change.  Be honest… How is that different from a prattling HOA president's enthusiasm for amending bylaws to regulate the acceptable angle for open blinds or the permissible number of garden gnomes per yard? Fact checks - it isn’t - because U.S. carbon emissions don’t impact China’s coal-power ambitions, just as my former yard didn’t affect soil erosion in development two miles away. Look at the people in this cabinet.  You can’t tell me that people like Department of Energy head Jennifer Granholm, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and EPA head Michael Regan don’t look like the type of people who’d be managing a HOA with an iron fist if they hadn’t fallen upward into politics. Source: Francis Chung/POLITICO These people carry the type of attitude about consumers similar to HOA board members who put charging stations in home communities - the ones no one ever uses or are in a constant state of disrepair.   There’s no difference between the prattling Buttigieg lecturing Americans about electric cars and the jobsworth HOA enforcer outside measuring the height of mailboxes and hedges.  Both kinds of people are awful… And they’re always in charge of spending and planning. They [have a plan for everything]( don’t they? This is the most dynamic economy in the history of the world, but they can’t keep their hands off anything.  Now What? I have often said that the U.S. government (mostly its agencies) does not like free enterprise. This attitude has fueled massive oligopolies and monopolies that lobby and gladly “self-regulate” with a wink and nod to the rules crafted by the HOA leaders. It has made it impossible for small businesses to compete or reach scale. It nuked our manufacturing sectors and is doing the same to automobiles. For a reminder, [this practice is called “dirigisme”]( - a trend that is effectively economic fascism.  It is where the government puts its hands on the scale, picks winners and losers, and overregulates instead of taking over the means of production in a traditional socialist world.  Policy is easier to press than actually managing a business. Policymakers get to take credit, while real productive people operate under the strain of never-ending rule-makers. This current administration has the lowest number of people ever with real business experience, with the median years of business experience at zero.  In 2022, “62% of the Biden appointees dealing with economic policy, regulation, commerce, energy, and finance have no practical experience working in the private sector,” according to an analysis by The Committee to Unleash Prosperity.   In this case, one group of [Yale lawyers think they know better]( the collective consumer class… while EPA hitmen engage in pearl-clutching over an invisible enemy on carbon emissions. It’s Not Just About Control In addition, this order feeds two other trends. Debt… The [U.S. government will keep spending and refinancing money]( to create the illusion of growth. COVID was a perfect excuse to jam trillions of dollars into the economy to keep the shell game going. Climate change is a pandemic on acid. Get ready. We’ll be at $40 trillion by 2026 - but we’ll be told it’s necessary to save the planet from ourselves.  Second is decarbonization.  This massive global trend gives bureaucrats a direct shot at the oil and gas industry, which opposes them on all levels. It’s a massive economic boondoggle that forces an entirely different industry into the world, ensuring greater connection between the government and energy companies and the ongoing spending that justifies their existence. Don’t worry - they’re getting around to curbing meat production - you know… for the planet. Playing the Game Our third rule in the Florida Republic is simple… [Mind your own business… and keep your hands to yourself. ]( That’s impossible for the bureaucrats. But… but… they think… Yale lawyers know more about the economy and how to spend your money than you do…  Don’t you know that the only impressive thing is that you went to Yale or Harvard? It doesn’t matter if you’re in Mensa… have an MBA… launched several businesses… or got a 175 on your LSAT and didn’t want to go to Harvard Law School. You have to be a part of their team to reap the benefits of power. Otherwise, you’re just part of the problem - someone they can demonize. I am unsure if we’ll get a reprieve from the lecturing class because the Fourth Estate will still tell us how terrible we are for wanting to be alone.  [So, embrace our other rules and philosophies.]( Make money off this nonsense, too. I plan to make money in the markets from their debilitating policies.  It’s not about being mad and getting even.  It’s about sitting in Europe with a drink in my hand with friends, far away from this… and not having to hear them on a daily basis. It’s about finding freedom in the corners, out of reach. Now you know how the game works… you can sit around and be angry - or you can go and get your damn tax money back. They’re forcing these mandates through whether we like it or not. As I’ve explained, lithium demand will explode over the next decade by 1,000%. It doesn’t matter if the little kids are mining this stuff by hand in the Congo.  Do you think an EPA bureaucrat who sends their kids to Landon High School for $49,590 a year in Washington D.C. gives a flying damn about those kids? Nope… in their minds, they’re expendable.  Just like American taxpayers. We’re currently long Arcadium Lithium (ALTM) - a company with strong management, strong efficiency, high capital returns, cheap valuations, and a massive geopolitical catalyst from decarbonization and digirisme.  It’ll be rocky along the way… but this is a stock eager to revert in the years ahead. To learn more about the stock.  [You can go here now.]( Stay positive, Garrett {NAME} Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. Under company rules, editors and writers cannot recommend their positions. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. Consider consulting with a professional before making decisions with your money.   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2024 Garrett {NAME} 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()