QuantumScape

Now, you may already know this, but a large number of deep tech companies are choosing to go public, okay? But not via the traditional IPO, via something known as a SPAC.

Rocket Lab, QuantumScape, Oklo.

Just last month, General Fusion.

And in quantum computing, it's almost become the default route.

And if, the reason that's so critical is because diesel is starting to seep through, and what you're going to see is basically over the next quarter or two, how will that inflation actually play out to CPI? That's downstream.

So the more important thing that I think right now for investors is to really take a step back and say, "Look, concentration might be a little too much right now, so should I be looking at equally weighted investments on the equity side?" And that's across the S&P as well as the triple Qs.

Yeah, and of course, uh, energy, higher energy prices has been one of the things that has fed into higher rates, uh, in the Treasury market as well.

We get a refunding announcement.

So let's do this.

Let's look at the C that has something to do with all of these Cs and Qs and other words that they're applying to him.

The CQC, the qualified, competent, and corrupt.

Here's the one that really pisses them off.

Yeah, there's tons of things you think might go wrong, but you don't know exactly what is going to go wrong and when.

And that is where diversification can help as well as also spreading out the opportunity profile as well, right? Thinking about QuantumScape versus Enphase versus First Solar versus Tesla, right? Every one of those companies have some overlap.

in different parts of the energy value chain, EVs.

But they also have very different targeted markets that they're going after where you can get exposure to those opportunities where even if some of those companies win, other ones can win as well.

I've talked very openly about how I've managed my family's portfolio over the past couple of years based on the success that we've had through this great bull market of the past, you know, close to 20 years at this point.

And also as we've gotten closer to some financial goals and that it's lowered like the return hurdle that we need to get.

And it's meant that we should probably reduce a little bit of the, you know, single company risk that we've assumed because those goals are so within reach and that it's the prudent thing for us to do while I'm also still buying shares of pre-revenue companies like QuantumScape here and there too.

So I think that's an important part of it is, and you've talked about this, Jeff, trying to be the investor that has a concentrated portfolio, trying to be the investor that buys something every two weeks or every month, and you find yourself trying to shove yourself into like a peg hole that's not your shape, that doesn't fit.

Looking at discussing Lunar, L-U-N-R, so that's space sector here.

And then QS, this is a different QuantumScape Corporation.

I don't know if I've covered QS before when we talk about quantum stocks.

So that one sounds interesting.

QuantumScape, that's not quantum, Bridget.

That's going to be solid state batteries, I believe, if I got that one right.

Well, we'll figure it out when we get there.

Their question is, apparently a big YouTuber endorsed them over the weekend.

I'm gonna give you a really concrete example from 2020.

It's a company called QuantumScape.

QuantumScape, which in retrospect was basically a science experiment looking to develop better battery technology for electric vehicles.

Anyone can develop better, more efficient batteries with the ability to charge very quickly a- a- and you can make a killing, even in a world where electric cars have lost some of their luster.

But QuantumScape was a long way from having anything they could actually commercialize and they could sell.

Even four years later, these guys still didn't have any meaningful revenue.

Back in 2020 and early 2021, uh, Wall Street was still giving the benefit of the doubt to anything connected to electric vehicles.

QuantumScape came public via a SPAC deal, and you have to be mer- you remember, you have to be really skeptical of those.

Dr.

Z, last week we did a thing 'cause we, Jake was traveling, so we had to prerecord a show, and we did a bit where we spent $100,000 of fake money picking space stocks, and Jake mistakenly bought, uh, the stock for QuantumScape because he thought it was Quantum Space, the thing run by Jim Bridenstine, and-

Mm-hmm

... uh, became a meme.

We've done a hostile takeover.

Yeah.

The Off Nominal podcast has taken over QuantumScape.

Hostile takeover.

Something for the mailbag.

"I noticed podcast co-hosts tend to follow each other and have significant overlap in their respective portfolios." And he references us with MercadoLibre and QuantumScape.

He mentions our friends over at Chit Chat Stocks.

They have, uh, a lot of overlap in theirs as well.

Another, um, podcast, Dividend Talk, does it with dividend growth stocks.

He says, "Why is this, and is it healthy? Confirmation bias or something more dangerous?" And then there was a follow-up comment, uh, from someone else saying that they would add Kinsale Capital and QuantumScape.

No, and this was a follow-up from International Dividend.

Can I add Kinsale Capital- Oh, it was? Oh, okay.

So I just think it's interesting to see the state of the economy, and I talked about it on Stock Club, like, the crash that everyone needs to worry about is the crash of the economy.

But the S&P and the Qs, they're gonna do incredibly fine because you need somewhere to place the money, and now it's almost as if the selection of investments is really down to 20 things in the world, and the money has to be parked somewhere.

So they figured out a way how to stop a stock market crash from happening-

Mm-hmm