Sunday's THOUGHTFUL POST : WARREN BUFFETT IS TEACHING HARDEST RULE IN INVESTING

 Wild: Warren Buffett is now sitting on $381.7 billion in cash, and he’s refusing to buy 😳

Five straight quarters, zero buybacks.

No major stock purchases.

And $6.1 billion in net equity sold last quarter 🤯

When the most disciplined buyer in history won’t even buy himself, something’s off.

Here’s what Buffett is really saying: “The market’s expensive. I’ll wait.”

→ Berkshire trades at a 72% premium to book value - far above Buffett’s comfort zone.

→ The Buffett Indicator (total market cap vs GDP) just hit 217%, well past his old “playing with fire” warning at 200%.

In other words, prices are stretched, risk is high, and patience is profit.

Meanwhile:

→ Operating earnings are up 34% YoY to $13.5 billion.

→ Insurance and rail are humming.

→ The business is thriving but Buffett’s buy button stays untouched.

Because performance means nothing if valuations already price in perfection.

The pattern is familiar here.

→ Late ’90s: Buffett sat on cash while dot-coms soared.

→ 2007: he held back, then deployed billions when markets crashed.

→ 2025: same discipline - bigger numbers.

His $382 billion war chest is dry powder for when panic returns.

And it always does.

At 95, Buffett’s still teaching the hardest rule in investing:

Sometimes the bravest move is doing nothing.

source : Linas Beliūnas

Sunday's Thoughtful Post : Learning things in Packaging Industry

Sunday's Thoughtful Post:

When I joined the packaging industry, I thought I’d be learning about barrier layers, recyclability, and shelf life. You know, the technical stuff. And I did, but...

...somewhere between film trials, sealing tests, and sustainability debates, I started noticing something else.

Packaging helps to understand humans as well.

At the end of the day, it’s not just plastic. It’s quite personal.

It’s about trust.

It’s about safety.

It’s about that split-second when someone picks your packaging off the shelf and thinks “Yeah… this one feels right.”

People don’t buy logic.

They buy comfort.

They buy familiarity.

They buy that subtle “I’ve seen you before and I know I can trust you” energy.

Whenever I look at a pack, I ask myself:

👉 Does it protect the product and the promise?

👉 Does it make life simpler, not harder?

👉 Does it make the brand feel like someone you’d actually want to talk to?

Because packaging doesn’t yell.

It whispers.

And if you listen closely… it’ll tell you everything about people.

Before and after the shelf.

source : Miretta Soini

CHINA'S CLEAN ENERGY SCALE UP PLAN

CHINA'S CLEAN ENERGY SCALE UP PLAN

In just six months, China added 256 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity more than the entire solar infrastructure ever built by the United States. That’s enough clean energy to power over 40 million homes, marking the fastest renewable expansion in human history.

This rapid growth is part of China’s ambitious plan to dominate the global clean energy race. Experts estimate that by 2026, renewables will surpass coal as China’s main source of electricity — a monumental shift for the world’s largest energy consumer. Massive solar farms stretching across deserts like Tengger and Qinghai are reshaping the global energy map.

Meanwhile, as U.S. investments in renewables face political and regulatory slowdowns, China’s momentum underscores a new reality: the future of energy leadership may already have changed hands.

source : David James

#cleanenergy #china #renewableenergy

CJ Biomaterials Introduces New PHACT™ PHA Masterbatch

CJ Biomaterials, Inc, a division of South Korea-based CJ CheilJedang and a primary producer of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers, has introduced PHACT™ MA1350Q, a new PHA masterbatch specifically designed for staple fiber and spunbond nonwoven applications. Part of the company’s PHACT™ PHA product line, PHACT™ MA1350Q delivers a unique combination of strength, softness, and stability that elevates the performance of compostable nonwovens used in wipes, diapers, hygiene, and other products.

PHACT™ MA1350Q is composed of 45% of CJ Biomaterials amorphous PHA product (aPHA – PHACT™ A1000P) and 55% polylactic acid (PLA) by weight.

PHACT™ A1000P, developed by CJ Biomaterials, is a unique, soft, rubbery, and biobased material that is certified by BPI for commercial compostability and TÜV AUSTRIA for OK compost HOME. When combined at a range of loadings with PLA for spunbond nonwovens, PHACT™ MA1350Q improves softness, flexibility, and tensile strength compared to PLA alone and broadens the process window and compostability of PLA-based nonwovens.

“With PHACT™ MA1350Q, we have created a solution that makes it easier for converters to incorporate amorphous PHA at the exact levels they need,” said Jerri DiRenzo, Senior Director of Applications and Development at CJ Biomaterials. “This flexibility allows converters to tailor their blends to meet their specific performance and compostability requirements.

PHACT™ MA1350Q can be used directly or added during the conversion of PLA-based nonwovens and fibers. In addition to the enhanced performance characteristics, this masterbatch offers best-in-class sustainability attributes including:

#Faster composting rate compared to PLA alone

#Certified OK compost HOME by TÜV AUSTRIA and commercially compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)

#Safe, clean, and non-toxic biomaterials

#Does not create persistent microplastics

#Certified 100% biobased carbon content from renewable feedstocks, for a low carbon footprint

source : CJ Biomaterials

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Why Boeing and Airbus Are Betting on Composites Again

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Why Boeing and Airbus Are Betting on Composites Again

Jeff Sloan recently highlighted something significant: both Boeing and Airbus are openly discussing next-generation single-aisle (NGSA) programs, with production targets of 100 aircraft per month up from today's 58 A320s and 40 737s.

For more than a decade, there has been no new major western passenger aircraft program – it seemed no one knew where to innovate. Now we have two, and production targets are super ambitious!

The 787's troubled development led to serious questions about composites' readiness for large-scale commercial aviation.

Wing box buckling, BVID (barely visible impact damage) and composite joints problems led local thickening. High safety factors as a result of our poor understanding of material behavior. All led to more than three years of delays. First machines heavily overweight. Over $10 billion in cost overrun.

In 2014, Boeing's VP of aircraft materials stated that if they "knew then what they know now, material decisions might have been very different on the 787."

I heard from industry experts expressing doubts about whether the next generation would maintain composite content. The disappointment was real.

So what changed?

We learned a lot. And we have new materials and technologies now that can help solve most of the early composite material problems.

It’s hard to achieve 100 aircraft per month with thermoset composites requiring hours of autoclave curing.

This is where thermoplastic composites become necessary:

✓ In-situ consolidation

✓ No autoclave needed

✓ Weldable joints

✓ Better damage tolerance

But they're harder to process. The technology wasn't ready 15 years ago.

Now it might be.

In March 2025, Airbus explicitly connected their NGSA to the successful completion of the 10-year European Clean Sky program—which invested heavily in thermoplastic manufacturing readiness.

When a major OEM connects their future aircraft to a research program, the technology has crossed from "interesting" to "producible at scale."

The 787 taught us what doesn't work. Clean Sky developed what might work. NGSA production rates demand it works at speed and scale.

Have we finally figured out how to make composites work at scale and speed?

I think the answer might be yes. Not betting on composites in the new generation is a step back.

What's your perspective? Can thermoplastic composites enable 100 NGSAs per month?

source : Jeff Sloan/Fedor Antonov for the insights.