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Barron's and ESG

Barron's has hit a double ( two weeks) ESG covers

Two weeks ago it was plastic waste and recycling

https://www.barrons.com/articles/cheap-new-plastic-choking-the-world-9b318936?mod=past_editions

This week Agriculture and fertilizer emphasizing new technology to deal with drought and changing climate.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/economy-farmers-deere-agco-stocks-c4ca8e8c?mod=past_editions

Unfortunately, neither is as precise and insightful as they could have been, with only few investment ideas.

But it does show how the financial press is still thinking about pollution, climate change and ESG

And "100 best Sustainable Companies" in this week's edition.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/most-sustainable-esg-us-companies-1b5f70fd?mod=past_editions

They point out that "The top 100 returned an average negative 9.5% in 2022 versus negative 18.1% for the S&P 500 index. Moreover, 63% outperformed the index, up from 47% in 2021. "

I would hope this message gets around and will convince our lawmakers to stay out of investment decisions or their constituents will suffer.

Apologies to anyone who can't open the articles. Who knows how to post the entire article?

Comments

  • This is my summary of the Cover Story; I didn't see it as an ESG story and searches on "ESG" and "sustain" produced zero results. It is a story on how technology has changed farming.

    COVER STORY (ECONOMY) “The Boom Time for FARMERS Can Last. Who Will Reap the Rewards”. AG-TECH is booming (biotech, AI, mechanization, hybrids, crop rotations). Higher grain prices and wind energy installations are helping. Farmland prices are up; institutions including pension funds are active in farmland. Grains are used for human consumption, animal feed, biofuels. But farm labor is hard to find, and many are turning to immigrants. Mentioned are AGCO, CNHI, CTVA, DE, TITN; farmland REIT FPI.

    There are couple of general fund stories too:

    FUNDS. BIOTECH funds are attractive now. They peaked in 02/2021 after a deluge of biotech IPOs following the pandemic in 2020. Mentioned are ETAHX, FBDIX, FBIOX, JAGLX, LYFIX, PRHSX, SHSAX; ETF XBI. (by MFO @lewisbraham)

    FUNDS. Barnaby WILSON, Lazard Asset Management (OCMPX, etc). He is searching the GROWTH stock rubble globally for quality stocks with good cash flows, reasonable valuations, competitive moats, pricing advantage. He avoids companies with unprofitable growth.

    LINK
  • I think that the drive for no till farming, the start up mentioned that claims to eliminate nitrogen fertilizer, and "precision planting " are driven by drought conditions, falling water tables and the need to reduce nitrogen runoff and be more ecologically sustainable.

    "Biotechnology, says Edgington, has accelerated the shift to no-till farming and other eco-friendly practices. “Biotech is helping the world’s environment, period,” he says."

    Sounds pretty "E" to me.

    Like a lot of Barron's articles this is really only the barest hint of how to invest. FPI for example may have been up 82% in the the last three years but it is down significantly in the last because of it's huge debt load as interest rates have increased.
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