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Beyond The SPR: Stifel Spots Another Depleted Strategic Stockpile In Urgent Need Of Rebuilding

Stifel's "own the bottlenecks" theme favors producers that can supply Western markets with conflict-free critical materials today. China's tightening export controls will collide with a looming multiyear rearmament cycle and reinforce the urgency of finding stable production outside China.

The Trump administration's big push to rebuild the US defense industrial base is creating a multiyear investment opportunity in critical materials supply chains as sourcing shifts from China to allied countries.

Stifel aerospace and defense analyst Jonathan Siegmann wrote in the note titled "National Security Critical Materials & Supply Chain: Own the Bottlenecks" that clients should look beyond big defense giants to producing miners that control scarce supplies of tungsten, magnets, microdisplays, lasers, and drone components.

"Stock playbook: own the choke point, don't chase the press release," Siegmann said.

He continued, "Front-running announced federal support has paid impressively, but outperformance is usually short-lived, and the strategy is hard to repeat. We prefer investing in stocks already positioned as bottleneck solutions, where active government support is additive rather than a requirement. A strong defense cycle plus a committed, supportive US customer will structurally improve growth and returns, in our view."

China is a top-four supplier for 14 of 31 minerals and the single largest for eight; Russia appears among the top suppliers for three: palladium, silicon, and potash.

Siegmann shows that China has been an investment powerhouse in mining and refining since the mid-1990s, while US investment has lagged. Now the Trump administration is playing catch-up.

China Produces the Periodic Table

Siegmann outlines China's weaponization of critical materials exports against the US and its Western allies.

Why the Critical Materials Shortage Is a National Security Problem

The federal government is attempting to rebuild its critical materials supply chains outside China.

Here's what happens to mining stocks after the US government announces a strategic stake or partnership deal.

All the deals so far.

One of the most stunning charts Siegmann created for clients shows the 25-year drawdown of the US government's massive tungsten stockpile, which it will have to reverse for national security reasons.

Against that backdrop, Stifel critical materials analyst Brock Cannon initiated coverage on Almonty Industries, believing the Nasdaq-listed miner is set to be a major beneficiary of Western efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese tungsten.

Siegmann said that building critical materials supply chains outside China has been a national priority and is "not just a Trump trade," a point politicians on both sides of the aisle agree on.

Siegmann prefers exposure to miners already in production that can deliver conflict-free supplies to the West today. Washington has the money and the urgency. These critical materials are the building blocks for the rearmament cycle, AI, reindustrialization, powering up America, and many other themes shaping the modern economy. That makes this a long-lasting investment theme in which early movers stand to be rewarded.

Tyler Durden Sun, 09/27/2026 - 18:55

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Failing Lesbian Bar Faces Angry Leftist Mob After Finally Ending Mask Mandate

When your business model's foundation is catering to mentally ill lunatics, don't be surprised when the most common sense changes evoke insane responses.  

One day, probably in the very near future, there will be a hailstorm of studies done on the Covid pandemic era and the absolute hysteria that surrounded it.  The virus was essentially a non-issue with an average infection fatality rate of 0.23%, meaning 99.8% of all people would easily survive.  Yet, most of the world shut down vast areas of the economy and tried to force the global population to wear masks that were eventually proven to do absolutely nothing to stop the spread.  

Perhaps the most interesting detail of all, though, is the political left's continued obsession with the lockdown period.  Leftists treat the pandemic as their "golden era", the moment in history when they basked in pure authoritarianism, the moment when they had all the power.  And like an addictive drug, they just can't seem to let the pandemic go.  

The N95 mask in particular represents a symbol for progressives, a kind of uniform that they used to identify each other and show their fealty to the cult of Covid.  Many deep blue areas of the country refused to stop wearing masks well into 2023 long after it was obvious that the virus was not a legitimate danger. 

Even today, there are still wacky activists that continue to mask up regularly, because taking off the masks is the same as admitting they are wrong, and taking accountability is the last thing any leftist will ever voluntarily do.  Now imagine there's a lesbian bar that placates such people as their primary customer base?  Can you think of a more horrible place to get a drink?

Up until August 31st the Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue in Greenfield, MA had required patrons to wear KN-95 masks or better just to get in the door.  The bar was also known for banning police and posting signs portraying people throwing Molotov Cocktails that said "Cops Are Not Welcome At Last Ditch".

Massachusetts lgbtq bar ‘Last Ditch’ announced they're BANNING police from their venue, called them "pigs" and shared images showing them throwing Molotov cocktails at police.

This is a call to violence against law enforcement. @fbi

Trans violence is an epidemic. pic.twitter.com/dwxcg3xYXW

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 30, 2025

The problem is that their ridiculous clinging to pandemic mandates destroyed their customer base and the business was failing.  In response the lesbian bar finally announced that, on Saturday's only, the bar would become mask-optional while keeping the requirement on its other nights.

Instead of getting relief and applause for showing a pinch of common sense, the locals pulled out their torches and pitchforks in outrage and started making threats.

The Instagram announcement drew hundreds of responses, including accusations that the change excluded disabled and immunocompromised customers who had regarded Last Ditch as one of the few nightlife spaces built around their mentally deranged needs.  In other words, the Last Ditch Bar had "betrayed" the cult by admitting masks are not necessary.  

Critics called the decision ableist, eugenicist, and complicity in a “mass disabling event.” Some comments went further:

“People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience...”  

"Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with...”  

“I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists...” 

It's like taking a time machine back to 2020.  The last remaining owner of the bar became emotional as she explained how she had ended up running the business on her own.  "It was not my passion project," she said. 

She told the group she had been living in her truck for six months while putting money into the business, working four jobs, and carrying responsibility for the $50,000 loan the founders had taken out to open Last Ditch.  "I never really wanted this," she said. "I don't think I'm doing a very good job." 

Some critics remained unmoved, including the bar's biggest critic, a trans "woman" who identifies as a lesbian and also a he/him. 

UPDATE: One of the loudest critics of the Last Ditch COVID-Conscious Lesbian Bar is a male lesbian named Soe Noire 😭 pic.twitter.com/H5y0UwVnjG

— Zack Peter (@zackpeter) September 25, 2026

But this is to be expected when dealing with progressive psychopaths.  They want businesses to enable their emotional dysfunctions, but they don't want to spend any money keeping those businesses in operation.  We have seen this trend in every venue that leftists invade, from movies to video games to marketing and corporate culture - They want every company to reflect their values but they are the worst customers imaginable when it comes to revenues.    

The last Ditch Bar owes nearly $4000 in back rent and foot traffic has dried up; the business is likely to close in the near term.  The owner says she hopes to convert Last Ditch into a "cooperative" so the financial responsibility does not rest so heavily on one person.  However, this is how the business was already being run, and it was a disaster.  

The lessons here are many.  But first and foremost, incidents like this remind us of the horrors of life under progressive rule during the Biden years.  The popular memory is short, it would be a catastrophe if the public were to forget.

Tyler Durden Sun, 09/27/2026 - 18:05

The viral clip of the game's NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast featured iconic Giants announcers Kruk and Kuip zooming in on the couple and creating a playful narrative about what was happening, dubbing Erika “mom of the year.”

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