Is Europe becoming uninvestable?

[John Hjorth]

3 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

Almost 50% of Germany NG comes from Norway now. Norway has largest replaced  Russian NG.

 

Thanks @Spekulatius,

 

OK, but obviously that's not enough.

 

How about the German power grid not fixed?

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

Btw, which German News Media do you read, @Spekulatius?

 

I'm eager to learn something - My spoken German is rusty by now, not maintained, but I have no problems at all reading German News Media and to grasp and grab all shades of the written German language, and to understand spoken German language.

 

-On the TV, here, we have ARD, ZDF, NDF & RTL.

[Spekulatius]

11 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

Thanks @Spekulatius,

 

OK, but obviously that's not enough.

 

How about the German power grid not fixed?

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

Btw, which German News Media do you read, @Spekulatius?

 

I'm eager to learn something - My spoken German is rusty by now, not maintained, but I have no problems at all reading German News Media and to grasp and grab all shades of the written German language, and to understand spoken German language.

 

-On the TV, here, we have ARD, ZDF, NDF & RTL.

To be honest, I have no idea what’s up with the German power grid other than wind energy is mostly produced in the North and hence there is a large need for North -  South transportation capacity. I guess the whole thing wasn’t really planned well and takes too long to build? The usually problems.

 

News sources:

Spiegel is left leaning nut has some good articles as well as a channel (SpiegelTV on YouTube).

 

FAZ is the German version of the WSJ but they limit what you can read unless you pay up.

 

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/

 

There is this offbeat YouTube channel from  Prof Rieck who comments on many things with a Game theory background :

 

This is for advanced German speakers only as he talks quite fast, but his takes are quite thoughtful. 
 

I also watch DW.DE (Deutsche Welle) which also has news in English

Edited March 28 by Spekulatius

[John Hjorth]

9 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

To be honest, I have no idea what’s up with the German power grid other than wind energy is mostly produced in the North and hence there is a large need for North -  South transportation capacity. I guess the whole thing wasn’t really planned well and takes too long to build? The usually problems.

 

News sources:

Spiegel is left leaning nut has some good articles as well as a channel (SpiegelTV on YouTube).

 

FAZ is the German version of the WSJ but they limit what you can read unless you pay up.

 

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/

 

There is this offbeat YouTube channel from  Prof Rieck who comments on many things with a Game theory background :

 

This is for advanced German speakers only as he talks quite fast, but his takes are quite thoughtful. 
 

I also watch DW.DE (Deutsche Welle) which also has news in English

 

Thank you very much, @Spekulatius,

 

Very much appreciated.

[Dalal.Holdings]

The problem with importing Norwegian gas is simple for countries like Germany and others—they have many “activists” (including politicians and people in government) who have actively protested against this. This is also the exact reason why the UK, despite having access to the North Sea, has squandered that opportunity.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/16/climate-activists-across-europe-block-access-to-north-sea-oil-infrastructure

 

Quote

Climate activists in four countries are blocking access to North Sea oil infrastructure as part of a coordinated pan-European civil disobedience protest.

Blockades have been taking place at oil and gas terminals, refineries and ports in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, in protest at the continued exploitation of North Sea fossil fuel deposits.

 

Further actions were expected in Denmark, while in Scotland activists staged banner drops calling for an end to the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas.

The protest comes in the same week a report found none of the big fossil fuel producing countries in the region had plans to stop drilling soon enough to meet the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating target set by the Paris climate accords.

 

I’ve posted about this a lot in this thread. You can whine all you want when I post this stuff, but you cannot deny that such politics has been highly relevant and impactful on investing across Europe.

[Dalal.Holdings]

Maybe someone can look at this chart and explain to me how it is going to be good for an industrial country like Germany

 

 

No surprise that the multi-year recession in Germany continues. And if political upheaval occurs, don’t act surprised.

[Dalal.Holdings]

 

https://edconway.substack.com/p/the-end-of-salt

 

Quote

All of which is why the film I’ve just made for Sky News strikes particularly hard. The long and short of it is I’ve spent the past few months travelling around the UK, revisiting factories and plants I first visited when I was researching Material World, to take the temperature of Britain’s chemicals sector. What I found was desperately depressing - because the scale of collapse in this industry went even beyond what I expected.

Many of the critical processes I describe in the book - from the manufacture of soda ash to the production of ammonia - are no longer happening in the UK. In the period between my book being written and the time you read this, the plants have shut down. In the case of those two chemicals, this is the first time we haven’t made them in this country in more than a century. 

And soon, that might even be true of salt itself. Honestly, it feels crazy to posit this - after all, Britain has never had to rely on imported salt, never in modern civilisation - but we’re on the brink of losing our salt independence.

 

https://news.sky.com/story/why-ending-the-manufacture-of-a-humdrum-substance-would-be-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-an-industry-that-was-once-britains-pride-13494625

 

Quote

 Salt, or rather the chemicals derived from it, is there in 90% of all pharmaceuticals. It is there in the formulas we use to purify our water and make plastics, explosives and materials with. Without salt, much of the physical economy would simply collapse - and that's before you even get to its importance for keeping us all fed and healthy.

 

So many industries sacrificed at the altar of "Net Zero"

 

Greens and environmentalist nut jobs are to blame for Europe's economic woes

[John Hjorth]

@Dalal.Holdings,

 

I really think it's time you consider to split your activity in this topic into two new topics :

 

1. Is Germany becoming uninvestable?
2. Is United Kingdom becoming uninvestable?

 

Isen't that really what's on your mind here? Am I rigth or what?

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

If you do so, I'll likely then take the risk to open a similar topic about, if USA is investable, however I'm really not sure I'll get with that. 

[Dalal.Holdings]

Germany and the UK are the two largest economies in Europe. They have the most investment opportunities (listed stocks and deep equity markets) out of all of Europe. As a result, it's obvious why they are of outsized importance for someone investing in Europe.

 

It would be like someone investing in North America ignoring the USA and Canada...ridiculous.

[John Hjorth]

3 minutes ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

Germany and the UK are the two largest economies in Europe. They have the most investment opportunities (listed stocks and deep equity markets) out of all of Europe. As a result, it's obvious why they are of outsized importance for someone investing in Europe.

 

It would be like someone investing in North America ignoring the USA and Canada...ridiculous.

 

You don't reply with any specific reaction adressed at my quite simple and specific proposal to you.

 

What [ the h ] has 'the two largest economies in Europe' to do with stock picking European companies on an individual basis?

[Dalal.Holdings]

1 minute ago, John Hjorth said:

 

You don't reply with any specific reaction adressed at my quite simple and specific proposal to you.

 

What [ the h ] has 'the two largest economies in Europe' to do with stock picking European companies on an individual basis?

This is a general thread about investing in Europe in the "General Discussion" part of the forum. If there are individual European companies, then they should be posted in the "Investment Ideas" section as you and I know.

 

You know this already, you are just whining about my criticism of European policymakers as usual.

[NnnnotSoSmart]

Is Merz Green Europe's Last Line of Defense

"If the European Union has been waiting for a favorable moment to save face and quietly escape the (green) energy-policy fiasco, that moment has probably arrived.

 

...

Time is pressing. Germans face a wave of inflation already visible at gas stations and in heating costs. Citizens are approaching a defining initiation moment of truth. Since the beginning of the Iran crisis, fuel prices in Germany have risen by up to 25 percent on average. Gas prices rose another 20 percent in the same period. Going back to 2005, electricity prices in Germany rose a staggering 70 percent -- an undeniable proof of the catastrophic failure of the Energiewende.

What the green central planners have left behind can hardly be called energy-market design in the proper sense. On the ruins of a once well-oiled, highly complex structure and the blown-up cooling towers of nuclear plants, a system with built-in fragility has arisen. In a crisis, there are neither sufficient reserves nor systemic resilience against blackouts and the looming economic super-disaster. Above it all hangs the Damocles sword of potential crises that could erupt anywhere in the world at any time and directly hit Germany."
 

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/04/is_merz_green_europe_s_last_line_of_defense.html

 

 

Edited April 7 by NnnnotSoSmart

[backtothebeach]

I don't think the author understands German psychology, which is how this crisis shows how bad the reliance on oil is and that they therefore should double down on alternative energy sources.

[Dalal.Holdings]

Maybe the Germans will learn the hard way:

 

 

 

 

[cubsfan]

2 hours ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

Maybe the Germans will learn the hard way:

 

 

 

 

 

That's amazing. Don't show it to the Europeans!

 

Hate to burst their bubble.

[NnnnotSoSmart]

6 hours ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

Maybe the Germans will learn the hard way:

Don't see China on that graph, but we can assume they are rapidly moving up and to the right.  See below. Just look at all that "clean beautiful coal" that is being burned.

 

Germany, on the other hand....

 

Reminds me of one of the Sesame' street Songs from the 70's :"One these things is not like the other...."

Edited April 8 by NnnnotSoSmart

[Dalal.Holdings]

11 hours ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

Don't see China on that graph, but we can assume they are rapidly moving up and to the right.  See below. Just look at all that "clean beautiful coal" that is being burned.

 

Germany, on the other hand....

 

Reminds me of one of the Sesame' street Songs from the 70's :"One these things is not like the other...."

Amazing that you see so much coal usage in China yet mostly Left leaning journos in the West continue to tout how China is somehow a "leader" in green energy:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/07/china-fossil-fuel-us-climate-environment-energy

 

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/18/nx-s1-5525934/as-china-becomes-the-global-leader-in-renewable-energy-the-u-s-is-falling-behind

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/briefing/chinas-green-triumph.html

 

These kinds of leftists intellectuals are why German chemical companies like BASF shut down plants in Germany powered by clean sources and move them to China--only to be powered by coal and have much fewer environmental regulations...They are clueless about the world

[NnnnotSoSmart]

4 hours ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

Amazing that you see so much coal usage in China yet mostly Left leaning journos in the West continue to tout how China is somehow a "leader" in green energy:

The ugly truth..

[Spekulatius]

5 hours ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

The ugly truth..

To be fair, China’s emission have been shrinking since 2005 it seems and that we still massive growth in the economy.

 

Also per capital emission are still half of those for the USA. The more concerning part is India which is still early in their growth curve and seem poised to overtake China’s emission in a few years.

[Sweet]

On 3/28/2026 at 11:28 PM, Dalal.Holdings said:

 

https://edconway.substack.com/p/the-end-of-salt

 

 

https://news.sky.com/story/why-ending-the-manufacture-of-a-humdrum-substance-would-be-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-an-industry-that-was-once-britains-pride-13494625

 

 

So many industries sacrificed at the altar of "Net Zero"

 

Greens and environmentalist nut jobs are to blame for Europe's economic woes

It’s a managed decline.  You can still produce all the energy you need from the North Sea and push for net zero.  But no, the idiots that be that decided to stop all new O&G and slap on a tax rate that was nearly 70% of profits, before they even have a net zero base load of nuclear and renewables.  If they were really serious we would have nuclear power coming out of our ass and we don’t.

Edited May 15 by Sweet

[John Hjorth]

12 minutes ago, Sweet said:

 ... the idiots that be that decided to stop all new O&G and slap on a tax rate that was nearly 70% of profits, ...

 

Who is here getting slapped with a tax rate of 70%, and  by who, @Sweet?

[Sweet]

12 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

Who is here getting slapped with a tax rate of 70%, and  by who, @Sweet?

The current headline tax rate on upstream oil and gas companies operating in the UK is 78%.

 

This can be offset somewhat by net zero investments, potentially other capex spending, but that’s the headline rate.

 

There is also a ban on any new drilling, even if they find a new area with billions of barrels of oil or oil equivalents.

[cubsfan]

5 hours ago, Sweet said:

The current headline tax rate on upstream oil and gas companies operating in the UK is 78%.

 

This can be offset somewhat by net zero investments, potentially other capex spending, but that’s the headline rate.

 

There is also a ban on any new drilling, even if they find a new area with billions of barrels of oil or oil equivalents.

 

Whoa - insanity!

[Sweet]

2 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

 

Whoa - insanity!

A tax rate introduced by our supposedly pro-business Conservative Party.  The ban on drilling was recently implemented by Labour.  The UK government keeps lowballing the amount of energy in the North Sea and then uses it as justification for no more drilling by claiming ‘it’s running out anyway’.

[Dalal.Holdings]

Norway has taxed EQNR at 78% for a while but also encouraged it drilling in the North Sea--they have let it operate freely...Norway has a massive sovereign wealth fund and massive exports in oil and gas to the rest of Europe as a result.

 

UK raised taxes on its oil industry while over-regulating it and talking about banning it outright (in addition to crippling refining, chemicals, etc) at the altar of the "Net Zero" cult/religion--hence, UK North Sea production has dwindled and now the UK imports oil and gas from Norway via Equinor who drills in the North Sea (lol).

[Gamecock-YT]

Quote

 

European airports warn new border system causes up to three-hour delays

 

Operators in 15 countries report disruption as new EU electronic entry/exit system fully comes into force

 

 

European airports in 15 countries have reported “very bad” delays resulting from the EU’s new electronic border system, with the sector already under pressure due to a potential shortage of jet fuel caused by war in the Middle East.

 

Passengers at regional airports and larger hubs including in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Greece are waiting up to three hours at border checks, the Airports Council International told the FT.

 

‘‘This situation, in the coming weeks and certainly over the peak summer months, is going to be simply unmanageable,” Olivier Jankovec, director of the ACI European division, said.

 

“We are seeing those queueing times now, at peak times, when traffic is just starting to build up,” Jankovec said.

 

Under the EU’s so-called Entry/Exit System (EES), which fully came into force on Friday, passengers from non-EU countries, including the UK, have to register their personal information and biometrics when they first enter the bloc.

The system was gradually introduced from October and aims to better secure the bloc’s borders, collating information about who is entering and exiting the EU.

 

Airport representatives and the European Commission held a meeting to discuss issues with the system on Tuesday. The ACI asked to extend existing exemptions and for the possibility to fully suspend the checks.

 

“We need the ability to fully suspend EES registration whenever there are excessive waiting times at border control that are just unmanageable,” Jankovec said.

 

The checks had already been repeatedly delayed amid issues over the IT system, cyber security and general delays in member states. Many airports are still not recording biometrics but only personal information, according to the Commission and ACI.

 

 

https://www.ft.com/content/ffb02bd6-fd48-4abc-b568-8353c495cd1e?syn-25a6b1a6=1