I am curious of whether lithium-based batteries can be recycled or is it economical?

Hi @Sven, the site Electrek has a few articles on recycling Li and other EV battery metals. Here's one: "North America’s first battery-grade recycling hub just scored a $375M loan." (See the comments: a couple of people are arguing that this company, Li-Cycle, isn't the first.)

Exploring for Lithium seems like our modern day "gold rush".
LAC = Lithium Americas Corp and trade on the NYSE. GM (General Motors) owns 10% and is its largest holder of stock.
FifthDelta Ltd (a Hedge Fund?) is LAC next largest stockholder. Interestingly, FifthDelta is the largest stock holder of Blackberry. Here's some of their other holdings.
https://whalewisdom.com/filer/fifthdelta-ltd
Lithium News
Yahoo Finance News:
colossal-cache-lithium-found-us

McDermitt Caldera (Nevada/Oregon Border) was formed after a massive magma eruption approximately 16.4 million years ago, dredging up untold scores of lithium and other metals. A lake eventually inhabited the caldera, which deposited a layer of sediment spliced with the lithium that today is over 600 feet deep. The result: a clay called smectite.
But that was just the first lithium injection. Eventually, as volcanic activity heated up again, hot brine containing additional lithium was driven up into the existing smectite, infusing it with even more of it. Now, the clay was no longer just smectite, but a uniquely lithium-rich illite.
"They seem to have hit the sweet spot where the clays are preserved close to the surface, so they won't have to extract as much rock, yet it hasn't been weathered away yet," Borst told Chemistry World.
This is good news for miners. Not only is this particular illite more rich in the metal, it's supposedly easier to separate. Plus, the deposits are mostly concentrated in one spot at the southern tip of the pass, limiting the area impacted by mining.
At least in theory. The extraction of lithium can, depending on the methods used, emit vast amounts of CO2, contaminate groundwater with dangerous heavy metals, and guzzle tons of fossil fuels. Its environmental toll shouldn't be overlooked in the rush to green transportation infrastructure.

From Science Advances (In depth Article):
https://science.org

This back-of-the-envelope estimation is calculated using caldera-wide extrapolation of publicly available drill hole data from Lithium Americas Corp. and Jindalee Resources Ltd. and is not a reporting code-compliant mineral resource estimate that considers economic viability. Even if this estimation is high due to variations in sediment thickness and/or Li grade, the Li inventory contained in McDermitt caldera sediments would still be on par with, if not considerably larger than, the 10.2 MT of Li inventory estimated to be contained in brines beneath the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (12), previously considered the largest Li deposit on Earth.

The areas of Engineering, Science and Technology are long term themes in my investment portfolio.
Research is the cornerstone to the development of innovation in these fields.
I came across this link (see below) to the “investment strategy” of a US agency (DARPA) that has been partially responsible for:

Originally known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency was created on February 7, 1958, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957. By collaborating with academia, industry, and government partners, DARPA formulates and executes research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science, often beyond immediate U.S. military requirements.
The Economist has called DARPA the agency "that shaped the modern world," and said that "Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine sits alongside weather satellites, GPS, drones, stealth technology, voice interfaces, the personal computer and the internet on the list of innovations for which DARPA can claim at least partial credit."

What STEM innovations will be next?
https://darpa.mil/our-research

Well, again, it depends on someone's age, goals, and risk.
I know the following several investors
1) 90+% in Munis: This guy sold his company in the 90s for several million and since then he is in 90+% muni, the rest in stocks.
2) 90+% in CD: This guy has "only" one million
3) 85% in stocks: This guy has over 10 million and has been invested like this for decades and is now at retirement.
4) This guy shorted the market, but only at 2-3%.
5) This couple in their 80s invested it all in stocks since retirement in their early 60s. Why? because their pension + SS is over $25K per month.
6) Several investors in their 30s are all at high% in stocks
As you can see numbers 3,5 and 6 are invested highly in stocks but are different. Each of the above has a unique case.
Without the right context(age, goals, and risk), you can't learn much in depth. Even that isn't enough. Suppose someone says, I like treasuries right now. Well, what % do you own? is it 5% or 20%? The % you committed to anything you posted you own makes a difference.
$100K out of 10 mill is only 1%. I doubt this investor would make any significant change to her portfolio. A $100K to someone without saving matters a lot more than the 10 mill.
Lastly, when I read dtconroe's post I got the context pretty well.

Grantham has been wrong for over 10 years, but, as usual, scary stories sell a lot more.
Who is going to read an interview with someone who says: I don't know what stocks will do in the next 3-6-12 months because nobody does, and BTW, the SP500 was up over 80% since 1980?
Sure, if someone has been a bear on US stocks since 2010, he will be right sometimes but he missed an unbelievable performance.
Since I have a special place for Grantham, I kept several of his past great calls.
==============
2010 (link)
"Over the next seven years, GMO forecasts large-cap U.S. stocks to deliver a real return (after inflation) of 1.3% annually, while small-caps provide a 0.5% return."
"International stocks also fare reasonably well in GMO's model, up about 4.7%, while emerging markets come in with a 3.9% annualized gain."
FD: reality(link): SPY made 14.4%...IWM 11.9%...EEM 3%. One of the worse misses in the history of predictions.
=====================
10/2012 (link) Jeremy Grantham Warns 2013 Will Be A Dangerous Year For Stocks:
FD: The SP500 made over 32%
=================
2015 (link) GMO's Jeremy Grantham has a relatively gloomy outlook for the markets and economy.
FD: Wrong again and again and again. Why does anybody ask his opinion?

@Gary1952- I think that there's a good chance that you're right on that.

FD:

From the start I said that without goals age and more, no way to answer this.

Gary:

The question was simply "how would YOU invest it NOW"...

@Gary1952 +++ , I agree.
Surely, we all at least know our age :) Honestly, I saw this as just a fun exercise to throw out different ideas or thoughts. Sounds like most took it that way.

We need some fun once in a while. And thinking about having an extra $100k all of a sudden is fun.

See my original comment : “Linked solely for those who might be interested in Grantham’s latest views.”
If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it.
Don’t tell me there’s some restriction here against posting out-of-favor / unpopular / or recently unprofitable investment opinion?
Bloomberg? They are what they are. Lots to criticize there.
BTW - Did you notice the 18% drop in the S&P last year? I think we’re in agreement that that was only a minor speed-bump in the overall scheme of things. But to many here it was earth-shaking. Surely you’ve noticed the fervent interest now in T-Bills / CDs and a loss of appetite for equities? I’d guess 2 out of 3 investment posts now are on the subject of cash or cash equivalents. In a sense, these investors are singing Grantham’s song.
Grantham’s bearish equity call (huge U.S. bubble) may be completely bass-ackwards … And yet you posted a month ago (August 2): “I’ve been loading up on CDs and treasuries, with ladders extending out five years in my IRAs and three years in taxable savings. I don’t care if interest rates rise further as I’m happy to be earning better than 5% on all these cash investments.”
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/166524/#Comment_166524

From the September MFO Commentary:
By recent count, 1020 funds and 590 ETFs own Apple stock. It’s impossible to expect exceptional gains when a thousand analysts are dissecting, and a thousand managers are bidding upon, the same stock.
I sent this assertion to one of my kids, a consultant who's been following and analyzing Apple since before his MBA days two decades ago. His quick reply:
" Ha! 'Impossible'! "

Does it matter if $100k is a substantial sum or not? The question was simply "how would YOU invest it NOW". A very simple English language question.

That’s a bit harsh towards some of my colleagues here. But, as you like it. Re: “NOW” - Be aware BBF posted on Labor Day. Perhaps unaware U.S. markets were closed? I’ve substituted the earliest possible date / time to invest designated sum.
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Time: 9:30 AM EDT
Amount: $100,000.00
How I’d invest it “NOW” …
- U.S. Equities: $31,853.65
- Diverse Fixed Income (hedged, market neutral, global): $30,997.63
- Non-U.S. Equities: $17,148.15
- Short-Term High Yield Bond: $8,676.10
- Money Market Fund: $6,100.37
- Precious Metals Fund: $5,224.10

I would put it all in PSLV. Sprott Physical Silver or physical silver if I had a place to store it. BRICS will crash the USD eventually, manipulation of metals will end. Silver price will rise once big banks can no longer short gold and silver. Also, could put it all in XRP (ISO20022 coin) probably will do better than silver.
Just another opinion.
Whatever happened to the good old days when you could go to an investing forum and see 50 new post a day? I checked out for a couple of years and when I came back everyone left.

FD:

From the start I said that without goals age and more, no way to answer this.

Gary:

The question was simply "how would YOU invest it NOW"...

@Gary1952 +++ , I agree.
Surely, we all at least know our age :) Honestly, I saw this as just a fun exercise to throw out different ideas or thoughts. Sounds like most took it that way.

Great discussion. Like FD, I focus on the total portfolio.. Sure, it can be modified as various circumstances change. But I’ve never thought the amount invested mattered much if you have a model portfolio in place.
So whether I had $50,000, $500,000 or $1,000,000 + to invest I’d go with the model. The raw totals might be different, but on a pie-chart a 5% investment in GM displays as 5% regardless of dollar value. And your portfolio should react pretty much the same way day to day..
There would be intervening factors:
- With very small amounts it may be hard to stay as diversified as your model dictates due to fund minimums, etc
- With larger sums you save on expenses and should earn a better return.
- Taxation becomes a real issue if you are currently mainly in IRA / Tax deferred investments and you suddenly come into money that isn’t sheltered. But there are various ways to deal with that.
- Buffet has commented that it’s much harder to invest very large sums. He claims he could earn a much greater return investing a small sum. One reason is that with a vast sum invested every buy or sell order you enter tends to drive prices in the opposite direction than you want.

From the start I said that without goals age and more, no way to answer this.
In most cases, another $100K isn't big enough to change someone portfolio asset allocation.
A lot more interesting is what would you do with a new $500K to a million. My answer, I wouldn't change a thing with my portfolio.

@dtconroe - Thanks for the rebuttal. I never give specific recommendations or even share my own specific investments (unless they come up in the context of a particular fund’s discussion). I hope that does not exclude me from making broader observations about investing on this thread started by @Baseball_Fan. I do think it’s for the person who initiates a thread to set the tone and pull people back into line who fall out of step. BF’s opening line - “For kicks and giggles and ideas ” leaves me to believe he is willing to allow a wide latitude in thread content and some occasional humor or straying afield.
What would I do with another $100,000? Tax considerations might have some bearing on how it is invested. But, in general, I’d simply add it to my existing diversified portfolio. That’s what I’ve always done with windfalls. I’m about 49% in equities, 30% in various fixed income products, 15% cash equivalents and 5+% precious metals. That’s mainly through mutual funds, ETF’s and CEFs. Also own 2 individual stocks @ 5% of portfolio each.
I attempted to support the case for going all to cash and intended to praise those who invest that way. In no way would I discourage such an investment approach. The one proviso is that I think it is unwise to move back and forth between completely different approaches based on the latest 6-months’ market action. Selling risk assets low and than rebuying them higher a year out when markets have “recovered” is not a viable long term plan ISTM. As you have long been known here for your expertise in and affinity for fixed income investing, I don’t understand the umbrage - though I’ll agree my comments were a bit outside the scope of @Baseball_Fan’s hypothetical question.
The boat? :) I thought it was funny. I’d seen it in the water while on a walk the day before and the name on the stern “Secret Formula” struck me as relevant to investing. I’ll stop there! But if @Baseball_Fan wishes the photo to be removed, I’ll be happy to oblige him.

Closing numbers + percentage of change yesterday (9/6/23)
Index Close % Change
Dow 34444.38 -0.57
Dow Transports 15374 -0.74
Dow Utilities 853.17 0.2
S&P 500 4465.61 -0.69
Nasdaq 13872.47 -1.06
Nasdaq 100 15371.44 -0.88
Russel 2000 1873.44 -0.37
VIX Index 14.39 2.71
10 Year Gov't Yield 4.3 0.75
Spot Gold 1916.56 -0.5
Spot Silver 23.16 -1.64
GDX-Gold Miners 28.47 -0.07
Crude Oil 87.73 1.2
Dollar Index 104.85 0.04
Euro Spot 1.07 0.04
Japanese 10 Year 0.67 2.15
Shanghai SE 3158.08 0.12
Long Bond 20-year 119.06 -0.03
Source: Bloomberg
The $87.73 quote is for NYMEX crude oil which rose 1.2% yesterday. There are a number of different grades of crude and so prices will vary among them. PRNEX is a good N/R fund and as @Crash suggests it is heavily weighted towards the refiners. Of course, refiners price based off many other fundamentals than just the price of oil. Since p/m metals fell yesterday - especially silver - that might help account for the small daily loss. I own a CEF that is somewhat similar to PRNEX in focus (leans more toward the metals). It was unchanged yesterday.

For kicks and giggles and ideas, not recommendations...
3/6/12 month tbills, equally, 45%
Mrfox, Marshfield, 15%
Pvcmx, Palm valley, 25%
Cbldx, crossing bridge, 15%
What say you?

Being retired, I like the CBLDX idea in my IRA and don't need to add to growth. Since it would go into a taxable account, it would be put into MM for now and enjoy the interest for a while. Possibly 50% into NVHAX.

Oil & energy were higher.
I believe you, @hank. Yet Nat. Resources fund PRNEX fell, though only slightly.
And ET's merger or acquisition of Crestwood Partners is being looked into. But that is ongoing, not particular to today's action. Down -2% just today. WTF.
"...Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Crestwood will be acquired by Energy Transfer LP (“Energy Transfer”) (NYSE - ET). Crestwood common unitholders will receive 2.07 Energy Transfer common units for each Crestwood common unit. Upon closing, Crestwood common unitholders are expected to own approximately 6.5% of Energy Transfer’s outstanding common units. The investigation concerns whether the Crestwood Board breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders by failing to conduct a fair process, including whether Energy Transfer is paying fair value to shareholders of the Company..."
And SUN (Sunoco LP) is wholly owned by ET. It was down -0.9% today. I don't own any of that. Sometimes my stuff yins when everything else yangs.

@LarryB. Van Patrick is the first Detroit sports announcer I can remember. That must have been back in the late 50s or early 60s? Lions football I think. And a good announcer.
The other I have no idea. But Lafayette would seem to be in Indiana. So maybe something to do with Perdue or Norte Dame football?
Do you remember when the Tigers fired Ernie Harwell? I can remember right where I was standing when the news broke. Everyone was in disbelief.
d

I can find precious little news on this one. PSTL. I’d earlier linked an earnings call - but that was a month ago on August 8. Sorry. I was a month off!
Overall, the allocation funds I like to track only lost around 0.25% today. The damage in bonds was less severe than yesterday. PRWCX lost 0.33% while its cousin TCAF lost 0.70%. As has been pointed out, TCAF lacks the fixed income holdings in PRWCX, so tends to be more volatile. Metals / miners fell. Oil & energy were higher.