Ginkgo Bioworks is building out their BioManufacturing Foundry platform which mimics the building of semiconductor foundries of yester year!

 78.63% of #GinkgoBioworks ( $DNA) stock is owned by #Institutional #investors.

Here are some of the major institutional shareholders:

ARK Investment Management LLC owns a significant number of shares in Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DNA). As of the most recent filings, they held 182,192,185 shares during the 3rd quarter of 2023. 

Additionally, in the 4th quarter, their holdings increased to 198,606,619 shares

Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC: Holds 672,488 shares (0.5% of the portfolio). Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.: Holds 55,865,048 shares (2.595% of the portfolio).

(Note: M. Potter who served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair of the board of Sumitomo Pharma America, and as the Chief Executive Officer of Sumitovant Biopharma, the parent company of five biotechnology companies, was added to the board of Ginkgo BioWorks on April 29th) Salem Investment Counselors Inc.: Holds 4,758,585 shares (0.221% of the portfolio). Vanguard Group Inc.: Holds 132,780,095 shares (6.169% of the portfolio). Lingotto Investment Management LLP: Holds 8,511,301 shares (0.402% of the portfolio). Additionally, during the previous two years, a total of 228 institutional investors and hedge funds held shares of Ginkgo Bioworks.

Some of the most heavily invested institutions include Baillie Gifford & Co., ARK Investment Management LLC, and Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.. Institutional investors play a significant role in Ginkgo Bioworks’ ownership structure, with a mix of large investment firms and hedge funds holding substantial stakes in the company

Founded in 2008 by five #Scientists from #MIT, Ginkgo Bioworks is headquartered in #Boston. Their mission is to use #Biology to grow better products across diverse markets. They have developed a cell programming platform that enables the growth of biotechnology. Ginkgo’s platform allows for programming cells and designing organisms that behave in pre-defined ways. They work with various industries, from food to fragrance to pharmaceuticals. - - - - - - -

#Ginkgo collaborates with various organizations and companies like:

Pfizer

Pfizer has entered into a multi-target RNA discovery collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks, cell engineering.

 In this partnership, Pfizer will leverage Ginkgo’s proprietary RNA technology to advance the discovery and development of novel RNA molecules across priority research areas. 

The collaboration is valued at a total of $331 million across three distinct programs, and Ginkgo Bioworks is entitled to potential downstream value in the form of royalties on sales

Ginkgo also collaborates with these partners:

#Motif #FoodWorks: Changing the future of #food. #Bayer: Designing #probiotics for plants. #Allonnia: Enabling bioremediation solutions. #Aldevron: Supporting the #Vaccine #SupplyChain. #Cronos Group: Unlocking potential in #Cannabinoids. #Synlogic: Engineering living #Medicines. #Moderna: Optimizing vaccine processes. #IARPA: Protecting valuable technology. #Robertet: Producing cultured ingredients. And more

Keep in mind the companies that collaborate with Ginkgo Bioworks to advance synthetic biology:

1. OneOne Biosciences

   , a French biotech startup, is developing a comprehensive suite of agricultural microbial solutions. They have partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks to leverage their robust ag biologicals infrastructure, biotechnological expertise, and Strain Optimization Services. The collaboration aims to accelerate OneOne’s research and product development in agricultural microbial solutions, including a novel solution for production and delivery of ag microbials through the OneOne Multiplier™1.

2. Synlogic: collaborates with Ginkgo Bioworks to develop a pipeline of novel “living” medicines based on engineered probiotics. They utilize Ginkgo’s cell programming platform to create innovative treatments.

3. Biogen:

    and Ginkgo Bioworks have announced a gene therapy collaboration. Their goal is to redefine the industry standard for manufacturing recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors3.

4. Pfizer: Ginkgo Bioworks has a collaboration with Pfizer to advance the discovery and development of novel RNA molecules across priority research areas using Ginkgo’s proprietary RNA technology4.

Ginkgo has also acquired competitors like Zymergen etc, and have a serious "first mover" advantage in the field as they continue to build a "moat" around their business that few if any, will be able to copykey points:

1. Sustainability: Ginkgo’s platform enables leading pharmaceutical, food, and agriculture companies to develop more sustainable solutions. As the world increasingly looks to synthetic biology for emissions reduction and supply chain resilience, Ginkgo’s role becomes more critical.

2. Biosecurity:

   Ginkgo’s biosecurity business unit, Concentric, is working on building infrastructure to monitor biological threats. They collaborate with organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enhance pathogen monitoring and develop tools to prevent misuse of engineered biology.

3. Employee Ownership and Care: Ginkgo is committed to thoughtful deployment of its platform. They’ve established a Caring Committee to assess potential impacts of their activities and integrate a Cost, Caring, and Risk Assessment (CCRA) process

4. How to invest in Robots and Robotics going forward, through the back door method!

5. "The rapid and complete resolution of aggressive MSS colorectal cancer tumors observed in this study is unprecedented in the field" says the author Dr. Kasi

MAGA- Antifa. Who is behind America's current crisis of extremist thought!

 As the far right Maga crowd truly believe their own government is the enemy,

and

As the far left Antifa crowd truly believe their own government is their enemy, and as different ethnic groups begin to look at other ethnic groups as their adversaries, one question begs to be asked by every freedom loving person, Where did that vile and disruptive influence originate. Where did it come from? I do not believe it began in America or it's government! Now, how would a true adversary attack the greatest democracy ever created,

who owns the greatest military ever created?

Well, you certainly can't confront their military directly.

That would be a national suicide for any adversary!

So, with proper planning by your intelligence services, you attack from within, using a superb weapon, democracy itself!

You concentrate your intelligence operation on the lynchpin of a great democracy,

FREE SPEECH! You use the new social media platforms, constantly, over years, maybe decades, to influence the population and you concentrate on the differences found in any democracy!

Free speech supplies all the bullets you need, words!

Those bullets are fired every minute, of every day, of every week, of every month of every year, by the guns of social media, such as: X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Tik Tok (the young are easily led), You Tube, Whats App, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, pinterest, etc etc

You concentrate your fire directly at various groups who may distrust each other for various reasons, and you extend that mistrust continually, until, eventually, it resembles hatred. You concentrate your fire on the differences apparent in the two major political parties, and you work both sides.

Because these platforms allow your agents or bots to hide behind false names, false businesses, etc, they are the ideal guns pointed at the millions of American who use them every day, more and more.

I learned over many decades in Government, and in business, that, if you have a meeting of dozens of people on any subject, it will be the most ill-informed who speak the most and the loudest.

Now it is those who are loudest, that have the largest megaphones, supplied by social media platforms. These are the artillery, the big guns of your insidious attack. They have access to millions of ears, both young and old. Some may even have been recruited by your intelligence service, over years.

You stay relentless in your subtle and surreptitious attack until Democracy itself turns into a vortex like a black hole, and eventually swallows itself!

THAT, is how you attack the greatest democracy ever created on earth!

Who did it? Who's responsible?

These are the important questions we should all be asking, while we stay vigilant and aware that the adversaries of freedom have found our only weakness, and are exploiting that weakness every day!

HP @Retirefund

Is Cobalt the next Bull Market?

Investing notes: 

Cobalt is used in Lithium-ion Batteries of every size, from your SmartPhone to your ElectricCar or EV Energy storage units for Solar and Wind Power generation etc...

Cobalt, which has the element symbol Co, is a metal usually obtained through mining nickel, silver, lead, copper and iron. Discovered in the 18th century, it gave glass a deep blue color.

Today, cobalt's uses range from health and nutrition to industry. The US government treats cobalt as a strategic metal because a shortage would affect the economy, industry and defense of the country. Most cobalt used in the United States is imported.

Alloys, or mixtures of metals, make up half the cobalt used each year. Some alloys go into making jet engines and gas turbine engines. Another alloy, called Alnico, consists of of aluminum, nickel and cobalt and is strongly magnetic. Alnico magnets can be found in hearing aids, compasses and microphones. Cutting tools can be made with stellite alloys, which contain cobalt, chromium and tungsten.

Here are some other common uses for Cobalt (from Sciencing.com)

Alternative Energy

Cobalt improves the performance of rechargeable batteries and plays an important role in hybrid electric vehicles.

Orthopedic Implants

Cobalt alloys are used in orthopedic implants alongside titanium and stainless steel. The Idaho Cobalt Project states that approximately 70 percent of hip replacements use cobalt-chrome femoral stems.

Radiation Therapy and Sterilization

Cobalt-60, a radioactive form of the element, can treat some forms of cancer. The substance can also sterilize medical supplies.

Nutrition

Cobalt chloride, sulfate, acetate or nitrate can correct mineral deficiency in grazing animals living on cobalt-deficient soil. Cobalt is an essential part of vitamin B12.

Art Material

Cobalt salts are used to produce vivid shades of blue in porcelain, glass, pottery and tiles.

However, in today's "clean Energy" environment, it is the advent of large scale electrical storage, EV Batteries, Smart phones and other energy storage endeavors, that are making Cobalt a "Go To" commodity of the 21st century.  In many Lithium-ion batteries, there is more cobalt than lithium. 

There are many options to invest in Cobalt so do some homework

Disclosure: As a lead in to this market potential we like a broad brush and so we have bought

Cobalt 27 Capital Corp

TSXV  :  KBLT

 

We have also bought shares in one smallcap miner of Cobalt as a potential takeover target. We are investigating other avenues into this market.

Stock Markets do not like Tradewars - Is your Retire Fund in Jeopardy?

Is your Retire.Fund in jeopardy of a severe downturn in Stocks

You recently retired, or will retire in the next few years, but you are still heavily invested in the stock markets because that is where the growth has come from for the past 10 or so years.

  Did you take a beating in 2008? Do you even remember what happened that year? Maybe you didn't start saving/investing until late in your career, and you feel you need a bit more!

 Maybe it's time you considered "solidifying" the investments you still have.

Paper profits are great, until they are not! A sudden reversal in stock prices can wipe out 50% of your portfolio.  It can happen really fast these days as the Algos take over the selling, and markets drop like a rock! If that happens this year,(and this writer believes it will), then you may be left trying to decide to "stay in" to try and recoup your losses, or cash out with 20-50% less profit. If such an event occurs, it maybe a decade before you recoup those losses.

To this date the Nasdaq has returned, year to date, over 19%  "THAT" my friends is a great return on investment! The SP500 has returned almost as much YTD!

If your Index Funds are up over 15%, then congratulations, because, I believe, it won't happen again for years to come.  I sincerely do not believe that retirees or those nearing retirement, "will ever see" returns like this again!!!

If you are over 50 or need the money in your portfolio for retirement, if you don't have another 10-15 years to make up losses and cannot afford a downturn in stock prices (or bond prices for that matter see: Bonds) then maybe you should consider the wise advice of the foremost investor in modern history, Mr. Warren Buffett, who famously said:

Remember, "Cash" is also a Position and, at this juncture, it may be the best position!At this writing, we are mostly in cash, with a few exceptions.

Good luck, and be careful!  

Your Retire.Fund depends on it!