Dear reader,
We're quickly approaching the end of October with global narratives rapidly evolving in a highly volatile economy. We're excited to bring you 5 signals that are making parabolic moves according to NWO.ai.
We've also got some exciting news: we're hiring! If you want to be part of Team NWO.ai, be sure to look at our open positions.
1. Fresh homes hot off the printing press
Recent advances in construction tech have focused on 3D-printed cement homes, which address labor and material shortages, as well as larger-scale issues of sustainability and affordable housing. While concrete is a huge contributor to total construction emissions, some companies are developing carbon capture technology to make cement more sustainable, as we’ve previously noted. We’ve seen a +252% increase in Impact Score for “3D printed houses,” with more interest in the spring and summer when construction is more frequent.
2. Growing interest in soil microbes
With the pressures of climate change and how it may affect the food chain, many initiatives have focused on investigating soil composition. According to researchers, a key indicator of soil health is the activity of its microbes, which include fungi and bacteria that can boost crop yields. This activity can be measured using electrochemical techniques, and it may vary from farm to farm. Since 2019, the Impact Score for “soil health” has increased +185%, and the Impact Score for “soil microbes” has risen by +58%. As expected, there will be decreased mindshare during the winter which will likely bounce back when the farming season returns.
3. Solar farms 🤝 Agriculture
Solar panels are one of the most accessible clean energy sources, and their utility can be compounded by farms that install them above crops. There is a myriad of benefits, from saving on irrigation costs to more closely mimicking a plant’s natural partially shaded environment. Crops help to cool the panels and prevent them from overheating, meaning that they are also more effective. Considering that solar panels take significant amounts of land, it is important to make the best use of this space through optimization techniques.
Our data sources also offer insight into another application of this technology: it can help with biodiversity conservation in addition to more commercial farming uses. Because sustainability comprises many distinct and interweaving components, innovations such as this are critical in working towards clean energy while keeping secondary effects in mind.
4. Transitory inflation vs. longer inflation – a battle of the narratives
Inflation has been the subject of many heated debates, both in the political and economic spheres. The US has doubled its Central Bank’s balance sheet in under two years and the money supply has gone parabolic – even inspiring memes with the Fed Chairman printing money.
Inflation has resulted from continued government spending, and the members of the Federal Reserve have only provided mixed messaging. Though initially claiming the situation was transitory, they recently shifted completely by calling the inflation “long-term.” NWO.ai signals capture the battle of the narratives quite evidently – our data indicate that long-term inflation is now emerging as the clear winner.
This is bad news for the general public, as ultimately, inflation takes away from the quality of life of ordinary people by chipping away at savings.
5. Winter is coming: propane and coal shortages
This coming winter is going to be colder-than-normal and US propane stockpiles are at a historical low. Bloomberg is already calling it an “armageddon.” NWO.ai's narrative signal for “propane shortage” has already been rising and the forward-looking forecast predicts a parabolic move up in January 2022.
Similarly, the signal for "coal" reached several inflection points, largely driven by a reported power crisis in China. Multiple inflection points were generated for the "coal" signal in May 2021, months ahead of the Coal USD/T price exploding, showcasing once again how narrative drives price even for commodities.
Propane and coal aren’t the only commodities projected by NWO.ai as exponential, as can be seen from the dashboard view above.
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About NWO.ai
NWO.ai's predictive platform enables leading Fortune 500 companies and government agencies to anticipate and track global cultural shifts by aggregating, analyzing, and producing actionable reports on human-generated data. We are leveraging petabytes of external, noisy, and unstructured data from various sources – including search, social media, blogs, news, patent databases, SEC filings and we are continuously adding more sources. Our mission is to answer the what, when, and most importantly, 'why' behind a consumer trend and enable our customers to detect these shifts as early as possible.
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