🤫 Google's secret is out

What’s going on here?

A tantalizing tidbit might’ve strengthened the Department Of Justice’s (DOJ) anti-competitive-behavior case against Alphabet.

What does this mean?

Imagine picking up a smartphone to check emails, buy a winter coat, or find a pavlova recipe, and the browser opens on – gasp – Bing. That’s a jumpscare most horror films would envy. But it’s no wonder the world is used to the same six primary-colored letters instead. Google’s long been known to pay billions to secure the default position on different web browsers, but the dirty details were a closely guarded secret – until this week. A witness just let it slip that Google-parent Alphabet funnels 36% of the money it makes from search advertising straight into Apple's pockets, a successful bid for Safari dominance. That wasn’t the best statement the witness could’ve made while defending the tech giant against anti-competitive charges: the DOJ reckons the roughly $20 billion exchange is enough to price out competitors, strengthening the case against Big Tech.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Firms who deal together stay together.

The DOJ is firmly focused on Alphabet, but Apple has plenty to lose here too. That $20 billion check, assuming the numbers are right, makes up about 30% of Apple’s service business revenue. That’s not a division Apple can sweep under the rug: investors keep a keen eye on the profitable services business, believing it’ll dictate the firm’s future. So if a third of its takings are called into question, investors may take their own suspicions out on Apple’s stock price.

The bigger picture: You can’t handle the truth.

Big Tech knows its way around a courtroom. Many a government hearing has contested the companies’ right to wield so much power, but each case has bounced like water off a duck’s back. The DOJ believes it can nail them this time, but if history’s any guide, Alphabet will probably retain its reign. Bad luck, Bing.

What’s going on here?

Glencore announced plans to buy Teck Resources’ coal division, making it clear that the Swiss mining giant was focused on splitting up before the relationship even started.

What does this mean?

Glencore made a move on Teck Resources earlier this year, but walked away with nothing but a bruised ego. But then the mining giant sidled up with a revised offer to buy just the rival firm’s coal business, suggesting this was probably never about accepting Teck Resources for its whole self. Instead, it looks like Glencore has a plan to merge Teck’s coal division with its own, before spinning off the newly combined duo. Persistence paid off, and that plan is now well underway: Teck Resources agreed to sell over three-quarters of its coal business for just shy of $7 billion.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Hidden gems.

The US has been embracing its dirty side lately. Europe’s sanctions on Russian coal have left the region with a gap in supply, so the US seized the chance to plug it. And during all that digging, newcomer Ramaco Resources recently found over a million tons of rare-earth elements – the precious materials essential for technologies like electric batteries – buried in coal pits. The US only uses around 10,000 tons of rare-earth elements a year, but with China, the world’s main exporter, tightening its grip on supply, Ramaco could have plenty of willing buyers.

For markets: Loyalty is everything.

Coal has more than its fair share of detractors, but the black stuff was still responsible for making a third of the world’s electricity last year. And while the International Energy Agency says coal will start falling out of favor next year as renewable sources become more mainstream, major countries and industries are unlikely to dump the cheap source of power completely. That could be a problem: the agency believes we need to use 90% less coal to meet net-zero targets by 2050.