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P&L: Investing in a Trump Presidency · Bloomberg Intelligence

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bloomberg P and L Podcast. I'm pim Fox.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Along with my co host Lisa Abramowitz. Each day we
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: bring you the most important, noteworthy, and useful interviews for
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: you and your money, whether at the grocery store or
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the trading floor. Find the Bloomberg P L Podcast on iTunes,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: SoundCloud and at Bloomberg dot com. Well in mid October,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: David Coudla, the chief executive, the chief investment strategist for
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Mainstay Capital Management, came on the program and said, pay
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: attention to regional banks. Let's find out. Was it a
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: profitable call? David Coudla, thanks very much for being with us.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: All right, so go ahead tell us how that regional
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: bank call turned out. Well, depending on the index we use.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: But if we look at kri E that index for
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: or that eat F for regional banks, we're actually up
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: about uh since that recommendation on your show a couple
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: of months ago. All right. So if you're up that much,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: are you taking any profits? No? Uh? And actually we've
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: added to positions since then. You know, back in in
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: September October time frame, we liked regional banks on the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: thesis that the FED was going to be raising rates, uh,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: steepening the yield curve, improving nim that interest margin for
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the banks. That benefits the regional banks even more than
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: money center banks, although all benefit. Since then with the election,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: we now have the prospect of lower regulatory headwinds for
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the banks. So that's actually been another catalyst to move
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: banks even higher. So you know, we we we like
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the financials. We could get a pull back through here
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: obviously at any time, but like the financial specifically the
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: banks going into so good to go for banks in
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: How about we look at domestically oriented small cap stocks. Well,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you know, when we when we look at what's happened
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: since the election and what that means for the stock market,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and the election really was we believe a game changer
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in terms of uh overall outlook and investment strategy. Uh.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: You know, we're concerned about what tariffs, trade wars, immigration
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: policies those related. Uh you know, the rhetoric from President
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: elect Trump, what may become policy, how that impacts multinational conglomerates. Uh.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: So that gives us an inward focused what we call
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the America First trade small companies that that tend to
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: be more domestically oriented Uh, that will that look better
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: on a relative basis now to large caps. And certainly
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  Speaker 1: saw that big pop in small caps after the election.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: A little bit more muted returns over the past month,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: up and down days like today, But we still think
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: we like small caps over We think small caps will
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: do well and like small caps over large caps. Going
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: in large caps, Uh, not so much. I Shares Russell
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: two thousand. ETF is that the best way to take
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: advantage of the strategy. Yeah, that's a that's a great
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: way to take advantage of the strategy for you know,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: those investors that are et F buyers. I w M
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: is a good way to invest in small caps. For
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: mutual fund investors, UM, we like a mutual fund that
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: plays on two of our themes, which is financials and
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: small cap. Victory Integrity Discovery m M E a X.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: It's a small cap fund with thirty of it allocated
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to financials, so plays on both our themes. Fund we
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: get into right of the election. That's done well and
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: we think we'll continue to going into same question to
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: year to date, that Victory Integrity Discovery Fund is up
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: more than thirty per cent. No one ever went broke
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: taking a profit. No one ever went broke taken a profit,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: and you could take profits here if you've only ended
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: for a couple of months or all year, and obviously
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: feel good about that. But you know, as we look
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: towards as tactical affid allocators, where do we think we
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: have opportunity? Where do we think we have risks? You know,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: we've seen, uh, small caps trade more up and down
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: through here and again, you know, a lot of a
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  Speaker 1: lot of the Trump themes depend on how much of
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: his campaign rhetoric or his campaign statements become policy. But
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: right now we think that you know that that hope
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: that investors have have played on, we think it's at
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: least six months before any of that can be disproved.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: So you know, we we think that you know, if
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: we talk about financials, talk about the banks that have
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: been um had a lot of pressure because the regulatory
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: head wins last eight years. Uh, we we just believe
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: they have a long runway head. So even though we
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: may get some sell all, we think financials have a
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: long runway in small caps still have a favorable environment
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: here in a Trump presidency. Tell me about energy and
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: what you expect to happen with energy prices, oil trading
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: around fifty three dollars a barrel, and maybe just also
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: tell us about domestic versus the multinational integrated oil companies.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: So when we look at at energy that that's had
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  Speaker 1: a good run here in the fourth quarter and people
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: are looking for, um, you know, a better energy sector
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: going into twenty seventies. Certainly in the first quarter we
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: have great year year comparables because oil is now trading
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  Speaker 1: in the fifties where we hit our low of twenty
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: six dollars and change back on February eleven. So we
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: have good year year comps for a couple of quarters here.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But we also believe that there's there may be too
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: much hope in the energy sector on this OPEC deal
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: of opaque countries and autopack countries for two reasons. Um,
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  Speaker 1: every time there's been an OPEC deal, there have been
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: countries that have cheated. We don't think this will be
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: indifferent any different. There's even more countries involved here. Also, uh,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: you know, we believe that US frackers control energy prices
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  Speaker 1: at the margin now rather than OPEC. You think that's
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  Speaker 1: a swing producer, that's right, And when oil gets into
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the fifties and we may on this deal get oil
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: up into the sixties. That makes a lot more of
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: those uh, the shale oil producers hyde dolic fracturing just
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: more profitable. They'll turn on this picket. So we've seen
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the well count in the US going up since May steadily.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: So you know, we are now a large producer of oil.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: And really we believe the US controls prices at the
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: margin is much or more than OPEC at this point.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Tell me about index ers and the passive versus active
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: debate when it comes to selecting stocks. Well, you know,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: we've seen actually passive investing do very well over the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: several years. We're coming up in three months on the
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: or about two and a half months on the eighth
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: year anniversary of a stock market that's gone up every year,
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  Speaker 1: and the bonds and bonds have been in a secular
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: bowl market for thirty five years, which we think ended
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: in July with the lows and yields in July. So
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: through that period, passive investing in a stock index or
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: bond deck index has worked very well for the past five, six,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: seven years. UM. But we think as as we get
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: into you know, look at what's happened with small caps.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Some of the different sectors here, uh specifically bonds. The
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: route we had in bonds in November and into December,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: we've seen a pause, but look, monetary policy and fiscal
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: policy are pointing towards higher interest rates going forward. So
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: bond indexes will have a problem that are very straight
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: sensitive bonds in those sectors in that index and the
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: stock you know, trees don't grow to the sky, so
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: this stock market will have trouble. And when we get
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: into those more turbulent times or maybe a protracted downturn,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: that's where an active manager can can cannad real value.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much for adding value to us. David
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Kudla is the chief executive, chief investment strategist Mainstay Capital Management.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg public health exchange enrollment in the United States.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: It's on track to meet the federal government's target through
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: week seven, yes open enrollment period. Open enrollment is now
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: up six percent versus the same period a year ago.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: But what does that mean for the stocks the companies
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: associated with healthcare services. Well, we want to find out,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: so we have Jason mcgorman. He is our Bloomberg intelligence
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: expert and analyst on medical devices and healthcare services. Jason,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: thanks very much for being with us. Thank you for
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: having me so, Um, Jason, we want to see what
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: the future brings for public public health care companies, what
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the what of the how do they form into the
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: different groups based on what you're reading is of potential
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: changes to the Affordable Care Act. Sure, So there there
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: are two major groups here, and the one is hospitals
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: have gotten the biggest boost to their earnings from the
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Affordable Care Act because, uh, about twenty million people have
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: gained insurance coverage, either through Medicare or through the what
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: are called the exchanges, uh, through the web. Um, So
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: if there's some sort of repeal, then hospitals stand to
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: lose some of their earnings because people will no longer
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: have insurance. So that's one group to being the health insurance.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Let's just give it an example, right, Um, Tenant health
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: as well as community and life point right, those are
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: that's in that group? Yes, okay, yeah, So the biggest
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: exposure there is really tenant in community, as you mentioned,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: about twelve percent of their earnings from the Affordable Care Act.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: All right, got it? So that's group one, go ahead, Yes,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: a group to the health insurers. As you've probably heard,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: United Health et Non Humanita has been losing a fair
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: amount of money, up to eight hundred fifty million dollars
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: this year. And that's because even though the exchanges are
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: are running on track with the government's target, a lot
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: of the young, healthy individuals have not been signing up.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Um so, in the near term, they've actually been very
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: costly for insurers. Um So, in the near term it
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: could actually be a positive for a lot of the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: insurers if there's some sort of repeal, but in the
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: longer term, you know, it could take away an earnings
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: opportunity for them. And the companies there include Anthem, Signa
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: centeen and Molina Healthcare. Yes, so those are the companies
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: that are staying in the exchanges for or even expanding.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: So depending on how enrollment shakes out this year, and
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: let's say fewer people sign up because they're worried about repeals,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: and you know, there's some concern that maybe they'll continue
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: to lose money in well, I noted that in your
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: report you said that about sign ups where new consumers
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: versus two last year. This is for the public exchanges,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and that means that the risk pool may actually deteriorate.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Can you explain why. Yeah, so insured there's priced their
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: premiums based on members that they've seen before, and they
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: know how often they're going to the hospital and what
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: kind of treatment they're getting. So if they get a
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: brand new pool of patients they've never seen, it's very
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: difficult for them to know how much they should be charging.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: So the more new consumers coming in, especially the number
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: that change, the harder it is for them to price
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: it appropriate really and hire us that they, you know,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: could be losing money again next year. Are there particular
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: health insurance companies that are dealing with the Affordable Care
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Act better than others? I keep thinking, for example of
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: your note on Sentine and there are conservative outlook on exchanges.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: That's right. So Sentina Molina Healthcare the two insurers really
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: that have earned a profit on the exchanges, and I
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: think that's because they focus on the lower income population
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: that largely gets tax credits. In that population, they don't
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: have h the income level to really be going to
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the hospital that often other than for called emergency situations.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: So I think that they're probably doing a little bit better.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Is there because of the patients that they're focusing on
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: whereas Anthem and United they focus really on everybody. So
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: that's probably why they're kind of hitting the sweet spot there.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: And just and just a note right, United Health has
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: already announced that it will not be participating in the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: exchanges in Yeah, so they will be there, but they're
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: scaling back so much that it's going to be call it,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: you know, one percent of their revenue and even less
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: of earning. So you know, for them and for Etna
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and Himana, all three of those companies have announced significant
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: scaling back um, So you're right, for those companies, it's
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: it's an actress. For investors, it's really Anthem signa UM
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: and to lesser degree cent teen where the focus is.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I just want to take you back to hospitals for
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: just a second and get your thoughts on h c
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: A and what they are strategy is based on what
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: the current environment is for the Affordable Care Act and
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: what is likely to affect their strategy. Sure, so they
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: have the most exposure to the states where public exchange
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: enrollment has grown significantly, and so for them, uh, that's
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: about five or six percent of their their earnings. And
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: so if the exchanges are scaled back by Republicans, which
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: they can do. There's actually a bill going to the
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Senate floor um in the first part of January that's
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: going to be voted on to which could take away
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: tax credits for the exchanges. So that's something that could
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: impact them significantly. But from there, you know, it's a
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: matter of do they start to adjust their business model
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: for the shift from you know, these longer term inpatient
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: admissions to out patient which some of their peers like
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Tenant Health have done, which may be wiser in the
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: long term. Well, you know, I'm just taking a look
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: at h c A holdings. The shares are higher by
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: eight and a half percent this year. They're based in Nashville.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Merges and acquisitions, Jason, the Department of Justice, they've got
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: their hands full. What is the outcome, do you believe
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: of the two major mergers or merger attempts? Sure, so,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the health insurance industry has tried to really scale up
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: between and Humana as well as Anthem and Insignia, and
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: so the risk to hospitals there is that you know,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: much larger insurers can push back on on reimbursement. So
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: you're right, I think it's it's going to be tough
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: for those insurers to get those deals through. We're expecting
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: resolution here within about a month or so. UM unlikely
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: that that both deals go through UM even low probability
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: that either go through. But if one does go through,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: then hospitals really have to decide if they can scale
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: up as well. I want to thank you very much
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: for spending time with me, Um Jason mcgorman. He is
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: our health care services analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Great stuff
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: on the world of healthcare. Two decades ago, nuclear energy
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: provided the power for nearly one fifth of the world's electricity.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Now it generates only about half that share. Of course,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: we've lived through the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Japanese once
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: accounted for about eleven nuclear power plants, they've taken those offline.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: What's the future of nuclear power in the context of
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: our huge write down on the part of Toshiba's Westinghouse unit.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Here to tell us all about nuclear power is Kit
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: knell It. She is our senior Industrials and Utilities analyst
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: for Bloomberg Intelligence. Kit always a pleasure. You start off
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: by telling us the sort of state of affairs when
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: it comes to nuclear power in the United States and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: around the world, and that half of that fits in
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to the Westinghouse unit of Toshiba. Very good PIM, as
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: you say, Uh, the share of nuclear power has declined worldwide.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: That's mainly because in countries like China, there's a lot
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: of coal being built. Now in the US nuclear state
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: about the same at about of of power output compared
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: to about thirty some percent for gas and thirty some
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: percent for coal and renewables gaining share. So the issue
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: now going forward is gonna be which of those technologies
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: fuels is most cost effective and which is most desirable
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: primarily for environmental reasons. Toshiba and Westinghouse, what happened there?
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: It looks like when Toshiba bought UH Chicago Bridge and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Iron CB and I UH their Westinghouse unit specifically bought
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: them a year ago. Westinghouse, n c B and I
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: are both working on the nuclear projects for Southern Company
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: and scan Out, which are the only two nuclear construction
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: projects going on in the US. And it looks like
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Tashiba has just finally gotten through a lot of the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: numbers about what their builder exposure is here and under
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: their contracts. It looks like they've concluded that it's going
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: to cost them a lot more to to build this
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: thing than they're allowed to recover from Southern and Scanna. Well,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: it seems as though this is a very uh constant
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: refrain in the nuclear power industry or in the building
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: of any big infrastructure project. I was looking at some
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: details about a nuclear power plant. I believe it's being
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: built by the French company Arriva, and it's being built
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: in Finland. And this thing is nine years over uh budget,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: nine years over budget, and the original budget I believe
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: was four billion dollars and even that is now doubled.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can't even figure out when it's going
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: to open. Well, the two in the US now are
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: are currently projected at sixteen billion and fourteen billion, which
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: is really an order of magnitude higher per kill a
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: lot of of construction compared to a gas plant. So
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that gives you an idea right away why nuclear has
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: has a cost issue, certainly in the US, because you
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: can't make that up on the production side, given how
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: cheap gases. So that's the issue for nuclear going forward,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and why currently I would say no US utility is
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: real likely to start a nuclear construction project. If you
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: have the other fuels available for any kind of reasonable price,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: it makes it hard to to want to do it. Now.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: If you're in China or India and your labor costs
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: are lower, and maybe your fuel costs are higher, uh,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: and maybe you want to cut down on the pollution
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: from all all of of the call plants, then you
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: might say, and you have a government that's more capable
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: of enforcing uh, you know, the pass through of these
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: costs than in the US. All of those factors may
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: make a very different in say Asia, to build a
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: nuclear plant than in the US going forward, and the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: state in the UH. In the US is that we
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: have a new technology to extract natural gas from the
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: ground fracturing, which has led to the really boom in
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: generating electricity from natural gas. Yeah, gas, as a lot
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: of people are aware now, is extremely low cost. I
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: think they're The CEO of of Dyna Gy, a big
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: power producer, was on Bloomberg TV this morning and he
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: was talking about how uh you know, I think for
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: less than a dollar he was buying gas recently. So, uh,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: you know, by the time you work through those numbers,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: the production costs from a gas plant are just prohibitive
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: compared really any of the other technologies, so that that's
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: really the issue there. I want you to be an
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: environmentalist for just a moment and explain how the environmental
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: movement and the effort to reduce greenhouse gases and the
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: build up of other gases in the atmosphere may align
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: with nuclear power. Nuclear has no emissions. And so when
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: when you say, okay, over the next ten twenty forty years,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: should we shut down nuclear plants because some people don't,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: you know, might fear them, or should we keep these
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: zero emissions plants in place and maybe add other zero
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: emission technologies like wind and solar and gradually at least
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: phase out the coal plants and even gas plants produce
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: c O two. I mean, they don't produce a whole
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: lot of particulates that cause real severe health problems near term. Uh,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: you know, I think you have to include that. Haven't
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: nuclear is if you have it built already, the marginal
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: production costs is competitive, And that's really you know, it's
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: scary to think about building a new plant financially, but
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: when it's already in place and you're generating the power,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: it's it can be very very competitive power and it
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: has no emissions. Thanks very much, Kit Connolledge, our senior
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: utilities analysts for Bloomberg Intelligence. Thanks for listening to the
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Bloomberg pen L podcast. You can subscribe and listen to
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: interviews at iTunes, SoundCloud, or whatever podcast platform you prefer.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I'm pim Fox. I'm out there on Twitter at pim Fox.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: I'm out there on Twitter at Lisa Abramo. It's one
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: before the podcast. You can always catch us worldwide on
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio on