Must Read Archives - quirkyjournals.com

The Tesla Killer How BYD's Cheap Strategy Built a Trillion-Dollar EV Empire

From $300K Startup to EV King: BYD’s Vertical Integration Victory

Case Studies, Finance, Must Read / Quirky Journal

Wang Chuanfu started BYD with a $300K loan copying batteries cheaper than giants like Sony. Vertical integration—from lithium mines to chips—saves 15-30% per car, enabling $7,800 Seagulls while Tesla starts at $39K. Blade Battery 2.0 triples lifespan to 1.2M km with 8C charging. Hybrids added 1.8M sales in 2024. Global factories in Thailand, Hungary, Brazil dodge tariffs. BYD’s manufacturing moat beat Tesla’s software bet.

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How Power Laws Predict Bitcoin’s Price Floor

Finance, Investing, Must Read, Technology / Quirky Journal

Unlike sentiment-driven models, the Bitcoin Power Law—developed by astrophysicist Giovanni Santostasi—treats price as a power function of time since the 2009 genesis block, plotting as a straight line on log-log scales with 94% historical fit. It currently shows a central trend near $122K and support floor around $51K, suggesting bottoms never breach this line and growth follows natural scaling laws like cities or earthquakes. This guide explains the math (Price ≈ A × time^5.82), its unprecedented accuracy, and what it forecasts for future cycles.

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Salary Negotiation Scripts That Actually Work: Data-Backed Strategies for Remote Roles

Editors Picks, Finance, Must Read / Quirky Journal

Remote work has blown up traditional pay playbooks, and “just be grateful for the offer” is now an expensive mistake. This guide shows you exactly what to say when you get a low initial offer, when a company tries to cut your pay for moving, or when you have a better competing offer—and how to back every script with real market data instead of vague “I deserve more” arguments. You’ll learn how to anchor high with credible ranges, negotiate total compensation (salary, equity, stipends, PTO) for remote roles, and avoid common mistakes like negotiating too early or framing requests around personal need rather than business value.

Salary Negotiation Scripts That Actually Work: Data-Backed Strategies for Remote Roles Read More »

Electric Vehicles Unmasked Policy, Politics and Market Truths

Global EVs After the Boom: What’s Really Driving Demand Now

Editors Picks, Finance, Must Read, Technology / Quirky Journal

The global electric vehicle market has moved beyond simple hype into a fractured, policy‑dependent reality. EV sales have surged past 20% of new car purchases worldwide, yet regional slowdowns, subsidy fatigue, and intensifying competition from China, Europe, and North America now raise a harder question: can this transition stand on its own without government support?

Global EVs After the Boom: What’s Really Driving Demand Now Read More »

Sleep-Test Investing: Building a Portfolio You Can Hold Through Any Market

Finance, Investing, Must Read / Quirky Journal

If you’re checking stock prices at 2 a.m. and mentally rewriting your retirement plans every time the market dips, your portfolio isn’t just volatile—it’s misaligned with your real tolerance for risk. The Sleep Test is a simple but powerful checkpoint: if a 25–30% drop in a position would destroy your ability to sleep, you probably shouldn’t own that much of it. This article explores the psychology of panic selling, explains concepts like myopic loss aversion and why frequent checking magnifies fear, and gives you a practical framework for sizing positions, diversifying, and setting review habits so your portfolio is something you can actually live with, not just something that looks good on paper.

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Influencer Marketing Failures: When Follower Counts Don’t Equal Sales

Case Studies, Marketing, Must Read, Technology / Quirky Journal

Influencer marketing looks unstoppable on paper: a $24 billion industry, giant follower counts, huge reach, and impressive engagement numbers on every campaign report. Yet an estimated 73% of influencer campaigns fail to produce meaningful business results, and only a tiny share of consumers say they’re likely to buy what influencers promote. This article unpacks why—how brands get trapped by follower counts, misread engagement rates, ignore audience relevance and authenticity, and end up with beautiful metrics and zero ROI—and lays out a practical framework for selecting creators, structuring campaigns, and tracking outcomes based on leads, customers, and revenue, not likes.

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The Economics of Cryptocurrency: Why There Is No 'Intrinsic Value' — and Why Bitcoin's Floor Might Actually Be Zero

The Economics of Crypto: Why There Is No Intrinsic Value—and Why the Floor Might Be Zero

Finance, Must Read, Technology / Quirky Journal

Bitcoin has survived more than 15 years of “this is worthless” obituaries, multiple 80% drawdowns, regulatory attacks, and environmental criticism—yet it keeps coming back, often to new highs. The real question isn’t whether the price is volatile; it’s whether Bitcoin has any intrinsic value at all, and what that implies for a true floor price. This article defines “intrinsic value” in classical finance terms (cash flows and utility), contrasts that with network‑based and social‑consensus notions of value, and then walks through mining cost floors, network effects, and zero‑floor arguments from central banks, researchers, and market participants so you can make your own judgment about what, if anything, Bitcoin is fundamentally worth.

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Balance Transfer Credit Cards: How to Crush High-Interest Debt

Finance, Investing, Must Read / Quirky Journal

High-interest credit card debt quietly drains your income every month, making it feel like your balance never moves no matter how hard you pay. A well-structured balance transfer to a 0% APR card changes the math: instead of feeding interest at 18–28%, every payment goes straight to principal for 12–21 months. This guide walks through how balance transfer cards work, what APR really costs you, the mechanics of moving balances, and the exact steps to build a payoff plan that can save over $1,000 in interest on just $5,000 of debt—if you avoid common traps like transfer fees, new spending, and promo periods expiring.

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War Economy Chapter 9: Sanctions, Trade Wars, and Economic Weapons Explained

Finance, Must Read, Tutorials, War Economy / Quirky Journal

Economic warfare has become one of the most powerful tools in international relations, allowing states to pursue strategic goals through financial systems, trade flows, and supply chains instead of direct military conflict. This chapter explains how sanctions, trade wars, and access to global payment networks like SWIFT are used to cut off revenue, block critical technology, and isolate target economies, as well as the limits, blowback, and long-term consequences of weaponising interdependence.

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Advanced Credit Score Engineering: The 15/3 Payment Method and Limit Hacks

Editors Picks, Finance, Must Read / Quirky Journal

Advanced Credit Score Engineering: The 15/3 Payment Method and Limit Hacks Your credit score controls your financial life. It determines whether you get approved for loans. It affects the interest rates you pay. It can even influence job prospects and apartment rentals. Most people treat credit scores as mysterious numbers beyond their control. They make

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