In partnership with
The Kirchner Report is 100% independent automotive journalism. If you want to support our coverage, subscribe for free, become a paid member, or leave a tip.
Hello auto executive,
I’ll keep this brief because I know you’re busy. But while you’re out worrying about quarterly reports, spending your tariff refund, or suffering from nosebleeds, I thought I’d give you an important update on what’s going on.
This week, gas prices in many parts of the country skyrocketed. According to the gurus at GasBuddy, some places shot up a dollar just this week alone. My local station is $4.99 a gallon, and that’s the highest I’ve ever seen it here. Now I know you drive a company-provided car and likely have a company credit card to expense your gas, but I thought you’d like to know that’s actually a pretty high price to pay for a gallon of petrol.
The leader of Iran, whose father we made a martyr for no real reason, put out a statement this week that Americans belong at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. For a war that we’ve supposedly already won, that’s a pretty defiant take. Oh, and speaking of the war, the government has reached out to some of you to help them build weapons. How bad does the war have to be for the government and all the already well-established defense contractors making weapons to need help fighting? We have the most powerful military in the solar system, but thanks to poor planning and poor leadership, we’re stuck in an endless conflict with a regional power.
That’s not going to help gas prices.
We’re also paying companies to stop their green investments in the United States. Sure, you might personally think that’s the right call, but paying people to not do things sounds a lot like a type of economic system that many of you deride. And while we’re on the subject of green policies, a few of you managed to change the course of your automaker quite quickly after Trump was elected, ceding technological leadership to the Europeans, the Koreans, and especially the Chinese.
What’s pretty dystopian as an outside observer is that just this week, y’all are making announcements about spending more on big trucks and big engines, even as gasoline prices hit all-time highs and aren’t likely to come down soon. Or ever.
Why The 'AI Reset' of 2026 Could Blindside Most Investors
Most investors think the AI boom is already underway. But one 47-year Wall Street veteran says everything we've seen so far is just phase one. A new wave of AI infrastructure is coming online in 2026. When it does, it could completely reshape which companies lead the next cycle — and which ones get left behind. He's now recommending specific stocks to buy ahead of what he calls "the AI Reset," and the names to exit before it hits. The investors who understand what's coming could be positioned for the biggest gains of the decade. The ones who don't may not get a second chance. Get his full list of buys and sells here — no cost, no obligation.
That’s why I wanted to send you all a little note. I know that in the year of our Lord 2026, focusing on quarterly performance is what you care about. It leads to big paydays for you, and it makes sense to ride that wave as long as possible.
This ongoing fuel crisis, combined with just the higher cost of everything, will reach a head at some point. Fortunately, cars are more efficient today than they were in the 1970s (even though we drive more now than we did then), and there’s U.S. production helping prevent things from getting really bad.
💡Do you have information about your company’s plans to handle an economic slowdown? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me on Signal at chadkirchner.1701, or with another secure communication method.
I’m not going to tell you how to do your job. But you need to know what’s happening out on the streets because the last thing we need is for you to be so blindsided by everything that you end up in Washington, D.C., with your hat in hand asking for a bailout.