Elon Musk’s Next Partnership: Buy This Stock Now
Former tech executive Jeff Brown, the man who picked Nvidia in 2016, before it jumped as high as 37,800%, just got inside a Cybercab, Elon Musk's new car that has no steering wheel or pedals… and what happens will shock everyone. Click here to see the details or read more below.
Dear Reader,
In April 2026, Elon Musk announced he was partnering with Intel.
The result?
Shares took off…
And were trading 177% higher just two months later.
I believe Elon is about to announce a NEW partnership with this little-known company…
To work on what he called "the most epic AI project in history."
But you need to act fast…
Because Elon has already approached this company.
I believe he's going to make it official by October 30…
Which should send shares higher than anyone can imagine.
We have so much to look forward to,
Jeff Brown
Founder & CEO, Brownstone Research
Thursday, October 29, 2026
What 25% of the F-35 Depends On
Chemistry runs on years, not executive orders.
A US defense contractor recently traced its titanium supply chain. It went thirteen tiers deep. At the bottom sat Chinese mines, Chinese roads, and Chinese trucks. The Oregon Group, a natural resources research firm, documented the exercise. Its report drew on Stanford University supply chain research.
The United States produces zero titanium sponge. Titanium sponge is the raw metallic form melted into ingots before being forged into aerospace parts. The last domestic plant went idle in 2024. In 2025, the US imported roughly 44,000 tonnes. Japan supplied 73% of it. The USGS confirmed the country is 100% import-dependent.
That number is the starting point for everything that follows.
The Big Idea
The White House signed Executive Order 14415 on July 20, 2026. It directs that waivers for covered materials from covered countries cease by January 1, 2027. The Pentagon's main domestic titanium effort covers less than half a percent of imports. Policy is demanding what industrial chemistry cannot deliver on the timeline given.
Americans are financing groceries (market turbulence ahead)
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They're using plastic to buy groceries. Gas. Basic necessities.
Credit card balances surged $24 billion in just three months. That's 8.1% higher than last year. And it's accelerating.
Your savings account might pay 2%. But when real inflation is running at 6% or higher, you're losing money every single day.
You just can't see it happening.
The national debt just blew past $38 trillion.
The Fed printed more money in one year than in the previous century combined. And the bill is coming due right now.
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The simple strategy to move your retirement savings outside the danger zone before it gets worse
You didn't cause this mess. But you'll pay for it if you don't protect yourself.
The Middleman Has a Middleman
Japan is the reason the US has aerospace-grade titanium. Two producers, Osaka Titanium Technologies and Toho Titanium, supply the bulk of it. But Japan has zero domestic titanium ore.
Its sponge production depends on Chinese-origin materials at some tier of the chain. Aulister Metal reported the dependency in its 2026 industry analysis. IperionX confirmed it in a submission to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
This is a two-layer dependency. The US depends on Japan. Japan depends, in part, on China. China produces roughly 70% of the world's titanium sponge. That share was under 40% in 2018. Project Blue, a critical minerals research firm, tracked the shift. Its analyst Nils Backeberg reported the numbers.
In June 2026, China tightened export controls on high-grade sponge bound for Japan and South Korea. It did not target the US directly. It squeezed the middleman. The flow restriction reached the US one tier later, through Japan.
Observation: China's June 2026 export tightening constrained Japan's access to high-grade sponge without naming the US as a target.
Interpretation: The supply chain acts like a series of valves. China closed one valve upstream. The restriction passed through Japan and reached US defense suppliers one tier later.
The Scale Problem
Executive Order 14415 gives defense contractors until January 1, 2027. They must comply with covered-material restrictions or submit formal mitigation plans. The Pentagon's flagship domestic titanium investment is IperionX, a startup running a plant in Virginia.
IperionX's actual output in March 2026 was about 4.2 metric tonnes. That annualizes to roughly 50 tonnes per year. Set that against US imports of 44,000 tonnes. IperionX covers 0.11% of the total. Even its target of 200 tonnes per year would reach only 0.45%.
The scale gap is only half the problem. IperionX produces recycled titanium powder using a proprietary process. It does not produce Kroll-process sponge. The Kroll process is the standard method for making aerospace-grade titanium from raw ore. It runs at high temperatures with corrosive chemicals. Each batch takes four to ten days. Building a Kroll facility at meaningful scale takes years of construction and qualification. Backeberg put it plainly: US sponge production revival is "a strategic, long-term option, not a 2026 solution."
Observation: The Pentagon's primary domestic titanium program produces roughly 50 tonnes per year against a 44,000-tonne import need.
Interpretation: The gap between policy deadlines and production capacity is not a funding problem. It is a chemistry and time problem. Money cannot compress the Kroll qualification cycle.
What 25% Means
Titanium makes up 25% of the F-35 Lightning II's structural mass. Published airframe engineering data confirms the figure. The F-35 is the most produced Western fighter jet of its generation. This is not an abstract supply chain chart. It is the material holding the airframe together.
On July 14, 2026, the Defense Logistics Agency published four Requests for Information under its Warstopper Program. Warstopper is the DLA's initiative for maintaining wartime material reserves. The RFIs sought data on titanium, magnesium, samarium/gadolinium, and specialty steel supply chains. Responses are due August 31.
Observation: The DLA issued titanium supply-chain RFIs in July 2026 with an August 31 response deadline.
Interpretation: The Pentagon is still gathering basic supply chain data from industry. The compliance deadline it set for its own contractors arrives January 1.
Quick Hits
The US produces zero titanium sponge and imports 100% of its supply.
Japan supplies 73% of US titanium sponge imports but has no domestic ore.
China's share of global sponge output rose from under 40% in 2018 to roughly 70% today.
China tightened export controls on high-grade sponge to Japan in June 2026.
Executive Order 14415, signed July 20, 2026, sets a January 1, 2027 compliance deadline.
IperionX's annualized output of roughly 50 tonnes covers 0.11% of the US import total.
Titanium accounts for 25% of the F-35's structural mass.
What This Means for Defense and Aerospace Exposure
Three forces are pressing on the same supply chain at once. Chinese export controls are tightening the source. The executive order is tightening the rules. The physics of titanium production limit how fast the US can respond.
The signal to watch is the August 31 deadline for DLA Warstopper responses. Those submissions will show what contractors actually know about their lower-tier suppliers. If the data comes back thin, contractors face a deadline with no domestic supply to meet it. Waivers and mitigation plans become the remaining options.
IperionX's quarterly reports are worth tracking for output numbers, not dollar amounts. The question is tonnes per month. The company has mentioned a 1,400-tonne target for 2027. Even that would cover about 3% of US imports.
The structural bind is straightforward. The US military needs a material it does not produce. Its primary supplier depends on a country the executive order targets. The replacement capacity does not exist at scale. Building it takes years, not months.
The Map So Far
The US titanium supply chain runs through thirteen tiers and ends at Chinese mines. The executive order demands that dependency be removed by January. The chemistry has not changed.
Until next time,
The Navigator
