Author: openjargon

• Michael Burry of "The Big Short" is moving on from managing money to writing a Substack.
• The famed investor told Business Insider that "writing and analysis go hand-in-hand."
• Other investors said writing sharpens their thinking and lets them share lessons and insights.

Warren Buffett writes letters. Ray Dalio drafts essays. Howard Marks pens memos. As of Sunday, Michael Burry writes a Substack

The money manager of "The Big Short" fame is shuttering his hedge fund to focus on publishing a Substack titled "Cassandra Unchained," squarely aimed for now at calling out AI mania and key players such as Nvidia and OpenAI.

It's a return to Burry's roots. Long before he predicted and profited from the collapse of the mid-2000s US housing bubble, he ran a value-investing blog in his off hours as a medical student.

Burry is one of many investors to embrace writing as a core part of their process.

"I do not speak well, but writing and analysis go hand-in-hand," Burry told Business Insider via email. "I have always read a lot, which has fed my love of writing."

"Almost everything I do is at least in part influenced by Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger," Burry added. "I could never thank them both enough."

Buffett — who shut down his Buffett Partnership in 1969 because he was struggling to find bargains in a heady market — will step down as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO before the new year, but he plans to continue penning a Thanksgiving letter to his shareholders.

He underlined how writing supports his investing during a university lecture in 1991.

"Some of the things I think I think, I find don't make any sense when I start trying to write them down and explain them to people," Buffett said.

He added that everyone should be able to explain why they're taking a job or making an investment, and "if it can't stand applying pencil to paper, you'd better think it through some more."

Lawrence Cunningham, a business guru who's written a book about shareholder letters, told Business Insider that writing "forces discipline of thought" for investors.

Having to explain what they did, and why, fosters clearer and deeper understanding of the topic and themselves, and provides "invaluable" transparency to their readers, Cunningham said.

Writing also allows investors to share their ideas in "full paragraphs rather than soundbites," and "present their reasoning, their doubts, and their frameworks exactly as they see them," he added.

That freedom appeals to Burry, who said on his Substack that he has pivoted from managing money to writing in part because he was tired of regulatory restrictions on what he could say and misinterpretation of his disclosures — hence his "unchained" status.

Adam Mead, a fund manager, author, and blogger, told Business Insider that for him, "writing is thinking," so it's a "natural part" of investing.

Mead said it can be difficult to write something that doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but puzzling over what's gone wrong is a "feature, not a bug" of the process.

John Longo, a portfolio manager, finance professor, and author, told Business Insider that investors who publish their ideas invite criticism and put their reputations on the line.

Longo said this "forces the writer to rigorously consider the bull and bear cases" of their investments, encouraging a "thorough research process."

He said that in Burry's case, "properly researching" the dot-com bubble enabled him to make a "more credible" comparison between Nvidia and Cisco as key hardware suppliers to the AI boom and the internet mania, respectively.

Critics would have shredded a comparison to AOL, Longo said, whereas Cisco remains a major telecom company but is worth less than it was 25 years ago, a scenario that Nvidia could feasibly face if it's as overvalued as Burry has argued.

Longo added that when someone like Buffett, Marks, or Dalio puts pen to paper, there's an "element of public service" — they're writing not to make money but to share what they've learned and educate others.

Bill Gross, a billionaire investor known as the "Bond King," told Business Insider that his signature outlooks serve as outlets for his investment views and personal essays.

"I am equally proud of both over a long 40-year-plus history of monthly tomes," he said.

The Pimco cofounder added that he "always thought" if investing didn't work out, "I might try my luck at writing."

• President Donald Trump has narrowed down his list of potential next Federal Reserve chairs.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump could make his pick before Christmas.
• Prediction markets have a new favorite, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller.

President Donald Trump is checking his list of potential Federal Reserve chairs twice.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been leading the search, said that Trump could name his nominee to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell by Christmas.

"I think there's a very good chance that the president will make an announcement before Christmas," Bessent told CNBC in late November. "But it's his prerogative, whether it's before the Christmas holidays or in the new year. But I think things are moving along very well."

No matter who Trump selects, Bessent said he wants a less prominent central bank.

"I think it's time for the Fed just to move back into the background, like, it used to do, calm things down and work for the American people," Bessent said.

Powell's term expires next May, but hasn't stopped the White House from aggressively searching for his replacement.

Here are the five finalists.

• Trump's tariffs have led some companies to reveal that they plan to raise prices.
• Even before his so-called "Liberation Day," companies warned they would pass costs on to shoppers.
• Business Insider is tracking companies that have said they'll raise prices due to tariffs — and those that already have.

Prices are expected to go up this year as many companies signal plans to raise them in response to President Donald Trump's slew of tariffs.

While firms raise prices for many reasons, some were blaming price hikes on tariffs long before Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" on April 2. That's when he announced a 10% baseline tariff on imports from most countries, except Canada and Mexico, and a host of "reciprocal" tariffs on top of that.

The situation is fluid, as various countries continue to negotiate potential trade deals with the US. The Supreme Court heard arguments in November over whether Trump's tariffs can stand. Following the hearing, stocks got a boost as reports emerged that justices seemed skeptical of his power to impose the tariffs.

Some economists have said that Trump's tariffs — and the uncertainty with his overall trade policy — could lead companies to raise prices on the goods they produce.

Here are the companies that have implemented or warned of price increases in recent months.

Adidas

Adidas said it will raise prices in the US because of a double-digit million euro hit from tariffs in the second quarter and a further predicted 200 million euro, about $218 million, cost from levies in the second half of the year.

Vietnam, which accounted for 27% of the German retailer's total volume in 2024, will face a 20% tariff from August 1. Indonesia made 19% of Adidas' products and will face a 19% tariff.

CEO Bjørn Gulden said in a statement accompanying Adidas's latest results that the company doesn't know "what the indirect impact on consumer demand will be should all these tariffs cause major inflation."

Abercrombie & Fitch

During its November earnings call, Abercrombie & Fitch executives told analysts that the company is planning "targeted price increases" for its spring inventory.

The apparel company, which also owns Hollister, said it expects a $60 million tariff impact for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

"We would expect that a lot of our mitigation tactics, which we've been working at for the last nine months here, those will start to take hold heading into 2026," chief financial officer Robert Ball said on the call.

AutoZone

Philip Daniele, the CEO of the auto-parts company AutoZone, told analysts on a September earnings call that tariff policies had "ebbed and flowed over the years," and if Trump implemented more tariffs, "we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer."

"We generally raise prices ahead of that," Daniele said, adding that prices would gradually settle over time. "So, that's historically what we've done," he said.

A 25% tariff on car imports is expected to increase manufacturing costs by anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000.

Best Buy

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said during the company's March earnings call that Trump's tariff plans are likely to increase prices.

"Trade is critically important to our business and industry. The consumer electronic supply chain is highly global, technical, and complex," Barry said. "We expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely."

Camera makers Nikon, Canon, and Leica

Several big suppliers of photography equipment have announced their own price hikes.

"Due to the recent tariffs, a necessary price adjustment for products will take effect on June 23, 2025. We will be carefully monitoring any tariff developments and may adjust pricing as necessary to reflect the evolving market conditions," Nikon said in an announcement in May.

In its first-quarter earnings call, Canon said it will raise prices but is still "in the process of estimating the timing and amount of the increase."

At Leica, price increases across some product lines took effect May 1.

"This is not a Leica-initiated price increase, but a result of the newly enacted tariffs that began on April 5 on imported products, which are significantly impacting the cost of imported goods, including photographic equipment and optics," Leica USA Trade Marketing and Product Communications Manager Nathan Kellum-Pathe said in a statement to Digital Camera World in April.

Conagra

Conagra Brands CEO Sean Connolly told Reuters on April 3 that the food company may have to hike prices to offset the cost of tariffs on ingredients like cocoa, olive oil, palm oil, and a type of steel used for its canned products.

Connolly said that Conagra, which makes products such as Hunt's ketchup, imports tin plate steel for its canned food and tomatoes from Mexico.

It was too early to tell how big price hikes on the company's food products would be, he said.

Columbia Sportswear

Tim Boyle, the CEO of Columbia Sportswear, told analysts on an October earnings call that the company was "very concerned about the imposition of tariffs. " He said that while he considered Columbia adept at managing tariffs, "trade wars are not good and not easy to win."

Boyle also told The Washington Post in October that the company was "set to raise prices."

"It's going to be very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans," he said. He later said in a February interview with CNBC that "we need some surety about what is going to happen" before making price changes.

Ferrari

Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari said in March it'd raise prices by up to 10% on certain models imported to the US starting April 2.

The change was made "based on the preliminary information currently available regarding the introduction of import tariffs on EU cars into the USA," the company said.

Ford

Ford raised prices in May on some models produced in Mexico, Reuters reported based on a notice sent to dealers.

Bloomberg also reported that the automaker planned to raise prices on new gas and electric cars starting in May unless Trump gives the industry some relief from tariffs.

During a September earnings call, CEO Jim Farley said that the tariffs would leave it with a $2 billion bill.

Ford, in a memo to dealers viewed by Bloomberg in April, said that the company anticipates "the need to make vehicle pricing adjustments in the future, which is expected to happen with May production."

On April 14, Trump told reporters that he was contemplating a temporary tariff exemption for autos to give manufacturers more time to move production to the US — but no blanket exemption has yet been instituted.

Hermès

Eric du Halgouët, executive vice president of finance at the company, told analysts on a call in April that Hermès, the luxury retailer known for its iconic Birkin handbags, hadn't yet been affected by the tariffs, but said the company would raise prices in the US in May.

"The price increase that we're going to implement will be just for the US. Since it's aimed at offsetting the increase in tariffs, that only applies to the American market," du Halgouët said on the call.

Home Depot

Home Depot said during its August earnings call that tariffs will start affecting some price tags in the coming months.

"There'll be some modest price movement in some categories, but it won't be broad-based," said William Bastek, the home improvement chain's executive vice president of merchandising.

A majority of Home Depot's products are sourced within the US, which means they aren't subject to tariffs, Bastek said.

However, regarding some of the company's imported items, he said, "tariff rates are significantly higher today than they were when we spoke in May," referring to the company's previous earnings call.

The company still aims to keep the cost of an overall shopping trip down.

"Our customers tend to shop for the entire project — you think about a small flooring project, tile, the grout, bathtub, and vanity in a bath project," he said. "And so we're laser-focused on protecting the cost of the entire project."

Macy's

In its first-quarter earnings report in May, Macy's announced it was reducing its earnings outlook for the year because of several factors, including higher tariffs and consumers' moderating their discretionary spending.

In a post-earnings call, Macy's CEO, Tony Spring, added that the department store chain would be raising prices on some items to account for higher tariffs.

Spring said that higher "pricing is working its way into the system slowly," adding, "That's why we have taken a more cautious approach to our outlook for the year."

The company's COO and CFO, Adrian Mitchell, followed up to Spring's comment. "We are not just broadly increasing price," he said. "We're being incredibly surgical about the situation with tariffs."

He added, "We're making selective price increase in selective brands, selective categories. So some of the impact on our gross margin this year is going to be around the tariffs."

The news comes in the midst of Macy's plan to close around 150 underperforming stores around the country by 2027 as it leans into expanding its luxury brands, including the high-end department store Bloomingdale's and beauty chain Bluemercury.

Nike

Nike planned to raise prices in order to offset an expected $1 billion additional tariff costs in the 2026 fiscal year, the company told investors in a June earnings call.

"These tariffs represent a new and meaningful cost headwind," said CFO Matthew Friend during the analyst call about Nike's 2025 fiscal year.

The company said it would implement a "surgical price increase" starting this fall in the US, with "phased implementation."

Nintendo

While Nintendo's Switch 2 console hasn't seen a price hike due to tariffs, the company has raised the price of some earlier Switch models and accessories based on "market conditions."

Other "price adjustments may be necessary in the future," the company said in August.

Procter & Gamble

P&G, the consumer goods company behind brands like Tide and Charmin, is looking at raising prices on new and existing products.

CEO Jon Moeller told CNBC in April that price hikes were "likely."

"We will have to pull every lever we have in our arsenal to mitigate the impact of tariffs within our cost structure and P&L," P&G's CFO, Andre Schulten, said on a call with reporters.

The company is evaluating "exactly what is the right plan by brand, by market, what combination of pricing, over what period of time," Schulten said.

Shein and Temu

The two Chinese retailers released almost identical notices on April 16, both reading: "Due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs, our operating expenses have gone up."

"To keep offering the products you love without compromising on quality, we will be making price adjustments starting April 25, 2025," Shein's statement said.

Shein, a fast-fashion retailer, and Temu, a marketplace for everything from home goods to electronics, promised their US customers eight final days of low-price shopping.

In addition to hiking tariffs on imports from China, Trump also cracked down on the de minimis trade loophole that allowed small parcels under $800 to enter the US tax-free. Shein and Temu were large beneficiaries of this loophole.

Stanley Black & Decker

Donald Allan, the CEO of the manufacturing company Stanley Black & Decker, said during a February earnings call: "Our approach to any tariff scenario will be to offset the impacts with a mix of supply chain and pricing actions, which might lag the formalization of tariffs by two to three months."

Allan had previously told analysts in an October 2024 earnings call that the company had been evaluating "a variety of different scenarios" to plan for new tariffs under Trump.

"And obviously, coming out of the gate, there would be price increases associated with tariffs that we put into the market," Allan said, adding that "there's usually some type of delay given the processes that our customers have around implementing price."

Swatch

Swiss watchmaker Swatch said in September that it planned to raise its prices in the US up to 15% to offset Trump's 39% tariffs on goods from Switzerland.

Swatch CEO Nick Hayek announced the price hike in an interview with Swiss news outlet NZZ am Sonntag.

"Depending on the brand, we will increase prices in the range of 5 to 15%. But since we also have a strong presence in Canada and Mexico, there will be opportunities there too for American consumers," Hayek told NZZ am Sonntag.

On September 10, Swatch released a watch mocking the 39% tariffs called "WHAT IF…TARIFFS?" which had its three and nine numbers reversed.

The Swiss government said in November that it had reached a deal to lower US tariffs on Swiss goods to 15%, though the countries have not said when the new rate would go into effect.

Target

Target CEO Brian Cornell told CNBC in a March interview that Trump's 25% tariff plan on goods from Mexico and Canada would likely result in price increases on produce.

"Those are categories where we'll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days," Cornell said.

Some prices at the store have already gone up.

Volkswagen

According to a memo first reported by Automotive News, Volkswagen said it would place an import fee on vehicles made outside the US in response to Trump's 25% tariff on car imports.

Kjell Gruner, Volkswagen's North America chief executive, recently said the carmaker would keep prices steady through the end of May but that they could increase in June.

Walmart

On May 15, Walmart executives said price increases were likely to spike even higher, blaming Trump's ongoing trade war.

"Even at the reduced levels, the higher tariffs will result in higher prices," CEO Doug McMillon said during the company's first quarter earnings call.

US sales were boosted by shoppers looking to beat tariff-related price hikes — but despite strong first-quarter results, Walmart's chief financial officer, John David Rainey, said the extra costs are too great for the company to take on without passing part of the burden on to consumers.

"We're wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb," he said.

Meanwhile, Walmart workers have shared photos of price hikes being applied to store products.

How have prices affected you? Reach out to abitter@businessinsider.com.

• President Donald Trump has narrowed down his list of potential next Federal Reserve chairs.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump could make his pick before Christmas.
• Prediction markets have a new favorite, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller.

President Donald Trump is checking his list of potential Federal Reserve chairs twice.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been leading the search, said that Trump could name his nominee to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell by Christmas.

"I think there's a very good chance that the president will make an announcement before Christmas," Bessent told CNBC in late November. "But it's his prerogative, whether it's before the Christmas holidays or in the new year. But I think things are moving along very well."

No matter who Trump selects, Bessent said he wants a less prominent central bank.

"I think it's time for the Fed just to move back into the background, like, it used to do, calm things down and work for the American people," Bessent said.

Powell's term expires next May, but hasn't stopped the White House from aggressively searching for his replacement.

Here are the five finalists.

• Tesla said that the Dutch regulator RDW had "committed to granting" FSD approval "in February 2026."
• In a response, RDW said that the agency had set goals with Tesla for February — but that it's not yet clear if Tesla will meet them.
• RDW's rebuffing of Tesla's enthusiasm is just another hurdle in Tesla's winding road to EU approval for its FSD self-driving tech.

Tesla may have gotten the balloons and streamers out a bit too early.

Launching its supervised full self-driving software, or FSD, across international borders has proved challenging for Tesla. While North American drivers have had access to FSD since 2022, the company has only released some features in China, its second-largest market.

Tesla owners in the EU appeared to be set to get some good news on that front, according to Tesla — but a Dutch regulator then chimed in to say not so fast.

On Saturday, Tesla posted on X that it had been pushing to roll out FSD in Europe for over a year. The "main path to success," it said, was partnering with the Dutch approval authority RDW.

"Currently, RDW has committed to granting Netherlands National approval in February 2026," Tesla wrote in its X post.

Two days later, RDW shot back its own "response to Tesla's appeal." In the blog post originally written in Dutch, the regulatory agency had drawn up a schedule for Tesla to meet requirements by February 2026, but that the approval wasn't a done deal. Bloomberg was the first to report RDW's response.

"RDW and Tesla know what efforts need to be made to make a decision on this in February," the Dutch regulatory agency wrote, according to a Google translation. "Whether the schedule will be met remains to be seen in the coming period."

As the chokepoint for European FSD expansion, Tesla employees have been impatient with RDW's extensive testing and slowness. "Keep in mind that this is mission critical for our leadership," a Tesla employee wrote in an email to the RDW last November, viewed by Business Insider. Musk has previously lamented the EU's self-driving regulation, calling it a "layer cake of bureaucracy."

Tesla has faced steep competition in the European market, as Chinese competitors like BYD race for market share. European Tesla sales were down an estimated 48.5% year over year in October, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

In Tesla's X post, the company also called on its fans to push the regulatory agency.

"Please contact them via link below to express your excitement & thank them for making this happen as soon as possible," Tesla wrote.

RDW didn't appear to be a fan of the move, asking readers "not to contact us about this," according to the translation of its response.

"It takes up unnecessary time for our customer service," the translated post read. "Moreover, this will have no influence on whether or not the planning is met."

• ESPN Unlimited and Fox One have generated millions of sign-ups since their launches.
• But few customers have picked a bundle with those two for 20% off, a new report shows.
• Disney has driven its subscribers to streaming bundles, but Fox hasn't done the same.

ESPN and Fox's subscription streamers are off to strong starts on their own, but not together.

Disney and Fox each made their most valuable content available outside the pay-TV bundle for the first time on August 21, with the launches of ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, respectively.

ESPN's streamer logged 3 million streaming sign-ups across its plans from launch through the end of October, including 1.7 million for its $30 a month Unlimited service, while Fox reeled in 2.3 million in that span, according to a new report from data firm Antenna. ESPN Unlimited's figures are in line with analysts' estimates for 1.5 million to 2 million subscribers by year's end.

However, few customers have signed up for the $40 a month bundle with ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, Antenna estimates. That bundle costs $10 less than the two services combined.

Antenna found 99% of Fox One's 2.3 million subscribers were paying for the stand-alone service as of October. That suggests only 23,000 or so signed up for Fox's bundle with ESPN or its $25 bundle with Fox Nation, its streamer featuring conservative-friendly scripted and documentary shows.

Likewise, less than 1% of ESPN's 3 million new streaming subscribers were on the Fox One bundle. Those customers are still open to deals, though. In fact, Antenna estimates that about two-thirds of new ESPN customers have chosen streaming bundles with Disney+ and Hulu through October. Disney CEO Bob Iger said that number is around 80% on a mid-November earnings call.

Spokespeople for ESPN and Fox declined to comment on Antenna's figures.

Disney's other bundles are working

The simplest explanation for the ESPN-Fox bundle's slow start is that many sports fans had already found other ways to watch their teams. This bundle didn't launch until October 2 — six weeks after their individual launches and more than a month into the NFL and college football seasons.

Fox One CEO Pete Distad said at his streamer's launch event in August that the ESPN-Fox bundle wasn't launching sooner because each company was prioritizing its own streamer, "making sure that both of our products launched successfully, and then getting it to work." (ESPN and Fox previously tried to start a sports streamer called Venu with Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Less-than-ideal timing and limited promotion may have initially capped the ESPN-Fox bundle's ceiling, but media industry analyst Alan Wolk isn't writing it off yet.

"The hardcore fans signed up for both already," Wolk said. He added that canceling ESPN and Fox One individually and subscribing to the bundle to save $10 a month may be a "hassle" that people don't get to immediately. Or, people would rather bundle ESPN with Disney+ and Hulu than with Fox One.

It's "no surprise that Disney's focus would be on bundling the new ESPN app with Disney+/Hulu rather than Fox One," Disney analyst Joe Bonner of Argus Research said. However, he said, "It's still early days" for ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, so it's too soon for sweeping conclusions.

Disney has had success pushing its customers toward its streaming bundles. These bundles can reduce churn, or monthly cancellations. Disney's churn has been relatively low, outside the Jimmy Kimmel controversy that led to a spate of cancellations.

Conversely, Fox's customers don't seem interested in paying for bundles. That could be an issue if college football fans quit after the season ends. While its stand-alone streamer is off to a promising start, the end of football season will be a big test.

• I love Ina Garten, so I baked my way through four of her cookie recipes to see how they stacked up.
• The giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies were delicious, but a bit tedious to make.
• I thought the salty oatmeal chocolate-chunk cookies were crispy, flavorful, and perfectly chewy.

When it comes to cooking and baking, there's rarely an Ina Garten recipe I don't like.

Her recipes are reliable, and there's something for everyone to enjoy. So, I decided to bake my way through four of her cookie recipes to see how they compare.

For a mix of classic, chocolate, and fruity flavors, I went with her giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies, raspberry jam thumbprints, white-chocolate chunk cookies, and salty oatmeal chocolate-chunk cookies.

Here's how they stacked up, from worst to best.

• Dick's Sporting Goods said it plans to close several underperforming Foot Locker locations.
• Chairman Ed Stack said the move is part of an effort to "clean out the garage."
• Foot Locker has nearly 2,600 stores around the world across multiple brands.

Dick's Sporting Goods is getting an early start on spring cleaning.

The retailer said Tuesday it intends to close an unspecified number of Foot Locker locations after completing its acquisition of the company in September.

"Our first priority is clear. We need to clean out the garage of underperforming assets," executive chairman Ed Stack told investors during Dick's third-quarter earnings call. "This means clearing out unproductive inventory, closing underperforming stores, and rightsizing assets that don't align with our go-forward vision for the Foot Locker business."

Stack said that while the business shows significant promise, Foot Locker's prior leadership did not respond appropriately to market changes, including Nike's decision to shift a greater portion of its business to direct-to-consumer sales. The sportswear giant has since changed that approach, however, and is working to rebuild its relationships with retailers, including Dick's and Foot Locker.

Foot Locker ended the quarter with nearly 2,600 stores globally across several brands. The company closed 15 locations during the period.

Roughly 1,600 Foot Locker stores are in North America, and the company said Tuesday that former Nike executive Ann Freeman would head up the North American division. Former Aldi CEO Matthew Barnes is in charge of the international segment.

Stack also said the company has started an 11-store test to explore changes to Foot Locker's product assortment and in-store experience.

The company plans to share more details about which stores it plans to close in its fourth-quarter earnings report, Stack said.

• Estonia has an agreement with the US to get six more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) units.
• It's growing its arsenal after receiving six earlier this year.
• Estonia said it needs more deep strike abilities, and Ukraine is proving the need.

A NATO ally sharing a border with Russia is doubling down on its buying of the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that has been a key part of Ukraine's fightback against Russia.

Estonia's defense ministry told Business Insider that it has an agreement with the US to acquire six additional HIMARS units. It's waiting on exact delivery dates from the US side.

"It is important for Estonia to have the ability to influence the enemy deep within its territory," the ministry said. To this end, it is necessary to increase Estonia's deep-strike capability with additional rocket launchers."

Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur originally told Breaking Defense that his country wants to buy six additional HIMARS, potentially more, and has been in contact with the maker, Lockheed Martin, but the company needs Pentagon approval for the sale.

The country is pursuing a deeper investment in the system after already receiving six HIMARS in April. The ministry said the earlier acquisitions were just the start of "developing our deep-strike capability."

Pevkur told Business Insider in March that Estonia considers HIMARS to be essential to its deep strike capability, having seen the impact this weapon has had in Ukraine.

The multiple rocket launcher arrived in Ukraine in June 2022, marking the first major Western weapon supplied to Kyiv after months of debate over whether sending such systems was worth the risk. There were concerns initially that supplying big-ticket weapons would be escalatory and might end up in Russian hands if the country fell.

Its arrival was a turning point and a big success for Ukraine. HIMARS were eventually followed by a string of other high-profile weapons like US-made Patriot air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets.

With the introduction of the HIMARS and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), Ukraine suddenly took away Russia's artillery advantage and showed it was able to hit Russian targets like ammunition depots and command and control centers that were previously out of reach. It also used them to hit Russian troops and aircraft.

Electronic warfare and jamming, along with the arrival of other advanced long-range strike systems, have reduced HIMARS' effectiveness and taken it out of the spotlight, aside from some tactical ballistic missile strikes. It has also suffered shortages of ammunition, limiting effectiveness.

The versatile weapon is still in use, though, and Ukraine is expecting to receive more. In October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy identified HIMARS as a priority for his military.

NATO allies sharing a border with Russia want HIMARS

Estonia is among a number of European countries concerned about Russian aggression, and Pevkur said that Ukraine has demonstrated that deep strikes are necessary in a fight.

He said that Ukraine has shown that being capable of striking far behind the front lines, with Ukraine hitting Russian positions, weaponry, and stockpiles, and even oil facilities deep into Russia with long-range drones and missiles.

He said that deep-strike capabilities are an area where NATO allies "need to invest" and "need to have a lot more than what we have today." Pevkur emphasized that it's vital for NATO members to "learn from the challenges that Ukrainians have" — to understand what works and what doesn't for Ukraine and to see what Russia is doing so that their militaries are as prepared as possible.

He added that having HIMARS also sends a "deterrence message" to Russia.

Other Baltic countries, Latvia and Lithuania, which are also NATO members that border Russia, have also invested in HIMARS as well as a host of other defenses as they eye Russia warily.

Latvia has an agreement with the US for six systems, expected by 2027, and Lithuania is buying eight, with the first deliveries due this year.

The Baltic nations have been among the loudest voices within NATO calling for greater alliance spending and support of Ukraine. Their defense budgets are among the highest in NATO as a proportion of their GDP, and the money so far has gone toward border defenses, air defenses, armored vehicles, and drones.

Pevkur told Business Insider that it was important for the West that countries on NATO's eastern edge, like the Baltic states, are well defended to deter Russia and to be able to stop it if needed. "The eastern flank is the front door of NATO, so we need to keep it closed," he said.

• My husband and I built an off-grid cabin 10 years ago, and haven't looked back since.
• We've learned a lot through years of experience, but we made some mistakes when we first moved here.
• We should've calculated our electricity usage ahead of time and invested in a quality stove.

In the 10 years we've lived off the grid in West Virginia, my husband and I have had our fair share of ups and downs.

We've had impromptu evenings by candlelight after accidentally running down our batteries, but we've also watched stunning mountain sunrises. We've let a hot water heater get too cold and bust, and also been able to save money for travel and retirement.

Although I wouldn't change anything about our life, there are a few things I wish I had known about off-grid living before we moved to a rural area and created a home power system.