My end of week morning train WFH reads:
• Barack Obama: My Eulogy for Congressman John Lewis: I’ve come here today because I, like so many Americans, owe a great debt to John Lewis and his forceful vision of freedom (Medium) see also John Lewis: Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation: Though I am gone, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. (New York Times)
• Henry Blodget Was Banned From the Financial Industry. So He Built a Financial Media Empire. The former analyst speaks from firsthand knowledge of the short-term mind frame on Wall Street — a mind frame he rejected in the creation of Business Insider. (Institutional Investor)
• How a taxi kingpin’s real estate deals turned into a wreck: Victor Weingarten and partner Simon Baron Development are facing foreclosure on their UWS rental building (Real Deal)
• Are Index Funds The Best Way To Invest? Over the last 20 years, 59% of all stock mutual funds did so badly they disappeared. Only 22% of all stock funds (2 in 10) outperformed. (Servo Wealth Management)
• The Grifters, chapter 1 – Kodak: A $765 million in non-recourse, non-secured loans for pharmaceutical supply production to a micro-cap company with zero experience or expertise in pharmaceutical supply production (Epsilon Theory) see also What happened before Kodak’s moment: The once iconic American brand valued at $30 billion, it filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and emerged in 2013. I has been in dire straits ever since. (Popular Info)
• That Flour You Bought Could Be the Future of the U.S. Economy: Keep baking bread. Small grain companies may suggest a better path for American business. (New York Times)
• Misinformation on coronavirus is proving highly contagious: As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures. (AP) see also The truth about vaccines: Why is one of the most effective medical interventions known to humanity regarded with such mistrust? (UnHerd)
• You Can Blame ‘Load Theory’ for Turning Your Brain to Mush: A neuroscientist explains why we’re so easily distracted right now. (Businessweek)
• Swinging the Vote? Google’s black box algorithm controls which political emails land in your main inbox. For 2020 presidential candidates, the differences are stark (The Markup)
• Folklore, Taylor Swift’s New Album: Folklore applies Swift’s signature lyrical style — richly and carefully detailed, rife with knowing callbacks — to a new palette. Skittering instrumentation proves a match for Swift’s use of speak-song cadence; meditative piano and horns offer a cinematic soundscape for explorations of character that move beyond autobiography (NPR)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Simon Hallett, Co-CIO at Harding Loevner, which manages about $70 billion dollars. Hallett is also the owner of Plymouth Argyle Football Club, a League One team based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England.
The market value of an industry is very inconsistent with its contribution to GDP
Source: @PeterMallouk
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