My mid-week morning train WFH reads:
• Millions of Christmas presents may arrive late because of Postal Service delays Unprecedented package volume has paralyzed the agency, leading managers to divert vast shipments of mail across the country. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy tried to screw up the election, he managed to screw up Christmas instead. (Washington Post)
• What If You Only Invested at Market Peaks? There were some lean times in there, especially in the aftermath of the Great Depression. But by and large, the long-term returns even from the height of market peaks look pretty decent. If you have a long enough time horizon and are willing to be patient, the long-run remains a good place to be when investing in the stock market. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• Why rights are the holy grail of the music industry — and more valuable than ever Rights are considered the most valuable asset for a music artist for a handful of reasons: streaming is bigger than ever, the pandemic has eliminated other sources of income, and rights are a recession-proof investment. Investors, record labels, and artists like Taylor Swift are fighting for control over music rights, while others are selling them off for millions. (Business of Business)
• Robinhood Was Indeed Too Good to Be True That Robinhood sold its order flow is unremarkable, but the scale of its activities certainly merits comment. Q1 2020, 70% of Robinhood’s revenues derived from payments for order flows versus 17% for E-Trade and just 3% for Schwab. (Morningstar)
• US deaths in 2020 top 3 million, by far most ever counted The United States is on track for more than 3.2 million deaths in 2020, at least 400,000 more than in 2019 — a jump of 15% — that could go higher once all the deaths from December are counted. (AP)
• Death, Taxes, and a Few Other Things Optimists say living standards will keep improving, which is likely. But you can’t say that people will feel proportionally better off, because the goalpost will always move up with improvements in living standards. There is a correlation between money and happiness, but it diminishes with each additional dollar gained (Housel)
• How China Lost Patience With Jack Ma, Its Loudest Billionaire The flamboyant Ma has all but vanished from public view. As of early December, with his empire under regulatory scrutiny, the man most closely identified with the meteoric rise of China Inc. was advised by the government to stay in the country. While the sudden cancellation of his Ant Group IPO shocked many investors, Ma’s fall from grace had been years in the making. (Businessweek)
• Is Hydrogen the Great Renewable Hope? Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, has tremendous promise as a renewable fuel that can replace carbon-based standards such as oil, natural gas, and coal. But, right now, it remains mostly a promise because the technology isn’t in place to put it into widespread use. Solar and wind power are far ahead. Institutional investors are wary of betting on the gas until it proves itself, as the technology is nascent. But its stocks are surging anyway. (CIO)
• What Happened When I Deleted Every Meeting From My Calendar How you spend your time is the truest representation of what you care about. No one has true ownership of all their time and that the vast majority of people are not in positions to exert agency over their work hours. For those of us who have at least partial influence over how you schedule your time, I want to make a plea: delete all your meetings and start over Jan 1. (Medium)
• Ski Towns and the Ski Bums Who Staff Them, Ponder Their Survival Many outdoor destinations had their busiest summer ever and retailers that sell equipment like canoes and kayaks, and hiking, camping, and fishing gear have reported record sales and supply shortages. But it’s the hospitality industry that’s really suffering in states with high cases of the coronavirus and strict mandates, closing restaurants and tourism lodging among other restrictions—even as ski areas are allowed to operate chair lifts. (Adventure Journal)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Tom Slater, head of the US equities team at Baillie Gifford, which has over $370 billion in assets under management. He serves as a decision-maker on Long Term Global Growth portfolios, and the U.S. Equity Growth Fund which is up +113% year to date. He also co-manages the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which Baillie Gifford has been managing since 1908.
Apartment Market’s Winners and Losers
Source: Bloomberg
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