It is our 1,460th — and final — day of the Trump Administration. Finish strong with our morning reads:
• The 15 most notable lies of Donald Trump’s presidency So many to choose from! These are the most consequential (CNN) see also President Trump made a total of 30,529 false or misleading claims over 1,455 days Orwellian is a word that gets tossed around too much but Trumpism embodied Big Brother more than any other movement outside of North Korea (Washington Post)
• Why Stocks Don’t Care About the Coup The terrifying and deadly insurrection was both shambolic and pointless. Trump’s attempt to steal the election failed. Biden will become President, Dems will control Senate & House. That was the signal markets heard, dismissing the violence as mere noise. (The Atlantic)
• One Year, 400,000 Coronavirus Deaths: How the U.S. Guaranteed Its Own Failure After the White House declined to pursue a unified national strategy, governors faced off against lobbyists, health experts and a restless public consumed by misinformation. (New York Times)
• Jim Simons Proved the Textbooks Wrong — Almost The genius math professor who ran Renaissance Technologies figured out how to reliably beat the market, but the rules still apply to everyone else. (Bloomberg)
• The Story Behind the Market’s Hottest Funds Thematic ETFs allow investors to bet on trends and concepts—but their narrow focus increases their risk (Wall Street Journal)
• Fleeing the City? You’ll Be Back Suburbia isn’t the utopia it’s cracked up to be. While it’s clear that metropolises simply aren’t set up for a life of lockdowns and social distancing, it seems very pessimistic to imagine these are long-term phenomenons (Bloomberg)
• Spotify Bets Big on Podcasts as a Path to Profitability The music-streaming service is staking its future on finding more Joe Rogans. (Businessweek) but see Apple Plans Podcasting Subscription Service in Threat to Spotify Apple—long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space—is waking up. The company, which runs the most widely used podcasting app in the industry, is discussing launching a new subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts. (The Information)
• On Telegram, the Paramilitary Far Right Looks to Radicalize New Recruits Ahead of Inauguration Day The boogaloo movement’s most extreme white supremacist element is ratcheting up calls for civil war. (The Intercept) see also Walkie-talkie app Zello hosted far-right groups who stormed Capitol Audio and chat logs show insurrectionists communicated via the app, which has avoided proactive content moderation (The Guardian)
• Twitter and Facebook bans are working In the wake of the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol that President Donald Trump heavily promoted on social media, platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and others finally moved to ban the president. The result? A sudden drop in the online spread of election misinformation. (Vox)
• After riot, major corporations suspend donations to the Republican Attorneys General Association The violent riot at the US Capitol did not magically appear. Millions of people had to be whipped into a frenzy over bogus charges of voter fraud. Then, a critical mass of them had to be directed to the Capitol building at the same time. The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) was involved in both activities. (Popular Information) see also A Truth Reckoning: Why We’re Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable The insurrection was rooted in lies. That a fair election was stolen. That a significant defeat was actually a landslide victory. That the world’s oldest democracy, ingeniously insulated via autonomous state voting regimens, is a rigged system. Such lies-upon-lies, repeated frequently and fervently, provided the kindling, the spark, the gasoline.(Forbes)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Adam Karr, portfolio manager at Orbis Investments and head of the US division. The firm, which manages $37B in assets, has a unique fee approach, where they only pay if they outperform, and refund fees when they underperform.
2020 Saw Unprecedented Murder Spike In Major U.S. Cities
Source: Statista
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