My end of week morning train WFH reads:
• Crypto Die-Hards Built a $90 Billion Wall Street on the Internet Automated protocols running on the internet are paying traders to provide liquidity for unregulated, decentralized markets. (Businessweek)
• How to Have a Roaring 2020s (Without Wild Inflation) The greatest boom in U.S. history is the one we experienced during the mobilization for World War II. In our popular memory, imagery of scarcity and household belt-tightening to help the war effort abounds. But in reality, at an aggregate level, there was no fall in household consumption during the war years. (New York Times) see also Homeowners are doing great. Shareholders are doing even better. A new Fed report finds homeowners’ equity rose 13 percent over the past year — and continued to climb during the first quarter of 2021 (Washington Post)
• How To Prepare For a Lengthy Bull Market The other side of preparing for bear markets is preparing for a bull market. Yeah, that’s right, I said it. I know valuations are high. I know the U.S. stock market has been positive 11 out of the past 12 years. I know the past 15 months or so have been a crazy orgy of excess and speculation in certain parts of the market. But bull markets can last longer than you think. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• How Effective Are Investment Consultants for Allocators? The gap between consultants’ actual and claimed performances was remarkable, says one study, looking at UK-based firms with worldwide reach. (Chief Investment Officer)
• Hard truths about SoftBank The world’s most important tech-investing group has pulled off a stunning comeback. But some of its flaws remain (Economist)
• Can a $110 Million Helmet Unlock the Secrets of the Mind? Bryan Johnson, who made a fortune in online payment processing, has spent a lot of it building hardware meant to radically expand science’s understanding of the brain’s aging and effects on the body. (Businessweek)
• Apple Struggles in Push to Make Healthcare Its Greatest Legacy Tech giant has envisioned hiring doctors to offer primary care, now focused on Watch (Wall Street Journal)
• Powerball mystery: Someone in this tiny town won $731 million. Now everyone wants a piece of it. The fact that someone in this town of 1,200 people (just 400 families, actually, down by half over the past 50 years) is suddenly Midas-rich has caused some strange things to happen. (Washington Post)
• Why we should welcome the lab leak hypothesis Plagued by fear, scientists have failed to protect us (UnHerd) Counterpoint: The Lab Leak Theory Doesn’t Hold Up: The rush to find a conspiracy around the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins is driven by narrative, not evidence. (Foreign Policy)
• ‘In the Heights,’ Where the Streets Explode With Dance The movie’s choreographic team, led by Christopher Scott, gets raw and real with dancers — so many! — who give in to thrilling perpetual motion.(New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Social Psychologist Robert Cialdini, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. He is the author of the book Influence, which has sold over 5 million copies in 30 languages. The latest revision is out Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Stocks as a % of household financial assets hits an all-time high
Source: @MebFaber
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