My morning train WFH reads:
• The Global Economy Is Shrugging Off the Delta Variant, For Now Even as delta risks loom, early signs from the third quarter show growth accelerating and inflation peaking after its recent jump, a reassuring sign for policy makers and investors worried about the risks of faltering demand and surging prices. GDP nowcast shows 1.8% expansion in Q3 as U.S. inflation peaks (Bloomberg)
• Inside The Coronavirus Haul Of A Wall Street Whiz Kid “Crisis Investing: How To Maximize Return During Market Panics,” which showed that the best time to deploy money into the market was when high yield spreads were above 600 basis points, a gauge of extreme fear. Rasmussen’s new fund called the Verdad Opportunity Fund, which would draw investors’ capital when junk bond spreads blew out to such levels, and invest in small, undervalued companies. (Forbes)
• How Millennial Investors Lost Millions on Bill Ackman’s SPAC “Trading options was addictive, like cocaine,” says one investor. “It was instant gratification.” (Institutional Investor)
• Why Xi Jinping Waited Years to Launch His Crackdown on Tycoons: As China investors search for clues about which industries might be next in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown, they’re also pondering another question: Why now? U.S. tensions, Xi’s bid for third term help explain timing ‘The crackdown is just the beginning — it’s the prelude’ (Bloomberg)
• Will the Pandemic Productivity Boom Last? Fewer workers are making more stuff. If it lasts, that’s big news for the economy of the 2020s. (Upshot)
• Want to Improve Your Career? Become an Uncertainty Killer Reduce uncertainty for others as much as you can. Become an uncertainty killer. That’s it. I guarantee that if you can make other peoples’ lives more certain, they will sing your praises. You will build trust at every turn and create allies wherever you go. People may even publicly call you “a machine” and impart positive attributes to you that you may not actually have. (Of Dollars And Data)
• There’s a big shift hitting the housing market The rush of buyers into the housing market during the pandemic absolutely crushed housing inventory—the number of homes on the market—with that figure falling for 12 consecutive months. By April, housing inventory was down a staggering 53% from a year earlier. However, the trajectory has flipped: For two straight months the number of homes for sale has gone up. Homes listing on realtor.com rose 3% in May, then again by 9% in June. Now, new home sales are falling—their pace in June was the slowest since the onset of the pandemic. Every indication is that the market is shifting a bit in buyers’ favor. Why the sudden cooling? Home shoppers are finally showing some reluctance to pay top dollar. (Fortune)
• There’s an Earthquake Coming! The newest warning systems give users ten seconds’ notice. What can be done in that time? (New Yorker)
• There’s a Silver Lining in the Extremely Bleak New Climate Report We are no doubt in for more horrors to come. This summer has been unbearable all on its own; there will be more seasons like it, and worse. But human and animal and plant life is still here, and the report offers a guide for righting the ship(Slate)
• ‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks The variant battle in the United States is over. Delta won. Today, it has nearly wiped out all of its rivals. The coronavirus pandemic in America has become a delta pandemic. By the end of July, it accounted for 93.4 percent of new infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Washington Post) see also Covid Can Make Kids Very Sick. Why Aren’t More Being Vaccinated? Children have to get vaccinated for less urgent threats—and it works. So why not with Covid? (BusinessWeek)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Greg Becker, CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. The bank has helped fund more than 30,000 start-ups, 50% of venture-backed tech and life science companies in the US, and 69% of U.S. VC-backed tech + life science companies with an IPO banked with SVB.
Tile cartogram of annual CO2 emissions by country
Source: Reddit
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