My back to work morning train WFH reads:
• The Omicron situation It appears that the world is reacting to the new Omicron variant with much more urgency than it reacted to Delta. But it can be difficult to cut through the noise. (Noahpinion) see also ‘You’ve got to prepare for the worst’: World responds to new variant’s arrival The frenzy of activity comes as the world waits to learn how far the new variant has spread and whether it can evade current vaccines — answers that are probably weeks away. (Washington Post)
• So You Wanna Be a Stock Picker I’m a big proponent of index funds. This doesn’t mean I disavow active management, but I think most people should get most of their exposure to stocks through an index. Picking stocks is hard, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting. Even if you are able to outperform, it’s probably not worth the time necessary to achieve said outperformance. Tens and hundreds of hours to maybe beat the benchmark by a few percent doesn’t seem like a great trade. Unless it’s your passion, in which case you probably already stopped reading.(Irrelevant Investor)
• Tokenize Absolutely Everything Here’s the problem with the crypto space right now: There’s quite literally so much cool stuff going on that it’s becoming legitimately impossible for any one person to even pretend to keep up with every interesting new project. Imagine I told you that I was up to speed on every cool small business idea in the world. You know I’d be lying. But that’s what the pace of growth is like in crypto right now, and that’s honestly a problem. (ETF Trends)
• Hiltzik: There’s a right way and a wrong way to think about inflation. Here’s a right way Inflation is an inherently complicated subject — its causes are tangled, its effects variable. Consequently, it lends itself to confusion and misunderstanding. More to the point, consumer psychology may play an outsized role in fomenting inflation, for consumer behavior inspired by inflation fears contributes to the phenomenon by prompting more spending or less spending, as the case may be. (LA Times)
• For Recruiters and Job-Seekers, It’s a Whole New Ball Game Asset owners and managers both face challenges as they search for talent in an employment environment turned upside-down by the pandemic. (Institutional Investor)
• Supply chains are screwing with prices for a lot of the world; It isn’t just a US thing. It turns out, the global economy can go a little haywire when a once-in-a-generation pandemic rolls around. The virus scrambled supply chains, squeezed off international travel, and shut down businesses and services. Now, even as the world is recovering from these shocks, Covid-19 is still surging and resurging, and combined with other disruptions — like climate-related events — supply chains are still trying to sort themselves out. (Vox)
• The Rising Tide of Semiconductor Cost There’s a quiet upheaval happening in the semiconductor industry. The rules that have always governed the industry are fraying, undoing assumptions that we took for granted, that was pounded into us in school. The irreproachable Moore’s Law, that exponential progress will make things cheaper, better, and faster over time, is dead. (Fabricated Knowledge)
• Venmo privacy settings to change now If you pay for things using Venmo you might be shocked at what information you’re sharing publicly (Washington Post)
• One Day Of Thanks Is Not Enough: Gratitude is a Daily Practice The comedian Pete Holmes came up with a mantra that lifted him above his pain, that shifted his world view, that restored his hope and happiness. All with just three simple words: “Yes, thank you.” (Ryan Holiday)
• Taylor Swift’s Quest for Justice: With “Red (Taylor’s Version),” Swift seeks to reclaim control in her business affairs and in matters of the heart. (New Yorker)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Steven Fradkin, President of Northern Trust Wealth Management, a division of the insurance giant. The group has $355 billion in assets under management, serving 1 in 5 of the wealthiest families in America. Fradkin was previously Chief Financial Officer and was head of the international business for NT.
How Big a Genetic Jump Omicron is Compared to Other Variants
Source: NextStrain
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