My back to work morning train WFH reads:
• How War in Ukraine Drives Up Inflation at U.S. Farms, Supermarkets, Retailers The global supply chain is slow, but the economic fallout from the invasion of Ukraine is swiftly raising prices for producers and consumers world-wide. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Boom-Bust Cycle in Commodities Since the inception of the Bloomberg Commodities Index in 1991, it’s up a total of 24%. If you squint hard enough, you can see an annual return of just 0.7%. That’s not only worse than the 2.5% inflation rate in that time; it’s a lower return than you would have earned parking your money in cash. (Wealth of Common Sense)
• Short Sellers Clean Up on Russian Stocks Short sellers have made about $1 billion from stocks like Sberbank and Gazprom — but they may have a hard time realizing those gains. (Institutional Investor)
• Stock Markets Usually Go Up. Sometimes, They Go Away. Trading on the Moscow stock exchange was suspended this past week. It’s the latest reminder to investors that markets aren’t always liquid. (Wall Street Journal)
• Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood on everything from deflation to Elon Musk A year ago, she managed more than $60bn. Now she faces the toughest battle of her career (Financial Times)
• Big Investors Are Finally Serious About Crypto. But Experienced Talent Is Still Scarce. “Even if firms aren’t on board with the digital assets movement, they have no choice but to become educated because their clients are constantly asking them about it,” said recruiter Steven Clark. (Institutional Investor) see also Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Puts Cryptocurrencies at the Heart of War While tech leaders push to isolate Russia, the crypto world is clearly struggling to reckon its role in Putin’s war. (Vanity Fair)
• This Is Peak Subscription Forking over another $5 a month is getting pretty old. (The Atlantic)
• Don’t Be the Co-Worker With the Terrible Farewell Email Millions of people leaving their jobs means millions of goodbye emails. Here’s how to write one that ensures you’ll be remembered—for the right reasons. (Wall Street Journal)
• TikTok Was Designed for War: As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine plays out online, the platform’s design and algorithm prove ideal for the messiness of war—but a nightmare for the truth. (Wired)
• These wild flying machines are set to shake up the VTOL world Cool VTOL startups are disrupting the future of flying (The Next Web)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with David Kotok, who co-founded Cumberland Advisors in 1973. The firm manages $4 billion in assets. Kotok is Program Chairman of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), and was on the Treasury Transition Teams for New Jersey Governors Tom Kean and Christine Whitman, but is probably best known as the creator of Camp Kotok. His recent research includes the Economic Consequences of Pandemics, and What Long Covid Means for Financial Markets.
Historical context on this commodity shock: The last time we had a week like this was closer to World War II.
Source: @DavidInglesTV
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