My Mar-A-Lago free, Two-for-Tuesday morning train WFH reads:
• The Michael Scott Economy: Why don’t I tell you my biggest weaknesses as an economy? Too many people have jobs and wages are rising too fast. (A Wealth of Common Sense) see also How This Economic Moment Rewrites the Rules: Jobs aplenty. Sizzling demand. If the United States is headed into a recession, it is taking an unusual route, with many markers of a boom. (New York Times)
• A bunch of charts showing how supply chains have improved: But is supply improving or demand deteriorating? Supply chains have improved considerably in recent months. The New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index1 — a composite of various supply chain indicators — fell in July to its lowest level since February 2021, meaning supply chains are easing. (TKer)
• The Reason Gas Prices Are Finally Plummeting: The most significant driver of the price drops? Demand, demand, demand. Multiple consumer surveys have found that the year’s cost surge motivated many American drivers to reconsider their primary means of transport—and to drive much less overall. (Slate) see also Electricity Is One Part of US Inflation That Congress Can Help Tame: Gas may drive energy price trends, but electricity isn’t immune to inflation. Subsidies for renewables in the Inflation Reduction Act would encourage stability (Bloomberg)
• Think 9% Inflation Is Bad? Try 90%. With the world grappling with rising prices, a tour through Argentina reveals that years of inflation can give rise to a truly bizarre economy (New York Times)
• Why the market is bouncing: The money has to go somewhere. The stock and bond markets, in combination, form an equilibrium, absent severe changes in the money supply or the overarching needs of the investing public. There is stasis. (The Reformed Broker) see also These Factors Outperform When the Dollar Appreciates: The last three times this has happened, large-cap and quality stocks have beaten the broader market. (Institutional Investor)
• The New J.Crew: At its peak, J.Crew might have been the most important menswear retailer in America. Then it went bankrupt and tasked downtown New York designer Brendon Babenzien with bringing it back. In a world that’s gone crazy for streetwear and high fashion, can he make oxford shirts and khaki pants cool again? (GQ)
• The ‘Form’ Element Created the Modern Web. Was It a Big Mistake? A little HTML widget gave us all-powerful Amazon and Facebook. There’s no closing Pandora’s text (Wired) see also How Facebook helped Axios sell for $500 million Money from Meta — and the rest of Big Tech — is pouring into Washington publications. (Recode)
• How a Sextortion Victim Hacked Back and Put Her Attacker in Jail: Unhappy with the way her case was being handled, a college student took matters into her own hands. (Businessweek)
• Inside Biden’s hot streak, from the poolside to the Capitol: As the president sought legislation that has eluded Democrats for decades, he made a key decision — to take himself largely out of the mix (Washington Post) see also What’s Really Going on With Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, and Donald Trump: The network does what its viewers want, not vice versa. (Slate)
• ‘My Life as a Rolling Stone’ shines a stadium-worthy spotlight on the Rolling Stones. “The Beatles: Get Back” set a very high bar for musical nostalgia, but “My Life As a Rolling Stone” is no slouch, breaking the four band members into their own dedicated hours, with extensive access to the three surviving members and a who’s who of rock voices serving as the chorus. Yes, you can’t always get what you want, but for Rolling Stones fans, this should come close. (CNN)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Anat Admati, Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She is also the director of the Corporations and Society Initiative, and a senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, She was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and is the co-author of The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It.
A Look at US Federal Funds Futures and Bond Performance
Source: Dimensional
