Welcome to September! Kick off the month strong with our morning reads:
• The Size Factor: Small caps are trading at the steepest discount to large caps in decades. Over the past 50 years, small-cap stocks have returned, on average, about 2% per year more than large-cap stocks, according to Ken French’s data. The inclusion of the small-cap factor to help better explain stock movements was one of Nobel Prize–winner Eugene Fama’s biggest early breakthroughs. (Verdad)
• America’s Affordable Housing Problem: How America got to be so unaffordable, and what we can do to make it more affordable; an analysis of good-in-theory v. outcome based policies (Our Built Environment) see also Buyers Are on the Sidelines: One of the reasons for all the chaos in the housing market is mortgage rate volatility. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 5.95% today, up from a 52-week low of 2.91%. (Irrelevant Investor)
• Why we need to talk about QT: Quantitative tightening fears are either overblown or under-appreciated. SocGen is now leaning toward the latter. (Financial Times)
• Decade of the battery: Predicting the technology that will define the next era of innovation (Noahpinion)
• Pace of Climate Change Sends Economists Back to Drawing Board They underestimated the impact of global warming, and their preferred policy solution floundered in the United States. (New York Times) see also Study: Greenland ice sheet set to raise sea levels by nearly a foot: New research suggests the massive ice sheet is already set to lose more than 3 percent of its mass, even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gases today. (Washington Post)
• Guardians of the Brain: The nervous and immune systems are tightly intertwined. Deciphering their chatter might help address many brain disorders and diseases (Scientific American)
• Scientists Move Closer to Unlocking the Secrets of the Immortal Jellyfish, and Possibly Human Aging: Authors of a new study hope the genome mapping of Turritopsis dohrnii, known for its ability to rebirth itself, might lead to discoveries relevant to improving human healthspan. (Wall Street Journal)
• 6 Ways to Level Up Your Daily Walk: Experts say Americans are taking more walks than before the pandemic. Here are some ways to turn your neighborhood stroll in to an exciting workout. (New York Times)
• Trump Documents Bear Hallmarks of Closest-Held US Secrets: Photo shows for first time papers at center of FBI search Classified paper covers refer to sources, intelligence methods. (Bloomberg) see also Inside Trump’s war on the National Archives: The agency has been hit with a wave of threats and vitriol since the FBI retrieved scores of classified records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club. (Washington Post)
• Good Luck Finding a Seat in That Fancy Airport Lounge: In the post-Covid travel rebound, business-class travelers are finding their lounges are packed—mostly because of credit card perks. (Businessweek)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Lynn Martin, President of the NYSE, which is part of the Intercontinental Exchange. NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange, with 2,400 listed companies and a combined market cap of ~$36 trillion dollars. She began her career at IBM in its Global Services.
How CoreLogic rates America’s largest regional housing markets
Source: Fortune
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