My back-to-work morning train WFH reads:
• 22 Things That Made the World a Better Place in 2022: From spinal implants that allow paralyzed people to walk to smashing an asteroid off course with a rocket, this wasn’t just a year of negative headlines. (Wired)
• For U.S. Stocks, 2022 Is a Year With Almost No Record Highs: The S&P 500 finishes 2022 with just one record close, the lowest tally since 2012. (Wall Street Journal) see also The Year the Long Stock Market Rally Ended: How fast inflation and high interest rates upended markets across the globe. (New York Times)
• We’re in the second biggest home price correction of the post-WWII era—here’s the latest data: For 124 consecutive months, spanning the bottom of the previous bust in February 2012 to the top of the Pandemic Housing Boom in June 2022, the seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported positive home price growth. Now we’re in a new streak: Four consecutive months of U.S. home price declines. (Fortune)
• Is Big Oil’s Renewable Energy Push Credible—and Good for Investors? Exxon and its kin were laggard stocks for a long time, but now they enjoy flush revenue and strong share prices. The bet: Their clean fuels may give them better stability. (CIO)
• In a Bad Year for Stocks, Tesla Plunged 65%: Investors blame Elon Musk and wonder how much more the stock will fall. (New York Times)
• These historic works are coming free from copyright. Why did it take so long? “They’re out of copyright arguments,” says Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University. Every year at about this time, Jenkins produces a list of creative works, classic and merely popular, that enter the public domain in the U.S. on New Year’s Day. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Superiority Illusion: where everyone is above average: Much as we all like to think we’re modest, most of us really aren’t. We might try to be humble and say “we’re just some guy, you know?”, but most often, we actually think we’re better than average. Maybe we think we’re smarter, or better looking, or nicer, or maybe even all of the above. And it turns out that thinking we’re above average (even though, statistically, only half of us CAN be above average) is actually good for us. (Scientific American)
• Dangerous Minds: The legal world is slowly accepting that age 18—or 21—is not a magical moment of “adult” brain maturity. Are we ready for what that means? (Slate)
• Kari Lake was unflinchingly loyal to Trump. Then her campaign unraveled: Interviews, internal documents and audio show how the former TV news anchor squandered a chance to become Arizona’s governor — a defeat that carries warnings for the GOP in 2024. (Washington Post)
• Tested Miracle Hangover Cures. You’re Welcome: Do “anti-hangover” supplements really work? With the sterling help of a UK rugby team, we raised a glass or five to find out. (Wired)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Michael Lewis. We discuss Season 3 of his podcast Against the Rules. We also delve into the 30th anniversary of Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, and his new audio recording of the book. He is also the author of Undoing Project, Moneyball, Flashboys, The Big Short, and so many others.
Is 2022 the first year ever where the S&P 500’s annual high watermark was the opening day of the year?
Source: @compound248
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