My morning train WFH reads:
• Is the Fed data-driven or data-ridden? The Federal Reserve constantly reminds us that its decisions are “data-driven” or “data-dependent.” But what does that even mean? And what are the dangers when data loom too large? (Stay at Home Macro)
• Workers Are Happier Than They’ve Been in Decades: Labor shortages and shifting expectations lead to improvement for millions, survey shows. (Wall Street Journal) see also Work-Life Balance Is Their Second Priority. Work Is Their First. Young professionals pledge admiration for peers who carve out personal time, then fail to do the same for themselves. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Case For International Diversification: Basically, international stocks went from relatively expensive (hello Japan) to relatively cheap and U.S. stocks went from relatively cheap to relatively expensive. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• A Tax Loophole Makes EV Leasing a No-Brainer in the US: An exemption in the Inflation Reduction Act is worth $7,500 to drivers who lease. (Businessweek)
• After Dimon’s First Republic purchase, tougher banking regulations loom: New rules forcing the big banks to increase their capital reserves are in the works, along with changes for regional banks. (Washington Post)
• Tweaking Vegetables’ Genes Could Make Them Tastier—And You’ll Get to Try Them Soon: Flavor is a tricky target, but technology and powerful genetic techniques are making it more feasible to improve the taste of vegetables. (Scientific American)
• Where Are the Treatments for Long COVID? We don’t know why the virus can lead to persistent symptoms. We urgently need more research on therapies anyway. (Slate)
• RIP Metaverse: An obituary for the latest fad to join the tech graveyard. (Business Insider) see also Something Awful is racing to save the best and worst of web history: A long-running web community enlisted its goons to stop an Imgur extinction event. (The Verge)
• Here’s Every Single Lie Told by My Congressman, George Santos. The New York Representative was indicted on May 10 on 13 federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to Congress. While this was certainly a dramatic twist in the Santos saga, it wasn’t exactly a shock. Since the New York Times first revealed in December 2022 that Santos was not quite the man he sold himself as to voters, it’s been hard to track down exactly what is true about the congressman’s life story. Is he broke or rich? Is he Jewish or Catholic? Did his family members really die in the Holocaust or September 11? Most often, it’s best to assume what the Republican from Long Island has said about his life is bogus, but in case you need to double-check, here is the guide to everything he has made up about himself… (New York Magazine)
• In the End, Rocket Raccoon Is the Star of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’: James Gunn has called Rocket Raccoon the “secret protagonist” of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trilogy. In ‘Vol. 3,’ the secret is out. (The Ringer)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with venture capitalist and seed investor Howard Lindzon. He is the founder and CIO of Social Leverage, where he makes early-stage investments. He founded Wall Strip (sold to CBS in 2007), co-founded StockTwits (which pioneered the ‘cashtag’ e.g., $AAPL), and was the first investor in Robin Hood. Social Leverage recently launched its 4th fund.
Since Buffett started acquiring Apple shares 7 years ago, Berkshire’s average quarterly return has increased more than a full percentage point vs prior 13 years
Source: @bespokeinvest
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