My mid-week morning train reads:
• How Individual Retirement Accounts Changed the Stock Market Forever: In 1953 only 4% of the country owned stocks. Even after the 1950s bull market that saw the U.S. stock market rise by nearly 500% (19.5% per year for a decade) there were only 12.5 million stockholders out of a population of 177 million. That’s 7% of the total. The stock market was more or less a curiosity to most people until the 1980s. (Wealth of Common Sense)
• US economy going strong under Biden – Americans don’t believe it: Despite a strong economy, polls shows mistrust in media and government means disbelief in both parties (The Guardian) see also Inflation Is Down, Disinflation Denial Is Soaring: It turns out that excluding food, energy and used cars actually increases the inflation measure. If I were engaged in a nefarious plot to minimize measured inflation, I’d leave them in. (New York Times)
• The Unexpected New Winners in the Global Energy War: Algerian officials say this year the country could export 100 billion cubic meters of gas—equivalent to about 65% of the nearly 160 billion cubic meters the EU imported from Russia in 2021, before the start of the war. Years ago, before the advent of inexpensive Russian gas, Algeria was Italy’s top supplier. (Wall Street Journal)
• Fed Creeps Toward Next Phase in Its Fight Against Inflation: The Federal Reserve is unlikely to declare victory this week. But investors will watch for any hint that the end to rate increases is coming. (New York Times)
• Lessons from a century of inflation shocks: Inflation will take longer to tame than most people think, but taming it doesn’t necessarily mean much higher unemployment, and premature loosening of monetary policy could be dangerous. (Financial Times)
• Whatever the UAW Strike Outcome, Elon Musk Has Already Won: Detroit automakers entered labor talks at cost disadvantage to Tesla (Wall Street Journal)
• How Covid misinformation stayed one step ahead of Facebook: Study: When Facebook removes vaccine misinformation, anti-vaxxers quickly regroup. (Vox)
• Alien atmospheres are helping scientists search for life: The atmospheres of planets beyond this solar system are coming into focus and helping scientists decide what constitutes evidence of life and where to look for it. (Axios) but see also Scientists Say You’re Looking for Alien Civilizations All Wrong: A new report lays out a modern way to search for E.T., calling for better use of big data and machine learning techniques. (Wired)
• What to Do When Your Political Party Loses Its Mind: I was a Conservative until Boris Johnson expelled me. It was a painful experience, but here’s what I’ve learned. (The Atlantic)
• Welcome to the World of Competitive Boat Docking: It’s a circuit that only exists on the Maryland and Virginia shores. And the watermen who compete sort of like it that way. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview with Elizabeth Burton, Managing Director and Client Investment Strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Previously, she was Chief Investment Officer of Hawaii’s Employees’ Retirement System (“HIERS”). She was named to Chief Investment Officer Magazines’ 40-Under-40, as well as winning the 2017 Industry Innovation Award, and a Power 100 member in 2019.
Hypersonic Missiles Are Game-Changers, and America Doesn’t Have Them
Source: Wall Street Journal
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