The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat by the fire, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• The Federal Reserve Just Leashed The S&P 500 And Raised The Bar For Rate Cuts: Yet the formal shift in the Fed’s bias from tightening to easing overshadowed other messaging that seemed to strike a less-dovish posture. Easing policy too soon, Powell said, “could result in a reversal of the progress we’ve seen on inflation and ultimately require even tighter policy.” (Investor’s Business Daily)
• Something Went Terribly Wrong With Online Ads. The internet has long been clogged with advertising, but something different is happening today. Gone are the days of simple banner ads; even the sponsored Instagram posts invading my feed have started to feel quaint. Now nothing is safe from brands trying to sell us stuff. Open the Uber app mid-ride to check your ETA, and you might first have to wait out a 90-second video. Search for healthy snack in the grocery-delivery app Instacart, and perhaps you’ll see a screen-clogging ad for That’s It bars made of 100 percent fruit. Hotel chains, airlines, pharmacies, and basically every other kind of business are also cashing in on online ads. The end result is an internet adpocalypse that has become impossible to escape. (The Atlantic)
• Nvidia Is Now King of the Magnificent 7. Why It’s Not Even Close. The other six technology giants posted revenue growth, averaging in the midteens versus the prior year, ranging from 2% for Apple on the low end to Meta Platforms at 25% at the high end. Nvidia’s fiscal fourth quarter is simply in a different league from the rest. Revenue for its latest quarter, which ended in January, grew by 265% year-over-year to $22.1 billion. Its data-center business, primarily driven by AI chip demand, was even more impressive, up 409% from last year, to $18.4 billion. (Barron’s)
• How the Pentagon Learned to Use Targeted Ads to Find Its Targets—and Vladimir Putin: Meet the guy who taught US intelligence agencies how to make the most of the ad tech ecosystem, “the largest information-gathering enterprise ever conceived by man.” (Wired)
• “A New Voice for the Times”: Is “The Morning” the Future? The New York Times’ flagship newsletter is hugely popular with readers, a source of tension among some reporters, and, for top leaders, more of what the traditional paper needs. (Vanity Fair)
• Can the Masters of Hipster Cringe Conquer Hollywood With Wall Street Cash? A24, the studio behind everything from Uncut Gems to Beef, has private equity backing, a $2.5 billion valuation and a newfound desire to go mainstream. (Businessweek)
• Was Toyota’s bet on hybrid cars right all along? Japanese automaker’s stance on limited appetite for fully electric vehicles is being reassessed. (Financial Times)
• What a Major Solar Storm Could Do to Our Planet: Disturbances on the sun may have the potential to devastate our power grid and communication systems. When the next big storm arrives, will we be prepared for it? (New Yorker)
• Richard Lewis, comedy prophet: He saw the anxiety era coming, and made it funny for us: Jazz-like with his improvisations and channeling a bluesman’s brand of hope, Lewis made acute anxiety hilarious. (Salon) see also Larry David Pays Tribute to Richard Lewis: ‘Like a Brother to Me … the Funniest Person and Also the Sweetest’ (Variety)
• AI ‘dream girls’ are coming for porn stars’ jobs AI will change adult entertainment forever. AI will change adult entertainment forever. The risks — for sex workers and the rest of us — are profound. (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with David Snyderman, global head of Magnetar Capital’s alternative credit and fixed-income business. He also serves as chairman of Magnetar’s investment committee and as a member of its management committee.
How Much Wealth You Need to Join the Richest 1% Around the World
Source: Bloomberg
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