The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• We might be closer to changing course on climate change than we realized: Greenhouse gas emissions might have already peaked. Now they need to fall — fast. (Vox)
• Tesla Is Not the Next Ford. It’s the Next Con Ed. Elon Musk’s EV empire is crumbling. Of late, Tesla’s cars have come to seem a bit hazardous. Their self-driving features have been linked to hundreds of accidents and more than a dozen deaths. Then, earlier this month, the company recalled its entire fleet of Cybertrucks. (The Atlantic) see also Tesla’s in its flop era: The company’s sales are falling, its stock is dropping, and even its most ardent supporters are stressed about where it’s all heading. (The Verge)
• It Introduced Ozempic to the World. Now It Must Remake Itself. Novo Nordisk’s factories work nonstop turning out Ozempic and Wegovy, its blockbuster weight-loss drugs, but the Danish company has far bigger ambitions. (New York Times)
• Fidelity Reminds ETF Industry It Doesn’t Have To Care: Vanguard: Plow any money made back into making the funds bigger (cheaper) and better; Schwab: Make money for shareholders the way most public companies do: generate bottom line profits (the business), and increase multiples (the brand and growth story); Fidelity: Secure the Bag for Abby Johnson and other private shareholders. (Echo Beach)
• Jerry Seinfeld Says Movies Are Over. Here’s Why He Made One Anyway: The billionaire comedian could be doing anything with his time and talent, so why did he direct a movie about Pop-Tarts? In a candid conversation, Seinfeld explains all that—as well as his role in making that instantly-legendary Curb finale, and his sense that people misunderstood his own show’s notorious ending. (GQ)
• Ant geopolitics: Over the past four centuries quadrillions of ants have created a strange and turbulent global society that shadows our own. (Aeon)
• 27 Takes On What It Means To Be a Serious Person: What do we mean when we call somebody “serious” or “unserious”? Let me say, right off the bat, that I don’t think there’s a definitive answer to this. Seriousness is something we recognise in people, or feel we recognise, without being able to fully articulate (The Ruffian) see also Do you have an inner monologue? Here’s what it reveals about you. While experts disagree on how common self-talk really is, they wholeheartedly agree that it’s a valuable tool for self-discovery. (Nat Geo)
• What Kind of a Superpower Is India Becoming? The 2024 Indian general election is already underway, and the popular and controversial Narendra Modi looks to be the favorite. How is India changing under Modi? (The Ringer)
• How the New York Times became the White House’s least favorite paper: The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House Biden’s people think they’re “entitled.” The Times says “they’re not being realistic.” (Politico)
• Physicists Finally Know How the Strong Force Gets Its Strength: New discoveries demystify the bizarre force that binds atomic nuclei together. (Scientific American)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Dr. Ed Yardeni, President of Yardeni Research and former Chief Investment Strategist at Deutsche Bank, Cheif Economist at Prudential, and researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His most recent book is “Predicting the Markets: A Professional Autobiography.”
The evolution of equity markets by country/cap
Source: UBS
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Still on book leave . . . but I am past the midway point and making good progress!
