• The Federal Reserve’s Little Secret: No one really knows how interest rates work, or even whether they work at all—not the experts who study them, the investors who track them, or the officials who set them. (The Atlantic)
• Why Front-Page News Can Mislead Investors: Extreme pessimism—the kind that often leads the news—can potentially be fertile ground for investment opportunities. (Morningstar) see also Nearly everything Americans believe about the economy is wrong: Perceptions of the U.S. economy are often at odds with reality. 55% of Americans think the economy is shrinking, with about the same share saying we’re in a recession. In reality, the U.S. economy has been growing consistently for 2 years, even after accounting for inflation. By virtually every benchmark, in fact, we’re exceeding growth expectations. The U.S. economy has been outperforming other advanced economies. (Washington Post)
• Wall Street’s Hottest Lottery Ticket: Zero-Dated Options: Bets on market moves have taken off with these options. Stocks like Nvidia and Apple could be next. (Barron’s)
• The dirty secret of California’s legal weed: An L.A. Times/WeedWeek investigation finds alarming levels of pesticides in cannabis products at dispensaries across the state. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Real Story of the Crisis at The Washington Post: How the world’s greatest businessman drove his newspaper into a ditch (The Atlantic)
• Never back down: Rich and powerful exploit post-shame society. America is reaching the pinnacle of a post-shame society forged by Donald Trump and reinforced by powerful patrons. Why it matters: Nearly 50 years after Richard Nixon resigned before ever being charged with a crime, the GOP is a month away from nominating a convicted felon to be president. Polls suggest the race is extremely close. The big picture: While he may represent the most extreme example, Trump isn’t the only one who has realized a lack of shame can be a crucial survival skill. (Axios)
• Fighting Gerrymandering: The Mathematical Complexity Behind America’s Map Problem: The Supreme Court, Maps, and Math, The Hidden Complexity Behind Redistricting (Statecraft)
• Texas abortion ban linked to 13% increase in infant and newborn deaths: “This might foreshadow what is happening in other states,” said Johns Hopkins public health researcher Alison Gemmill. “Texas is basically a year ahead.” (NBC News)
• Trump expressed concern that returning classified docs after subpoena could result in criminal charges, according to sealed notes: Judge Aileen Cannon is considering tossing out the notes as evidence. (ABC News) see also Aileen Cannon Is Who Critics Feared She Was: The judge handling Trump’s classified-documents case has shown that she’s not fit for the task. (The Atlantic)
• How Did the Case Against Alec Baldwin Go so Far? After an accidental on-set shooting death — and two years of bitter legal combat — the movie star is about to have his day in court. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Eva Shang, CEO/co-founder of Legalist. The firm specializes in litigation finance, which is non-correlated with equities. She leads the company’s 50-person team of engineers, attorneys, and analysts, and is a member of the firm’s valuation & investment committees and board of directors. Before co-founding Legalist at 20, Eva studied economics at Harvard College.
The stock market’s concentration, in one chart
Source: Axios
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