My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:
• Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market: A new sign that AI is competing with college grads. (The Atlantic)
• If you think Americans are mad now, just wait a few months: Some guesses as to how long it will take the real pain to arrive. (Noahpinion) see also Trump Says He’s Off to Best Start as President. The Economy Says Something Else: Trump’s second term begins with a decline in US GDP, while jobs and prices hold steady. On almost all fronts, the outlook is getting worse. (Bloomberg)
• Your Home Without China: It’s hard to imagine an American home without Chinese products. Many essentials are imported almost entirely from China — and with new tariffs, they’re likely to become more expensive. Toasters, >99% Alarm clocks, >99% First-aid kits, 90% Baby strollers, 97% We analyzed import data to show where Americans may see product shortages, fewer choices and price increases. (New York Times)
• Wealthy consumers upped their spending last quarter, while the rest of America is cutting back. Lower-income earners are reining in their transactions to focus on essentials, while the wealthy continue to spend freely on perks including dining out and luxury travel, according to first-quarter results from U.S. credit card lenders. Synchrony, which provides store cards for retail brands including Lowe’s and T.J. Maxx, spending fell 4% in the first three months of the year, the company said last week. That compares to a 6% spending jump at American Express and a similar rise at JPMorgan Chase, both of which cater to wealthier users with higher credit scores. (CNBC)
• Trump has lost his advantage on inflation and the economy: In three short months, the president has squandered his position on the two main issues voters elected him to address. (Strength In Numbers)
• A Bold Move to Help Fix the Housing Crisis Just Happened in an Unexpected Place: A quiet reform in Texas could open the doors to more homes, lower rent, and a different kind of growth. (Slate) see also Where New York City’s Zoning Reform Will Add Housing: The ‘City of Yes’ plan is already having an impact. The changes to the city’s landscape will mostly be subtle — on purpose. (CityLab)
• The New Divide in American Marriage: College graduates are marrying at high rates. Everyone else isn’t. (The Atlantic)
• A new collider can teach us about the origin of matter: The laws of nature are almost perfectly symmetric between matter and antimatter, and yet our Universe is made ~100% of matter only. But why? (Big Think) see also Why does physics break down at the Planck scale? There are limits to where physics makes meaningful predictions: beyond the Planck length, time, or energy. Here’s why we can’t go further. (Big Think)
• Lewis Hamilton Plus Ferrari Was a Match Made in F1 Heaven. Well, Not So Fast. The marriage has been rockier than anyone expected, at least on the track. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Mastermind of the Yellowstone Universe Isn’t Done Yet: Chris McCarthy has helped create one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood. He may soon be out of a job. (Businessweek)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Sander Gerber, the CEO/CIO of Hudson Bay Capital. The firm is a global multi-strategy investment firm based in Greenwich, with offices in NY, Miami, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai. Founded in June 2005 (with Yoav Roth) they manage $20B in client assets.
Major Asset Classes | April 2025
Source: Capital Spectator
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