My mid-week morning train WFH reads:
• Where Is the Fed Headed?: Reading the monetary tea leaves as the rate-path debate heats up. A clear-eyed guide through a confusing moment for policy. (Stay-At-Home Macro)
• How the Mag 7 became the Lag 7. Year-to-date percentage change The megacaps that powered the market are now dragging it. A tidy marker of the leadership rotation underway. (Axios) see also The Magnificent 493. While some people are deeply concerned about concentration in the S&P 500 due to the Magnificent 7, I have been more focused on what those firms are going to do to the rest of the index: They will make every other company in the S&P 500, or the Russell 2000, or the Wilshire 5000, that much better. (The Big Picture)
• Gold heads for worst quarter in more than a decade as retail frenzy fades: Expectations of higher interest rates fuelled by Iran war help end bullion’s record rally. The safe-haven trade unwinds as the small-investor rush cools. Pairs with this week’s other gold pieces for the full round-trip. (Financial Times)
• The Leveraged Tail Wags the Dog: Samsung & SK Hynix: Recent market action in South Korea isn’t a direct cautionary tail for what can go wrong with leverage, but it’s a good reminder to pay attention. How leveraged single-stock products can start distorting the shares they track — memory-chip edition. The structural risk hiding in a hot corner of the ETF world. (ETF.com)
• The Humbling of the Once Almighty Dollar: Krugman on the greenback’s slipping grip and what dethrones a reserve currency (slowly, then not). Wonky, contrarian, and worth arguing with. (Paul Krugman)
• The Nationwide Backlash Against Cameras Watching Your Car: In places like Troy, N.Y., leaders say AI-enabled cameras boost safety. But some locals call it a ‘dystopian hellscape.’ License-plate readers hit a wall of public resistance. The surveillance-creep story reaches its pushback chapter. In places like Troy, N.Y., leaders say AI-enabled cameras boost safety. But some locals call it a ‘dystopian hellscape.’ (Wall Street Journal)
• Will AI make companies outsource more, or less? Maybe both. Noah Smith on how AI might redraw the boundaries of the firm — Coase for the model era. A genuinely interesting question most coverage skips. (Noahpinion)
• The Expensive Accessory Every ‘Hot Girl’ Wants: An Old, Loud SUV: The market for vintage Broncos and Land Rovers is booming, fueled by affluent young women willing to spend north of $100,000 for ‘junk on wheels’. Vintage Broncos as the status symbol of the moment. A fun read on how taste, nostalgia, and price tags collide. The market for vintage Broncos and Land Rovers is booming, fueled by affluent young women willing to spend north of $100,000 for ‘junk on wheels’ (Wall Street Journal)
• Despite His Best Efforts, Trump May Just Have Won the War for Kyiv: A wry argument that the outcome defied the intentions. Counterintuitive, and worth reading even if you land elsewhere. Putin gambled that the West would lose its nerve, and Ukraine would always be held on a short leash by its friends. That leash has snapped (The Telegraph)
• Inside the Onion’s Quest to Turn Infowars Into a Comedic Revenge Story: Satire buys the conspiracy machine and tries to make it funny. An improbable media tale with real schadenfreude. (Washington Post)
Video of the day: We’re Back with Brian Williams featuring Tom Hanks (Netflix)
Be sure to check out our Master’s in Business next week with McKeel Hagerty, CEO/Chairman of Hagerty Specialty Insurance. He transformed a family specialty-insurance agency into an enthusiast-driven platform focused on collectible cars, events, valuation data, and auctions. HGTY is now a public company that insures everything from classic cars to boats, trucks, tractors, and military vehicles for over 2.8M collectors.
What you have is what you used to want, but it doesn’t feel like it
Source: Meaningful Money
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