ETFsETF investors have mopped up diminished gold demand from China and India. (ft.com)Bond ETFs have not caught on yet in Asia. (ft.com)StrategyBe wary of the financial advice you get on FinTok, or TikTok for finance. (institutionalinvestor.com)Your view of the stock market is largely a function of your time horizon. (awealthofcommonsense.com)CryptoA great example of ‘know what you own.’ (compoundadvisors.com)CompaniesWhat’s behind the WWE’s ($WWE) shrinking audience? (variety.com)The Barstool-Penn Gaming ($PENN) deal is in large part a bet on Dave Portnoy. (sportico.com)SECSome reasons to oppose the SEC’s proposal to reduce the number of firms that file 13-Fs. (marketfolly.com)This is not the only SEC proposal that makes thing harder on smaller investors. (etf.com)GlobalMuch of Europe is committed to getting kids … [Read More...]

MarketsEmerging markets have been underperforming the US for a decade. (allstarcharts.com)TIPS-derived inflation expectations are back to where they were pre-pandemic. (capitalspectator.com)StrategyIs the notion of compounding overrated in real life? (awealthofcommonsense.com)Managing money seems easy until you actually have to do it. (humbledollar.com)Should you overweight technology in your portfolio? (retirementfieldguide.com)CryptoThe IRS doesn’t want you to skate on paying taxes on cryptocurrency gains. (wsj.com)RetailAmazon ($AMZN) had struggled to make headway in Italy, until the pandemic hit. (nytimes.com)Grocery stores are stocking on inventory in the face of an uncertain Winter. (wsj.com)Real estateKKR ($KKR) says the ‘urban exodus’ story is overblown. (institutionalinvestor.com)How can the residential home buying process not get transformed by technology? (notboring.substack.com)Commercial real estate is dealing with … [Read More...]

The Path AheadWhat the next twelve months could look like. (statnews.com)11 experts on how the pandemic ends, or at least fades into the background. (politico.com)Ed YongEd Yong, “As pandemics get wider, they feel weirder.” (theatlantic.com)Andy Slavitt talks with Ed Yong about explaining the pandemic to a broader audience. (podcasts.apple.com)TestingSupply shortages are still hampering testing efforts. (wsj.com)The SalivaDirect test is now available in three states. (news.yale.edu)Graham Weston, co-founder of cloud-computing company Rackspace Hosting, wants to build a faster, cheaper coronavirus test. (wsj.com)SpreadThe news, so far, is good on the reopening of schools this Fall. (reason.com)The data on the spread of the coronavirus on commercial flights is incomplete, at best. (washingtonpost.com)Is the return of in-… [Read More...]

AutosChina’s auto fleet is aging so Tencent and Alibaba are nudging their way into the repair business. (wsj.com)ChargePoint is going public via a SPAC. (ft.com)Why batteries keep getting cheaper and more energy dense. (arstechnica.com)CaliforniaCalifornia is planning to ban the sale of new ICE cars by 2035. (wsj.com)California always had weather and climate as selling points, until now. (slate.com)California is going to need a bigger, better grid to accommodate all those new EVs. (wsj.com)ClimateThe costs of Covid-19 are putting preventing climate change to shame. (washingtonpost.com)Why we know that climate change is having an influence on forest fires. (washingtonpost.com)California wildfires are another example of how climate change can affect ecosystems beyond just heat and sea levels. (msn.com)The worse climate change gets … [Read More...]

Book excerptsAn excerpt from Guy Raz’s new book “How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs.” (fastcompany.com)An excerpt from “The Wake Up Call: Why the Pandemic Has Exposed the Weakness of the West, and How to Fix It” by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge. (wsj.com)An excerpt from Michael McCullough’s “The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code.” (behavioralscientist.org)An excerpt from Anne Helen Petersen’s “Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation.” (wired.com)Money, success and happinessA profile of Chris Rock as he enters a new phase of life. (hollywoodreporter.com)Kevin Love, “It was like I was trying to achieve my way out of depression.” (theplayerstribune.com)PandemicThe economic effects … [Read More...]

MarketsThe Russell 2000 is now below its 200 day moving average. (sentimentrader.com)Tech stocks are more likely to end up in the top or bottom than in the middle, performance-wise. (klementoninvesting.substack.com)StrategyThere’s no surefire way to identify in advance which companies are going to go onto outsized success. (novelinvestor.com)The ten most useless phrases in financial markets. (bloomberg.com)Why you should put your portfolio on autopilot. (portfoliocharts.com)NetflixNetflix ($NFLX) needs more guilty pleasure shows like TLC’s ’90 Day Fiance.’ (msn.com)Netflix ($NFLX) just celebrated its ten year anniversary in Canada. (bnnbloomberg.ca)Why does Netflix ($NFLX) keep canceling shows after a couple of seasons? (wired.com)FinanceA profile of Nathan Anderson of Hindenberg Research which helped spark the decline in Nikola ($NKLA) shares. (wsj.com)Peter Thiel is getting … [Read More...]

MarketsTea prices are soaring in pandemic. (wsj.com)The reversal in lumber prices is impressive. (seeitmarket.com)The US dollar has stopped going down. (sentimentrader.com)Strategy Why dividends matter. (crossingwallstreet.com)Why the value factor isn’t dead, yet. (albertbridgecapital.com)Why traditional value measures don’t work any more – think intangible assets. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)The best growth stocks are really hard to hold over the long term. (blog.validea.com)ApplePutting some numbers to the size of the Apple ($AAPL) ecosystem. (asymco.com)A largely positive review of iOS 14. (theverge.com)iOS 14 has upgraded security features. (wired.com)Ten years in, the Apple ($AAPL) iPad is still evolving. (fastcompany.com)CompaniesHow Amazon ($AMZN) prevents competitors from advertising rival products on the site. (wsj.com)The co-founder of Chewy.com ($CHWY) wants to transform GameStop ($GME). (markets.businessinsider.com)Why … [Read More...]

DataFutures data and equity data are different. (priceactionlab.com)ActiveShare.info has gotten an upgrade. (riaintel.com)ValueWhy no single measure can accurately capture a company’s valuation. (researchaffiliates.com)Why the B/P ratio is no longer sufficient to identify value stocks. (alphaarchitect.com)MacroAt what point do negative demographics, i.e. falling populations, affect financial markets? (blogs.cfainstitute.org)How to predict government bond yields using economic data. (alphaarchitect.com)FactorsOn the relationship between earnings accruals and momentum. (alphaarchitect.com)Size on its own isn’t much of a factor. (institutionalinvestor.com)ResearchTHIS is the single, most influential factor that drives equity returns. (mailchi.mp)Why performance-based fees don’t mesh well with systematic strategies. (institutionalinvestor.com)Research into how changes in the language of public filings affect stock prices. (quantpedia.com)News sentiment is not 100% correlated … [Read More...]

New investorsThe demographic makeup of equity holders have become younger and more diverse in pandemic. (msn.com)If it holds over time, this is a development many have been waiting for. (thereformedbroker.com)StrategyContradictory stuff happens all the time in the stock market. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)Be careful what you benchmark yourself to. (awealthofcommonsense.com)Investment strategists keep piling on the 60/40 portfolio. (ft.com)CompaniesHow does Tesla’s ($TSLA) valuation compare to some of the great companies at similar stages? (morningstar.com)IAC ($IAC) is growing its portfolio of online properties. (axios.com)ExchangesThe Members Exchange, or MEMX, has launched. (reuters.com)Private equityThomas Bravo was early in the PE wave of investment in software businesses. (wsj.com)A wave of hotel foreclosures is coming, starting with Chicago’s Palmer House. (wsj.com)Hedge fundsSome hedge funds are betting on … [Read More...]

MarketsThis is historically the weakest week of the year for the stock market. (quantifiableedges.com)Retail call option buying has not really dropped off that much. (sentimentrader.com)Inflows into leveraged ETPs are on the rise. (ft.com)StrategyWhy bears always sound smarter than bulls. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)Negativity is not an investment strategy. (awealthofcommonsense.com)Everybody faces drawdowns, even billionaires. The question is how you get through it that matters. (thereformedbroker.com)CompaniesMicrosoft ($MSFT) is buying Bethesda Softworks to boost its gaming business. (msn.com)eBay ($EBAY) is transition some shipping from the USPS to UPS ($UPS). (washingtonpost.com)How Pinterest ($PINS) beat back vaccine misinformation. (statnews.com)Etsy ($ETSY) sellers still can’t make enough masks. (theverge.com)NikolaNikola ($NKLA) looks a lot less like Tesla ($TSLA) than it used to. (bloomberg.com)The Nikola ($NKLA) story is … [Read More...]

StrategyThere is no guarantee that low vol strategies will be, you know, low vol. (wsj.com)Consistency is a good thing when investing. How to know when it’s time to change course. (humbledollar.com)”The art of long term investing is about surviving the short run. It’s risk management 101.” (novelinvestor.com)China TechOracle ($ORCL) is moving forward for its deal with TikTok. (nytimes.com)The administration didn’t really get what it wanted from ByteDance. (bloomberg.com)The battle over Chinese technology isn’t over by a long shot. (wired.com)WeChat is a crucial link between family members in and outside of China. (nytimes.com)Fund managementHow Blackrock ($BLK) ETFs have benefited from its relationship with the Fed. (wsj.com)Why the SEC might crackdown on the misleading use of IRR figures. (ft.com)VotingScientific American … [Read More...]

DataThe US now has a higher per capita death rate than Sweden. (econbrowser.com)Arizona’s outbreak seems to be in the rear view mirror, for now. (wsj.com)A study of the outcomes for young adults with Covid-19 admitted to the hospital. (jamanetwork.com)Some evidence that China didn’t manipulate its Covid-19 statistics. (sciencedirect.com)Stillbirths have increased dramatically in pandemic. (nature.com)SpreadFarm workers have been uniquely affected by Covid-19. (bloomberg.com)A rural wedding in Maine is officially a superspreader event. (washingtonpost.com)How Carnival Cruises’s ($CCL) the Ruby Princess helped seed the coronavirus around the globe. (bloomberg.com)Early in the pandemic, hospital spread of Covid-19 was a real problem. (wsj.com)Could wearing glasses protect you from the coronavirus? Some preliminary evidence. (nytimes.com)TreatmentsHospitals are more prepared to deal with Covid-19 patients … [Read More...]

AutosGM ($GM) under Mary Barra is not trying to be everything to everyone anymore. (wsj.com)Auto insurers are relying more on algorithms to estimate damages. (nytimes.com)A look at Ford’s ($F) plan for the all-electric F-150 pickup. (axios.com)WildfiresWhy California was primed for wildfires this year. (theatlantic.com)Downed power lines likely contributed to the Oregon fires. (wsj.com)Why it makes sense to separate the effect of climate change and forestry practices when it comes to the Western wildfires. (theconversation.com)Climate changeHow climate will change habitability in the US over time. (projects.propublica.org)Like it not, we are already paying the price of climate change. (barrons.com)The federal government has been ignoring climate change for the past 3+ years. (wired.com)The case for climate optimism: the market … [Read More...]

The bizAmazon ($AMZN) Music now has podcasts. (theverge.com)Amazon is going to also start hosting original shows as well. (techcrunch.com)FinanceBarry Ritholtz talks with Will Danoff, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Contrafund. (ritholtz.com)Bob Huebscher talks with Larry Swedroe about the implications of his book “The Incredible Shrinking Alpha.” (advisorperspectives.com)Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway talk with Ben Breitholtz of Arbor Data Science about how hedge funds use alternative data to make investment decisions. (overcast.fm)Jim and Devin talk with Ted Bililies, Managing Director at AlixPartners, about leadership and culture in private equity. (pefuncast.libsyn.com)Ted Seides talks with Annie Duke author of the new book “How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices.” (capitalallocatorspodcast.com)Morgan HouselJosh Brown talks with Morgan Housel author of … [Read More...]

MarketsThe thirst for IPOs is palpable. (sentimentrader.com)Mega cap stocks are taking a breather. (disciplinedinvesting.blogspot.com)StrategyThe past ten years have habituated investors to high returns. (compoundadvisors.com)Institutional investors are between a rock and hard place when it comes to return expectations. (awealthofcommonsense.com)Why you should take fund flow data with a big grain of salt. (morningstar.com)Active management and the paradox of skill. (evidenceinvestor.com)CompaniesWhy Square ($SQ) should buy Twitter ($TWTR). (medium.com)How Zoom ($ZM) and not Slack ($WORK) won the pandemic. (marker.medium.com)Why Amazon ($AMZN) wants to push warehouses closer to its customers. (bloomberg.com)The Trump administration is pushing forward its plan to ban the Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat from American app stores. (nytimes.com)FinanceThe case surrouding negative crude oil futures … [Read More...]

Book excerptsAn excerpt from Guy Raz’s new book “How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs.” (tim.blog)An excerpt from Joel Greenblatt’s new book “Common Sense: The Investor’s Guide to Equality, Opportunity, and Growth.” (valuewalk.com)An excerpt from Daniel Yergin’s new book “The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations.” (wsj.com)Ten quotes from David Chang’s new memoir “Eat a Peach.” (eater.com)Corporate declineExxonMobil ($XOM) used to be the country’s most valuable company. What the heck happened? (wsj.com)The story of how GE ($GE) fell back to earth: a review of Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann’s “Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric.” (realclearmarkets.com)Big techFacebook ($FB) has turned a … [Read More...]

MarketsDespite a market rally, investors are pulling money from equity funds. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)Has Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) meaningfully changed its approach to the technology sector? (thereformedbroker.com)Volatility is making for a good year for convertible arbitrage strategies. (ft.com)FinanceThe pandemic has done little to slow the pace of dividend recaps among the private equity crowd. (ft.com)Nasdaq ($NDAQ) is moving all of its services to the cloud. (wsj.com)Deutsche Bank isn’t in any hurry to return to the office. (wsj.com)SPACs are spreading to Asia. (ft.com)ETFsAn example of how model portfolio changes can swing ETF inflows. (morningstar.com)How the US Global Jets ETF ($JETS) attracted some $1.5 billion in AUM this year. (etf.com)Why are two of the biggest ETF providers often absent from broker marketplaces? … [Read More...]