MarketsHow major asset classes performed in August 2021. (capitalspectator.com)August is not a historically strong month for the stock market. (lplresearch.com)StrategyWhy Ric Edelman, and others, think the SEC is making a big mistake by not approving a Bitcoin ETF. (financial-planning.com)The 22 investing maxims of John Templeton including ‘ The time to sell an asset is when you have found a much better bargain to replace it.’ (monevator.com)AppleHow Apple ($AAPL) became anti-fragile. (tidbits.com)What is Apple’s ($AAPL) identity now? (mondaynote.com)Wall StreetWall Street dress codes got pretty casual in pandemic. (nytimes.com)Goldman Sachs ($GS) is the latest bank to raise pay for associates. (ft.com)Venture capitalNon-traditional investors are pouring money into startups. (wsj.com)What if the venture surge isn’t an anomaly? (notboring.co)Fund … [Read More...]

CompaniesOn the booming business of corrugated cardboard and other shipping materials. (fastcompany.com)Amazon ($AMZN) keeps taking market share in book sales. (medium.com)FinanceWhen brokers go public, beware. (wsj.com)The state of today’s financial exchanges: distorted and ‘largely opaque.’ (protocol.com)Fund managementClosed-end fund managers are doing what they can to stave off activist hedge funds. (barrons.com)Despite the hype, the ETF industry is still largely passive. (etf.com)GlobalInvestors are trying to decide how to deal with China’s crackdown on tech companies. (wsj.com)The global supply chain wasn’t built with a sudden stop and restart in mind. (ft.com)PolicyU.S. population growth has ground to a halt. (wsj.com)How rising wages and an ebullient stock market have helped increase wealth inequality. (morningstar.com)Barry Ritholtz talks with Brian … [Read More...]

VaccinesThe FDA now says it has fast tracked full approval of the Pfizer ($PFE)-BioNTech ($BTNX) vaccine. (statnews.com)What is the hold up at the FDA? (marginalrevolution.com)The NIH wants to prototype vaccines for new viruses. (scientificamerican.com)Some hints on how much the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. (statnews.com)Andy Slavitt talks with Pfizer ($PFE) CEO Albert Bourla about vaccines and Delta. (podcasts.apple.com)Vaccine mandatesThe dam has broken for vaccine mandates. (wired.com)Delta has caused an uptick in initial vaccination rates. (cnbc.com)Mandatory vaccinations are coming for health care workers. (nytimes.com)The VA is going to mandate vaccinations for employees. (slate.com)We should mandate vaccines, not masks. (vox.com)New restrictions on vaccinated Americans won’t solve anything. (washingtonpost.com)Vaccine hesitancyHow virus hesitancy works. (econbrowser.com)It’s … [Read More...]

AutosJust how badly the chip shortage is weighing on U.S. auto makers. (washingtonpost.com)Automakers are trying to manage ICEs and EVs at the same time. (wsj.com)Automakers love the idea of charging for subscriptions. (axios.com)VCs seem to be more optimistic about autonomous trucks than cars. (wired.com)The race is on to build EV charging networks, profits aside. (wsj.com)Finding a charging station for a non-Tesla ($TSLA) EV isn’t easy. (axios.com)EnergyElectric utilities across the country are having to deal with the implications of a changing climate. (nytimes.com)What happens if more consumers opt for a solar power option from their provider? (avc.com)Iron air batteries can, in theory, store energy at one tenth the price of lithium ion batteries. (newatlas.com)Why you should take … [Read More...]

Off-topicNoah Kagan talks with Nir Eyal author of “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.” (okdork.com)Sean Illing talks with Michael Pollan author of “This Is Your on Mind on Plants.” (vox.com)Brett McKay talks with William Damon author of “A Round of Golf With My Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace With Your Present.” (artofmanliness.com)Brian Koppelman talks with film director Quentin Tarantino. (podcasts.apple.com)Personal financeTim Ferriss talks with Ramit Sethi author of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.” (tim.blog)Jeff Ptak and Christine Benz talk with Manisha Thakor of MoneyZen about financial wellness. (morningstar.com)Tim Ranzetta talks indexing and more with Burton Malkiel. (overcast.fm)QuantCorey Hoffstein talks with Andrew Lapthorne … [Read More...]

StrategyNine questions you should ask about a bull market including ‘What is my plan for the next downturn?’ (awealthofcommonsense.com)You can’t earn capital market returns without some risk. (compoundadvisors.com)Are stock valuations now permanently higher? (bloomberg.com)Delta variantThe Delta variant highlights the long term risk to commercial property owners. (ft.com)The Delta variant could help put more restaurants out of business. (washingtonpost.com)Movie and television productions are in flux with the rise in Delta cases. (wsj.com)RetailRetail stores are increasingly viewed as ‘micro-fulfillment centers.’ (axios.com)Walmart ($WMT) is expanding its program to pay for college for associates. (washingtonpost.com)In a number of cities front-line workers are earning mandated hazard pay. (politico.com)1 out of every 153 workers in the U.S. now work for … [Read More...]

Book stuffA Q&A with Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell authors of “The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion.” (theverge.com)An excerpt from Sarah Everts’ “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.” (wsj.com)An excerpt from “The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond With Forests and Nature” by Peter Wohlleben. (nautil.us)An excerpt from from Dave Seminara’s “Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed and the Quest to Reach the Ends of the Earth.” (atlasobscura.com)FoodFine dining is going to look a lot different post-pandemic. (eater.com)Why the American grocery aisle is teeming with new drinks (and types). (vox.com)CovidThe Lake of the Ozarks is ground zero for aggressive vaccine skepticism. (politico.com)How Emily Oster … [Read More...]

CryptoThe Bitcoin Strategy ProFund invests in Bitcoin futures contracts. (bloomberg.com)How FTX is doing in the U.S. market. (coindesk.com)CompaniesBooster shots would be a boon to Pfizer ($PFE). (axios.com)Rolling up Amazon ($AMZN) sellers has become a big business in and of itself. (ft.com)Netflix ($NFLX) is going to mandate vaccinations for productions. (deadline.com)Realogy ($RLGY) is now solidly profitable amidst the housing boom. (vox.com)Big TechMicrosoft ($MSFT) and Google ($GOOGL) both saw nearly 50% increases in cloud revenue. (protocol.com)Big Tech is benefiting from a surge in online ad spending. (axios.com)Microsoft ($MSFT) is avoiding regulatory scrutiny for now. (theatlantic.com)Finance SPACs are widening their net for targets. (news.crunchbase.com)How many more hits can the insurers take from bigger storms? (bloomberg.com)SPACs can no … [Read More...]

MarketsThere is no such thing as a ‘normal’ market environment. (awealthofcommonsense.com)It’s hard to be bearish when the biggest companies in the world are crushing earnings. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)CompaniesStarbucks ($SBUX) is the new GE ($GE): a source of executive talent. (bloomberg.com)Netflix ($NFLX) is going to have to invest big to be a player in gaming. (bloomberg.com)Big Tech Big Tech is growing into their valuations. (thereformedbroker.com)Apple ($AAPL), Microsoft ($MSFT) and Alphabet ($GOOGL) generated $57 billion in earnings last quarter. (ft.com)Even Apple ($AAPL) is feeling the chip crunch. (wsj.com)Google ($GOOGL) is joining other companies by pushing back office reopening and mandating vaccinations. (nytimes.com)China Why you are unlikely to see any new Chinese listed stocks in the U.S. (institutionalinvestor.com)VIEs were always a risky … [Read More...]

InflationOn the attraction of trend following in inflationary periods. (mailchi.mp)Typical inflation hedges are not all that. (papers.ssrn.com)AnomaliesWhy focusing on price-to-book stopped working. (bloomberg.com)Transactions costs in the bond market wipe any anomaly you might find. (alphaarchitect.com)ResearchMarket capitalization weighting is not perfect but is still the best option. (elmwealth.com)Some international evidence that stocks overseas generally trail the risk-free rate. (evidenceinvestor.com)Why hedge fund performance has waned post-GFC. (cfainstitute.org)Three misconceptions about illiquidity risk. (caia.org)On the risk and return of SPACs. (quantpedia.com)A review of “The Day the Markets Roared: How a 1982 Forecast Sparked a Global Bull Market” by Henry Kaufman with David B. Sicilia. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)On the relationship between wealth in middle age and longevity. (sciencedaily.com) [Read More...]

MarketsWho are all these new investors and what do they want? (theatlantic.com)Younger investors don’t necessarily want the stock market to keep making new highs. (awealthofcommonsense.com)How a day trading service got into hot water with regulators. (businessofbusiness.com)CryptoInstitutional investors need to see more regulation before getting into crypto. (bloomberg.com)Crypto exchanges are exiting China. (scmp.com)VentureHow Tiger Global became one of the biggest venture investors in the world. (ft.com)’Lead investors’ are going by the wayside. (axios.com)If you had to choose a fund return measure: cash-on-cash or IRR? (avc.com)How much of a newly public company do VCs own on exit? (blossomstreetventures.medium.com)Why startup cap tables are a mess. (protocol.com)Fund managementAn introduction to thematic ETFs. (monevator.com)This hedge fund manager has … [Read More...]

RatesWhy inflation doesn’t seem to matter to the bond markets. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)30-year mortgage rates make room for another wave of refinancings. (axios.com)InvestingHow to build an investing career based on writing good stuff. (thereformedbroker.com)15 books for financial professionals including “Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts” by Annie Duke. (money.usnews.com)Crypto Binance and FTX have reduced the amount of leverage. (nytimes.com)A tax quirk about cryptocurrencies: wash-sale rules don’t apply. (cnbc.com)On the performance of digital asset ETFs. (insights.factorresearch.com)GlobalChinese regulators have cracked down on private tutoring companies. (nytimes.com)Brazil’s economy has stagnated as manufacturing struggles. (ft.com)The bull and bear case for Pinduoduo ($PDD). (notboring.co)Delta variantMore companies are pushing back their reopening due to … [Read More...]

MarketsWhat to do when predicting a market crash. (awealthofcommonsense.com)Charlie Ellis, “Every major trend that I know of has worked to make it harder and harder for active managers to do better than the index.” (marketwatch.com)Want to hedge inflation? Buy stocks. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)FinanceBanks are finding ways around the FICO score. (wsj.com)Some bank CEOs are simply done with remote work. (wsj.com)Fund managementIt’s increasingly difficult to ignore Vanguard’s push into advice. (ft.com)How custom baskets work for active ETFs. (etf.com)PolicyTo get more Americans to work will require closing various employment gaps. (theovershoot.co)How much is reduced competition costing American consumers? (ritholtz.com)Collecting taxes owed shouldn’t be a partisan issue. (politico.com)Medical debt has risen the most in states where Medicaid has not been expanded. … [Read More...]

VaccinesAs the pandemic rolls on, countries are turning to mRNA vaccines. (wsj.com)Where CureVac went wrong its approach. (ft.com)Some evidence that the J&J ($JNJ) jab is not as effective against the Delta variant. (nytimes.com)Delaying second doses seems to increase effectiveness. (marginalrevolution.com)The case for fractional dosing is pretty straightforward. (papers.ssrn.com)Millions of vaccine doses are set to expire in the U.S. (statnews.com)Why the FDA should fully approve the vaccines. (slowboring.com)Delta variantWhy the Delta variant is a big deal. (statnews.com)People are acting as if Covid is over – it’s not. (washingtonpost.com)Those infected with the Delta variant carry a higher viral load. (scientificamerican.com)The surge in Delta cases illustrated. (washingtonpost.com)The unvaccinated Vaccines have proven to be an important natural experiment. … [Read More...]

AutosMercedes-Benz is planning to be all-EV by 2030. (nytimes.com)Full-autonomous driving is a moonshot. Is ADAS a better way forward? (ft.com)Uber Freight is buying logistics services provider Transplace. (wsj.com)Rivian is building a second assembly plant. (techcrunch.com)EnergyKenya is becoming a geothermal energy powerhouse. (bloomberg.com)Thawing permafrost puts Alaskan oil pipelines at risk. (scientificamerican.com)FireThere’s no escaping this Summer’s wildfire smoke. (fastcompany.com)Siberia is seeing its own fire problem. (nytimes.com)Why prescribed burns are going to have to be used to reduce the intensity of wildfires. (nytimes.com)WaterThe West’s water crisis is here. (washingtonpost.com)The West’s drought has lasted longer than the Dust Bowl. (scientificamerican.com)The American Southwest needs to adapt to less water. (bloomberg.com)This Utah town has stopped new construction to preserve … [Read More...]

The bizAutomattic is buying Pocket Casts. (engadget.com)Substack is diving deeper into the podcast business. (axios.com)Off-topicLarry Wilmore talks with Michael Pollan author of “This Is Your on Mind on Plants.” (theringer.com)Russ Roberts talks with Michael Easter author of “The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self.” (econtalk.org)A talk with Robert McKee author of the new book “Character: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen.” (longform.org)Brian Rafftery on how ‘Siskel and Ebert’ changed the culture. (theringer.com)CryptoHoward Lindzon talks with Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of the crypto currency exchange FTX. (howardlindzon.com)Ben Hunt and Rusty Guinn talk about a new way of thinking about cryptocurrencies. (epsilontheory.com)MemesThe WSJ team … [Read More...]

MarketsOptions trading is the tail wagging the dog in some stocks. (barrons.com)GMO is still bearish. (gmo.com)StrategyDon’t let low interest rates get you to amp up your risk profile. (whitecoatinvestor.com)There’s not a lot to get excited about in the liquid alternative fund space. (morningstar.com)CryptoWhy the big crypto exchanges are based overseas. (nytimes.com)Disruption is coming from so many directions for the global banking system. (ft.com)Companies David Streitfeld “Silicon Valley made the tools that allowed Americans, and the American economy, to survive the pandemic.” (nytimes.com)How The Daily Wire has built a big business on the back of Facebook ($FB). (npr.org)How to fail like Amazon ($AMZN). (josephcwells.com)FinanceWhy every barbecue company seems to be going public at the same time. (wsj.com)There … [Read More...]

Markets2021 hasn’t seen much volatility, but it’s no 2017. (priceactionlab.com)The trend toward cheap diversification has played out. What comes next? (ofdollarsanddata.com)InternationalFour arguments for overweighting international stocks. (humbledollar.com)Just how cheap are European stocks relative to the U.S.? (albertbridgecapital.com)CryptoBitcoin is way too volatile to be an inflation-hedge. (wsj.com)FinanceA Q&A with the co-founders of startup investing site Public. (protocol.com)Return to the office, or not, investment banks are going to be challenged recruiting. (bloomberg.com)Foreign VCs are learning some hard lessons in India. (economist.com)The sell-side keeps shrinking. (axios.com)StreamingHow Netflix ($NFLX) is different from its competitors. (thestreamable.com)There is a downside to running new releases on streaming services. (theatlantic.com)Netflix’s ($NFLX) ‘Drive to Survive’ has driven a surge of interest … [Read More...]

Book excerptsAn excerpt from “The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion” by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell. (wsj.com)An excerpt from Sarah Everts’ “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration.” (thewalrus.ca)An excerpt from “How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes” by Melinda Wenner Moyer. (theatlantic.com)On growing a kid of the 1980’s: an excerpt from Danielle Henderson’s “The Ugly Cry: A Memoir.” (thecut.com)TechnologyHow Israel’s NSO cracked iPhone security. (washingtonpost.com)Whatever happened to IBM ($IBM) Watson? (nytimes.com)How to think about the metaverse. (matthewball.vc)LongreadsChobani is going public. Here is it’s origin story. (neckar.substack.com)The California dream is played out. What comes next? (theatlantic.com)On the future of CrossFit, post-pandemic. (newyorker.com)Climate change is tipping … [Read More...]