10 Friday AM Reads – The Big Picture

byrn
By byrn
4 Min Read


My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:

Forbes 400: The definitive ranking of America’s Richest People 2025. The wealthiest people in America have never been wealthier. Here’s who’s up, who’s down and who’s new. (Forbes)

Here’s why CEOs think Trump’s economic policies aren’t working.  A poll of 100 CEOs reveals widespread private criticism of Trump’s tariff policies, with 76% saying consumers pay the costs. (Los Angeles Times) ) see also What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy: Box demand touches nearly every industry, from flat-screen TVs to packaged food, all of which see sales fluctuate based on how flush shoppers feel. (Businessweek)

Pity the Poor Money Manager, Just This Once. It isn’t often that I feel sorry for people who make millions of dollars a year handling stock investments for hedge funds and institutional funds. But this is one of those rare times. Why do I say that? Because these days, with stocks at prices that strike many people as irrationally high, investment mavens at hedge funds and institutional funds who are uneasy with the market’s level have a difficult problem—one that may pit their personal financial interests against those of their investors. (Barron’s)

Demand for Data Centers, Energy Creates a Gold Rush for Infrastructure Investors: Asset owners and managers are pouring hundreds of billions into the construction of infrastructure for the AI ecosystem, although the horizon is not entirely clear. (Chief Investment Officer)

Philadelphia sheds title of poorest big city in America. Philadelphia’s poverty rate was 19.7% in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 estimates released Thursday, ceding the top spot among the nation’s most populous cities to Houston (21.2%). It’s Philly’s lowest level of poverty since at least the late 1970s (Axios)

Women, Men and Jobs: Men are in trouble. Are women responsible?  How many men aren’t working, and who are they? Why do we care? Specifically, why are non-working men a bigger problem than non-working women? Are men’s problems the flip side of the rising economic role of women? (Spoiler: no.) Why are fewer men working? What can policy do to address the worsening problem of non-working men? (Paul Krugman)

EVs Have Gotten Too Powerful: When an entry-level Volvo can get to 60 mph quicker than a Porsche 911, and in the same time as a Ferrari, electric car makers need a reset. (Wired)

Five o’clock dinner crowd: why are young Americans eating so early? Gen Z and millennials’ dinner reservations are reportedly inching earlier as they take advantage of happy hour deals. (The Guardian)

Ukraine’s Plan to Starve the Russian War Machine: Negotiations have stalled. Trump keeps changing his policies. Ukrainians, backed by Europeans, are taking matters into their own hands. (The Atlantic)

Yusuf Islam Wants to Explain Himself: As Cat Stevens, he helped define the singer-songwriter. After converting to Islam, he became a lightning rod. His new memoir explores it all. (New York Times)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Dmitry Balyasny, co-founder of Balyasny Asset Management, and the firm’s managing partner and chief investment officer. BAM nmanages $28B for clients. Balyasny began his trading career with Schonfeld Securities in 1994; he just received Institutional Investor’s 2025 Hedge Fund Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

The U.S. economy is being powered by the well-to-do. As long as they keep spending, the economy should avoid recession, but…

Source: @Markzandi

 

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