My back-to-work morning train WFH reads:
• BlackRock Says Fiscal Angst in Global Bond Markets Is Overblown: Bond markets are seeking a new equilibrium after years of ultra low yields, and investors expect countries like France to ultimately sort out its budget position, despite current deficits and debt levels. (Bloomberg)
• The Solution to America’s Housing Crisis Might Be Built in a Factory: It’s called “modular” construction, and it could allow homes to be constructed within a week. (Slate) see also The Great Shift to Remote Work Has Entered a New Normal: The number of big-city neighborhoods where lots of people work from home is still shrinking — just not as rapidly as before. (Bloomberg)
• 10 Things I’ve Learned About Wealth Management in 10 Years. Alpha is overrated, Trust is important, Process in everything is key, and many more. (Wealth of Common Sense)
• Weight-loss drug boom has reached apparel store rack as America resizes: There is little evidence that retailers or clothing manufacturers are scaling back production of larger sizes, but retail apparel experts say fewer extended sizes are on the rack in stores, or are on clearance, and there are “tighter size runs” within the existing larger size segment. (CNBC)
• Why stocks keep going up even as the economy softens: Major stock indexes have climbed steadily upward through one piece of bad economic news after another. (Washington Post)
• How the U.S. Will Break China’s Rare Earth Dominance: China dominates the rare earth market, controlling about 85% of global processing capacity. The Department of Defense has a plan to rectify that. (Barron’s)
• Heroes and villains: Russia braces for eventual return of its enormous army: Some returning veterans have committed serious crimes; the Kremlin is working to ensure any mass return is smooth; Putin wants to ensure society is not destabilised — views differ on potential scale of risk to society. (Reuters) see also Active Measures: How the Kremlin Penetrated Fox News and Right-Wing Media: Chapter 6 of our series on how Russia attacked the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump win. (Salty Politics)
• Two Valuable Satellites Are in ‘Perfect Health.’ They May Be Scrapped. The Trump administration wants to switch off and possibly destroy the climate-monitoring technology. (New York Times)
• Did your area just have its most humid summer? Find out. More than 120 million people across the United States just experienced a near-record humid summer. See how humidity patterns are changing in your region. (Washington Post) see also It’s the typical peak of Atlantic hurricane season. Where are all the storms? Subtropical ocean temperatures across the planet are at record-high levels. Here’s why that may be having a counterintuitive effect on hurricane season. (Washington Post)
• Rivals Rub Shoulders in the World of Competitive Massage: Each year, massage therapists from around the globe gather to face off, collaborate, and make sure that no body gets left behind. (New Yorker)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Heather Boushey, previously a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Biden, and chief economist to the president’s Invest in America cabinet. She is currently a senior research fellow at the Reimagining the Economy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Unhedged chart of the week: Pity the Poor Fed!
Source: Hakyung Kim
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