What we’re reading (10/19)
“Why The ‘Big Short’ Guys Think Bitcoin Is A Bubble” (The Intelligencer). “Hedge-fund mogul John Paulson, who was behind the ‘the greatest trade ever’ — in 2007, he personally made $4 billion on his short of subprime mortgages — thinks cryptocurrencies are a bubble that will prove to be ‘worthless.’ Michael Burry, the quirky hedge-fund manager made famous in The Big Short movie (played by Christian Bale), complains that no one is paying attention to crypto’s leverage. For months, he has been suggesting that bitcoin is on the precipice of collapse. And NYU professor Nassim Taleb, whose now-canonical book The Black Swan warned about the dangers of unpredictable events just ahead of the subprime crash, argues that bitcoin is functionally a Ponzi scheme.”
“A Triple Shock Slows China’s Growth” (The Economist). “When supply is tight, prices are supposed to rise, obliging customers to economise on their consumption. But as the price of coal shot up, power stations were unable to pass their higher costs on. The price they could charge the grid company that buys the bulk of their power could only fluctuate up to 10% above a regulated price, which was changed infrequently. And the tariff paid by end-users was based on a provincial catalogue of prices that was similarly inflexible. Some power stations simply stopped operating, refusing to generate power at a loss.”
“Apple Cements Break From Intel With Laptops Powered By Own Computer Chips” (Financial Times). “Apple cemented its move away from Intel on Monday, unveiling two new high-end laptop computers powered by its own ‘Apple Silicon’ chips. The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro notebooks, which start at $1,999 and $2,499 each, respectively, both feature the ‘M1 Pro’ chip, an iteration on the first Apple-designed M1 processors introduced a year ago.”
“Rent The Runway Targets Valuation Of Up to $1.5 Billion In IPO” (Wall Street Journal). “Rent the Runway Inc. is seeking a valuation of as much as $1.5 billion in its initial public offering next week, in what would cap a comeback for the clothing-rental business. The New York company is aiming to sell shares at between $18 and $21 apiece for a fully diluted valuation of $1.24 billion to $1.46 billion, it said in a securities filing Monday. The roadshow for company management and their underwriters to pitch the shares to potential investors begins Tuesday and the shares are to start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market next Wednesday.”
“Colin Powell’s Greatest Legacy Is In The People He Inspired” (Condoleeze Rice, Washington Post). “In 2003, sitting in Buckingham Palace during President George W. Bush’s state visit to Britain, Alma, Colin and I drank a toast to our ancestors. ‘They would never have believed it,’ I said. ‘No, but they are smiling now,’ he said. Colin believed that his life and all that he achieved were an affirmation of America’s possibilities. He didn’t take his success for granted and recounted stories of people he knew who never got out of his modest South Bronx neighborhood. He knew that he was talented — but he was humble enough to believe that he was also lucky.”
