What we’re reading (11/17)
“Biden Says Fed Chair Pick Could Be Unveiled This Week” (Wall Street Journal). “Mr. Biden is considering whether to reappoint Fed Chairman Jerome Powell when his four-year term expires in February or to pick Fed governor Lael Brainard for the position. Mr. Biden interviewed both candidates on Nov. 4, and he isn’t considering other individuals, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
“Retail Sales Rise Faster Than Expected In October Even As Inflation Pushes Prices Higher” (CNBC). “U.S. shoppers accelerated their level of spending in October even as the prices of goods jumped at their fastest pace since the 1990s, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Retail sales, a measure of how much consumers spent on goods ranging across categories from autos to sporting goods and food and gas, increased 1.7% for October, compared with 0.8% the previous month.”
“Market Is Wrong To Price In Mid-2022 Fed Hike, TD’s Misra Says” (Bloomberg). “TD doesn’t expect the Fed to raise rates until late 2023. The call runs counter to recent trading in the U.S. Treasury market, where the spread between 2- and 10-year yields narrowed to 97 basis points last week, the tightest since August, with traders pulling forward bets on Fed rate increases.”
“Why Conglomerates Break Themselves Up” (Axios). “GE, Johnson & Johnson, and Toshiba weren't the last of the conglomerates. Giants both old and new remain. (Think 3M, or Softbank.) In today's financially-optimized stock market, however, the arguments for internal diversification have mostly lost the day…[i]n the era of index funds, investors can get diversification easily from ETFs; they don't need corporate managers to do that for them.”
“46 Members Of Congress Have Violated A Law Designed To Stop Insider Trading And Prevent Conflicts-Of-Interest” (Insider). “Insider and several other news organizations have this year identified 46 members of Congress who've failed to properly report their financial trades as mandated by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, also known as the STOCK Act.”
