What we’re reading (1/2)
“After A Rough 2022, U.S. Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of First Trading Week Of 2023” (MarketWatch). “Markets were closed Monday in observance of the New Year’s holiday. Investors are in for a busy shortened week, with a slew of economic data due, including S&P Global manufacturing PMI and construction spending expected Tuesday, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Wednesday and the December jobs report due Friday. On Wednesday, the Fed will also release minutes from its latest meeting.”
“3 Different Paths The Economy Could Take In 2023” (Vox). “Heading into the new year, economists say that 2023 will likely bring changes. Inflation is expected to slow as the effects of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes continue to ripple through the economy. But that could also mean the United States slips into a recession and more people lose their jobs or have a difficult time finding a new one.”
“Stay For Pay? Companies Offer Big Raises To Retain Workers” (Wall Street Journal). “Workers who stay put in their jobs are getting their heftiest pay raises in decades, a factor putting pressure on inflation. Wages for workers who stayed at their jobs were up 5.5% in November from a year earlier, averaged over 12 months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That was up from 3.7% annual growth in January 2022 and the highest increase in 25 years of record-keeping. Faster wage growth is contributing to historically high inflation, as some companies pass along price increases to compensate for their increased labor costs.”
“Wealth Across The Generations” (Marginal Revolution). “[Quoting Jeremy Horpendahl] ‘The main takeaways: Millennials are roughly equal in wealth per capita to Baby Boomers and Gen X at the same age. Gen X is currently much wealthier than Boomers were at the same age: about $100,000 per capita or 18% greater[.] Wealth has declined significantly in 2022, but the hasn’t affected Millennials very much since they have very little wealth in the stock market (real estate is by far their largest wealth category)’”
“Warren Buffett Called Out Stock-Market Gamblers, Savaged Bitcoin, And Praised Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos Last Year. Here Are His 10 Best Quotes Of 2022.” (Insider). Among them: “Deceptive ‘adjustments’ to earnings – to use a polite description – have become both more frequent and more fanciful as stocks have risen. Speaking less politely, I would say that bull markets breed bloviated bull.”
