What we’re reading (12/9)
“Hedge Funds’ November Performance Worst Since March 2020” (Reuters). “Hedge funds posted their worst performance in 20 months in November, after a global market selloff sparked by concerns over the Omicron COVID variant, according to data from HedgeFund Research. Financial markets went into a tailspin in the final week of November with U.S. stocks losing nearly 4% in the last five trading sessions of the month, after news of the variant hit headlines. Currency and bond market volatility also jumped.”
“Investors Brace For The Highest Inflation Reading In Nearly 40 Years” (CNBC). “Wall Street expects the the index to reflect a 0.7% gain for the month, which would translate into a 6.7% increase from a year ago, according to Dow Jones estimates. Excluding food and energy, so-called core CPI is projected to rise 0.5% on a monthly basis and 4.9% on an annual basis. If those estimates are correct, it would be the highest year-over-year reading for headline CPI since June 1982[.]”
“Half A Billion In Bitcoin, Lost In The Dump” (The New Yorker). “Bitcoin is…easy to lose. Conventional money comes full of safeguards: paper currency is distinctively colored and has a unique feel; centuries of design have gone into folding wallets and zippered purses. And once your money is deposited in a bank you have a record of what you own. If you lose your statement, the bank will send you another. Forget your online password and you can reset it. The sixty-four-character private key for your bitcoin looks like any other computer rune and is nearly impossible to memorize.”
“The Best Way To Fix America’s Chip Shortage” (Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO). “Federal support would even the playing field and unlock tens of billions of dollars in private investment here at home. That's why Congress must fund the CHIPS for America Act, which will invest $52 billion in domestic semiconductor capacity and capability. The bill would provide billions in funding for manufacturing and R&D grants, invest heavily in advanced manufacturing and semiconductor research, establish public-private partnerships focused on the development of advanced microelectronics, and secure supply chains.”
“Better.Com CEO Apologizes To Remaining Staff For Mass Layoffs Over Zoom” (New York Post). “In a Zoom call last Wednesday, Garg callously laid off some 900 employees — then slammed hundreds of the ex-workers for allegedly ‘stealing from our customers’ by not being productive. In the wake of the mass termination, which was posted on TikTok and YouTube, at least three top executives have resigned from the company, Insider first reported.”
