What we’re reading (2/10)
“America's Annual Price Increase Was Worse Than Economists Had Forecast” (CNN Business). “A key measure of inflation climbed to a near-40-year high last month. Economists are hopeful that America will reach the peak of the pandemic-era price increases in the early months of 2022. Here's to hoping. The consumer price index rose 7.5% in the 12 months ending January, not adjusted for seasonal swings, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. It was the steepest annual price increase since February 1982 and worse than economists had forecast.”
“Astra Stock Drops 26% After NASA Mission Fails Mid-Launch” (CNBC). “Shares of rocket builder Astra fell sharply Thursday, after the company’s latest mission failed to reach orbit. Astra’s stock fell 26% to close at $3.91 a share. The company confirmed there was an issue mid-flight that prevented the rocket from delivering a set of four cube satellites to orbit on a NASA-funded mission.”
“Brookfield Considers Spinning Off Its Asset Management Business” (Financial Times). “Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest alternative investment groups, is weighing a spin-off of its asset management business into a separate public company that one analyst said could be valued at more than $75bn. The manoeuvre would simplify the structure of the sprawling Toronto-based company, separating the division that manages $364bn in fee-bearing assets across real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy, credit and private equity on behalf of institutional investors from Brookfield’s $50bn of directly-owned net assets.”
“What Would Happen If Financial Markets Crashed?” (The Economist). “The mix of sky-high valuations and rising interest rates could easily result in large losses, as the rate used to discount future income rises. If big losses do materialise, the important question, for investors, for central bankers and for the world economy, is whether the financial system will safely absorb them or amplify them. The answer is not obvious, for that system has been transformed over the past 15 years by the twin forces of regulation and technological innovation.”
“SEC To Reduce The Number Of Things Private Equity Firms Can Lie About” (Dealbreaker). “So what exactly are those regulations that the alternative investments lobby thinks are so unnecessary and harmful. Well, for one, it would make it much more difficult for them to lie to their investors about performance and fees by requiring some standardized disclosures which the SEC would audit. But they would also be barred from charging some of those fees they so often like to elide the truth around.”
