What we’re reading (2/22)
“Historic Gains In Small Stocks Highlight Investor Exuberance” (Wall Street Journal). “Shares of small companies are outpacing their larger counterparts by the widest margin in more than two decades…[t]he Russell 2000 Index of small companies has climbed 15% and set 10 closing records so far this year, well above the S&P 500’s 4% rise. That is the largest such gap between the two indexes through Feb. 19 since 2000, according to Dow Jones Market Data.”
“United Airlines Engine Explosion Over Denver Prompts Company To Ground Boeing 777s” (CBS News). “Federal aviation regulators are ordering United Airlines to step up inspections of all Boeing 777s equipped with the type of engine that suffered a catastrophic failure over Denver on Saturday. United said it is temporarily removing those aircraft from service.”
“White House Says Stock-Trading Tax Is Worth Studying After GameStop Frenzy” (CNN Business). “The White House supports studying the merits of a financial transaction tax — a move favored by progressives and despised by Wall Street — in the wake of the GameStop trading frenzy…such a tax would face fierce opposition from Wall Street and it's unclear whether moderate Democrats would support it. Opponents warn it would backfire on retail investors by raising costs and making financial markets less liquid.”
“France Hired McKinsey To Help In The Pandemic. Then Came The Questions.” (New York Times). “As France raced to complete a complex blueprint in December for vaccinating its population against the coronavirus, the government quietly issued millions of euros in contracts to the consulting giant McKinsey & Company…within weeks, France’s vaccination campaign was being derided for being far too slow. In early January, France had vaccinated only ‘several thousand people,’ according to the health minister, compared with 230,000 in Germany and more than 110,000 in Italy.”
“Everyone Is Getting Hilariously Rich” (Dealbreaker). “[I]t’s not just the [bit]coins themselves that are minting millionaires. Coinbase, the largest digital currency exchange, has hit a $100 billion valuation in the secondary markets ahead of its planned public listing. Founded in 2012, Coinbase is the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. as measured by trading volume. In the first nine months of 2020, Coinbase notched $141 million in net income off $691 million revenue from trading fees and commissions.”
