What we’re reading (2/6)
“The Road To Dow 50000 Was Perilous. What’s Next Could Be Rockier.” (Wall Street Journal). “The road to 100000 will run through an America showing many of the hallmarks of Charles Dow’s boomtowns. Artificial intelligence promises to reinvent entire industries and make many jobs obsolete. An infrastructure build-out of epic proportions is under way. The exuberance is drowning out concerns—even among top Wall Street executives—that a significant correction is due. As in 1900, the challenge today is that nobody knows precisely when.”
“Electric Shock” (City Journal). “Until shortly before the coronavirus pandemic, real electricity costs for most American families had been declining for a decade. From 2009 to 2019, the fully loaded cost—that is, the total price per kilowatt-hour including generation, transmission, distribution, and surcharges—rose from 11.5 cents to 13 cents, an increase of 13 percent, well below the 19 percent growth in the Consumer Price Index. Despite inflation, the average annual national rate even ticked down in a few of those years. That changed in 2019.”
“Tech AI Spending May Approach $700 Billion This Year, But The Blow To Cash Raises Red Flags” (CNBC). “With the heart of tech earnings season wrapping up this week, Wall Street has a clearer picture of how the artificial intelligence race is poised to accelerate in 2026. The four hyperscalers are now projected to increase capital expenditures by more than 60% from the historic levels reached in 2025, as they load up on high-priced chips, build new mammoth facilities and buy the networking technology to connect it all.”
“It’s Time To Rethink The Standard Investment Advice. But Not Too Much.” (New York Times). “Anywhere you look, anxiety abounds. Many investors are asking a fundamental question: What should I do about this? The classic answer is: Do nothing. Quick responses to market fluctuations tend to be misguided. If you are already sufficiently diversified and have an extended time horizon, your short-term losses may become longer-term gains — if major markets rebound and you stay the course. But that do-nothing approach assumes several things[.]”
“Covid’s Quiet Retreat” (The Progress Network). “I was curious if his conclusion held for the States as well. We only have preliminary, widely ranging estimates for the 2024–2025 flu season. But we can say that there were roughly 2-3x the number of flu to Covid hospitalizations and about five times the number of flu infections, comparing the low and high ends of each estimate to one another. On the low end, death counts were about equal, but on the high end, flu deaths were more than double. And unlike the flu, Covid death rates (and numbers) continue to drop over time, including this current season. For anyone under 75, they’re essentially at zero[.]”
