What we’re reading (3/4)
“The National Debt Is Big And Getting Bigger. Does It Matter?” (American Banker). “[W]hat the debt is and how it works are intrinsically intertwined with what it represents, and in recent years it hasn’t been behaving the way it’s supposed to, and no one knows precisely why. And away from the political arena, economists and wonks are deeply conflicted about what the national debt really is, and how afraid we need to be of it.”
“Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Faces Reckoning As Tech Trade Stalls” (Wall Street Journal). “ARK Investment Management LLC’s winning bets on disruptive technology companies cemented Cathie Wood’s status as Wall Street’s hottest fund manager since Peter Lynch or Bill Gross. Now, those gambits threaten to make ARK a high-profile casualty of the recent shift in investor sentiment away from tech stocks and toward cyclical shares tied to an economic upswing.”
“‘Buzz’ ETF Tracking Social Media Sentiment Launches Thursday Amid Reddit Manias In Stocks” (CNBC). “Is it time for an ETF that measures hype? Measuring the buzz around stocks mentioned in social media is all the rage. Now, there’s an exchange-traded fund for that. The Van Eck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) selects 75 stocks with the most bullish social media sentiment and packages them into an ETF.”
“'Big Short' Investor Michael Burry Is Betting Volkswagen Will Beat Tesla In Electric Vehicles” (Business Insider). “The Scion chief's indirect bet on Volkswagen is notable because the German auto group is taking on Tesla in the electric-vehicle market, and Burry was short Tesla as of December. He predicted in January that shares in Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company - which have skyrocketed by more than 600% since the start of 2020 - would suffer a massive collapse. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts,’ he said.”
“Corporate America's Earnings Recession Is Over” (CNN Business). “By the end of last week, 96% of companies in the [S&P 500] benchmark index had posted results, according to FactSet. Per analyst John Butters' latest estimate, S&P 500 earnings grew 3.9% last quarter. That would mark the first year-on-year increase since the end of 2019.”
