What we’re reading (4/12)
“The Safe Investment That Will Soon Yield Almost 10%” (Wall Street Journal). “There’s no such thing as a free lunch in finance. Except maybe this: The interest rate on inflation-adjusted U.S. savings bonds will approach 10% beginning in May. U.S. Treasury Series I Bonds, or I Bonds, will offer annual interest payments of 9.6%, based on the bond’s latest inflation rate calculation, which is tied to March’s consumer-price index. Prices rose by 8.5% year over year in March, the fastest pace since December 1981, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
“'Recession shock’ Is Coming, Bank Of America Warns” (CNN Business). “Bank of America is warning that high inflation poses a credible threat to the economic recovery that began just two years ago. “‘Inflation shock’ worsening, ‘rate shock’ just beginning, ‘recession shock’ coming,” Bank of America chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a note to clients on Friday.”
“Lumber Falls To Fresh 2022 Lows As Spike In Mortgage Rates Cools Housing Demand And Inflation Puts Dent In Home Renovations” (Insider). “Lumber prices fell more than 6% to $829 per 1,000 board feet on Tuesday, representing a fresh lows for the commodity in 2022 as rising mortgage rates and higher prices take a bite out of the housing market.”
“PE Activity Is Slowing Down. Investors Appear ‘Unfazed.’” (Institutional Investor). “The first sign of a moderation in activity came from a drop in fundraising. In the first quarter of 2022, global private equity firms raised a total of $116 billion, down 10 percent from last quarter and down 38 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest private equity report by Preqin. In particular, deal activity in Europe cooled down, with the number of buyout deals in the first quarter declining 29 percent year-on-year, according to the report.”
“Report: Saudi Arabia Concluded Jared Kushner’s Investment Firm Was A Joke, Gave Him $2 Billion Anyway” (Vanity Fair). “[T]he cash alone is not even the funniest part, and by funniest we mean insanely unethical and wildly corrupt. No, the unethical and corrupt part is that the people who perform due diligence for the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund concluded Kushner’s firm was a joke and that he might make them look bad…and then the board, headed by MBS, gave him the money anyway. Because…y’know.”
