What we’re reading (4/13)
“Gold Prices Near Record As Investors Bet Inflation Is Here To Stay” (Wall Street Journal). “Gold prices hit their highest level of the year on Thursday, driven by bets that inflation will remain sticky despite recent declines.”
“Silicon Valley Bank Reminds Us How Tight Banks Were Amid ‘Easy’ Fed” (RealClear Markets). “Apparently SVB didn’t get the memo judging by assets that were largely of the Treasury variety. Supposedly capital was “costless” when deposits into SVB surged, but the bank surely didn’t lend as though money was ‘free.’”
“It Cost $22 Billion To Rescue Two Failed Banks. Now The Question Is Who Will Pay” (NPR). “Freedom Bank [in Montana] and other community banks are growing worried they will now have to help pay for the rescue of Silicon Valley, as well as New York-based Signature Bank, after regulators last month took the unprecedented step of backstopping all deposits at both lenders.”
“Walmart Sells Bonobos To WHP Global And Express In $75 Million Deal” (CNBC). “Walmart has sold menswear brand Bonobos to brand management firm WHP Global and Express in a $75 million deal announced Thursday. It’s the second time this year Walmart has offloaded a direct to consumer brand that it bought under former e-commerce President Marc Lore after it sold Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods in February.”
“Amazon Is ‘Investing Heavily’ In The Technology Behind ChatGPT” (CNN Business). “Amazon wants investors to know it won’t be left behind in the latest Big Tech arms race over artificial intelligence. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said the company is ‘investing heavily’ in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, the same technology that underpins ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots.”
