What we’re reading (4/16)
“Silicon Valley Is Starting To Bring Workers Back To The Office” (CNN Business). “After years of building huge modern offices and a work culture that many industries have emulated, Silicon Valley was among the first to shutter those offices and go fully remote when the coronavirus pandemic began. Now, many of the tech industry's biggest companies are slowly making plans to bring workers back, offering a potential road map in the process for what office work looks like in year two of the pandemic.”
“SPAC Hot Streak Put On Ice By Regulatory Warnings” (Wall Street Journal). “Investors are cooling to one of the hottest bets on Wall Street as new regulatory scrutiny of special-purpose acquisition companies cuts the flood of new issues to a trickle while share prices tumble. SPACs have raised about $100 billion so far this year, more than last year’s record of $83.4 billion, which itself was more than the amount raised in the nearly 30-year history of these blank-check companies.”
“China's Economy Grows 18.3 Percent But Covid Recovery Shows Signs Of Slowing” (NBC News). “A year after the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered shops and closed factories, China’s economy has burst back to life. The country’s gross domestic product soared 18.3 percent in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2020, according to official figures announced Friday.”
“The Owner Of A Single New Jersey Deli Boasts A $105 Million Market Cap - Despite Making Only $14,000 In Sales Last Year” (Business Insider). “Hometown International runs a single store, Your Hometown Deli, in Paulsboro - a borough that's home to around 6,000 people. Its menu ranges from meatball sandwiches and cold cuts, to hash browns and onion rings. The company has generated only $36,000 in sales over the past two years, has no full-time employees, and doesn't pay its president or director. Yet its stock price has surged from below $2 to $13.50 in under 18 months.”
“Dogecoin Spikes 300% In A Week, Stoking Fears Of A Cryptocurrency Bubble” (CNBC). “Created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, dogecoin was intended to be used as a faster but “fun” alternative to bitcoin. It has since found a growing community online. And now, defying all odds, dogecoin has a total market value of $34 billion, according to crypto market data site CoinGecko, adding about $19.9 billion in the last 24 hours.”
