What we’re reading (4/2)
“The Wealthy Investors That Powered Private Credit Are Rushing For The Exits” (Wall Street Journal). “The rush of investors trying to pull their money from private-credit funds intensified this week, hitting unprecedented levels and raising the specter of prolonged pressure on the firms that had become the new kings of Wall Street.”
“Hedge Funds Bail From Global Stocks At Fastest Pace In 13 Years” (Bloomberg). “Fast-money investors are rushing to unwind their global equity exposure amid diminishing hopes for a swift resolution of the war in the Middle East. Hedge funds sold global stocks at the fastest pace in 13 years in March, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s prime brokerage unit. The pace of selling was the second-largest since the bank started collecting the data in 2011.”
“America Should Beware Of Economic Hubris” (Mohamed El-Erian). “Even if the US economy continues outperforming its peers, it will not necessarily remain insulated from the Iran war’s adverse spillovers. Already, higher energy and borrowing costs are exacerbating the affordability pressures many Americans face, creating downside risks for jobs, consumption, and growth.”
“America’s White-Collar Bloodbath Deepens As AI Becomes Top Reason For Layoffs In March” (Daily Mail). “America’s layoff wave took a chilling new turn in March as artificial intelligence became the top reason companies gave for slashing jobs. US employers announced 60,620 job cuts in March, a sharp 25 percent jump on the month before, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. AI was linked to one in every four of those. The figures come as household-names including Oracle, Amazon, Dell and Meta axe workers while pouring money into AI, data centers and cost-cutting drives.”
“How A.I. Helped One Man (And His Brother) Build A $1.8 Billion Company” (New York Times). “Matthew Gallagher took just two months, $20,000 and more than a dozen artificial intelligence tools to get his start-up off the ground. From his house in Los Angeles, Mr. Gallagher, 41, used A.I. to write the code for the software that powers his company, produce the website copy, generate the images and videos for ads and handle customer service. He created A.I. systems to analyze his business’s performance. And he outsourced the other stuff he couldn’t do himself. His start-up, Medvi, a telehealth provider of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, got 300 customers in its first month. In its second month, it gained 1,000 more. In 2025, Medvi’s first full year in business, the company generated $401 million in sales.”
