What we’re reading (4/21)
“The Gap Between The Best And Worst Hedge Fund Strategies Just Widened” (Institutional Investor). “Hedge fund investors might be having wildly different performance experiences. Take managed futures funds, for example, which have turned in monthly performance numbers that haven’t been this good since 2003. In fact, if 2022 were to end in March, the category’s 9.7 percent return would be its best calendar year since 2014. On the other end of the performance spectrum, the equity sector index returned – 7.6 percent for the first three months of the year. If 2022 ended now, equity sector funds would have had their worst calendar year since 2008.”
“Fed’s Powell Seals Expectations Of Half-Point Rate Rise in May” (Wall Street Journal). “A rate increase in May, following the Fed’s decision to lift rates from near zero by a quarter percentage point last month, would mark the first time since 2006 that the central bank increased its policy rate at back-to-back meetings. A half-point increase would be the first such move since 2000.”
“How America’s Farmers Got Cut Out Of The Supply Chain” (New York Times). “Beyond a logistical torment, the crisis assailing almond producers is inflicting deep financial consequences, from diminished revenues to higher costs for storage. The same can be said for a broad array of other American agricultural exporters — from wheat growers in North Dakota to soybean producers in Nebraska — as shipping crops to customers has become maddening to the point of futility.”
“Rising Gas Prices Alter The Notion Of The Car, Moke Will Alter Your View Of EV” (RealClearMarkets). “It doesn’t take an automotive engineer or a crystal ball to conclude that the hit on American wallets every time consumers fill up will likely result in greater interest in electric vehicles (EVs). But the switch towards EVs isn’t just about gas prices. Momentum has been building for a while and EVs are playing an increasing part in the overall automotive equation.”
“Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray Doubles Down On Logistics And Rental Housing As Real Estate Sectors That Will ‘Outrun’ Inflation” (Insider). “Over the past year, Blackstone's $280 billion real estate business — the largest portion of a $880 billion investment portfolio — has been focused on three key types of real estate it says will come out ahead of inflation: rental housing, logistics real estate and buildings tailored for life sciences businesses.”
