What we’re reading (4/29)
“US Stocks Crater As The Dow Sheds 939 Points And Nasdaq Notches Its Worst Month Since 2008” (Insider). “US stocks fell Friday, as each of the three major indexes capped off losing months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed out its worst-performing month since 2008, shedding more than 3% for the day as investors fled the e-commerce giant after downbeat earnings.”
“America’s S&P 500 Suffers Its Worst April In 52 Years” (The Economist). There are a few glimmers of hope, however. First, corporate profits remain healthy. S&P 500 companies are so far reporting an average growth of 6.6% in second-quarter earnings, according to FactSet, a data provider. Second, many firms are sitting on big cash piles that they can use to make their shares more attractive with dividends, share buybacks and acquisitions.”
“Escape To Zoom Island” (GQ). “With the rest of the planet facing restrictions and isolation, the Savoyians reveled in their strange dystopian paradise. ‘I call it the Madeira magic,’ Dijan says. ‘People just kept extending their trips or canceling their flights, and the crazier and crazier it got.’ Much of the craziness was due to the other part of Madeira’s magical storm: the boom in cryptocurrency.”
“The U.S. Wants To Tackle Inflation. Here’s Why That Should Worry The Rest Of The World.” (New York Times). “The trade-off faced by the Fed — between price stability and employment — is usually framed in strictly domestic terms. But aggressive efforts to quell inflation in the United States can have major, unpredictable effects around the world, often with long-lasting, negative consequences for countries in the Global South.”
“Warren Buffett Is Still Setting Berkshire’s Direction. For How Much Longer?” (Wall Street Journal). “More than 40,000 people are expected to descend on Omaha this weekend for Berkshire’s first in-person shareholder meeting since 2019. They will be traveling hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of miles just to have a chance to hear from the famed ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ who turned 91 in August. But even as Berkshire thrives, it is contending with an unusual number of big challenges.”
