What we’re reading (5/18)
“Market Froth Is Getting Extreme. Just Look At Meme Stocks.” (Wall Street Journal). “The rise of meme stocks in early 2021 came amid stock-market froth, with bubbles in SPACs, cannabis stocks, lossmaking tech, and solar and wind-related companies. They shared a common driver: Too much money in the economy had to go somewhere, and it went into stocks. Easy money was the driver of many past bubbles, too, and might again be propping up the stock market.”
“The Winners And Losers Of Meme Stock Mania Redux” (Institutional Investor). “A single post on X by Roaring Kitty sent GameStop shares soaring this week, and before the mania began to subside, short sellers were down more than $2 billion in the name — a move that fueled short squeezes in meme stocks and likely boosted a handful of hedge funds that were long both GameStop and AMC Entertainment.”
“The Fitness Fad Graveyard” (Business Insider). “he connected-fitness company is struggling. Its CEO, who joined the company in February 2022, is already stepping down. It recently announced plans to lay off 400 people, which is about 15% of its workforce. Private-equity sharks are reportedly circling. The stock is near record lows. Peloton isn't going under imminently, but let's be real here: No fitness fad lasts forever. At least culturally, the Peloton graveyard is probably on the horizon, right next to the Tae Bo cemetery and ThighMaster crematorium.”
“Watchdog Readies Crackdown On Predatory Lending After Supreme Court Win” (Washington Post). “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to restart its aggressive crackdown against payday lenders and other companies that offer high-cost, short-term loans to poor borrowers, after a Supreme Court ruling this week resolved a challenge to the federal agency’s authority to act.”
“A Would-Be Assassin Stirs Europe’s Violent Ghosts” (New York Times). “Europe is increasingly divided, and dangerously so. As in Slovakia, that divide pits nationalists opposed to immigration against liberals who see in the far right a threat to the rule of law, a free press and democracy itself. In this political world, there are no longer opponents, there are only enemies. All means are good to attack them, up to and, recent events indicate, including violence.”
