What we’re reading (5/8)
“U.S. And U.K. Unveil Framework For Trade Deal” (Wall Street Journal). “The pact, which appeared to have been put together hastily by U.S. and British officials, is fairly limited in scope. The Trump administration agreed to roll back tariffs imposed on British steel and automobiles in exchange for purchasing Boeing jets and giving American farmers greater access to U.K. markets.”
“Musk-Tied Investor Clashes With One Of World’s Biggest Asset Managers” (New York Times). “A prominent Silicon Valley investor is in a bitter dispute with his former employer, one of the world’s largest asset managers, accusing it of fraud and attempted bribery. In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California, Josh Raffaelli, who until late last year was a fund manager at Brookfield Asset Management, said the company had mistreated investors in his funds as it sought to make up for losses in other parts of its business. The 100-page complaint is notable in part because Mr. Raffaelli has close ties to Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. That relationship enabled Mr. Raffaelli’s funds to put money into Mr. Musk’s private companies, a coveted opportunity in Silicon Valley. But among Mr. Raffaelli’s allegations is that Brookfield improperly limited the amount that he could invest in a Musk company on behalf of Brookfield’s clients.”
“Valuations Have Dropped, But Not Enough To Be ‘Cheap’” (Institutional Investor). “The key question now is whether earnings will hold up. Consensus expectations for Q1 and Q2 have been revised downward, while the second half of the year remain largely unchanged. Analysts are closely watching the Q1 earnings season to see if companies begin guiding lower for the back half of the year – tariffs could serve as a convenient rationale. Meanwhile, the percentage of companies with rising earnings estimates has dropped from 47% to 35%, edging closer to the 27% level that historically signals a broader weakness.”
“America’s Largest Real Estate Brokerages Are Fighting Over Private Listings” (CNN Business). “Compass has denied the accusation that it pushes sellers into private transactions. Instead, the company said many sellers choose to list their homes privately before sharing their homes more widely on the multiple listing service (MLS), which is a database that agents from all companies use to share home listings with each other. Most MLS listings are automatically picked up by homebuying websites like Zillow and Redfin.”
“Leo XIV, Elevated By Francis, Becomes First American Pope” (Washington Post). “As the sun set Thursday over St. Peter’s Basilica, a 69-year-old prelate who began his calling as a Chicago altar boy stepped onto the central balcony as the first American pope, stunning Vatican City and the world by breaking the long-standing taboo of electing the son of a global superpower to lead the Catholic Church.”
