What we’re reading (6/23)
“America’s Top Export May Be Anxiety” (The Atlantic). “Smartphones are a global phenomenon. But apparently the rise in youth anxiety is not. In some of the largest and most trusted surveys, it appears to be largely occurring in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. ‘If you’re looking for something that’s special about the countries where youth unhappiness is rising, they’re mostly Western developed countries,’ says John Helliwell, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia and a co-author of the World Happiness Report. ‘And for the most part, they are countries that speak English.’”
“These Hot New Funds Are ‘Boomer Candy’ For Retirees” (Wall Street Journal). “Baby boomers who aren’t ready to walk away from the stock market are flocking to a hot new class of funds. They are pouring billions of dollars into exchange-traded funds that use derivatives to produce extra dividend income or protect against losses. Such funds, which were almost nonexistent four years ago, give retirees and other investors the chance to chase stock returns while also protecting against a potential market slide. The funds have almost $120 billion in assets and have taken in at least $31 billion of new investor money over the past 12 months, according to FactSet.”
“The Stock Market Is In Its Longest Stretch Without A 2% Sell-Off Since The Financial Crisis” (CNBC). “Wall Street’s climb to record highs has come with conspicuously little volatility. The S&P 500 has gone 377 days without a 2.05% sell-off. That’s the longest stretch for the benchmark since the great financial crisis, according to FactSet data compiled by CNBC. The index hasn’t experienced a gain of at least 2.15% in that time either.”
“Going After The Middleman” (New York Times). “Business leaders have been combing through comments and transcripts to try to understand the pending priorities of regulators like Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. They’ve zeroed in on what may sound like a nerdy legal theory, but one that could have huge implications: the tyranny of the intermediary, middleman companies that abuse their role by squeezing out competition or creating artificially expensive moats. The Justice Department has already made one high-profile strike along these lines, suing to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation.”
“Americans’ Spending Patterns Are Flashing A Warning Of A Possible Consumer-Led Recession” (Business Insider). “Consumers are finally starting to rein in their spending habits, which could weigh on the economy after a long period of robust spending has propped up economic growth over the past few years. Retail spending ticked 0.1% higher in May, but sales volume has dropped 1.3% year-over-year over the last three months, US Census data shows.”
