What we’re reading (6/28)
“Wall Street Seems Calm. A Closer Look Shows Something Else.” (New York Times). “A widely tracked measure of bets on more volatility to come is close to its lowest-ever level. But a look beneath the surface reveals much greater turbulence. Nvidia, for example, whose rising stock price helped it become the most valuable public company in America last week, is up more than 150 percent this year. The price has also repeatedly had deep plunges in the last six months, shaving billions of dollars of market value each time.”
“Diversity Was Supposed To Make Us Rich. Not So Much.” (Wall Street Journal). “When management consulting firm McKinsey declared in 2015 that it had found a link between profits and executive racial and gender diversity, it was a breakthrough. The research was used by investors, lobbyists and regulators to push for more women and minority groups on boards, and to justify investing in companies that appointed them. Unfortunately, the research doesn’t show what everyone thought it showed.”
“Inside The New Job Stress Test” (Business Insider). “Purporting to be the "only sports evaluation that scientifically measures an athlete's game-speed cognitive abilities down to a millisecond level," these tests — which feel like a cross between playing Pong and taking an eye exam — have fast become part and parcel of how many scouts find the next billion-dollar athlete. More than 52 colleges and universities and 16 of the NFL's 32 teams pay S2 to administer tests to prospective signees and to keep the results confidential.”
“Mark Zuckerberg Warns AI Companies Are ‘Trying To Create God’ In Stark Warning – But He Has The Key To Save Us All” (The U.S. Sun). “‘I find it a pretty big turnoff when people in the tech industry kind of talk about building this one true AI,’ Zuckerberg said. ‘It's almost as if they think they're creating God or something. And it's like, that's not what we're doing.’ The tech tycoon sat down for an interview with YouTube creator Kane Kallaway to discuss the future of AI and tease the tools in development at Meta.”
“Layoffs Watch ’24: Baupost Group” (Dealbreaker). “Seth Klarman thinks things are gonna get pretty bad, which means they’re already bad for one in five members of his Baupost Group’s investing team. Eleven of them have been given their walking papers, the largest layoff in the Boston hedge fund’s history, and its first significant reduction since pandemic days.”
