What we’re reading (7/10)
“Trump Threatens 35% Tariff On Some Canadian Goods” (Wall Street Journal). “The U.S. will put a 35% tariff on imports from Canada effective Aug. 1, President Trump announced on Thursday evening. But an exemption for goods that comply with the nations’ free-trade agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, would still apply, a White House official said, stressing that could change. Trump previously applied 25% tariffs to non-USMCA goods and the new rate, announced in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and posted on social media, would mean that number rises to 35%, the official said. The U.S. and Canada had been involved in talks to lower tariffs ahead of a self-imposed July 21 deadline.”
“Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Fall After Trump Threatens 35% Canada Tariff, Higher Blanket Rates” (Yahoo! Finance). “US stock futures fell late Thursday after President Trump threatened Canada with a 35% tariff on its imports to the US and floated higher blanket levies.”
“A New Twist On An Old Bet With Buffett” (Financial Times). “Comparing a portfolio of North American [private equity] buyouts to the S&P 500 has important consequences, as private equity enters wealth management and seeks to access pension plans. In fact, I’d argue that this match-up could help shed light on one of the thorniest, most contentious debates in finance today. I imagine we know what Warren thinks — high fees and extra expenses will doom private equity investors. A lot of outside factors could have impacted the result of our first bet (I wrote about it here), but that’s unlikely to happen with this comparison. This bet is much closer to faithfully representing Warren’s initial premise: that intelligent professionals with strong economic incentives to perform still cannot overcome the high fees they charge.”
“The Consulting Crash Is Coming” (The Free Press). “[T]iming the market is not my thing,’ Peter Thiel told me a few days ago. ‘But if the consulting business was a stock, I’d be shorting it right now.’”
“Archaeologists Just Pulled Pieces Of The Lighthouse Of Alexandria Out Of The Mediterranean Sea” (ati). “A French-led team of researchers has lifted 22 massive stone blocks out of the Mediterranean Sea that were once part of the legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These recovery efforts on Egypt’s northern coast are part of an ongoing project that aims to digitally recreate the entire lighthouse by scanning and analyzing its ruins. This project is now coming to fruition 30 years after the initial discovery of the lighthouse’s remains by archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur in 1995.”
