What we’re reading (7/7)
“Hiring Cools As Employers Added 209,000 Jobs In June” (CBS News). “The U.S. added 209,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was in line with economists' expectations for about 205,000 new jobs in June, according to a poll of economists by FactSet. By comparison, employers added 339,000 new jobs in May, although the Labor Department on Friday revised that number downward to 306,000.”
“Is Hedging With Nontraditional Investments Worth The Effort?” (Morningstar). “Under all but highly unusual conditions, risk-tolerant investors who have moderately long horizons can earn their way out of trouble. Stocks take a beating here and there, but within a few years, they recover their losses. Safeguards prove unnecessary.”
“Read The Ingredients Before Buying This $25 Billion ETF” (Wall Street Journal). “Exactly what [value] measure to use—price to sales, price to book, price to cash flow, estimated or reported—remains a point of contention. That Microsoft isn’t cheap on any of these measures is almost universally agreed. Yet, Microsoft is the biggest holding in the S&P 500 Value index. It has done really well and has propelled the index past the other two main value gauges by the most ever over six months. The $25 billion iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (ticker IVE) has jumped 12% this year, versus less than 5% for bigger rivals using the Russell 1000 and CRSP value indexes, from FTSE Russell and Chicago’s Center for Research in Security Prices.”
“Harvard Professor Avi Loeb Believes He’s Found Fragments Of Alien Technology” (CBS News). “The research and analysis is just beginning at Harvard. Loeb is trying to understand if the spherules are artificial or natural. If they are natural, it will give the researchers insight into what materials may exist outside of our solar system. If it is artificial, the questions really begin.”
“How Will Artificial Intelligence Affect Real Interest Rates?” (Marginal Revolution). “[O]ver the centuries real rates of return seem to be falling, even though there are some high productivity eras, such as the 1920s, during that time. The long-run secular trend might overwhelm the temporary productivity blips, I simply do not know.”
