What we’re reading (7/9)
“Twitter, Elon Musk Set For Unprecedented Legal Battle Over Deal Collapse” (Wall Street Journal). “With Elon Musk attempting to terminate his $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc. and the company vowing to force him to follow through, the social-media powerhouse and the world’s richest person appear headed for a messy” courtroom battle. The company says it plans legal action and is any day expected to file a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery, arguing he is required to close the agreed-upon deal.”
“The Housing Market, At Last, Appears To Be Cooling Off” (Washington Post). “The slowdown has, so far, provided little relief to buyers. Instead, analysts say, a growing affordability crisis ― driven by the collision of inflation and rising interest rates ― is forcing many would-be buyers to walk away.”
“Big-Sounding Job Titles Are Feeding Egos In Tight Labor Market” (Bloomberg). “The tight US labor market isn’t just boosting wages, it’s also bidding up job descriptions. Once prevalent mostly with startups, job-title inflation has gone increasingly mainstream, said Shawn Cole, president of Cowen Partners, a nationwide executive search firm. It ‘exploded’ during the pandemic as companies competed for talent in the Covid-19 economy and more of them leveraged titles to entice experienced workers. ‘Entire careers of job titles are being condensed into a decade, 10 years worth of titles are being condensed into five, so new titles have had to be invented,’ Cole said. ‘Firms can only offer so much money.’”
“Tech Giants Like Meta And Snap Are Facing A ‘Perfect Storm’ Of Weak Growth Prospects That Could Lead To Limited Upside For Stocks Already Down More Than 50% This Year” (Insider). “‘We think this cocktail of events is likely to generate the lowest growth rate for the sector in years,’ Barclays said, adding that current valuations only partially reflect this scenario. Barclays expects 3% year-over-year growth for the industry this year.”
“US Will Plunge Into Recession — But It Didn’t Have To, Former IMF Chief Economist Says” (CNN Business). “It's ‘almost impossible’ for the Fed to tamp down inflation without tipping the US economy into a recession, says Former IMF Chief Economist Ken Rogoff. ‘[The Fed] would have to be very lucky,’ Rogoff told CNN's Christine Romans on Early Start. ‘They have to decide: Do they have to have inflation get down quickly, or are they going to throw us into a recession? I think they are saying that they will get inflation down. I think they will blink,’ Rogoff said he thinks the Fed will "blink" and slow down aggressive rate hikes.”
