What we’re reading (8/17)
“If the Job Market Is So Good, Why Is Gig Work Thriving?” (New York Times). “American workers are experiencing, by many measures, one of the best job markets ever. The unemployment rate has matched a 53-year low. Job listings per available worker are at historic highs. Wages, while not quite keeping up with inflation, are rising at their fastest pace in decades. So why would people keep doing gig work, a notoriously difficult and insecure way to make a living?”
“Greed Is Back On Wall Street” (CNN Business). “It's silly season on Wall Street. With all this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the CNN Business Fear & Greed Index, which looks at seven gauges of market sentiment, recently edged back into moderate Greed territory. Just a month ago the index was showing signs of Fear, and it wasn't far from Extreme Fear levels.”
“Fed Officials See Need For Continued Interest-Rate Increases, But Less Certainty Over Destination” (Wall Street Journal). “The first concern, which the minutes described as significant, is that they [the Fed] might need to raise rates more than currently anticipated if price pressures have spread more broadly through the economy. But officials, for the first time, acknowledged they might also raise borrowing costs more than needed—causing unwarranted economic weakness, because of the delay between when borrowing costs go up and when that is reflected in economic activity.”
“Why The 1 Percent Buyback Tax Doesn’t Scare Investors” (New York Times). “Investors and financial analysts appear unmoved by the passage of a 1 percent tax on companies’ repurchases of their own stock, saying the new legislation is unlikely to have much effect on corporate behavior. The tax is part of the sweeping climate and health bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, that President Biden signed into law on Tuesday.”
“The Summer Of SPAC This Ain’t” (Dealbreaker). “It seems, after all the sound and fury, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler didn’t actually have to do anything to put an end to the special-purpose acquisition company…So, what sayeth SPAC King Chamath Palihapitiya of those doleful milestone? Well, uh, not much, which is also what he has to say about two of his own remaining unbetrothed blank checks, whose kicking the can into next year merited nary a tweet, only a couple of routine securities filings.”
