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The tally is in – daily (or at least close to it).
Perspective
WEF – This chart might change how you think about migration – Frank Chaparro 8/29
How Much – How Trump Tax Rate Changes Affect You – Raul 10/22
Economist – Globalization has marginalized many regions in the rich world 10/27
Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice
Bloomberg Businessweek – Italians Have Perfected the Art of Waiting It Out – Vernon Silver 10/18
Bloomberg Businessweek – Amazon Is Getting a Good Deal in Ohio. Maybe Too Good – Mya Frazier 10/26
- “Amazon’s nine-figure tax incentives in Ohio have strained local public services as the state’s employment growth continues to lag the national average.”
Bloomberg View – Morningstar’s Star System Was Always a Bright Shinny Object – Barry Ritholtz 10/26
- “Retail and professional investor alike seem to ignore the fact that every single document ever generated by any investment-related firm has a warning on it to the effect that ‘Past performance is not an indicator of future returns.’ Every chart ever drawn, each investing idea back-tested and every single historical comparison is testament to how little mind humans pay to that disclaimer.”
Bloomberg View – Think the U.S. Has a Facebook Problem? Look to Asia – Editorial Board 10/22
- “…its platform exacerbates the potential for violence and social breakdown.”
Economist – Globalization’s losers: The right way to help declining places – Leaders 10/21
- “Mainstream parties must offer voters who feel left behind a better vision of the future, one that takes greater account of the geographical reality behind the politics of anger.”
- “Economic theory suggests that regional inequalities should diminish as poorer (and cheaper) places attract investment and grow faster than richer ones. The 20th century bore that theory out: income gaps narrowed across American states and European regions. No longer. Affluent places are now pulling away from poorer ones. This geographical divergence has dramatic consequences. A child born in the bottom 20% in wealthy San Francisco has twice as much chance as a similar child in Detroit of ending up in the top 20% as an adult. Boys born in London’s Chelsea can expect to live nearly nine years longer than those born in Blackpool. Opportunities are limited for those stuck in the wrong place, and the wider economy suffers. If all its citizens had lived in places of high productivity over the past 50 years, America’s economy could have grown twice as fast as it did.”
Economist – Why Airbus’s tie-up with Bombardier is so damaging for Boeing 10/19
Economist – Firms that burn up $1bn a year are sexy but statistically doomed – Schumpeter 10/21
- “Consider Tesla, a maker of electric cars. This year, so far, it has missed its production targets and lost $1.8bn of free cashflow (the money firms generate after capital investment has been subtracted). No matter. If its founder Elon Musk muses aloud about driverless cars and space travel, its shares rise like a rocket—by 66% since the start of January. Tesla is one of a tiny cohort of firms with a license to lose billions pursuing a dream. The odds of them achieving it are similar to those of aspiring pop stars and couture designers.”
- “Investing today for profits tomorrow is what capitalism is all about. Amazon lost $4bn in 2012-14 while building an empire that now makes money.”
- Tell that to the mom and pop shops that are crowded out because they have to be profitable.
- “Most billion-dollar losers today are energy firms temporarily in the doldrums as they adjust to a recent plunge in oil prices. Their losses are an accident.”
- “But a few firms love life in the fast lane. Netflix, Uber and Tesla are tech companies that say their (largely unproven) business models will transform industries. Two others stand out for the sheer persistence of their losses. Chesapeake Energy, a fracking firm at the heart of America’s shale revolution, has lost at least $1bn of free cashflow a year for an incredible 14 years in a row. Nextera Energy, a utility that runs wind and solar plants, and which investors value highly, has managed 12 years on the trot.”
- “Collectively these five firms have burned $100bn in the past decade, yet they boast a total market value of about $300bn… The experience of the five suggests that bending reality today has three elements: a vision, fast growth, and financing.“
- “…Sustaining a reality distortion field is possible, but the longer it goes on for, the harder it gets. More capital has to be raised and, in order to justify it, the bigger the firm’s projected ultimate size—its terminal value—has to be.”
- “A few firms other than Amazon have defied the odds. Over the past 20 years Las Vegas Sands, a casino firm, Royal Caribbean, a cruise-line company, and Micron Technology, a chip-maker, each lost $1bn or more for two consecutive years and went on to prosper. But the chances of success are slim. Of the current members of the Russell 1000 index, since 1997 only 37 have lost $1bn or more for at least two years in a row. Of these, 21 still lose money.”
- “To justify their valuations, the five firms examined by Schumpeter must grow their sales by an estimated 8-33% each year for a decade. Based on the record of all American companies since 1950, and the five firms’ present revenue levels, the probability of this happening ranges between 0.1% and 25%, using statistical tables from Credit Suisse, a bank.”
FT – The downside of the race to be Amazon’s second home – Richard Florida 10/23
- For Amazon to really make an impact, forgo the offered public incentives, among other things.
Markets / Economy
- “Foreign steel imports into the U.S. are up 24% in 2017. As the industry grows angry at Trump’s lack of trade action, Russia’s Evraz continues winning pipeline contracts.
WSJ – Daily Shot: Overstock.com 10/24
- Overstock.com which has been languishing for some time now is on a tear since it announced an initial coin offering (ICO). I suspect that other companies that have been struggling for growth will follow.
WSJ – Daily Shot: Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena 10/25
- “Shares of the bailed-out Italian bank Monte dei Paschi resumed trading on Wednesday and promptly declined 70% from the last closing price.”
Real Estate
WP – America’s affordable-housing stock dropped by 60 percent from 2010 to 2016 – Tracy Jan 10/23
- “The number of apartments deemed affordable for very low-income families across the United States fell by more than 60% between 2010 and 2016, according to a new report by Freddie Mac.”
- “The report by the government-backed mortgage financier is the first to compare rent increases in specific units over time. It examined loans that the corporation had financed twice between 2010 and 2016, allowing a comparison of the exact same rental units and how their affordability changed.”
- “At first financing, 11% of nearly 100,000 rental units nationwide were deemed affordable for very low-income households. By the second financing, when the units were refinanced or sold, rents had increased so much that just 4% of the same units were categorized as affordable.”
- “’We have a rapidly diminishing supply of affordable housing, with rent growth outstripping income growth in most major metro areas,’ said David Brickman, executive vice president and head of Freddie Mac Multifamily. ‘This doesn’t just reflect a change in the housing stock.’”
- “Rather, he said, affordable housing without a government subsidy is becoming extinct. More renters flooded the market after people lost their homes in the housing crisis. The apartment vacancy rate was 8% in 2009, compared to 4% in 2017. That trend, coupled with a stagnant supply of apartments, resulted in increased rents.”
- “The study defined ‘very low income’ as households making less than 50% of the area median income, and ‘affordable’ rent as costing less than 30% of household income.”
- “Most new construction of multifamily housing generally serves high-income renters, according to Freddie Mac. The corporation — along with Fannie Mae, another government-sponsored enterprise with a similar mission — significantly reduced its role in financing multifamily housing after the Great Recession.”
- “Together, they had financed about 70% of all original loans for multifamily properties in 2008 and 2009 as private capital pulled back, said Karan Kaul, a research associate at the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute. By the end of 2014, their market presence declined to 30%.”
- “‘The affordability issues are becoming more severe at the lower end of the market,’ said Kaul, a former researcher at Freddie Mac. ‘Absent some kind of government intervention or subsidy, there is just not going to be any investments made at that lower end of the market.'”
Energy
FT – US oil floated on cheap money – John Dizard 10/28
Construction
WSJ – Daily Shot: CME Lumber Futures 10/23
- “Lumber futures are soaring in response to the NAFTA jitters. US home construction/renovation costs are sure to rise.”
Middle East
Economist – The boycott of Qatar is hurting its enforcers 10/19
- “If Saudis and Emiratis will not trade with Doha, Iranians will.”