Wall Street Journal (April 9)
“When to Sell? Look at the HQ. If a company moves to lavish headquarters, it’s often time for investors to get out.”
Tags: Headquarters, HQ, Investors, Lavish, Sell
1843 (April Issue)
Kikunae Ikeda discovered “umami” in 1907, yet a century later “umami had barely entered the Western lexicon.” This has slowly changed since the Millennium when scientists discovered the taste receptors for umami. “Over the past few years, it has begun to creep out of professional kitchens and into the consciousness of home cooks through so-called “umami-bombs” that, in the form of miso, kimchi and tubes of mixed umami ingredients, have begun to appear on supermarket shelves around the world. All are designed to turn up the intensity of flavour.”
Tags: Flavour, Ikeda, Intensity, Kimchi Supermarket, Kitchens, Miso, Taste receptors, Umami
Chicago Tribune (April 8)
“The defiant outsider presidency of Donald Trump could go its own peculiar path for only so long before a crisis intervened, presenting a sudden test of competence. That moment happened when the Syrian government unleashed a poison gas attack on its own people. Trump passed this first test, we’re relieved to report.”
Tags: Competence, Crisis, Defiant, Outsider, Poison gas, Syria, Test, Trump
The Economist (April 8)
Most cities now waste a tremendous amount of space providing parking for cars that aren’t moving 95% of the time. This could change. “When autonomous cars that are allowed to move with nobody inside them become widespread, demand for private cars could fall sharply. Starting in the morning, one car could take a child to school, a city worker to his office, a student to her lecture, party people to a club, and a security guard to his night shift, all more cheaply than taxis. Cars that now sit idle could become much more active, which would drastically change parking needs.”
Washington Post (April 7)
The United States, France, the EU, China, India and 136 other parties have ratified the Paris agreement, which went into force in November. “Now is the time to implement it—to actually reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions, to ensure that policies match national commitments. It is time to develop and market clean technologies, and to seize new national and international economic opportunities.” But the “global fight cannot succeed if all parties are not fully on board and if they don’t assume their share of the burden or seek to capitalize on the opportunities.”
Tags: China, Clean technologies, EU, France, GHG, India, Opportunities, Paris Agreement, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 6)
“PNC Capital Advisors is putting its large-cap mutual funds under a factor-based computer model.” Now that quant funds tend to outperform human stock pickers, at least in the large-cap space, the move seeks to reduce costs, improve performance and attract more investors. “Quantitative factor-based models” appear to “reduce human being’s tendency to make behavioral mistakes. Portfolio managers are prone to confirmation bias as human beings are rarely swayed by new information that goes against long-held beliefs.”
Tags: Confirmation bias, Costs, Investors, Large caps, Mutual funds, Performance, PNC, Portfolio managers, Quantitative, Stock pickers
Bloomberg (April 4)
“Now could be the time for foreign investors to return to Japanese equities, according to Goldman Sachs. Corporate governance reforms, a recovery in domestic demand and the strong performance of local stocks in U.S. dollar terms are all potential catalysts that may lure foreigners back.”
Tags: Catalysts, Demand, Equities, Foreign investors, Goldman Sachs, Governance, Japan, Performance, Recovery
New York Times (April 2)
“The prospect of job creation and short-term returns has prompted several governments in Latin America to welcome mining companies and keep regulation to a minimum,” sometimes with disastrous consequences. “The surge in reckless mining operations has provoked anger and controversy throughout the region, and it was a driving force for a remarkable law passed Wednesday in El Salvador banning mining for gold and other metals in the tiny Central American nation.” This bold new ban is unlikely to inspire copycats, but it may “prompt other countries to consider more carefully the toll mining takes on vulnerable communities and the need for tighter regulations and stronger enforcement of environmental rules.”
Tags: Anger, Controversy, El Salvador, Gold, Job creation, Latin America, Mining, Reckless, Regulation, Short-term returns
Los Angeles Times (April 2)
“It was no secret during the campaign that Donald Trump was a narcissist and a demagogue who used fear and dishonesty to appeal to the worst in American voters…. Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck.” With this, the Republican-leaning LA Times began a four part series on “Our Dishonest President.” The newspaper’s urgent tone stems from the dire precariousness after less than three months under Trump. “It is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation.”
Tags: Campaign, Damage, Demagogue, Dishonesty, Fear, Narcissist, Train wreck, Trump
The Week (April 2)
By any measure, Uber has been having a terrible year. Some have posited it could threaten the tech bubble. “Uber is by far the most valuable of the 187 ‘unicorn’ startups valued at $1 billion or more, despite losing at least $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016.” But Uber is unlikely to spark a chain reaction. “The tech industry’s funding sources are more diversified than they were in the original dot-com bubble, and the definition of what makes a ‘technology company’ is also much broader. Odds are, investors will see Uber’s flaws as an isolated case of bad corporate governance, not evidence that they shouldn’t be investing in startups.”
Tags: Chain reaction, Corporate governance, Diversified, Dot-com bubble, Funding, Investor, Isolated case, Startups, Tech bubble, Terrible, Uber, Unicorns
