Investment Week (September 29)
“Which companies are actually ‘doing AI’ is the question that has to be answered.” Just as “a lot of fund houses are making a big show of talking about AI as it puts them ‘in’ this next big trend, the same is true for many of the companies they are looking to buy.” Hype abounds and the Financial Times “discovered a disparity between the AI leaps CEOs were buzzing about in their company’s investor calls and the actual investment the businesses were making into this space.” To keep “AI in check just from a risk management basis” and to separate “the winners from the churn,” active mangers are essential. “The value of active management cannot be underestimated, not just for the necessary diversification but to actually play a role in making this new era not be as ‘terrifying’ as people are predicting.”
Tags: Abounds, Active mangers, AI, Big trend, Buy, CEOs, Churn, Companies, Disparity, Diversification, Fund houses, Hype, New era, Predicting, Risk management, Terrifying, Winners
Time (September 27)
“The latest move in a sweeping tariff agenda that has roiled global markets and touched various sectors of the economy, as well as Americans’ wallets,” begins with the imposition of tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals (100%), kitchen and bathroom cabinets (50%), upholstered furniture (30%), and semi trucks (25%). Though “Americans could see an uptick in some prices,” this could be limited by exemptions, as well as the existing or expanding U.S. presence of major producers.
Tags: Branded pharmaceuticals, Cabinets, Economy, Exemptions, Furniture, Global markets, Prices, Roiled, Sectors, Semi trucks, Sweeping, Tariffs, Uptick
Wall Street Journal (September 26)
“Walmart executives aren’t sugarcoating the message: Artificial intelligence will wipe out jobs and reshape its workforce.” They are not alone. “Companies including Ford, JPMorgan Chase and Amazon have bluntly predicted job losses associated with AI.” For the next three years at Walmart, head count is “expected to stay flat… despite growth plans, as AI eliminates or transforms roles.” Beyond that time frame, the outlook “remains murky” for the specifics of its labor force composition, but it will definitely be leaner.
Tags: AI, Amazon, Companies, Eliminates, Executives, Ford, Growth, Head count, Job losses, JPMorgan Chase, Murky, Reshape, Sugarcoating, Transforms, Walmart, Workforce
Reuters (September 25)
“Hopes that the People’s Republic would step up to be the leader in battling global warming… appeared to take a hit when Xi said the country would cut its emissions by a measly 7% to 10%. But this looks like a clear case of consciously underpromising in order to overdeliver.” China is likely to “breeze past its target. Hitting Xi’s 2035 goal of 3,600 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity would, for example, mean adding just 200 GW a year. That’s 44% lower than the 360 GW installed in 2024.” The publicly stated “climate goal also downplays the role electric and hybrid vehicles already play” with plans “that new energy vehicles would be mainstream in a decade, yet they already make up around half of all new car sales.”
Tags: 2035 goal, China, Climate goal, Downplays, Emissions, Global warming, HEVs, Hopes, Leader, Mainstream, Overdeliver, Solar, Target, Underpromising, Wind, Xi
New York Times (September 24)
Germany is attempting to woo “Indian workers spooked by U.S. visa changes,” as the European nation confronts a growing labor shortage. “Every fifth citizen…is now older than 67, and the country’s baby boomers…are beginning to retire.” Currently, there are an estimated 387,000 unfilled jobs, mainly in technology, and “that number is expected to more than double in the next two years.” The unfilled jobs also mean “there are not enough young workers making payments into the social system to support it.”
Tags: Baby boomers, Confronts, Germany, Indian, Labor shortage, Payments, Retire, Social system, Spooked, Technology, U.S., Unfilled jobs, Visa changes, Woo, Workers
The Guardian (September 24)
“European leaders have been pulled to the right on migration, the climate crisis and Israel. Their weakness is undermining the democratic principles on which the EU was built.” If they “remain still and silent, hoping Trump will simply fade away, they risk giving up not just their dignity but their political agency. By doing so, they are allowing far-right forces to fill the void and tilt the balance permanently.”
Tags: Climate crisis, Democratic principles, Dignity, EU, Europe, Far right, Israel, Leaders, Migration, Political agency, Risk, Silent, Still, Trump, Undermining, Void, Weakness
Fortune (September 23)
“The OECD has lifted its prediction of global growth to 3.2% for the year, up from the 2.9% it forecasted in June. Predicted U.S. growth rose to 1.8%, an uptick from the 1.6% predicted in June. Still, the OECD warned it had not revised global or U.S. prospects for next year, and the outlook is not good” as the negative impact of tariffs has yet to fully materialize. In 2026, “global growth is predicted to drop to 2.9% while U.S. growth is set to hit 1.5% in 2026, a significant decrease from the respective 3.3% and 2.8% growth in 2024.”
Tags: 2026, 3.2%, Decrease, Global growth, Materialize, Negative impact, OECD, Outlook, Prediction, Tariffs, U.S., Uptick, Warned
The Economist (September 20th to 26th)
China’s workforce “has undergone an extraordinary transformation,” diversifying from its base in farming and factories. The world’s largest workforce now includes some 200 million “precarious” gig workers, who provide “a warning for the world.” With technology remaking labor markets, 40% of the labor force in urban areas is now dependent “on some kind of flexible work,” yet many of these gig workers “struggle to buy property and gain access to public services and benefits.” This transformation “will shape China’s economy and society for years to come.”
Tags: 200 million, Benefits, China, Economy, Factories, Farming, Flexible work, Gig workers, Labor markets, Precarious, Property, Public services, Technology, Transformation, Urban, Warning, Workforce
Washington Post (September 20)
“Although investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut and the stock market has kept powering along, the economy is facing growing headwinds on one crucial front — consumer spending,” which is “faltering.” Even upper income consumers “are being more strategic about when to make big purchases, buying in bulk and shopping at cheaper retailers,” but the “shift is most pronounced among lower-income consumers, who are disproportionately vulnerable to rising prices and other economic pressures eroding their purchasing power.”
Tags: Bulk, Consumer spending, Economic pressures, Economy, Faltering, Fed, Headwinds, Investors, Lower-income, Rate cut, Retailers, Rising prices, Stock market, Upper income, Vulnerable
Institutional Investor (September 19)
“The $556.3 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System is looking to change the way it invests — and some strategists think the proposed approach could be as game-changing as the Yale Model.” On September 15, “CalPERS CIO Stephen Gilmore formally recommended the state pension adopt the total portfolio approach (TPA) championed by sovereign wealth funds like Singapore’s GIC and Australia’s Future Fund.”
Tags: $556.3 billion, Adopt, Australia, CalPERs, Game changing, Gilmore, Pension, Singapore, Sovereign wealth funds, Strategists, Total portfolio approach, Yale Model
