Investment Week (April 26)
“The gold price – which is often seen as a measure of how anxious investors are feeling – has hit 25 record highs already this year, ranking 2025 third in terms of total of gold price spikes since 1968…. This means that in less than four months, investors have sought out ‘safety’ at a lightning-fast pace.” While some investors are cheered by the recent market respite, they should not pin “their investment case on the ‘hope’ that Trump reneges on his plans just because that seems like the sensible thing to do when we have been shown, repeatedly, that just because the market wants it, it does not mean it will be so.” Investors will likely “have to deal with four more years of paper-thin reliability when it comes to the US.”
Tags: Anxious, Deal, Gold, Investment, Investors, Lightning-fast, Market, Pace, Record highs, Reliability, Reneges, Safety, Sensible, Spikes
The Economist (April 19)
The dollar is meant to be a source of safety. Lately, however, it has been a cause of fear. Since its peak in mid-January the greenback has fallen by over 9% against a basket of major currencies.” Meanwhile, the yield on Treasuries has been rising. “That mix of rising yields and a falling currency is a warning sign: if investors are fleeing even though returns are up, it must be because they think America has become more risky,” which explains the rumors that “big foreign asset managers are dumping greenbacks.”
Tags: Asset managers, Basket, Dollar, Dumping, Falling, Fear, Fleeing, Greenbacks, Investors, Major currencies, Peak, Returns, Risky, Safety, Treasuries, Warning sign, Yields
Deutsche Welle (February 2)
“EU member states on Friday finally came to agreement and approved new laws governing the safety and use of artificial intelligence, or AI…. The crux of the problem in finding unanimity came down to the balance between giving companies enough maneuvering room to make the development of AI products lucrative within the EU, while at the same time establishing rules for the use of a technology that is already affecting every aspect of society.”
Tags: Agreement, Approved, Artificial intelligence, Companies, EU, Lucrative, Rules, Safety, Society, Technology, Unanimity
Financial Times (October 25)
“Japan’s biggest automotive trade show acts as a gauge of how hard the country’s once unstoppable carmakers are ready to fight for survival. Increasingly it looks like an industry waiting for a miracle. The trillion-dollar question is whether solid-state batteries — a technology that promises greater range and safety than lithium-ion ones, and which Toyota has indicated it is near to mass producing — can be that miracle.”
Tags: Automotive, Carmakers, Industry, Japan, Lithium-ion, Miracle, Range, Safety, Solid-state batteries, Survival, Toyota, Trade show, Unstoppable
Washington Post (July 12)
Toyota could “upend the EV business even as that business is itself upending the wider autos industry…. Think about what a breakthrough along the lines of Toyota’s claims would mean: A battery that can power a vehicle for 745 miles on a single charge, recharge in 10 minutes or less and is far less prone to overheating and fire. In other words, all the current hang-ups about EVs — range, refueling time, safety — disappear.”
Tags: 10 minutes, 745 miles, Autos, Battery, Breakthrough, EVs, Hang-ups, Industry, Power, Range, Recharge, Refueling time, Safety, Single charge, Toyota, Upend
Bloomberg (June 12)
“The owners of the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall are giving up the property to lenders, adding to deepening real estate pain in a city struggling to bring back workers and tourists after the pandemic.” Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Brookfield Corp. will default on $558 million in remaining debt. “San Francisco has been among the hardest-hit cities since the pandemic as office vacancies soar, retail vacancies rise and concerns about safety deter visitors.”
Tags: Brookfield, Cities, Debt, Default, Hardest-hit, Lenders, Mall, Office, Pain, Pandemic, Real estate, Retail, Safety, San Francisco, Struggling, Tourists, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Vacancies, Workers
USA Today (March 16)
“Millions of adults get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the USA each day, but trials are still underway to determine the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines in children.” There is optimism that the results of the trials for 12-15 year olds will be in prior to the start of the new school year in September.
Tags: Adults, Children, COVID-19, Effectiveness, Results, Safety, School year, Trials, U.S., Underway, Vaccines
WARC (September 28)
“COVID-19 and recession mean the next 18-24 months will be a difficult time in which resilience planning will be essential for businesses everywhere.” Corporate strategies will need to align with the five “consumer sentiments that will be uppermost in a changed world,” namely: Financial Anxiety, Health Concerns, Loneliness Syndrome, Quest for Truth and Safety Fears.
Tags: Anxiety, Businesses, Consumer sentiments, COVID-19, Health, Loneliness, Planning, Recession, Resilience, Safety, Strategies, Truth
Chicago Tribune (August 6)
“As President Donald Trump has said, we must reopen America’s schools, and it can be done with 100% safety as long as children promise to patriotically not get the coronavirus…. Teachers and other adults who work in schools need to also not get the coronavirus…. It’s a bit selfish of the more than 150,000 people who refused to stay alive, because frankly, it’s making President Trump look terrible.” (On Wednesday, the Chicago Public Schools announced they will begin the school year remotely.)
Washington Post (January 8)
“Money for war, but not for the poor.” Arguments over Mideast intervention overshadow “our failure to invest in or prioritize the safety and health of 327 million people living in the United States.” This “is also a threat to our safety and well-being.” In the U.S., 15% of children live in poverty, an opioid epidemic rages, suicide presents a massive threat, and life spans are actually declining.
Tags: Arguments, Children, Epidemic, Failure, Health, Intervention, Invest, Life spans, Mideast, Money, Opioid, Poor, Poverty, Safety, Suicide, Threat, U.S., War
