Heroes, Heroines, Villains, and Disruptors: Market Dancing to the Music of an Avatar Reproduction
In his Notes from the Underground, Fyodor Dostoyevsky writes, “What makes a hero? Courage, strength, morality, withstanding adversity? …Who are these so-called heroes and where do they come from? Are their origins in obscurity or in plain sight?” In The Return of the...
Weekly Market Update
Global Market News Global equities rallyGlobal equities rallied this week after sustaining losses last week. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones were up 2.64% and 4.07% respectively. A tech rally brought the Nasdaq up 3.09% on the week, but the Nasdaq is almost flat for the...
Covid-19 and the Day After
Here is our take on the articles summarized below: The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted many sectors of the global economy in both good ways and bad. Our summaries today focus on the developments in the technology and shipping industries as they have reacted and...
Hope is Not a Plan. Disruption is Not a Thesis.
“Don’t confuse genius with a bull market.” HB Neill There probably isn’t an industry that historically gets more impacted by disruption than the media space. The current narrative and environment is well known to anyone: stronger broadband service, the convenience of...
Weekly Market Update
Global Market News Global equities drop as bond yields rise Global equities continued falling this week as bond yields ticked up. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones made up losses incurred earlier in the week, ending 0.81% and 1.82% up respectively. On the other hand, the...
Geopolitical Challenges and Statecraft
Over the last decade, we have transitioned from a bi-polar world order to one that is increasingly multi-polar, with China competing to be recognized as a global leader. China competes with the US “across all dimensions of power”, but thrives particularly in the...
When Isaiah Berlin Dined with Xi Jinping: Extrapolating Facts about The Great Wall of Steroids
The invitation sent by Isaiah Berlin left the date open. The city was supposed to be London. However, Xi Jinping responded with one precondition: An assessment by Berlin of Biden’s dogma, especially after their first phone call on February 10th. To that Berlin...
Crossroads: At the Intersection of Geopolitics and Geoeconomics
Here is a summary of the most important events that unfolded last month, and which may affect economic, financial and geopolitical issues in the months ahead: North America The US carried out an airstrike in eastern Syria against Iran-backed militants in...
Covid-19 and the Day After
Here is our take on the articles summarized below: One recurrent theme of the coronavirus pandemic is its tendency to expose the subsurface workings of our world. For this week’s summaries, we examine several of these undercurrents and the ways the pandemic has...
When Moore Isn’t Enough: Part I
It seems like every day there’s a new story discussing the global shortage in semiconductors/chips, affecting everything from smartphones, to computers, to data centers and medical devices (examples here, here, here, and here). Perhaps no industry better serves as the...
