THEME: Off Target
June 13, 2022 —
Michael’s CIO (Check-It-Out) Report on the week just past — events, sarcasm, and global macro reflections
THEME: Off Target
GL🌎BAL
Some Of Americas: The Ninth Summit of the Americas took place in Los Angeles, but only Some Of the Americas showed up. Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were not invited, causing the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico to snub the event in protest — Shame that what was supposed to be a cooperative and unifying event is fractious before it even starts, especially since China has widened its trade lead in much of Latin America over the last 18 months
StayFlation: U.S. inflation increased +8.6%, energy prices increased +34.6%, gasoline +48.7%, electricity +12.0%, natural gas up +30.2%, and food up +11.9% in May compared to a year ago — Although Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve are supposedly trying to fight inflation by raising interest rates and selling bonds (to take cash out of the economy), they are more than just a little off-target! The Fed has no control over food and energy prices and little control over general inflation unless they push the U.S. into recession, which seems increasingly likely
BIZNOMIC$
Apple a day and Apple tomorrow with their new buy now, pay later (BNPL) implementation which is essentially a six-week installment loan program called Apple Pay Later — Apple’s latest competitive foray into the financial technology (fintech) space 🍎
Life of 🥧: Google’s Emma Haruka Iwao and her team used the latest cloud computing infrastructure, 82 petabytes of date, and just under 158 days to calculate π (pi) to the 100-trillionth decimal place — The last digit in that number is a zero in case you were curious
Off Target🎯: After shocking analysts on May 18 with a huge earnings miss because of high fuel and freight costs, price discounting, and customers shunning home goods, Target misses again by announcing it has too much inventory and that it will slash prices to sell patio furniture, household appliances, and leisure wear to free-up shelf and warehouse space for back-to-school and holiday shopping — Expect other retailers to do similar about their “inventory bloat”
CONTENT
Float like a butterfly, sting like a fish: California’s 3rd District Court of Appeals declared that four endangered bee species are fish. The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) defines fish as “…crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian…” but does not say they have to be aquatic, so any invertebrate is a fish 🐟 🐝🐞🐠
A wrinkle in time: A primary mirror on the new $10B James Webb Telescope was dented by a micrometeoroid; a dust size tiny meteoroid that usually weighs less than a gram — The telescope is still performing well
Chersace: Mega-entertainer Cher and design house Versace teamed up for a Pride clothing collection🌈
Make it a great week😊
Michael
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Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA
Partner / Chief Investment Officer
“We deliver custom investment solutions, innovations, and unique perspectives to you and your family.”
Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of Running Point Capital Advisors, LLC (Running Point) and are subject to change without notice. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication, may be modified due to changes in the market or economic conditions, and may not necessarily come to pass. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. Running Point is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Running Point’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. RP-22–33
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