The World
Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. remains at the nine-year low recorded in July, with 13% feeling satisfied. While the pandemic has remained Americans’ most important problem since April, the current 35% mentioning it represents an uptick from the previous two months'; 22% mention the government, similar to the level of mentions since April; and only 12% say any economic troubles, including the economy in general terms, unemployment or economic inequality, are the most important problem facing the country. (Gallup)
The economic rebound has begun to slow in Europe’s two largest economies after several months of improvement, according to a widely watched survey of business activity. The IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index for France and Germany both substantially undershot economists’ expectations in August, raising questions about the eurozone’s 3Q20 rebound. European Central Bank officials signaled that they could roll out new monetary stimulus to shore up economic growth, as the region wrestles with rising unemployment and a possible wave of corporate bankruptcies. Meanwhile, oil prices dropped nearly 3% as the global recovery hits stumbling blocks. (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters)
Democratic presidential nominee Biden is presiding over a family fight over how much should be spent to resurrect economy. The party’s wings are sniping at each other over the scale of the economic agenda they should pursue if they win big. Biden’s transition team head argued that the swelling deficit will limit what the next administration can pursue. That unleashed criticism that federal spending doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t incite runaway inflation. (Finance 202)
Kim Jong-un has admitted that the North Korean economy is struggling in the face of U.S. sanctions, the pandemic and devastating floods, raising speculation about his grip on power. (The Australian)
The number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year has passed 5,000, analysis shows, as the UK government continues to pursue a “militarized” response to the growing numbers. (The Guardian)
Tech firms and other major corporations are adding new educational benefits to help with school-aged kids as working parents again face a school year juggling work and virtual learning. A program initiated by discussions between Accenture and Bright Horizons, the child care center operator, and being adopted by Microsoft, Bank of America and Accenture, will offer employees of these corporate giants access to small-group, part-time, “school-day supervision” at a heavily subsidized cost. (Washington Post)
Demand for guns and ammunition is accelerating ahead of November’s election, driven by consumer concerns about protests and civil unrest and by Americans seeing hunting as a socially distanced leisure pursuit during a pandemic. Ammo Inc, an ammunition manufacturer based in Scottsdale, AZ, reported that its revenues had surged 125% to $9.7m in the three months to June. (Financial Times)
Wildfires ringing the San Francisco Bay Area killed at least five people, destroyed more than 500 structures and scorched hundreds of square miles as evacuations expanded. (Los Angeles Times)
Economy
July home sales spiked a record 24.7% as prices set a new high, as the supply of existing homes plummeted 21.1% annually. Meanwhile, serious mortgage delinquencies soared to a 10-year high last month. Manufacturing and services sector purchasing agents report business activity has accelerated at a brisker-than-expected pace this month. (CNBC, Washington Post, Reuters)
The percentage of Americans who own stock is falling. It most recently stood at about 55%, according to an April Gallup poll, down from a high of 67% in 2002. The top 10% of Americans by wealth owned 87% of all stock outstanding in the first quarter; that share has grown from 82.4% in 2009. (Wall Street Journal)
The Covid-19 crisis has delivered a stunning gut-punch to the NYC luxury real-estate market, surpassing both the 2008 financial crisis and the period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Between Mar. 23 and Aug. 16, sales were off 56% year-over-year. For properties priced at $4 million or above, sales were down about 67%. New listings were down 21%, while new listings priced at $4 million and above were down almost 35%. (Wall Street Journal)
Workers think managers need more training: 84% of U.S. workers say poorly trained managers create a lot of unnecessary work and stress; 57% believe managers could benefit from training on how to be better people managers; 50% believe it would help them improve their own performance if their supervisor's people management skills improved; 41% believe their manager could benefit from additional communication skills training. (SHRM survey)
Technology
The U.S. is trying to pick up pace in developing a 5G alternative to Huawei. Open Radio Access Network, known as O-RAN, is virtual and software-based, and it has emerged as a potential option. The approach is expected to be an alternative not only to Huawei, but to other hardware-centred 5G tech developers such as Ericsson, Samsung and China’s ZTE. (South China Morning Post)
CBS is seeking around $5.5 million for 30-second commercial spots in next year’s Super Bowl, while also requiring advertisers to appear in the game’s online stream for an additional $200,000. However, ad buyers are asking for a way out of their Super Bowl commitments if the coronavirus forces the NFL to halt the coming season or otherwise not play its championship game. (Wall Street Journal)
A group of WeChat users in the U.S. is launching a legal challenge to the U.S. ban on the popular Chinese messaging app, arguing that the move violates their constitutional rights. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Major news organizations joined the push for more favorable terms on Apple ’s App Store. In a letter to Tim Cook, a trade body representing the NYT, Washington Post, WSJ and others want to understand potential better deal terms and keep more money from digital subscriptions sold through Apple’s app store. Meanwhile, Epic Games announced a Fortnite tournament — the #FreeFortnite Cup — to rally players around its battle with Apple. (Wall Street Journal, CNBC)
Weekend Reads
An exploration of our lives OOO: What does the future hold for the office and the workers who once inhabited it?As it turns out, most workers do not miss it. In a survey of 1,123 remote workers by The Times and Morning Consult, 86 percent said they were satisfied with the current arrangements — even when that sometimes meant working from their bedrooms or closets. They reported feeling less stressed, more able to take breaks and that they were spending more time outdoors. The NYT explores what becomes of gossip, or handshakes, or the work attire collecting dust in our closets; they profile different types of workers, including the office addict (he’s still going in) and the new hire (he’s never met his co-workers). And finally, almost a year after studying the office as it once was, they ask: Is this an opportunity to change how we work once and for all? (New York Times)
The thesis of the latest issue of MIT Technology Review that the post–Cold War order was already splintering, and covid-19 is finishing the job. The biggest driving force in this trend is China’s rise as a tech superpower and the US’s consequent belligerence as its supremacy comes under threat. In the last few decades, the received wisdom among global elites has been that technology tends to make the world flatter, smaller, more open, and more equal. This now seems increasingly false, or at least simplistic. Countries are vying for dominance in technologies that could give them a strategic advantage: communications, energy, AI, surveillance, agricultural tech, cybersecurity, military tech … and now, amidst a global pandemic, medicine and manufacturing. The urge for nations to amass technological prowess and use it as an instrument of geopolitical power is what we mean by technonationalism. (MIT Technology Review)
The inside story of Robinhood’s billionaire founders, option kid cowboys and the Wall Street sharks that feed on them: The perfect stock trading app for the videogame generation was supposed to “democratize finance” with zero-commission trades. But the primary plan was to get rich by selling customer trades to the market’s most notorious operators. (Forbes)
The pandemic crisis is likely to fuel more mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and other weird arrangements, as the post-crisis market landscape will likely include more price pressure, more value-based reimbursement, and more technology—all factors that favor larger, well-capitalized provider organizations. The question for many provider organization executive teams is how to become one of those larger, well-capitalized organizations that will be sustainable in the post-pandemic landscape. There are only a few options—grow by acquiring or merging with another organization, grow by being acquired by a larger organization, or develop a rapid organic growth strategy fueled by capital from a collaboration of some type or from outside investors. Most executive teams would prefer the first option—being the acquirer. But many of those executive teams are going to find themselves in competition with private equity firms for the “best” organizations to acquire. (Open Minds)
Smart Links
Holiday shopping season could start in October. (Reuters)
Vanuatu’s $130K citizenships-for-sale delivers passport surge, record budget surplus. (The Guardian)
Kodak’s $765 million moment: How it happened, and how it went wrong. (Wall Street Journal)
Wells Fargo resumes job cuts after pandemic break. (Reuters)
Goldman Sachs has money and power. Now it has its own font. (New York Times)