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The World
Russia will slash gas supplies through its largest pipeline to Germany to just a fifth of capacity later this week in a move that threatens to leave the continent short of critical supplies ahead of the winter. State-owned energy group Gazprom said it would cut existing flows on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in half to just 20 per cent of capacity from Wednesday, having already lowered them to 40 per cent last month. European politicians have decried Russia’s “weaponisation” of gas supplies. (Financial Times)
The pushback from the White House against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan to visit Taiwan has sparked anxiety in Taipei that the controversy will further compromise its security. Several people involved in national security policy in Taiwan said the country was trapped between the risk that China would “punish” Taipei for Pelosi’s planned visit next month and the risk that Washington would cancel the trip and effectively give China a say in US-Taiwan policy. Three people in Taipei familiar with the situation said the US administration’s public opposition to the trip threatened to embolden Beijing. (Financial Times)
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss exchanged a series of bitter personal attacks during a live television debate tonight as the Conservative Party leadership contest descended further into acrimony. Despite calls from Tory grandees for a cessation of “blue on blue” hostilities, Truss accused Sunak of “scaremongering” and being part of “project fear” while Sunak countered by highlighting her vote for Remain. (The Times)
Taps have run dry in Monterrey, Mexico, where there is water for factories but not for residents. Drought has drained the three reservoirs that provide about 60% of the water for the region’s 5 million residents. Most homes now receive water for only a few hours each morning. And on the city’s periphery, many taps have run dry. (Los Angeles Times)
Calling In Sick or Going on Vacation, Workers Aren’t Showing Up This Summer: Employers struggle with staffing as high Covid-19 infection rates, a longstanding labor shortage and vacation season converge. (Wall Street Journal)
The bright spots in a complicated ESG framework: ESG investing is a fast growing sector of finance, and, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, global ESG assets are likely to surpass $41 trillion in 2022 and $50 trillion by 2025. ESG is now an essential component in every corporate strategy from a risk mitigation and opportunity optimization standpoint. Creating measurable recognized standards for ESG investment, where failure to meet these results in penalties, enables investors to better evaluate ESG commitments. (World Economic Forum)
Economy
Walmart warned that higher prices for food and fuel were causing consumers to pull back, hurting the retail giant’s profits for the current quarter and fiscal year. The company, which warned in May that it was stuck with too much unsold goods, said it was having to cut prices to reduce merchandise levels at its flagship chain and Sam’s Club warehouse chain, which would crimp its profits. The announcement sent Walmart’s shares down more than 8% in after-hours trading. It opened a week when a raft of global brands and multinational companies—from McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble to Visa and Amazon are slated to update investors on their latest quarterly results and the outlook for the rest of the year. (Wall Street Journal)
Economist Nouriel Roubini said the US is facing a deep recession as interest rates rise and the economy is burdened by high debt loads, calling those expecting a shallow downturn “delusional.” “There are many reasons why we are going to have a severe recession and a severe debt and financial crisis,” the chairman and chief executive officer of Roubini Macro Associates said. “The idea that this is going to be short and shallow is totally delusional.” (Bloomberg)
Wall Street investors are betting that Fed officials will raise interest rates aggressively through the end of the year—and then turn around and start cutting them in six months. The unusual wager reflects investors’ growing sense that the Fed is driving the economy into a recession as it tries to fight inflation, analysts said. (Wall Street Journal)
Morgan Stanley Sees More Fed Hikes, While JPMorgan Expects Pivot: Fed is likely to continue tightening into a recession: Wilson; JPMorgan says bets of peaking inflation may prompt Fed pivot. (Bloomberg)
One round of layoffs wasn’t enough: The cuts haven’t stopped. And now some companies are on their second round. Netflix laid off another 300 workers in late June, after laying off Tudum writers in April and another 150 employees in May. Mural told me last week that it laid off more employees, but didn’t confirm how many. At least nine employees were laid off in early May. Hopin cut 12% of its staff in February, and another 29% earlier this month. Gemini cut 10% of its staff in June, had a second round last week and more layoffs might still be on the horizon. (Protocol)
The Business Case For Tackling Diversity, And Private Equity’s Role: I recently spoke at the World Finance Forum with a colleague, where we explained the business case behind tackling diversity and the role the private equity (PE) industry could play in moving the needle. The post-presentation conversation and feedback centered around attendees being pleasantly surprised with the core message: “You can create a tangible business case for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).” Initially, I was under the impression that everyone was talking about DEI and that information was freely available. This was partially true, but getting the right information to help build a cohesive storyline was difficult. Articles typically focused on either the situation at a given point or on the benefits of DEI. The posts focusing on benefits would often talk in anecdotes. However, a few targeted studies explained the tangible impact. (Forbes)
Technology
Many tech companies report earnings this week, including Alphabet, Microsoft, Visa and Texas Instruments tomorrow; Meta, ServiceNow, Qualcomm and Shopify on Wednesday; Apple, Comcast and Intel on Thursday; and Sony on Friday. (Protocol)
Supercharged biotech rice yields 40% more grain: By giving a Chinese rice variety a second copy of one of its own genes, researchers have boosted its yield by up to 40%. The change helps the plant absorb more fertilizer, boosts photosynthesis, and accelerates flowering, all of which could contribute to larger harvests. (Science)
The NFL games you may have been watching on your phone are going behind a paywall. The NFL is unveiling a new subscription streaming service that will offer consumers local and national prime-time game telecasts that were previously streamed at no cost to consumers on Yahoo Sports and the NFL mobile app. (Los Angeles Times)
Amazon will see you now: reading between the lines of the One Medical acquisition. The deal’s near-term ramifications are unlikely to be monumental. But it should be concerning for One Medical’s primary care competitors and larger entities looking to capture a greater slice of the healthcare market, experts said. (Healthcare Dive)
Apoorva Mehta, Instacart’s co-founder and former chief executive, will step down as Instacart’s executive chairman and leave its board of directors once the grocery delivery company goes public — although with the startup IPO market dormant, when exactly that will be remains an open question. (The Information)
The Global Podcasting Market Size was valued at USD 13,785 Million in 2021 and is predicted to be worth USD 153,071 Million by 2030, with a CAGR of 31.2% from 2022 to 2030. (Acumen Research)
Smart Links
Novel sensor allows the detection of Alzheimer's 17 years in advance. (Interesting Engineering)
Bill for Barclays securities blunder rises to $17.6bn. (The Times)
Alibaba to Pursue Primary Listing in Hong Kong. (Wall Street Journal)
Pakistan is facing default on its sovereign debt. (GZERO Media)
The entire state of Massachusetts is officially in a drought. (WBUR)
Your boss might be reading your work messages. Here’s how to prevent that. (Washington Post)
Californians can soon use cryptocurrencies to donate to state and local candidates. (Los Angeles Times)
Mark Zuckerberg sold his home in San Francisco for $31 million, the top price in the city so far this year. (The Real Deal)