1. First Newsletter I Ever Read Starting in 1998…Art Cahsin RIP
2. Art Knew Communism Sucks…U.S. Productivity Separates From the Pack
A Wealth of Common Sense Blog—Joey Politano breaks down the productivity boom in the U.S. and how it compares to the rest of the developed world:
He explains:Productivity growth is nothing short of the bedrock of progress–in the long run, creating more with the same amount of labor is the only way to durably increase wages, consumption, and society’s overall prosperity. That makes it such a historic achievement that American economic output per hour worked has risen 8.9% over the last five years–faster than the five years prior or any point in the 2010s–in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2024/12/u-s-markets-are-swallowing-the-rest-of-the-world/
3. U.S. Oil Production Per Day 47% Higher than Saudi Arabia in October
The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials anticipate the US will produce an average of 13.2 million barrels of oil per day this year, which was 47% higher than Saudi Arabia’s average in October.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61523
4. Software Valuations
Marketwatch-Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner pounded the table for software stocks back in June, arguing the sector was trading 15% below its 10-year average. The call was prescient: the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF
+3.89%
has jumped 42% from its August lows. He shared this chart showing software multiples are still below their average and trading at a discount to pre-COVID multiples.
5. Small Caps are Only Group Trading Below 10-Year Average
Equities: Only small caps are trading at multiples below their 10-year average.
Source: The Daily Shot
6. Ethereum Close to Break-Out
ETHE no full break-out yet.
7. Morgan Stanley Projection on Weight Loss Drugs
8. Internet Retail Spike Post Covid
Jack Ablin Cresset Capital
9. xAI Raised $10B One-Year
10. Elites vs. elitism -Seth Godin
Tom Brady is an elite athlete. Few have even approached the stats he had playing football. And Catherine Walker, NSTA Science Teacher of the Year, is an elite, because her pedagogy and understanding give her the ability to create better outcomes for her students. There’s a hospital for special surgery, but all surgery is special if it’s surgery on someone you care about, so we seek out an elite doctor because outcomes matter.
Our culture prizes performance, we spend a lot of time ranking and measuring output. Fans of a team are rooting for their side to win, because identity is easily hooked into performance.
But this is not at all related to elitism. Elitism is a barrier, where we use a label to decide who gets to contribute and who is offered dignity. A law firm that only hires from a few law schools is elitist–they have no data to confirm that these recruits are more likely to contribute than others, they’re simply artificially limiting the pool they draw from.
Opening our filters and seeking a diversity of experience undermines elitist insecurity and creates the possibility for even better solutions and connection.
Elitism also shows up when elites who are arguably very good at something believe that this means that they’re also good at everything.
The scientific method isn’t elitist, nor is a stopwatch used to record the 100 meter dash. Seeking coherent arguments, logical approaches and a contribution that leads to better outcomes isn’t elitist, in fact, it’s precisely the opposite.
We can celebrate elite performance without being elitist. In fact, it’s the best way to do so.
https://seths.blog/2024/12/elites-vs-elitism/