1. New Relative Strength Lows vs. S&P 500 for Utilities and Staples.
Dave Lutz Jones Trading–Investors have been rotating back into the technology stocks that they favored during Covid-19 lockdowns after inflation fears eased and low bond yields spurred a hunt for better returns. Optimism about the economic recovery, the prospect of more fiscal stimulus and confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue to support credit markets has also boosted sentiment in recent days, WSJ reports.
The defensive areas of the market continue to get hit relative to the broader market notes the twits.
2. Stock Market Correlations to 10 Year Yields.
State Street Global Advisors.
https://www.ssga.com/us/en/institutional/etfs
3. Seasonality Around Third Quarter.
LPL Research
https://lplresearch.com/2021/06/30/4-charts-to-help-you-get-ready-for-july-and-beyond/
4. U.S. Consumer Confidence Back Above 120……But It was Above 120 for 4 Years Straight Prior to Covid.
5. Shanghai Containerized Freight Index….20 years sideways between 500-1000………3800 Last?
Shanghai Containerized Freight Index-What is Shanghai Containerized Freight Index?
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index is the most widely used index for sea freight rates for import China worldwide. This index has been calculated weekly since 2009 and shows the most current freight prices for container transport from the Chinese main ports, including Shanghai.
Source: Bloomberg, Percy Allison
US Equities
Jefferies LLC
Source: Jefferies Trading Desk
6. Mortgage Debt Service as a Percentage of Disposable Income Hits All-Time Lows.
7. Nike Direct to Consumer Hitting 40%
| Just do it, direct Nike’s direct-to-consumer strategy is starting to pay off — big time. This week Nike reported that its total Nike brand revenues for the 12 months ending in May topped $42bn for the first time. A whopping $16.4bn, or almost 40% of that total, came from direct sales to consumers. That’s up from 35% last year when we charted this data. The Nike marketing machine Going direct to consumers sounds like a no-brainer. You cut out the middlemen (retailers) and get to keep a higher profit margin. But it also means you have to do a lot more. Customer service, managing returns and refunds, shipping and — most important of all — getting in front of your potential customers. Nike continues to spend more than $3bn a year on what it calls “demand creation expense” (we’d call it marketing), keeping its association with the best athletes and stars across a wide variety of sports. That’s a big number, but it’s actually only around 7% of Nike brand revenue. In reality, Nike is reaping the rewards of years of investment into its brand, even becoming Gen-Z’s favourite clothing brand. It’s one thing for Nike, which is one of the most recognizable brands on the planet, to start cutting out retailers and going direct. But if nobody’s heard of your brand, it’s not quite that easy — and you’ll probably have to spend a lot more than 7% of your revenue on marketing, demand creation expense, or whatever you want to call it. |
8. The U.S. Biggest Importers.
9. WSJ-How I Liberated My College Classroom
I created a special seminar to discuss controversial issues freely, and the results were eye-opening.
By John Rose
The entrance to the Duke University campus in Durham, N.C., Jan. 28, 2019.
Durham, N.C.
The conservative critique of American higher education is well known to Journal readers: The universities are run by intolerant progressives. The left counters with an insult: The lack of intellectually respectable conservative arguments is responsible for campus political uniformity. Perhaps a better starting point in this debate is the students, most of whom actually want freer discourse on campus. They want to be challenged by views they don’t hold.
This, at least, has been my recurring experience with undergraduates at Duke University, where I teach classes called “Political Polarization” and “Conservatism” that require my students to engage with all sides of today’s hottest political issues.
True engagement, though, requires honesty. In an anonymous survey of my 110 students this spring, 68% told me they self-censor on certain political topics even around good friends. That includes self-described conservative students, but also half of the liberals. “As a Duke student, it is difficult to be both a liberal and a Zionist,” one wrote. Another remarked, “Although I support most BLM ideas, I do not feel that I can have any conversation that even slightly criticizes
To get students to stop self-censoring, a few agreed-on classroom principles are necessary. On the first day, I tell students that no one will be canceled, meaning no social or professional penalties for students resulting from things they say inside the class. If you believe in policing your fellow students, I say, you’re in the wrong room. I insist that goodwill should always be assumed, and that all opinions can be voiced, provided they are offered in the spirit of humility and charity. I give students a chance to talk about the fact that they can no longer talk. I let them share their anxieties about being socially or professionally penalized for dissenting. What students discover is that they are not alone in their misgivings.
Having now run the experiment with 300 undergraduates, I no longer wonder what would happen if students felt safe enough to come out of their shells. They flourish. In one class, my students had a serious but respectful discussion of critical race theory. Some thought it harmfully implied that blacks can’t get ahead on their own. Others pushed back.
My students had an honest conversation about race, but only because they had earned each other’s trust by making themselves vulnerable. On a different day, they spoke up for all positions on abortion. When a liberal student mentioned this to a friend outside class, she was met with disbelief: “Let me get this straight, real Duke students in an actual class were discussing abortion and some of them actually admitted to being pro-life?” For my student’s part, she was no longer shocked the conversation had taken place, nor scandalized at the views of her classmates.
Not long after Jan. 6, I asked my students how many of them had a family member or friend who voted for Donald Trump. In a class of 56, 50 hands went up. I then asked them to keep their hands up if they thought this person’s vote was motivated by anything unsavory—say, sexism or racism. Every hand but two went down.
Despite our masks, I could see that students were surprised. Turns out, their Trump-supporting cousin wasn’t the exception. When you actually know others, they aren’t an abstraction onto which you can project your own political narratives. The same is true in the classroom.
On the last day of class this term, several of my students thanked their counterparts for the gift of civil disagreement. Students told me of unlikely new friendships made. Some existing friendships, previously strained by political differences, were mended. All of this should give hope to those worried that polarization has made dialogue impossible in the classroom. Not only is it possible, it’s what students pine for.
Progressives, the power to make this a widespread reality on campus is in your hands; in so doing, you’ll remain true to your own tradition of liberalism. Conservatives, don’t write off the modern university; in continuing to support it, you’ll uphold your own tradition’s commitment to passing down wisdom.
Both sides should support efforts within universities that promote civil discourse. We’ll all be happier about the state of the country if we do. After all, as they say, what starts on campus doesn’t stay on campus.
Mr. Rose is associate director of the Arete Initiative at Duke University’s Kenan Institute for Ethics.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-i-liberated-my-college-classroom-11624573083
10. How Wellness Enhances Your Emotional Intelligence
When you’re in a good place, you’re a better manager.
BY SUZANNE LUCAS, FREELANCE WRITER@REALEVILHRLADY
What if you could be a better manager and leader just by taking care of yourself? Certified health coach and yoga teacher Ophelie Cabanero feels that wellness should be a focus of everyone–but especially leaders. Leaders have more responsibilities and people depend on them, and so they need to be at their best. Wellness, says Cabanero, increases not only your health but also your emotional intelligence. Here’s why.
You’re a better leader when you’re not tired
More than a third of American employees aren’t getting enough sleep. Tiredness can cause a whole host of problems, including long-term physical health problems. But it also makes us less capable of thinking about what others need. Some of the symptoms of tiredness are
· Slowed reflexes and responses
· Impaired decision-making and judgment
· Moodiness, such as irritability
· Reduced ability to pay attention to the situation at hand
· Low motivation
You can see how tiredness makes it difficult to control your emotions, navigate relationships with others, and be a good example to your employees. Cabanero says make sleep a priority if you want to be a good leader.
If you’re unhappy with yourself, you’re unhappy with others
Wellness includes focusing on what you need–often called self-care. This is not selfishness, but rather recognizing that you have needs. That may be through exercise, meditation, or eating a healthy diet. Giving yourself what you need to feel centered helps you be happy with yourself.
People who are happy and content with themselves will be more open to the needs of their employees, according to Cabanero. This makes perfect sense. If you’re frustrated with your own life, can you take the time to think about others’ needs?
People make mistakes all the time. Responding to them with patience and understanding is a sign of emotional intelligence. Taking mistakes personally is a huge problem and undermines your leadership.
People with high emotional intelligence can think through difficult situations and have difficult conversations. Managers and leaders need to have these conversations often. If you’re cranky and unhappy with your own life, will you have the emotional intelligence to reach out to a struggling employee and help the employee succeed? Probably not.
Wellness programs only work when leaders set the example
As a health coach, Cabanero wants to see everyone healthy and on the right path, but companies have only limited influence on their employees. Having a leader demonstrate the need to take care of oneself can make a huge difference. HR expert Brenda Neckvatal, author of Best Practices in Human Resources: How to Claw Your Way From Want-to-Be to VP, agrees. “You can’t have a proper wellness program if the leadership doesn’t participate,” she says.
Having leadership actually demonstrate wellness in their own lives also demonstrates emotional intelligence. You can’t lead people if you’re unwilling to walk on the same path. That means focusing on your own health as well as theirs. If your goal in investing in a business wellness program is only to lower health insurance costs, your employees will see through it. If, on the other hand, you engage yourself, your employees will see the results as you become a better manager. That’s a winning wellness plan
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JUN 26, 2021
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/how-wellness-enhances-your-emotional-intelligence.html?cid=sf01003
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