Tuesday morning news drop
It's not just Toronto and Vancouver — Canada's housing bubble has gone national Bully offers with no conditions are popping up in small real estate markets, too (CBC)
Why You Shouldn’t Pick Individual Stocks I stopped picking individual stocks years ago and I recommend that you do the same. But, today I am not going to give you the traditional argument as to why you shouldn’t pick stocks, but a new one. The traditional argument, which you’ve probably heard many times before, goes as follows: since most people (even the professionals) can’t beat the index, you shouldn’t bother trying. (Dollars and Data)
How a Chip Shortage Snarled Everything From Phones to Cars A six-decade-old invention, the lowly chip, has gone from little-understood workhorse in powerful computers to the most crucial and expensive component under the hood of modern-day gadgets. That explosion in demand—unexpectedly goosed during the Covid-19 pandemic for certain industries like smartphones and PCs—has caused a near-term supply shock triggering an unprecedented global shortage. (Bloomberg)
CEOs Can’t Stay on Society’s Sidelines Anymore They are no longer closely aligned with the Republican Party and face increasing pressure to wield their considerable influence on issues such as voting rights, income equality and climate change. (Bloomberg)
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century behind closed doors Republicans speak differently about the legislation, which is also known as House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1. They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections. (New Yorker)
Will U.S. learn from a $1.7 trillion goof that would have paid for Biden’s infrastructure plan? America’s military-industrial complex squanders $1.5 trillion on a lame fighter jet while the president begs for infrastructure cash. Isn’t there a better way? (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, explained in 600 words $621 billion for roads and bridges; another $165 billion would go toward public transportation, with a big chunk of that going to Amtrak. It would also pay for electric car recharging stations, water systems (including eliminating all lead pipes), high-speed broadband infrastructure, and modernizing the electrical grid (Vox)
Annie’s Mac and Cheese is based in the Bay Area, but Annie is not. Here’s her story. he more I read about Annie’s, the second-most popular mac and cheese brand in the United States behind Kraft, the more I wanted to know about the mysterious woman behind the brand. Her number isn’t on the boxes of mac and cheese anymore, obviously. So a few weeks ago, I left a voicemail for a number that I figured had a 50-50 shot of being accurate. Then I waited. (SFGate)
Unemployment: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) John Oliver details the many obstacles that impede access to unemployment benefits – often by design – and why the entire system needs to be rethought.