Construction, Stock Market, Bitcoin ETFs, and Chard Ferch

Tuesday morning news drop

• Statistics Canada hastily revises inflation higher after concerns about methodology Reversals of this magnitude to a major economic indicator are rare (Financial Post)

• A woman’s perspective on life in the construction field Leading my own construction jobs was incredibly rewarding and a huge leap forward in my career, however, I couldn’t help but notice moments when I was treated differently as a woman, than if I were a man in the same role. This is the hard truth but in time, as the industry evolves and more women take on power positions, I know there will be change. (On-Site)

• Covid Housing Boom Is Even Bigger Than Imagined The latest Fed data on household finances shows the extent to which record-low mortgage rates and surging home prices turbocharged the economic recovery. (Bloomberg)

• Reinventing Capitalism – The Bitcoin ETF Opportunity The SEC and the U.S. Treasury has a chance to lead by working with the crypto community to create a viable framework for technologies and securities that helps smooth capital flow across these barriers. (ETF Trends)

• How Does the Stock Market Perform When Interest Rates Rise? The truth is there is no rule of thumb with these things. But rising rates, in and of themselves, don’t always spell doom for the stock market. (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• What the Bond Market Is Telling Us About the Biden Economy A recent rise in interest rates hints that a recovery is on the way, but it could also mean harder choices ahead on spending. (New York Times)

• The 20th Annual Rich List, the Definitive Ranking of What Hedge Fund Managers Earned in 2020 A bad year for humanity was a wonderful year for the hedge fund elite. (Institutional Investor)

• How vulnerable is the world? Sooner or later a technology capable of wiping out human civilisation might be invented. How far would we go to stop it? (Aeon)

• Music Videos Are Over-the-Top Again, Thank God Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are leading the charge for the return of the elaborate music video. (Vice)

Chad Ferch - Victoria, BC: Vans Canada ripper Chad Ferch filmed some sick clips with Mike Zinger in Victoria, BC before he moved across the water. Grind manny game is strong! Stoked to see more from this dude.

Victoria Housing Market, QAnon, Beto vs. Cruz, and Pete Devries

Monday morning new drop

• QAnon's corrosive impact on the U.S. Tens of millions of Americans believe QAnon's core -- and false -- theory that an evil cabal of Satan-worshipping elites commits atrocities against children and controls much of the world. Where does this movement stand and who has it impacted? Lesley Stahl reports. (60 Minutes)

• Beto Wants to Save Texas From Ted Cruz While the senator was galavanting in Cancún, O’Rourke has been on the ground, fuming at a state leadership that does not believe in climate change. (Vanity Fair)

• Destroyed Texas’s Electric Grid “Seconds and minutes” from total catastrophe, the state struggled to handle an extreme weather event, which led to the largest forced power outage in U.S. history. (Bloomberg)

• Why an Animated Flying Cat With a Pop-Tart Body Sold for Almost $600,000 A fast-growing market for digital art, ephemera and media is marrying the world’s taste for collectibles with cutting-edge technology. (New York Times)

• Are Broker Commissions Too High? Online home buyers do much of the work involved in acquiring a house. So why are brokers’ fees still calculated under the old system? (New York Times)

• Inflation On The Way? Cotton And Lumber Say It's Already Here It's not just lumber prices that are skyrocketing and homebuilders who are taking the hit (and passing it along to homebuyers): Costs are soaring for commercial construction as well, hitting general contractors. (Investing) This is how inflation starts. (Oklahoman)

• How long do overheated markets last? The market for detached properties is clearly overheated out there. With about half of houses going in bidding wars and the median sale at 26% above assessed value so far in February, it’s an incredibly stressful time to be house hunting. That stress is starting to take a toll, with some buyers are dropping out and waiting until things calm down. In Toronto there are reports of that starting to have an impact on the market, with properties set for bidding wars not selling, then being relisted at the higher price that the sellers wanted all along which is leading to building inventory. (House Hunt Victoria)

Arc'teryx Presents: Happy Recluse Pete Devries and Jeremy Koreski, two long-time partners in the mission to surf and photograph the best waves Vancouver Island have to offer, take the extra step into their deep backyard returning to a wave that had shown past potential for a legendary session. In the process, Pete tells of his life as a ”happy recluse," at home in cold water.

More McDavid, Do a Kickflip, Anti-Vaxxers, and Hackers

The weekend news drop

• Waste Not Why financial co-ops are the natural choice for Canadians transitioning toward a more sustainable, circular economy (Walrus)

• The Man Who Abandoned Value When Arne Alsin wrote about investing in disruptive companies two years ago, one commentator called it “one of the dumbest articles ever written.” After a 274 percent year, Alsin isn’t the one who looks dumb. (Institutional Investor)

• Anti-Vaxxers Misuse Federal Data to Falsely Claim COVID Vaccines Are Dangerous VAERS, a database of reports of vaccine side effects, is being abused by people trying to sow fear. It’s not the first time. (Vice)

• Anatomy of a conspiracy: With COVID, China took leading role From Beijing and Washington to Moscow and Tehran, political leaders and allied media effectively functioned as misinformation superspreaders, using their stature to amplify politically expedient conspiracies already in circulation. But it was China — not Russia – that took the lead in spreading foreign disinformation about COVID-19’s origins, as it came under attack for its early handling of the outbreak. (AP)

• The Long Hack: How China Exploited a U.S. Tech Supplier For years, U.S. investigators found tampering in products made by Super Micro Computer Inc. The company says it was never told. Neither was the public. (Bloomberg)

• Police Forces Have Long Tried to Weed Out Extremists in the Ranks. Then Came the Capitol Riot. At least 30 law enforcement officers from around the country took part in the rally on Jan. 6 that preceded the riot. Many are now being investigated. (New York Times)

Deforestation, Market Mayhem, Cars, Bitcoin and the Dee Brown Pump

Friday morning news drop

• The world has lost one-third of its forest, but an end of deforestation is possible 10,000 years ago 57% of the world’s habitable land was covered by forest. That’s 6 billion hectares. Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. The world has lost one-third of its forest – an area twice the size of the United States. (Our World In Data)

• Impacts of climate change addressed in new B.C. program B.C.'s new $20.7-million Climate Adaptation Program features a range of projects throughout British Columbia that promise to increase the resiliency of the highway network and help lessen the adverse effects of climate change. (Journal of Commerce)

• 12 Things I Remind Myself When Markets Go Crazy The problem with having all of these options available at your fingertips is that it’s never been easier to experience FOMO. The sheer number of assets we have to invest in these days combined with rising markets and social media means the fear of missing out will always be trading at new all-time highs. (Wealth of Common Sense)

• Toppy stock markets spark more "bubble" chatter A strong start for world equities in 2021 after the fastest bear-to-bull market switch last year has prompted market mavens to flag worries about pricey assets, with BofA calling it the “mother-of-all asset bubbles”. (Reuters)

• How Car Collecting Powered Through the Pandemic The virus hastened the rise of online sales, as connoisseurs of vintage vehicles found more time to spend with their socially distanced hobby. (New York Times)

• How are bitcoin created? An illustrated guide to bitcoin mining, blockchains, and the “minting” process of cryptocurrency’s most popular coin. (The Hustle)

• Scorsese: Il Maestro: Federico Fellini and the lost magic of cinema There was one director whom everyone knew, one artist whose name was synonymous with cinema and what it could do. It was a name that instantly evoked a certain style, a certain attitude toward the world. In fact, it became an adjective. Let’s say you wanted to describe the surreal atmosphere at a dinner party, or a wedding, or a funeral, or a political convention, or for that matter, the madness of the entire planet—all you had to do was say the word “Felliniesque” and people knew exactly what you meant. (Harper’s Magazine)

• Oyster Lovers - How to select the perfect oyster We are beyond fortunate to have the world’s best oysters grown right here on Vancouver Island. Oysters thrive in our clean, plankton and algae rich waters. Up and down the west and east side of our island, oysters are grown in fjords, islets, bays and any small cove that provides the right combination of food source from pristine waters. (YAM)

• Reebok to Release the Pump Omni Zone II To Retro 30 Years After Dee Brown’s Iconic “No-Look” Dunk stole the spotlight during the 1991 NBA All-Star Weekend Dunk Contest (YouTube) against Shawn Kemp. With old sneaker silhouettes more in demand than new ones, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that brands are unearthing some retro gems for re-release. The original black-based design is slated to drop on March 5th. (Kicks On Fire)

CRA Privacy Breach, Amazon, Investing, GameStop, and Crazy NBA Players

Thursday morning news drop

• CRA suspends online accounts of over 100,000 Canadians after login credentials found for sale on dark web The Canada Revenue Agency had to suspend the accounts of more than 100,000 users of its online service because it detected troves of leaked login information on the dark web that could have led to data breaches. If your login data has probably been compromised through a third-party breach and you will need to contact CRA in order to regain access to your online account, particularly if you plan on filing your 2020 taxes online starting next week. (National Post)

• Amazon’s Great Labor Awakening Covid-19 has cemented the e-commerce giant’s hold on the economy — but it has also spurred employees all around the country to organize. (New York Times)

• Out in the Cold: uneven government support negatively impacts Island business John Wilson talks to Douglas about why narrow criteria for government funding has left communities stranded. (Douglas)

• Covid Housing Boom Is Even Bigger Than Imagined The latest Fed data on household finances shows the extent to which record-low mortgage rates and surging home prices turbocharged the economic recovery. (Bloomberg)

• Bond yields are not good predictors of inflation Bond market complacence should not be taken as strong evidence against the risk of overheating. The postwar history of US and foreign bond markets shows that bond yields are not good predictors of inflation. Yields largely reflect the behavior of inflation over many years in the past, not the future. It is far from clear whether inflation will rise significantly, but if it does, bond markets are not likely to have predicted it. (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

• The Worst Year Ever for Value 2020 was the worst year for the value factor. Worse even than 1999. (Irrelevant Investor)

• Clubhouse, a Tiny Audio Chat App, Breaks Through The 11-month-old app has exploded in popularity, even as it grapples with harassment, misinformation and privacy issues. (New York Times)

• The Beach Bum Who Beat Wall Street and Made Millions on GameStop Mike McCaskill spent years scouring the stock market and betting on long shots. Then he found the opportunity that changed his life—and helped spark the mother of all short squeezes. (The Ringer)

• Many top NBA players hesitant to promote coronavirus vaccines Players are expressing apprehension about accepting invitations to participate in league-sponsored public service announcements to bolster broader acceptance of the coronavirus vaccine. (ESPN)

• The Buffett Indicator at All-Time Highs: Is This Cause for Concern? In 2001, Warren Buffett famously described the stock market capitalization-to-GDP ratio as “the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment.” (Visual Capitalist)

Bonds, Biden, Online Shopping and the GOAT

Wednesday morning news drop

• Bonds Are Getting Crushed These days people are more concerned with losing out than they are about losing money. But it wasn’t too long ago that people spent time worrying about the most boring part of their portfolio. (Irrelevant Investor)

• Biden’s huge bet: the economic consequences of ‘acting big’ Joe Biden’s strategy for the US economy is the most radical departure from prevailing policies since Ronald Reagan’s free market reforms 40 years ago. With plans for public borrowing and spending on a scale not seen since the second world war, the administration is undertaking a huge fiscal experiment. The whole world is watching. (Financial Times)

• Future Returns: Why Family Offices Are Drawn Toward Venture Capital Throughout the last decade, wealthy families have gravitated away from hedge funds to private investments, including private equity and venture capital. A big reason is that entrepreneurs who are comfortable with risk, and evaluating management teams and the potential success or failure of a business idea, are usually the reason a family became wealthy. (Penta)

• “The United States of Amazon.” Amazon Has Transformed the Geography of Wealth and Power, Understanding America in the giant company’s shadow (The Atlantic)

• How sneakerheads ruined online shopping Why shopping — for everything from the PS5 to the Nugget couch — got so competitive. (Vox)

• Clash of the GOATs: Why Wayne Gretzky is the greatest team sports player ever -- not Tom Brady (ESPN)

• Tales from the trenches: Mentorship lessons learned Whether you are considering how to be a valuable mentor, or how to navigate mentorship as a mentee, the following five lessons I have learned may help you make the most of mentorship activities: (On-Site)

Climate, Sustainability, Investing and Wealth, and Victoria Real Estate

Tuesday morning news drop

• Bill Gates: How the world can avoid a climate disaster Bill Gates says he is determined as ever to drive innovation "Without innovation, we will not solve climate change. We won't even come close," Gates says. Anderson Cooper reports for 60 Minutes. (60 Minutes)

• The 100 Most Sustainable Companies Sustainability means many things, but companies usually are judged on a series of environmental, social, and corporate governance metrics that measure how a company’s managers make decisions and plan for the future in areas beyond profitability. (Barron’s)

• T’ll Do: Impeachment did not prevail, but Trump still lost. Thanks to their integrity, a clear majority of the Senate voted to condemn the former president as an insurrectionist against the United States. The 57–43 margin wasn’t enough to convict under the Constitution. It wasn’t enough to formally disqualify Trump from ever again seeking office in the United States. But practically? It will do as a solemn and eternal public repudiation of Trump’s betrayal of his oath of office. (The Atlantic)

• Bitcoin’s Volatility Should Burn Investors. It Hasn’t. Wild price swings normally have a way of reversing fortunes. So how do you explain when they don’t? (Bloomberg)

• The Test of Time: Art as an Investment 80%-90% of your investment portfolio should be in income-producing assets. The rest you can leave for non-income producing assets like gold, Bitcoin, and art. Why? Because non-income producing assets are priced solely based on what someone else is willing to pay for them in the future. Since there are no underlying cashflows, price is based on perception. (Of Dollars And Data)

• Biden and the Fed Leave 1970s Inflation Fears Behind After years of dire inflation predictions that failed to pan out, the people who run fiscal and monetary policy in Washington have decided the risk of “overheating” the economy is much lower than the risk of failing to heat it up enough. (New York Times)

• The Algebra of Wealth Opportunity remains abundant, even as the headwinds of policy make it increasingly difficult for the young to capture their fair share of the spoils. Achieving economic security requires hard work, talent, and a tremendous amount of focus on . . . money. Yes, some people’s genius will be a tsunami that overwhelms a lack of focus and discipline. Assume you are not that person. (No Mercy / No Malice)

• When are high prices a bubble in Victoria? The market for single family homes is completely off the hook out there. 55% are selling for over the asking price, often for tens of thousands of dollars over. Many of those over-asks are going in unconditional offers to strengthen offers, with buyers struggling to do pre-inspections while COVID restrictions mean that many are committing a million dollars based on a half hour viewing, or even sight unseen. (House Hunt Victoria)

Bitcoin, Covid, Big Oil, the Environment and Trump

The weekend news drop and some long form articles for this snowy day

• Why you can't find a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X game console Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox Series X are two of the most powerful game consoles ever built. They are also nearly impossible to get your hands on. (Yahoo Finance)

• Rise and fall of the house of Bitcoin A Buenos Aires hacker haven produced some of Argentina’s most valuable crypto companies. Then it suddenly disappeared. (Rest of World)

• The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes The BitMEX cofounder created a cryptocurrency exchange that has traded trillions. Now he’s wanted by U.S. authorities, and insiders wonder whether he and his partners are villains—or victims of a two-tiered justice system that favors big banks over brash outsiders. (Vanity Fair)

• Apple Is the $2.3 Trillion Fortress That Tim Cook Built Trade war? Pfft. Trump? Please. Antitrust? Zuck’s prob. (Ditto privacy.) Revenue? Endless. Tim Cook has been counterpunching, broadening his influence over the mobile phone industry while marketing Apple’s commitment to privacy as the antidote to the practices of social media companies. (Businessweek)

• Michael Hintze explains himself: Famed Hedge Fund Firm CQS Is Surviving — But Not Because of Its Hedge Funds A near-forensic appraisal of the entire firm’s operations meticulously combing through individual positions in every portfolio and reexamining all aspects of day-to-day decision-making. Ultimately, CQS reorganized teams, revamped portfolios, and put in place a new board executive committee and a senior partners’ group. (Institutional Investor)

• Covid Brought Booze to Your Door—and Made Delivery Worth Billions Prohibition-era regulations stifled liquor e-commerce in the U.S. for decades. Pandemic lockdowns sparked demand almost overnight. (Businessweek)

• The Thirty Tyrants: The deal that the American elite chose to make with China has a precedent in the history of Athens and Sparta The poisoned embrace between American elites and China began nearly 50 years ago when Henry Kissinger saw that opening relations between the two then-enemies would expose the growing rift between China and the more threatening Soviet Union. At the heart of the fallout between the two communist giants was the Soviet leadership’s rejection of Stalin, which the Chinese would see as the beginning of the end of the Soviet communist system—and thus it was a mistake they wouldn’t make. (Tablet)

• Stories of Slavery, From Those Who Survived It The Federal Writers’ Project narratives provide an all-too-rare link to our past. (Atlantic)

• How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves And why they’re scared we might break up with their favorite appliance. (Mother Jones)

• Big Oil Gets to Teach Climate Science in American Classrooms Fossil fuel companies are spending big money to make sure their message reaches kids. Science teachers are doing their best to make sure they learn the facts. (Bloomberg)

• Trump Led An “All-Out Assault” On The EPA. Now Biden Has To Rebuild It. Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency knelt to the country’s biggest polluters and lost more than 800 employees. Staffers say they want accountability. (Buzzfeed)

• Lie After Lie: Listen to How Trump Built His Alternate Reality A 38-minute video shows how Donald J. Trump’s persistent repetition of lies and calls to action over two months created an alternate reality that he won re-election. Mr. Trump’s words, which were echoed and amplified by the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, are a central focus of his second impeachment trial. (New York Times)

• The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election A weird thing happened right after the Nov. 3 election: nothing. The nation was braced for chaos. Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country. Right-wing militias were girding for battle. In a poll before Election Day, 75% of Americans voiced concern about violence. Instead, an eerie quiet descended… (Time)

Tanner Van Vark TVV Part The REAL team provides backup while Tanner skirts impossible angles, plays Twister on hubbas and redefines the wallride game. Is it SOTY season already?

Adam Curtis - Emotional History, the Audi E-Tron, and Mountain Biking

Friday news drop

• Can't Get You Out Of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World The New six-film series from Adam Curtis the producer of Century of Self and Power of Nightmares premiered on BBC iPlayer on February 11th, 2021. This new series of films tells the story of how we got to the strange days we are now experiencing. And why both those in power - and we - find it so difficult to move on. Video review at the (Gardian) and video streaming on (Thought Maybe)

• 2022 Audi E-Tron GT First Look: Bigger Muscles on the Juice Audi’s all-electric grand tourer translates the concept’s appeal into a serious driving machine. (Motor Trend)

• How Covid led to a $60 billion global chip shortage for the auto industry Automakers are expected to lose billions of dollars in earnings this year due to a shortage of highly important semiconductor chips. Consulting firm AlixPartners expects that the shortage will cut $60.6 billion in revenue from the global automotive industry this year. Semiconductor chips are used in new vehicles for areas including infotainment systems, power steering and brakes. (CNBC)

• Posthaste: Why the Fed may hit the brakes before the Bank of Canada — and what it means to the loonie 'Look for the Fed to shift its guidance by the end of this year' (Financial Post)

• Markets Are Always Changing “As soon as you figure out the key to the market, they change the locks.” (The Irrelevant Investor)

• Is This 1929 or 1998? Equity valuations in the US are quite high. How high? Going back to 1871, the only periods in history with a CAPE above 39 are as follows… September 1929 March 1998 to January 2001 Today (Compound)

• Reddit Is America’s Unofficial Unemployment Hotline As unemployment claims shot up early in the pandemic, so did posts on r/Unemployment, one of the many topic-based forums on the site known as subreddits. In January, nearly 10 months after the first lockdowns, the forum had one of its busiest weeks ever, driven by delays in payments and uncertainty around legislation signed late last year. (New York Times)

• Convicting Donald Trump is a good start, but America’s problems run deeper than one man A couple of days after the Capitol Hill riot, it was announced that outgoing United States President Donald Trump would not be attending his successor’s inauguration. Then-president elect Joe Biden described it as, “one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on. It’s a good thing him not showing up.” (Globe and Mail)

• It’s Not Only Trump on Trial The Senate must pass judgment on his methods—and on all who aspire to adopt his methods as their own in the political contests ahead. (Atlantic)

• All The Ways That Tom Brady Is Football’s GOAT As the NFL’s all-time leader in QB wins, touchdown passes, championships won and Super Bowl MVPs, Brady has long since erased any doubt that he is the greatest in history at football’s most important position. All we can do now is rattle off the many different dimensions by which Brady is, in fact, the best ever. (FiveThirtyEight)

An old friend (Dylan Korba) was filming for this video when I was up in Whistler last year. It was nice to get out on a ride and reminisce about the old trials days even if the uphill climb nearly killed me. Korba is now an Architect living in Pemberton and working in Whistler.

Net-Zero Carbon, Brookfield, Family Wealth, Crypto and Surfing

Sometimes I feel ridiculous driving around checking waves… Checking the swell forecast, the wind, the tide, and the current. Rubbing elbows with groms, asking how the bitcoin trading is going. They’ll say ‘awwww man not so hot’ and I’ll laugh at their misfortune. Some day I’ll have to hang it up. Stop forcing my fossilized body to pump and thrash and relax into a more soulful manner of riding waves. Maybe buy an old wood paneled station wagon, hang up the thruster and glide in from out the back on a 7’6 single fin. I’ll put my arms in the air when I reach the crest of every gently peeling wave. But not today…

Thursday news drop

• Brookfield Pursues $7.5 Billion Fund Devoted to ‘Net-Zero’ Shift Brookfield Asset Management Inc. plans to raise at least $7.5 billion for a new climate-focused fund, as the Canadian investment firm builds out an ESG business led by former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. (Financial Post)

• The Hidden Margin Of Safety At Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) is a world-class alternative asset manager with a storied history and promising growth runway. (Seeking Alpha)

• Canadians’ wealth is tied to their parents’ more than ever, StatCan finds A new study has found that the likelihood of Canadians staying within the same income and wealth class as their parents has increased significantly. (Global)

• 45% of all TSX trades were from retail investors in January, CEO says Last year the ratio was barely one third, but now it is up to almost half (CBC)

• Crypto Boom Is ‘Speculative Mania,’ Bank of Canada Deputy Says A top Bank of Canada official called the recent spike in cryptocurrency prices “speculative mania,” and said such assets don’t have the qualities to become the money of the future. (Bloomberg)

• Feds promise billions in new funds to build, expand public transit systems The federal Liberal government is promising cash-strapped cities billions of dollars in permanent funding for their public-transit systems — though most of the money won’t start flowing until later in the decade. (On Site)

Chapter 11 TV - Featuring Dane Reynolds, Matt McCabe, and Chad Compton