While discussing the paradox confronting today’s fixed income allocators, we thought of Mr. Rogers and his famous invitation to everyone. In one established, traditional neighborhood, you find fixed income investors clamoring to purchase 10, 30, 50 and yes, 100-year sovereign bonds at rock bottom coupons. Earlier this week, Spain sold €5 billion in a 50-year…
Google’s “Year in Search 2020” is a moving compilation of the year viewed through the global community’s online search activity. The world typed billions of queries, and many started with “Why?” The montage focused on 2020’s challenges and big moments – pandemic, justice, natural disaster, calamity. Individuals and societies were tested, often in ways they had…
Brian Johnson was the lead singer of the heavy metal band AC/DC. His signature raspy rock’n’rollin shrill loomed over many adolescent experiences for those of us young enough to remember growing up in the 1970s and 80s. That black sleeveless T-shirt with the thunderbolt logo and four letters emblazoned across the front tempted and taunted,…
Many of us probably remember the first time we watched Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The superb cast introduced us to a wild mosaic of characters: Vincent Vega, the Wolf, Marsellus, Mia, Butch the boxer and lest we forget, Honey Bunny. But it was Samuel Jackson’s sermonizing Jules Winnfield character that captivated and riveted audiences. Several…
In late August, comedian Jerry Seinfeld took author / influencer James Altucher to the mat (via a NYT op-ed) on the latter’s widely circulated article that NYC is dead. Irrespective of one’s conclusions on the topic, we can agree that definitive statements calling for the “death” of anything – let alone New York City –…
1963. Limbo fever was in the air, and over the sound system, Chubby Checker egged on his listeners with that question. When the limbo bar was brought down to a seemingly impossible level, someone at the party managed to squirm by and get that bar dropped to another seemingly impossible level. Over the past 20…
A few years ago, we wrote about A Galaxy Far, Far Away, noting that small-balance digital private credit operated in a distant corner of the white-hot universe of private debt. How things have changed. While there may not be a discernible center to the Universe, it certainly seems that the appeal of our digital credit…
We all knew that FinTech made our lives easier and some entrepreneurs wealthier, but many skeptics still questioned whether doing business online was safe and dependable in times of stress. Well, now we know. FinTech has not only passed the test to date, it has displayed its value in ways that could not have been…
Another “End of the Beginning” “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Sir Winston Churchill, 1942 After a year of military setbacks and the devastating, nightly bombing of London, British troops had routed Hitler’s forces in Europe…
Trust & Truth
January 15th, 2021 | by Chelsea
Since 1993, Channel 4 in the UK has broadcast an “alternative Christmas message,” typically a spoof and generally coinciding with Queen Elizabeth’s annual holiday address. This year, the broadcaster aired this message. It may look and sound like the Queen, but it is not. She’s a deep-fake. This synthetic medium is becoming more powerful and…