A Short Memory
When asked what people would learn from the 2008 financial crisis, Jeremy Grantham responded, “In the short term a lot, in the medium term a little, in the long term, nothing at all.”
We’re not saying that this is 2021 all over again, but the number of speculative indicators flashing red is rising by the day. Our favourite example so far is Allbirds, a shoe company that announced a pivot to artificial intelligence (AI) and subsequently saw its shares rocket over 600%. Maybe it will be the next great AI play, but something tells us unprofitable footwear is perhaps not the best starting point.
Market participants are risk-on and earnings are very strong, but speculative behaviour—combined with the incredible rebound in prices since March—has us a bit more worried about the left tail than the right.
Lessons From 50 Years in Markets
An incredible interview with Paul Tudor Jones, one of the most successful traders and impactful philanthropists of all time.
Paul doesn’t just speak to markets, but also slightly more important topics—like how to live a good life.
One simple act of kindness can be so transformative and so multiplicative
The never-ending last mile of work
Will we work less thanks to AI? Maybe at some point, but that certainly doesn’t feel like the near-term path.
As such, we use the tools to raise the bar of the work product, and then a new “last mile” simply emerges in the process. This continues ad infinitum.
Could a social media detox improve our well-being?
Does anyone need to read the article to know the answer?
Surprisingly, this has been a hotly debated topic in academic literature, partially because of the difficulty in creating a quality dataset from which to draw conclusions. The linked study from Stanford has limitations, but was still able to demonstrate material increases in well-being for those giving up specific social media platforms. Hopefully, it generates more research to better understand this grand experiment we have been unwittingly conducting on society for the last 20 years.
We don’t know for certain what the effects would be for people who would not participate in an experiment, for minors or in contexts outside of the 2020 election. The results could differ if people quit for more than five weeks, or if everyone quit together. And it’s impossible to directly test how the world would have been different had social media never been invented.
The Self-Help Trap
Your data fix has arrived! This is an incredible chart pack from Apollo that covers some of our indicators.
In public markets there are safe and risky investments. In private markets there are safe and risky investments.
Gallant MacDonald is expanding our team with two new members. Pauline Wong will be joining our Client Experience team as we look to further expand our service offering. Fiona Chen will be joining the Investment Team as a Summer Associate to support our senior team in due diligence efforts.
Welcome Pauline and Fiona!
Gallant MacDonald is a Private Investment Office serving a select group of ultra-high net worth families who have made significant contributions to business, public service, and philanthropy.
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