This newsletter takes a break next week because of my attendance at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos – postponed from January. The WEF is NOT the group-think, world controlling evil organisation as portrayed by fake news purveyors and their useful idiots. The event is simply a supercharged example of the network effect – get enough business and political movers and shakers in one place at one time and their peers also want to be among those 2 000 fortunate participants.
Already confirmed among my engagements are in-person meetings with numerous front-line Ukrainians including the mayor of Kyiv; plus the top team at Meta and CTO of Tether. An impossibility for someone in my line of work who is based in Jhb. So the priority next week is to share what I’m learning and help colleague Mike Appel update our tribe. Visit Biznews.com often.
These past few days in London have been eye opening. From a distance, UK prime minister Boris Johnson appears to be doing a good job. Not so, I’ve discovered within inner sanctums of this great city. The Winston Churchill wanna-be is deeply unpopular among the Brits, especially inside his political party. Peter Kellner’s piece for Carnegie aligns with what I’ve been hearing. Click here to read it.
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More for you to read today:
- Stock Market Is Top-Heavy, but Carnage Is Widespread. As former highfliers including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon falter, broader market feels pain (see image above).
- Senate Passes $40 Billion Aid Package for Ukraine. Bill providing military and economic assistance now goes to President Biden’s desk; and Can Ukraine Win? Five Scenarios for the War’s Next Phase. Russia’s shift to a scaled-down offensive in the east and southeast looks increasingly difficult for Putin to pull off.
- The Welcome Pushback Against Politicized Investment Managers. States, and maybe soon Congress, are resisting the ESG demands of index funds run by BlackRock.
- Liverpool’s Quest for a Rare Trophy Sweep Faces Familiar Obstacles. The club is holding hope of a four-trophy season, but the toughest challenges lie ahead: leapfrogging Manchester City in the league and beating Real Madrid in Europe
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