Wednesday Reading List
ICYMI: Sustainable Investing Webinar: Replay – Replay of our sustainable investing webinar which focused on reducing emissions in your portfolio in an investment strategy you can commit to long-term. Learn from an industry thought leader about sustainable investing, pros and cons of investing this way, return expectations and potential pitfalls.
_____________________________
Our Chief Investment Officer reviews solar panels and the financial model he built to determine if they are a good investment.
An Investment Guy’s Review of Solar Panels by Heritage Financial
_____________________________
This shouldn’t be surprising as any kind of consistent economic forecasting is impossible and not a repeatable way to make money. Ben does a nice job laying out the case for the recent increase in inflation being transitory and why inflation could remain elevated, as well as sharing a great chart about how prior wars impacted inflation. I’m also in the transitory camp (see Worrying About Inflation, which also shares some inflation portfolio positioning ideas).
Predicting Inflation is Hard by Ben Carlson
_____________________________
Consistent with the transitory inflation idea, the Schwab team is expecting the economic boom to settle down. Their second half outlook explains why, suggests global diversification (they love Europe), and to own shorter duration bonds.
2021 Mid-Year Market Outlook: Peak or Pause? by Charles Schwab Asset Management
_____________________________
_____________________________
Zillow is using algorithm improvements to get better home price estimates. I’ve never found their estimates that reliable, so we’ll see… More interesting is the additional services it wants to offer, like buying homes for cash buttons. I’m skeptical.
Zillow Taps AI to Improve Its Home Value Estimates by Khari Johnson
_____________________________
Perhaps the most interesting and unexamined angle on ESG is investors and corporations pushing other companies for positive changes. This is the story of how a hedge fund manager and some mega-corporations forced important changes at Pornhub.
Bill Ackman Sent a Text to the CEO of Mastercard. What Happened Next Is a Parable for ESG. by Michelle Celarier
_____________________________
If you’ve talked to anyone about buying a car recently, you’ve probably heard that used car prices are up. A lot. A global chip shortage has hurt new car supply while demand is up. Expect this to continue for at least a few more months.
How to Navigate Surging Used-Car Prices by Benjamin Preston
See also Everything you need to know about the chip shortage that’s plaguing automakers if you’re curious about why there’s a shortage.