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Sackler Family Secrets: New Book Reveals OxyContin Heirs’ Self-Pitying Emails
(04/08/2021)
- In “Empire of Pain”, the billionaire Sackler Family (Purdue Pharma OxyContin painkiller fortune) argue over wealth distributions and reject any responsibility for the opioid epidemic.
- E-mail exchanges show Sacklers complaining about barriers to accessing the family fortune and being “forced” to sell artwork and jewelry.
- Some heirs also claim that many opioid deaths were suicides motivated by life insurance windfalls.
- Last Fall, Purdue reached an $8B settlement with the US Justice Department absolving the Sackler’s of any criminal or financial prosecution.
The price of lumber is up 193%—and about to spike even higher
(04/13/2021)
- US lumber prices recently reached an all-time high of $1,048 per thousand board feet, up 193% from a year ago.
- The spike is driven by sawmills reducing production early on during the pandemic coinciding with the do-it-yourself building boom among Americans stuck at home.
- Also, the historically low for-sale housing inventory has increased demand for new construction housing.
- Wood price economist Dustin Jalbert doesn’t foresee lower lumber prices until home buying and/or new construction slows down.
Racist Computer Engineering Words and the Fight Over Offensive Terms
(04/13/2021)
- Recent attempts by some members of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to eliminate programming terms with racist histories (eg “slave”, “master”, “blacklist”) have been rebuffed.
- The IETF is a global 7,000 volunteer organization that helped create modern internet tools (eg e-mail, streaming) and set programming terminology.
- Following last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, some members suggested that racially-sensitive terms with neutral words such as “primary” or “blocklist”.
- However, these suggestions sparked heated debates and strong opposition, leading the organization to abandon changes.
Stimulus Cash Puts IRS on Alert for Scammers Preying on Unwary
(04/15/2021)
- The IRS has issued several warnings about scammers attempting to secure personal information from potential stimulus check recipients.
- Scammers posing as the IRS are contacting people and offering to assist in stimulus check distribution, asking for personal information that they then use to intercept stimulus payments.
- Most of these victims are the elderly or poor who desperately need additional funds.
- The IRS warned that it doesn’t contact people about stimulus checks via phone, e-mail or social media.
Masayoshi Son’s ‘Money Guy’ Greensill Went From Hero to Zero
(03/31/2021)
- In 2019, Masayoshi Son’s Softbank swiftly invested $1.5B into London-based Greensill Capital.
- Founded in 2011 by former Morgan Stanley banker Lex Greensill, GC focused on extending short-term loans to companies (primarily suppliers) under relatively loose terms.
- Masa celebrated Greensill as a source of capital for Softbank’s other startup investments.
- However, Greensill faced difficulty accessing capital when Covid-19 started, limiting its ability to extend loans and souring the relationship with Masa.
- Despite a $400M Softbank capital infusion (December 2020), Greensill filed for insolvency last month.
U.S. Thirst for Russian Oil Hits Record High Despite Tough Talk
(03/24/2021)
- Deprived of access to Venezuelan crude oil due to sanctions, US refineries have turned to Russian oil to fill the gap.
- Many US refineries are outfitted to process Venezuela’s dense, sulfurous crude; Russia’s semi-refined Mazut 100 fuel oil is a close alternative.
- Russia is also now America’s 3rd largest oil supplier as a result of Saudi Arabia-led OPEC production cuts.
- Despite increasing hostilities (eg Biden calling Putin a “killer”), oil industry insiders haven’t detected any political concerns about America’s increasing reliance on Russia.
U.S. Unemployment System Plagued by Massive Fraud and Dysfunction
(03/23/2021)
- While struggling Americans have received $650B in unemployment benefits during Covid-19, it’s estimated that at least $63B in payments have been improperly distributed to fraudsters including organized crime syndicates, jailed federal inmates and Nigerian scammers.
- Criminals took advantage of outdated technology overwhelmed by the surge in unemployment claims.
- The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, specially created to assist gig and self-employed workers, has been heavily targeted (95% of California’s fraud claims).
- Since some states now require video identification, fraudsters are using 3-D masks.
Melt up? More money poured into stocks in past 5 months than last 12 years
(04/09/2021)
- Equity funds have received $576B in net inflows since November (2020), more than the combined total inflows for $452B over the prior 12 years (Bank of America).
- This massive influx has propelled stocks higher, with valuation multiples at their highest since the late 1990s dot-com bubble.
- The S&P 500 is currently trading at 22x its forward earnings.
- Technical indicators tracking the velocity of stock price movements signal stock indexes are overbought.
- Deustche Bank forecasts a 6-10% correction over the next 3 months.
What Happens to Your Body on No Sleep?
(04/02/2019)
- Scientists have found that the effects of acute sleep deprivation, or all-nighters, kicks in after being awake for 16-18 hours straight.
- The first sign is a sluggish mind, with reaction times lagging to the equivalent of being legally drunk by the 24th hour awake.
- After 24 hours, your brain starts forcing you into 10-20 second periods of “micro-sleep”.
- After 35 hours, the brain’s emotion-emitting amygdala becomes 60% more reactive and the ability to regulate emotions declines.
- Hallucinations are common after 48 hours awake.
