What caught my eye this week.
I was going to ramble semi-eloquently about how it feels to finally catch Covid, two and a bit years and three vaccination shots on from when this journey started.
Perhaps I’d reflect on our early speculation and debate about the virus and the economic costs and consequences of trying to contain it, the euphoria at the initial vaccine promise, and lately the long shadows cast by the pandemic. Weigh it all up while I’ve such a deep personal interest.
But honestly, while I’m basically fine – like a terrible flu the first day, followed by a couple of days of a shape-shifting cold – just pulling together the links I collected has sort of zonked me out.
The fatigue is real!
A friend of mine described having Covid at this point in the pandemic as like tripping over a rock on the way home from the war. Funny, but unfortunately this war isn’t over.
My immune system beat off several confirmed close encounters, but this latest overwhelmed my presumably de-escalated defenses. I guess a pattern that will continue for all of us for years.
I’m thankful that from that first rotten day I had faith that I just had to buy time for all that pre-loaded virus-killing weaponry to spin-up again.
Fancifully, I could almost feel it happening!
And so here I am, on day four with just a sort throat and a clogged nose. Tired but touchwood nothing worse.
Please let’s not have another year like 2020 – of blind shivering in the dark – for a couple of generations.
And if you are able to get out and enjoy some Victoria sponge with a slightly boring neighbour this weekend, haven’t we at least all learned not to take that for granted?
From Monevator
FIRE update: one-year anniversary – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Sad story stocks – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!1
Deadline to use the Help To Buy scheme brought forward by two months – Which
Investors seek millions from Woodford fund collapse – BBC
Travel chaos risk as government rules out emergency visa for aviation workers – Guardian
Sterling faces an ‘existential threat’, compared to emerging market currency – ThisIsMoney
Eurozone inflation jumps to a new record at 8.1% – Politico
US firms added more jobs than expected in May – BBC
Royal Mail to expand Sunday delivery to compete with rivals – ThisIsMoney
Omicron subvariant drives Covid cases and death spike in Portugal – Guardian
UK credit card borrowing rises at fastest annual rate for 17 years – Guardian
Products and services
‘Confirmation of Payee’ to be rolled out to 400 more firms to fight scams – Which
Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor
Can buy now, pay later survive the cost of living crisis? [Search result] – FT
Premium Bonds turn 65. Here’s 65 random facts about them – ThisIsMoney
Pre-paid funeral plan regulation is looming – is your provider ready? – Which
How to choose the best travel insurance – ThisIsMoney
Homes for sale in Jubilee cities, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
Why you’re checking your portfolio’s value far too often – Rational Walk
Would Jack Bogle regret also pioneering growth/value index funds? – Morningstar
Rallies to the bottom – Of Dollars and Data
Different kinds of BS – Morgan Housel
Widow brain: what to expect after a spouse dies and how to cope – Kindness FP
More than ever – Humble Dollar
The only way to become a better investor – Banker on FIRE
Easy money is money easily lost – A Wealth of Common Sense
On financial ‘variolation’ as a cure for speculation – Rational Walk
Resignation day [and swearing] goals – Fungbunger via Twitter
The Bogleheads talk about ESG investing [Podcast] – via Apple
Why robo advisors haven’t displaced humans yet [Nerdy] – Kitces
Crypt o’ crypto
Crypto just had its Lehman Moment. What’s next? – Institutional Investor
Naughty corner: Active antics
Larry Swedroe: Generating alpha sows seeds of own destruction – Evidence-based Investor
Managing risk when credit spreads rise – Verdad
Mental tension and the value of falling stock prices – John Huber
Rather randomly, Berkshire’s Ted Weschler talks to Berkshire’s furniture mart [Podcast] – I Am Home
Kindle book bargains
The Dealmaker: Lesson’s From a Life in Private Equity by Guy Hands – £0.99 on Kindle
Think Like A Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol – £0.99 on Kindle
Stuffocation: Living More With Less by James Wallman – £0.99 on Kindle
Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull – £0.99 on Kindle
Environmental factors
Sunak’s oil subsidy could have insulated two million homes, says think tank – Guardian
Why the Ukraine war may power Asia’s shift from fossil fuels – BBC
Aggregate ESG confusion [Search result] – FT
Global heating is turning the white alps green – Guardian
The Hail Mary hatcheries – Hakai
The financial cost of carbon [Research, PDF] – SSRN
Off our beat
Moneyball for the movie industry – Klement on Investing
Tim Harford: Even when you do succeed, sometimes it pays to try again [Search result] – FT
The two choices that keep a midlife crisis at bay – The Atlantic
Pounds, ounces, pints! Johnson is offering a bushel worth of phoned-in gibberish – Marina Hyde
The Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine – BBC
What dinner will look like in the next 100 years – Bon Appétit
Increasing moderate activity could cut stroke risk by 40%, study finds – Guardian
And finally…
“The law of demand doesn’t always hold up. In a few cases increasing the price of something makes people want more of it.”
– Rupa Patel and Jack Meaning, Can’t We Just Print More Money?
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The post Weekend reading: Always last to the dance floor appeared first on Monevator.
What caught my eye this week. I was going to ramble semi-eloquently about how it feels to finally catch Covid, two and a bit years and three vaccination shots on from when this journey started. Perhaps I’d reflect on our early speculation and debate about the virus and the economic costs and consequences of trying
The post Weekend reading: Always last to the dance floor appeared first on Monevator.
