My Two-for-Tuesday morning reads:
• The Housing Recession is Over: The vibes remain bad, the recovery is uneven, but recession is now behind us. Conor Sen thought 2026 was the year housing cracked — Florida, Texas and Arizona were carrying 20% to 30% more listings than the same point pre-pandemic, and the number was still climbing. He is calling it the other way now. (Conor Sen)
• Private Credit Is Under Growing Strain, Despite Industry’s Upbeat Tone: Default rates are hitting recent highs, and internal reviews of loan health point to tougher times ahead, a WSJ analysis shows. Default rates are hitting recent highs, and internal reviews of loan health point to tougher times ahead. (Wall Street Journal) see also Private Equity Is Stuck With 33,575 Unsold Businesses: Even amid a booming deal-making environment, private equity firms are unable to exit a growing number of investments at values their investors require. The exit math is not working. A number that size is not a backlog, it is a structural problem for the entire asset class. (New York Times)
• Making it to New All-Time Highs: The world is awash in negativity, and every week brings a fresh reason to get scared out of stocks. The record highs keep arriving anyway. To reach new highs again and again in the 2020s investors have had to ignore: A global pandemic. The fastest 30%+ drawdown in history. A supply chain crisis. Meme stock mania. A 40-year high inflation rate of 9%. Russia invading Ukraine. 73 crash predictions from Robert Kiyosaki. 19 Michael Burry top calls… (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• The Everyday Guide to Supersizing Your Retirement Account: There are a number of tricks to grow a tax-advantaged 401(k) or IRA into a fortune. The mechanical tricks for turning a tax-advantaged 401(k) or IRA into something considerably larger than the contribution limits suggest. (Wall Street Journal)
• Record Profits, Terrible Service: Something’s Got to Give for US Consumers: An interactive on the widening gap between what American companies are earning and what customers are actually getting. Experts say consolidation and market power have left consumers paying more for less (The Guardian)
• America’s Capital of Homebuying Regret: Austin, spring 2022: Ryan McPherson and his wife bid $20,000 over ask to reach $615,000 on a four-bedroom, and wrote the sellers a heartfelt letter to close the deal. Prices have gone the other way since. Meet the Texas homeowners who are deep in the red thanks to Austin’s long, painful real estate hangover (Business Insider)
• Kill the Ticks: America needs a bigger plan to control its tick problem. “The ticks are winning,” a CDC scientist wrote in a recent paper. To put it even more bluntly, humans are losing and are on the retreat. (The Atlantic)
• It’s the Summer of Purse Guys: Ashley Fetters Maloy on the handbag as punctuation mark, and what happens when men — sidelined by a few centuries of pockets in menswear — start carrying one. For years, men have talked themselves out of one of fashion’s greatest inventions. This summer, cool guys are embracing bags, from the huge to the itty bitty. (Washington Post)
• July was the hottest month in the US since records began in 1895: The month featured long, intense heat domes that led to record hot temperatures from the East Coast to the Plains and Southwestern states. NOAA’s temperature records date back to 1895. Andrew Freedman on long, intense heat domes that set records from the East Coast through the Plains and Southwest. Large wildfires were burning across the Pacific Northwest and Canada by month’s end, mirroring Europe’s hottest summer on record. (CNN)
• Loss is a Bitch: No matter how much I try, I’m sad more than I realize: A burned-out writer takes a few days off the keyboard, and his wife suggests he write something personal instead. What comes back are memories he had stopped questioning. (The Omission)
Video of the day: India’s Youth Are Angry. Here’s Why
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business with Jack Raines, a writer and venture capitalist. We discuss his new book, Young Money.
War Is Helping Chinese EVs Upend the Global Car Market
Source: Wall Street Journal
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