🍋 The Price of Procrastination

Americans are working fewer hours after the pandemic, gold is nearing an all-time high, and VC funding fell over 50% year-over-year.

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“If I had asked the public what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.“ — Henry Ford

Good Morning! Venture capital funding has taken a massive hit over the past year, with new data showing funding plummeting 53% year-over-year.

Private payroll wage growth slowed down last month, in a sign the Fed’s fight against inflation could be working. Gold is nearing its all-time high, and investors are pouring capital into the ‘safe haven.’

FedEx announced it will merge units to cut costs in a major shakeup. And the finance and tech worlds are devastated after Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App, was killed in San Francisco on Tuesday.

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1. Story of the Day: The Price of Procrastination

The pandemic drastically changed the way we approach work. With the rise of remote and hybrid models, most of us are choosing to work slightly fewer hours. Leisure and other activities on Friday afternoons have become part of the ‘new normal’.

While this may seem like a positive development for corporate culture, it has significant implications for the economy as a whole, particularly the Federal Reserve's efforts to combat inflation.

Recent research shows that the average US workweek has decreased by over half an hour in the last three years, resulting in a labor shortfall equivalent to 2.4 million employees. 

When Americans work fewer hours, their employers feel understaffed because of the contraction in the labor supply. Working less hours ultimately places immense pressure on wages, as companies try and attract workers to fill the gaps.

This shortfall is putting immense pressure on the already hot job market and exacerbating inflation concerns for the Federal Reserve.

Takeaway: Who would have thought inflation and employee productivity could go hand-in-hand. We’re still adjusting to the new post-pandemic normals in the corporate world. But following our European counterparts and working slightly fewer hours could be here to stay.

2. Markets Rundown

For access to Wall Street insider interviews, industry deep-dives, premium research/resources and weekly Knowledge Drop newsletter, check out our Insiders membership.

Stocks closed lower as recession fears mount on weak economic data.

Movers & Shakers

  • (+) First Citizens ($FIZN) +22% after the bank was double-upgraded by UBS after its SVB acquisition.

  • (+) Palantir ($PLTR) -4% after the company announced an unpopular partnership with Microsoft.

  • (–) Western Alliance ($WAL) -12% after troubling news about the bank’s deposit balance.

Private Dealmaking

  • LayerZero Labs, a blockchain platform for apps, raised $120 million

  • Covariant, an AI-powered warehouse robots developer, raised $75 million

  • Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery startup, raised $50 million

  • DataDome, a bot protection software developer, raised $42 million 

  • Mercy BioAnalytics, a developer of liquid biopsies that can detect cancer, raised $41 million

  • Quantifind, a provider of financial crimes risk management software, raised $23 million

A Message from RYSE: There's One Big Opportunity Left in The Smart Home Industry

Ring 一 Acquired by Amazon for $1.2B

Nest 一 Acquired by Google for $3.2B

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Radical Efficiency: RYSE can starkly reduce energy bills, lower cooling costs by up to 24% and lighting costs by up to 74%, a revelation in carbon reduction efforts.

3. Top Reads

  • Tech shines, cyclicals lose as traders bet on growth shock (WSJ)

  • Where the AI jobs are, according to a Stanford study (CNBC)

  • Tinder’s new $500/month membership (FC)

  • 10 industries where job openings are declining (Axios)

  • Switzerland to cancel, cut bonuses for Credit Suisse execs (BB)

  • The world’s richest 25 people lost combined $200 billion last year (CNBC)

  • Walmart sees high inflation sticking around this year (Fox)

  • Tech’s year of productivity already priced in (WSJ)

  • Markets won’t give up the ghost (Reuters)

  • The salary you need to live comfortably in 15 major US cities (CNBC)

4. Shortform Book of the Day: Flash Crash

A real-life financial thriller, Flash Crash gives panoramic insight into our economic landscape – its weaknesses, its crooks and its exploitable loopholes – and uncovers the remarkable, behind-the-scenes narrative.

A mystifying market crash, a globe-spanning investigation into international fraud, and the man – Navinder Singh Sarao – at the centre of it all.

Depending on whom you ask, Sarao was a scourge, a symbol of a financial system run horribly amok, or a folk hero: an outsider who took on the tyranny of Wall Street and the high-frequency traders.

“One reclusive trading prodigy manipulated Wall Street and amassed millions from his childhood bedroom – then short-circuited the global market.”

Read More Books in Finance, Economics, and More with Shortform

5. Short Squeez Picks

6. Daily Visual: Gap between US White and Black Employment Rates

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen

If you don’t want something and you don’t have it, you don’t think about it.

If you want something and you have it, you might be content.

If you want something and you can’t have it, you drive yourself mad.

Don’t drive yourself mad.

8. Memes of the Day

 

 

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