Happy New Year! No matter where you are in the world, if you come across this little blog of mine, I wish you and yours a great year ahead with lots of health, luck and happiness. Also, with Covid finally behind us! Welcome to my first post in 2022!
What I wrote last week
Business
Thanks to podcasts, Spotify is the fastest-growing music service in the US, according to Morgan Stanley survey. “From 2019 to 2021, the streaming giant’s share of the average American’s listening hours increased from 7 per cent to 10 per cent, well behind AM/FM radio and YouTube, but strong among younger consumers who will make up the bulk of listeners over the next decade.”
American Airlines, Saddled With Debt and Growing Pains, Turns to New CEO. “Among airline executives, Mr. Isom is known for drilling down into details. A metric known as d-zero—when flights push back from the gate exactly on time or early—became a rallying cry under Mr. Isom, though it is something American has struggled with at times. Kerry Philipovitch, who worked for Mr. Isom at American until 2019, recalled Mr. Parker and CFO Derek Kerr marveling at how early Mr. Isom arrived at a company event, pointing out his prime parking spot. Ms. Philipovitch said: “That’s Robert. He works really hard. He’s going to get there early.”
Here’s What Happened to Biotech This Year. “Below is the harsh reality laid out in a chart. While the total return of the S&P 500 Index is up 29.4% year-to-date through December 27 (as represented by the SPY ETF that tracks it), the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index is down -18.2% over the same period (as represented by the XBI ETF that tracks it). In fact, biotech is the worst performing of any of the 11 S&P 500 sectors this year (note: XBI is equal weighted. Within the biotech community, it is generally believed to represent the performance of typical mid-to-small cap biotech stocks)”
The Super League Debacle Forced Manchester United’s American Owners to Listen to Fans. Football or soccer as it is called in the U.S is a business in which a drought of titles and a period of mediocrity can have major implications. When a club goes without a trophy for a while, great players don’t want to spend precious years at the club. Worse, they go to the competitors to help them win more titles and inflict more pain. The vicious cycle is very hard to break. Manchester United has been in that cycle since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson retired. The club hasn’t won a major trophy and it has lost its mojo. Prominent players don’t consider the club in the same breadth as the elite any more. It’s all down to the American club owners who don’t have the right management skill or the football culture in them. Everything is commercial. I am extremely sad to see how the club falls from grace
Apple ditched Intel, and it paid off. Taking control of an important technology stack such as the chips is a strategic masterpiece from Apple. They no longer have to rely on a dinosaur such as Intel while deepening their moat. Who else can compete with Apple in combining one of the most iconic brands in history, hardware expertise, the total control of operating systems, the network of retail stores, the world-class capability in supply chain and now an amazingly efficient chip?
Google and Tech Rivals Tap Cash Reserves to Realize Cloud Ambitions. While Amazon relies on AWS for margin, Google and Microsoft have no shortage of profitable segments to help their cloud departments catch up with a formidable rival. If you are not a first market mover, you gotta use the tools available to you.
Facebook’s Pushback: Stem the Leaks, Spin the Politics, Don’t Say Sorry. Facebook deploying the “divide and conquer” strategy with our lawmakers successfully is just surreal.
A Look Back at Q3 ’21 Public Cloud Software Earnings. A very informative post on public cloud software companies. Have a read if it’s your cup of tea
Other stuff I find interesting
Oscars: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Team Plans Best Picture Push, Tom Holland Open to Hosting. I am glad that Tom Holland, Kevin Feige and co fought for their work and the work of their colleagues in making these Marvel movies because I find it weird that some don’t consider them “art”. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a great movie. The box office and the online reviews say the same thing. Now that it’s likely a potential for Oscar nominations, would anybody come out and say it’s still not art?
New York City bans natural gas in new buildings. It all sounds well and good on paper for environmentalists as new buildings are banned from using natural gas. However, there are second-order effects as “New York’s move to all-electric buildings could mean a higher price tag for consumers using electricity for heat than those relying on gas. This winter, the average household in the U.S. Northeast is expected to pay $1,538 to heat their home with electricity, compared with gas at about $865. Almost half of the power generated in New York State so far this year came from burning fossil fuels (45% from gas and 4% from oil), with another 24% from nuclear and 22% from hydropower, according to federal energy data.”
In Hamburg, Surviving Climate Change Means Living With Water
Japan’s Paper Culture. “Old, traditional ways of using paper are still prevalent, from the gohei (a paper offering made to gods) in shrines, to the shūgi-bukuro (money envelopes) given at celebrations, and New Year’s cards. In more modern uses, purchases are typically made with cash; important documents are faxed rather than emailed; and nearly everyone uses hanko, a personalized stamp used in lieu of a signature.”
Stats
No new homes in November 2021 were under $200,000
37% of the world’s population have never used the Internet
“54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level“. Prose literacy level refers to the ability to read and comprehend materials such as news stories or manuals.
Walmart drew one in four dollars spent on click and collect — with room to grow in 2022
Minh Quang Duong 