Notable Buffett & Munger comments include “We’re seeing very substantial inflation. We’re raising prices. People are raising prices to us and it’s being accepted.” And today's Millennials will have "a hell of a time getting rich compared to our generation".

In recent quarters, big banks have detailed weaker-than-expected loan demand and have pushed out the timeline of when they predict it to bounce back.

Some of the world’s biggest consumer goods makers are pushing up prices for branded goods, from nappies to veggie burgers - “We are seeing some of the highest commodity price inflation that we’ve seen in a decade.”  “This is a very volatile environment right now, very low visibility, lots of surprises happening.” The bulk of the cost increases have yet to pass through to consumers’ shopping baskets.

After analyzing more than 200 corporate business builds… [McKinsey] has identified three major approaches that have proven successful.

Innovations can be categorized within a range of 10 distinct dimensions—and anyone can use the resulting strategic framework to analyze the competition, to stress test for product weaknesses, or to find new opportunities for their products.

We have done a great deal over the past year (not all of it effective) to protect the groups most vulnerable to Covid-19, which has overwhelmingly meant the elderly…But the economic and social costs, in terms of lost education and employment, have been disproportionately shouldered by the young.

A constantly changing game has accelerated, with criminals adopting new, innovative strategies.

Broad CPI, 4.2%, reading was the highest since 2008 and highlights how consumer prices have been affected by supply chain imbalances and materials shortages. 

The fact that labor force participation has remained low in the face of increasingly rapid job creation is likely the result of a number of interrelated factors.

A preliminary reading for the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index retreated from 88.3 at the end of April to 82.8 at the start of May. Economists had penciled-in a print of 90.0.  Higher inflation is taking its toll on Americans' confidence in the economy.  This combination of persistent demand in the face of rising prices creates the potential for an inflationary psychology, fostering buy-in-advance rationales and cost-of-living increases in wages

A crack in a bridge over the Mississippi River has stranded more than 700 barges, cutting off the biggest route for U.S. agricultural exports when the critical waterway is at its busiest.  The river also is a major artery for steel shipments within the U.S. and delays could become an issue for automakers in the South that depend on high-strength steels produced in the Midwest.

A review of the so-called Thrifty Food Plan, ordered by Biden two days after he took office, could trigger an automatic increase in benefits as soon as Oct. 1, a day after expiration of a temporary 15% boost in food stamp payments that Biden included in his $1.9 trillion Covid-relief package.

The increases would at least double and in one case more than triple the amounts initially sought. “As far as we know, this is unprecedented,” the American Association of Bank Directors said Tuesday in an email to its members.

While providing excessive accommodation (the Fed is making $120B of asset purchases monthly), when traditional shocks arrive – as they always have – the market is ill-prepared. Far far less so than under normal conditions historically.

The implosion of the Archegos fund last month highlights the perils of excessive margin debt. It is also important to remember that while profits and low interest rates may partially explain the rise in today’s asset prices, you should also keep a close eye on liquidity and leverage.

This weekly publication is a brief synopsis covering investment inflows and outflows in popular ETPs, mutual funds, and OTC trusts referencing bitcoin, ether and other digital assets.

Mortgage application activity fell for the seventh time in eight weeks, undeterred by three straight weeks of declining interest rates since most borrowers likely already refinanced, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

How many financial institutions offer true, end-to-end mobile account opening? Just 24%...Right now, digital capabilities among banking providers “varies wildly,” says Derek Corcoran, Chief Experience Officer at Avoka. Just because a bank is huge doesn’t mean they are on the forefront of online account opening.

Between June 2019 and November 2020, Google’s monthly visitors increased 52.9%...While large tech companies have only accelerated their market share—Google makes up roughly 90% of the search ad market—several regulatory bodies are placing greater scrutiny on them.

The San Francisco-based company was using “chimebank” in its website address, allegedly in violation of a state law that is meant to prevent businesses from misleading the public, according to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

Government digital currency projects may displace banks and fintechs.

Insider Intelligence recently predicted remittances would become the most mature blockchain-based payment method, and identified IBM (72 countries in-network) and Ripple (55 countries) as the biggest players.