Stellar Recap | Aug 4-10

11 AUGUST 2024

Aug 11, 2024

👋 Hello there,

Welcome to another edition of the Stellar Recap, a weekly newsletter where I share interesting content you may have missed. This issue features 63 bullets.

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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance

Norwegian company Nexans is the world’s largest supplier of electric cables (🔒Bloomberg). It charges $1.1M per 1km of cable and it’s completely sold out until 2028. Other companies are reporting backlogs of ~12 yrs.
For the first time since 2018, the US has more companies than China on Fortune’s Global 500 list (139 vs. 133), which ranks the world's largest corporations by revenue.
Houston’s tourism department said that it’s going to spend $90K/yr over the next 3 yrs for Michelin critics to come and review its top restaurants. Visit Florida recently reported paying $150K for the Orlando-Miami-Tampa guide. Visit California paid $600K for a statewide guide.
The NRF projected that US consumers will spend $125.4B on back-to-school supplies for both K12 and college this year, down from $135.5B in 2023. Back-to-college purchases are expected to come in at an average of ~$1.4K per household, while K12 spending is expected to average around ~$875.
A federal court ruled that Google illegally abused its market power to quash competition in internet search. A drawn-out appeals process will likely delay any immediate effects for both consumers and advertisers.
Americans are buying more fresh food and less packaged food. Consequently, 44% of grocers plan to increase space for fresh produce (🔒Bloomberg) and 19% said they’re decreasing space in the center aisles.
Payscale’s latest survey showed that US employers are budgeting for 3.5% salary increases in 2025, down from the 3.6% average salary increase this year.
From 1928-2023, the S&P 500 has fallen by 5%+ in ~94% of those 96 yrs of data. The average intra-year drawdown was -16.4%. The index was up 70 out of the 96 yrs. In 35 of those 70 yrs of positive returns, there was a double-digit correction.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is the best place for high school grads to start a career, according to the American Opportunity Index which assesses the likelihood of being hired and promoted internally and the likelihood of landing in a higher-paying job when they leave.
A new study found that the rate at which employees quit large companies goes up by ~50% when employers lay off 10%+ of their workforce (🔒Bloomberg).

🧘 Health, Healthcare & Safety

A visualization of the process of making fentanyl, from getting ingredients, making it, and distributing it.
Online searches in the US for “gynecologist” or alternate spellings rose 51% while searches for the definition of gynecology rose 154% over baseline, the week after the film Barbie premiered on Jul. 21, 2023.
Mpox infections have risen by 160% in Africa this year. Burundi and Rwanda both reported the virus for the 1st time recently. New outbreaks were also declared in Kenya and Central African Republic. The death rate has risen from 1% of cases in 2022 to 3%. The version of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could kill up to 10% of people infected.
1.6M people lost health coverage in Q1 as states continued to cut the Medicaid rolls and unemployment rates rose. The estimated share of uninsured people in the US was 8.2% in Q1.
A new study found that people who had a hospitalized family member with methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) within the last 30 days were 71x more likely to get the infection themselves, suggesting the need for more effective testing, especially at discharge, even when a patient is asymptomatic.
For the 1st time in 40 yrs, the EPA has taken emergency action to stop the use of a pesticide linked to serious health risks for fetuses. The emergency order applies to dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), which is a weedkiller used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and onions.
The USDA states that it’s generally safe to thaw and refreeze foods so long as the food is thawed in the refrigerator (🔒NYT). Most meats should be refrozen within 2 days. Bigger cuts of red meat like steak, pork, or lamb roasts, chops, or steaks should be refrozen within 5 days. Previously cooked and then frozen foods like lasagna or enchiladas can be refrozen up to 4 days after thawing.
~11M dengue cases have been reported as of Jul. 22, according to data from the WHO. ~9M of those cases were reported in the Americas, which is 2x as many cases in all of 2023.
2 class action lawsuits have been filed against General Mills after new research showed that its Cocoa Puffs cereal contains dangerously high levels of lead. The suit follows a recent report that showed some chocolate/cocoa products in the US contain heavy metals that exceed food safety guidelines.
Federally funded community health centers served a record 31M patients across the US in 2023, an increase of 2.7M since 2020.
A recent survey showed that 70% of federally qualified health centers are short on nurses, up from 54% in 2018 and the largest spike in shortages of clinical personnel. 77% reported a shortage of mental health providers which has been consistently at the top of the shortage list in both years of the survey.
New findings from a small study found that the non-caloric sweetener, erythritol, was linked to 2x+ higher risk of blood clotting than sugar. The study supports previous findings that showed that erythritol is linked to a higher risk of stroke, heart attack, and death.
The CDC updated federal health guidelines to require doctors to warn patients about the potential for pain during the placement of an intrauterine device (IUD) after women detailed their experiences on social media (🔒WP).
The chance of dying while flying in a plane was 1 per 13.7M passenger boardings from 2018-2022, down from 1 per 7.9M passenger boardings from 2008-2017.
Doctors in Germany can prescribe their parent patients a 4-week spa break in a peaceful location if they exhibit or report symptoms like irritability, constant exhaustion, or insomnia. The prescription is typically covered by insurance.
The FDA approved a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, making it the 1st needle-free option for anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis sends 30K+ people to emergency rooms and results in 2K+ hospitalizations and ~230 deaths in the US each year.

🎓 Lifelong Learning

Tips for viewing the Perseids meteor shower, which peaks tonight (8/11).
The ancient Olympic Games.
In 2023, the federal government collected $4.5T in revenue and spent $6.2T. Over 97% of revenue came from some form of tax, including 49% from individual income taxes, 37% from payroll taxes, 9.4% from corporate income taxes, and 1.7% from sales and excise taxes. The largest share of spending was on Social Security.
How to make the chocolate muffin that became the star of Olympic Village.
On Aug. 7, 1782, in Newburgh, NY, General George Washington created the “Badge for Military Merit,” which would come to be widely known as the Purple Heart.
The 1st board game in the US is “The Travellers’ Tour Through the United States" and it dates back to 1822.
How much do the winning mountain bikes at the Paris Olympics cost?
The emotions that result from combining those from the film Inside Out.

🌴 Lifestyle & Travel

Massachusetts is the best state to have a baby, according to WalletHub.
Alcohol preferences around the world.

🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs

Nate Silver’s latest model showed Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump 45.5% vs. 44.1%.
Last weekend, 90+ people were killed in an ongoing anti-government protest in Bangladesh. The Prime Minister stepped down and left Bangladesh amid the protests.
A WP review of voting data from Venezuela suggests that President Nicolás Maduro lost the election (🔒) to his challenger Edmundo González 30% to 67%.
Leadership skills and decision-making abilities were ranked as the most important traits in a president among US adults. 79% of Democrats but just 25% of Republicans said a president’s criminal record is very important, which is the largest partisan divide in the survey.
Sonoma County, CA, is considering banning concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) aka factory farms in the area, which are worth ~$140M. If the measure passes, Sonoma will be the 1st US county to ban CAFOs.
Elon Musk drew condemnation from British politicians after boosting incendiary comments on his platform, X, following riots fueled by misinformation over a stabbing attack that killed 3 girls in England.

⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment

On Aug. 4, Thea LaFond-Gadson of the Caribbean island of Dominica won the gold medal in the women’s triple jump and Julien Alfred of St. Lucia won the gold medal in the women’s 100m sprint. Each medal was the 1st for their nation (🔒NYT).
The sports and music tourism economy is expected to grow to $1.5T by 2032 (🔒Bloomberg), according to research from Collinson International Ltd.
‘F*ck’ is said 100+ times in the film Deadpool & Wolverine. As public usage of ‘F*ck’ has increased, “the word has undergone what language experts call a ‘semantic shift,’ or a change in meaning over time.”
Swedish pole vaulter, Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, won the gold medal and set a new world record height of 6.25m. It’s the 9th time he’s broken the world record.
Michigan’s Alma Cooper, a US Army officer, was named Miss USA last Sun., becoming the 3rd person to hold the title this year after a series of resignations.
Just 54 films have been released in US theaters so far in 2024 (🔒WSJ), which is ~80% of the average number by this point in prepandemic years. Total box office sales were ~$4.8B as of Aug. 1, which is as lower than prepandemic levels.
41% of Gen Z adults prefer tall socks (quarter-length or above) vs 23% of millennials, 28% of Gen Xers, and 27% of baby boomers. A greater share of men prefer tall socks than women of all generations.
A Russian chess player was caught on camera smearing a mercury-laced substance on her opponent’s chess pieces at a recent tournament. She is being investigated for attempted poisoning.
As of 4pm on Sat, Aug. 10, the US holds the most Olympic medals at 121 (🔒NYT). China has the most gold medals at 38.

🏡 Real Estate

Airbnb hosts who smile in their photos see on average of 3.5% more bookings than those who don’t smile. Male hosts who smile in their photos see an average of 8% higher demand for their listings but women don’t see a significant boost, suggesting that smiling conveys warmth and competence more effectively for male hosts, who might be seen as less warm than female hosts.
Census data showed that the number of renter households in the US grew 1.9% in Q2 vs a 0.6% growth in homeowner households. The growth in renters grew at the 2nd-fastest pace since 2021 while the growth in homeowners grew at the slowest pace since 2019.
The average rent per sq ft for Manhattan apartments leased in Jul. was the 2nd-highest on record at ~$85. The average sq footage of an apartment was 945, down 9.5% YoY
South Florida will add ~23.9K new rental apartments this year. The previous record was set in 2021 when ~14.3K new units were built.
Bald Head Island, NC is America’s quietest place to live, according to Realtor.com which analyzed noise data from Local Logic.