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Welcome to another edition of the Stellar Recap, a weekly newsletter where I share interesting content you may have missed over the week. This issue features 89 bullets.
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📊 Business, Economics & Personal Finance
Elon Musk is planning to build his own town on part of thousands of acres of newly purchased pasture and farmland outside of Austin, TX (🔒WSJ). The planned town, which includes a group of modular homes, a pool, an outdoor sports area and a gym, is adjacent to Boring and SpaceX facilities now under construction.
There are 516K more working-age Brits classed as “economically inactive” than there were before the pandemic. More than half (around 317K) are aged 50 to 64.
A report by the Bank of America Institute found that more than 2M workers are missing from the US economy. More than half are older workers who likely retired early, but at least 23% are Gen Xers and millennials. Most of the prime-age workers left the restaurant and retail sector.
More on the fallout after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB): The US gov. informed SVB depositors that they’d have access to all the money held by the bank. The same goes NYC-based Signature Bank which also collapsed. Two more banks were on the brink of failure: First Republic and Credit Suisse. The latter was bailed out by the Swiss government. So far, US banks borrowed $164.8B from a Fed lending program to stabilize the financial system, topping the previous weekly high from the financial crisis. Other credit extensions totaled $142.8B.
US MBA programs have seen a 25% dip in domestic applications (🔒Bloomberg). In 2022, the median salary gain between students’ pre-MBA jobs and their first job after graduation was $85K. Between 2018 and 2022, the median growth in MBA earnings was 28.1%, compared with 18.7% for all US workers. Graduates who went into consulting and technology (~50%) fared the best in terms of ROI on their degree.
Last year, 3.6M people opened accounts at TreasuryDirect.gov to purchase Treasury Bills (aka T-bills), a roughly 5x increase year over year. Year to date through Feb., 189.8K people purchased T-bills. All of these people are going to be pretty upset if the government doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by Jun.
Some of the wealthiest executives in America made millions trading competitors’ stock with remarkable timing. For example, on Feb. 21, 2018, the CEO of Medspace sold $1.1M worth of shares of Syneos Health the day before a management shake-up caused the company’s stock to plunge 16%. The day after, he bought at least $3.9M worth of shares. The value of his stake rose 75% in the year that followed. Another example: The CEO of toymaker MGA Entertainment, which sells Bratz dolls, made $28M in profit trading Mattel stock, an 11% return over a period in which Mattel's stock declined by 57%.
The practice of requiring repayment for training programs aimed at recent nursing school graduates has become increasingly common in recent years, with some hospitals requiring nurses to pay back as much as $15K if they quit or are fired before their contract is up.
A new survey found that $82K/yr is the average salary that Gen Zers view as a high starting salary. Gen Z women expect about $6.2K/yr less than men.
S. Korea’s conservative government proposed increasing the legal cap on weekly work hours from 52 to 69 (🔒WP). S. Koreans work an average of 1,915 hrs/yr, compared with 1,791 hrs/yr for Americans and 1,490 hrs/yr for the French. The OECD average is 1,716 hrs.
More than 40% of US job postings on Indeed now include employer-provided salary info, an increase of 137% in the last 3 yrs, due in large part to the introduction of transparency legislation and the tight US labor market.
Austin, TX, is the #1 fastest-growing US city for millionaires, with its population growing 102% between 2012 and 2022. As of Dec. 2022, Austin was home to about 30.5K millionaires, 86 centi-millionaires, and 9 billionaires.
Argentina’s inflation topped 100% on an annual basis in Feb., meaning the price of many consumer goods has more than doubled since 2022.
74% of Americans experienced a product or service problem last year, 2x the number in 1976. 43% admitted to yelling or raising their voice to express displeasure, up from 35% in 2015.
Wages in Kitsap County in Midland, TX, grew 13.9% year over year in 2022, faster than any other large county in the US. San Mateo County, CA (where Facebook is headquartered), saw the steepest decline.
Analyzing 76 of the largest US cities, SmartAsset found that $100K goes furthest in Memphis, TN, where a $100K salary is worth about $86.4K after adjusting for taxes and the cost of living. 7 of the top 10 cities were in TX, due to the low cost of living and no state income taxes. NYC ranked the lowest - $100K feels like $36K there.
According to data from FlexJobs and Payscale, Sr. product marketing manager is the top in-demand remote job. The average salary for the position is ~132.1K.
🧘 Health
New findings suggest that most men with prostate cancer can wait to get treatment. The results from the study showed that the survival rate after 15 yrs. of observation was 97% regardless of treatment approach.
The Veterans Health Administration said it will pay for a $26.5K/yr experimental Alzheimer's drug, called Leqembi, that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has to date declined to broadly cover.
Deaths among kids and teens jumped 20% between 2019 and 2021 in the largest increase seen in at least 50 yrs. The jump is largely due to increases in homicides, accidental drug overdoses, motor vehicle accidents, and suicides among those 10-19 yrs. old.
Telehealth startup Cerebral shared personal data on 3.1M patients with tech companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok.
The EPA set limits on PFAS (aka a family of 14K toxic forever chemicals) in water, which is not to exceed 70 parts per trillion. That’s almost triple the limit set in Europe (🔒Bloomberg Law).
Bakersfield, CA, has the unhealthiest air in the US. The entire region has failed to meet the Clean Air Act’s target for most of the last 25 yrs.
Sandwiches are the #1 source of sodium and saturated fat in the average American’s diet (🔒WSJ), accounting for about one-fifth of daily sodium intake, 19% of daily saturated fat calories, and 7% of daily added sugars which is the same share as breakfast cereals and bars.
The FDA said that Paxlovid isn’t associated with a Covid rebound, in which patients test positive or have symptoms days after a course of the drug is completed.
In 2022, 46K people died in traffic accidents in the US, up 22% from 2021. Officials placed most of the blame on smartphone distractions.
The US maternal mortality rate hit its highest level since 1965, rising 40% between 2021 and 2022 to 32.9 maternal deaths per 100K live births. That’s nearly 10x the rates of other high income countries like Australia, Israel, Japan, and Spain. The maternal death rate among Black Americans was much higher than other racial groups, at 69.9 per 100K - about 2.6x higher than the rate for white women. The GAO cited Covid as a contributing factor in at least a third of all maternal deaths (🔒NYT) - studies have found that pregnant women with Covid face a 7x risk of dying compared with their uninfected counterparts.
An international team of virus experts said that they had found genetic data from a market in Wuhan, China (🔒NYT), linking the coronavirus with raccoon dogs for sale there. The analysis has not yet been peer-reviewed but it has renewed the debate over Covid’s origins.
🎓 Lifelong Learning
Fewer than 40% of countries in the world adhere to daylight savings. More than 140 did so at some point in the past.
🌴 Lifestyle & Travel
While most US cities have seen a drop in traffic due to fewer people commuting to offices, traffic has become worse in some Sunbelt cities, such as Miami, Nashville, and Las Vegas (🔒WSJ). The average resident in Miami lost 105 hrs. to traffic jams last year, up 30% from 2019.
Life at Sea Cruises announced it is accepting reservations for its 3-yr world cruise that will cover 130K+ miles and visit 375 ports across 135 countries and 7 continents. Prices for cabins start at $29,999/yr.
The best BBQ joint in every Southern state, according to Southern Living.
Dubai scrapped its 30% alcohol tax and will no longer charge tourists or expats for permits to buy alcoholic drinks, in an attempt to attract more foreign workers and visitors.
According to Rent.com, Central Park in NYC is the #1 best urban park in the US.
🗳️ Politics, Security & International Affairs
500K Israelis protested the government’s planned judicial changes last weekend in what the Haaretz newspaper called the biggest demonstration in the country’s history.
The US accounted for 40% of global arms exports from 2018-2022, up from 33% in the previous 5 yrs.
The Biden Administration approved a controversial oil drilling project in the Alaskan Arctic, allowing ConocoPhillips to drill on some of the US’s last unspoiled wilderness, where it’ll extract an estimated 576M barrels of oil over the next 30 yrs. At the same time, Biden banned all drilling in the Arctic Ocean and added protections for 13M acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
US government agencies received a record of ~928.4 total FOIA requests in 2022, up from the previous high of ~863.7 in 2018.
A Russian fighter jet collided with a US surveillance drone in international airspace above the Black Sea, damaging a propeller and forcing the US to bring the drone down. Russia denied that the plane came into contact with the drone.
Lawmakers in Moldova voted to replace references to their official national language from "Moldovan" to "Romanian." They argued that "Moldovan" as a language was imposed on them by the Soviet Union. While those in favor of the official linguistic changes see this as an important step for EU candidacy and as a way of distancing itself from its Soviet past and historic ties to Moscow, others see it as an attack on their national identity by pro-Western officials.
Americans lost $10.3B to online scammers in 2022, up from $6.9B in 2021.
Hackers leaked 721.5M passwords in 2022. An analysis showed that 72% of hacked users were reusing previously compromised passwords.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s 2022 Vehicle Theft Trend Report showed more than 1M vehicles were stolen nationwide.
French President Emmanuel Macron ordered his prime minister to wield a special constitutional power to force through a highly unpopular bill that will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote. A no-confidence motion is now expected early next week. If it passes, it would be a first since 1962 and the government must resign. Workers’ strikes in reaction to this change have disrupted transportation services, including trains and planes. More than 7K tons of garbage have piled up in Paris after sanitation workers walked off the job in protest.
61% of Germans now view Russia as an adversary, compared with 23% in 2021.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. The ICC also issued a warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova’s arrest who is allegedly responsible for the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. Ukrainian officials and human-rights groups hailed this as an important step in holding Moscow to account for abuses during its yearlong war. Moscow doesn’t recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
YouTube will allow Donald Trump to post new videos on its platform, ending a 2-yr suspension.
WY become the first state to ban abortion pills, along with a near-total ban on abortion. Doctors or anyone else found guilty of violating the law would be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 mo. in prison. Pregnant patients will be exempt from charges and penalties.
⏩ Pop Culture, Art, Sports & Entertainment
Scream VI raked in $44.5M at the domestic box office and $22.6M overseas, making it the best opening in franchise history in the US. The film only cost $33M to produce.
18.7M viewers tuned into the 95th Academy Awards, a 12% increase over last year but still far below viewership levels pre-2015.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO) took home 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. The film won more above-the-line Oscars than any movie ever in the 95 yrs. the ceremony. Overall, it was a huge night for A24, the studio behind EEAAO plus 5 other winners of top Oscar categories.
The UNC Tar Heels became the first pre-season #1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament since 1985.
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin won her 87th World Cup victory, beating the record set by Ingemar Stenmark and becoming the most decorated skier in the history of the sport.
The World Cup is expanding to 104 games in 2026, which is a considerable increase from the 64 matches played last year in Qatar. The next tournament will be hosted in North America over a span of nearly 6 weeks.
A new survey found that 53% of Americans identify as a fan of Taylor Swift while 16% identified as an “avid fan.” Swift’s fans are predominantly millennials, suburban, left of center, and mostly white.
The total prize money for this summer's Women's World Cup will increase by 300% to more than $150M, but that’s still far below the $440M for the men’s prize in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Billboard rankings favor albums with more individual tracks on them, due to streaming data inputs that suggest popularity. That’s why no one is surprised that Morgan Wallen's new album One Thing At A Time, which has 36 tracks, hit #1. The least-streamed 18 songs of the album accounted for 36% of streams, while the 10 most popular songs accounted for 42%. This means that if the album had only consisted of the most popular 18 tracks, it would have logged 360K album-equivalent units, rather than the 501K album-equivalent units it logged in its first week.
Nearly 1 in 4 adults said they plan to fill out at least one March Madness bracket, an 8% increase from 2022 and a record high since 2017. The odds of a perfect March Madness bracket is 1 in 9.2 quintillion. Just 7 games into the first round of the NCAA tournament, only 0.06% of brackets made through Yahoo Sports were still perfect. By the end of the night, only 23 perfect brackets remained.
🏡 Real Estate
The share of US households earning $150K+/yr and renting rose by 87% between 2016 and 2021 (🔒WSJ) to more than 3M. With an increase of 154% over that same period, Austin, TX, saw the largest increase in high-earning renters.
According to a report by Altrata, more than 21.7K people with a net worth of $30M+ (aka ultra-high-net-worth individuals) own property in NYC, more than anywhere else in the world.
In 2022, new US apartments measured 887 sq ft on average, a 30 sq ft drop from 2021.
A new report by Coldwell Banker Global Luxury ranked Marco Island, FL, as the #1 friendliest luxury real estate market for buyers and St. Louis, MO, as the friendliest market for sellers.
In 2022, Americans with $5M+ in net worth owned more than 64K overseas properties, a rise of 20% from 2021 and 115% from 2020.
🌎 Society
While most fathers reverted to their prepandemic behaviors when it comes to child care and housework, about 20%-25% of fathers are continuing to spend more time on various domestic tasks (🔒NYT). For these dads, “the pandemic offered a chance to reorganize their lives to be more involved in family life — and now, they don’t want to give it up.”
Interesting ethical exploration of influencer parents and the kids who had their childhood made into social media content.
An analysis of 14K Facebook pages maintained by US law enforcement agencies found that they consistently overreported crimes by suspects who were Black, who represented just 20% of those arrested but accounted for 32% of the posts.
The French bulldog is America’s most popular dog, dethroning the labrador retriever which has been #1 for the last 31 yrs.
Based on an analysis of 3M US reviews on Glassdoor, researchers found that women were 41% more likely than men to experience toxic culture in the workplace - defined as a workplace culture that is disrespectful, noninclusive, unethical, cutthroat, or abusive.
The NYT asked their readers around age 40 how they felt about their lives, particularly about whether they had experienced a midlife crisis and many said they felt like “they couldn’t be having a midlife crisis because there was no bourgeois numbness to rebel against (🔒). Rather than longing for adventure and release, they craved a sense of [financial] safety and calmness, which they felt they had never known.”
Only 6% of American monuments feature real women as their subjects. It's easier to find a sculpture of a mermaid than of any real American-born woman.
Men represent 83% of the 533 named executive officers in S&P 100 corporations. Women of color are outnumbered by men 26 to 1, a gap 5x wider than the disparity for white women.
An analysis of USPS data showed fewer Americans moved in 2022 than before the pandemic.
🧪 Science, Climate, Environment & Technology
New solar installations in the US fell 16% year over year in 2022, partly because of supply issues and tariffs.
Satellite data show a 5,000-mile-wide seaweed bloom heading towards FL’s Gulf coast. Scientists said it could be the largest in history. Washed-up seaweed can hurt tourism, damage coastal areas, and release gases harmful to humans.
Scientists mapped all 3,016 neurons and 548K connecting synapses in a young fruit fly’s (Drosophila melanogaster) brain. It’s the first complete brain map of a complex animal.
The Sierra Nevada range in CA has become hotter and drier amid climate change, and a new study suggests that 20% of conifer trees there are no longer compatible with the environment.
About 30M people in CA were under flood alerts last week as the 11th atmospheric river inundated the West. 27K were forced to evacuate. Meanwhile, the Northeast experienced its first Nor’easter of the year, which dumped nearly 3 ft of snow and cut off power for more than 240K people in NY, ME, MA, and NH.
Lake Powell is projected to gain 35 ft of water as the snow from the recent storms in the West melts over the next 3 mo., which would increase the level of the reservoir to about a third full. Groundwater storage levels would still remain at historic lows because it takes years to recover. It could take more than a year before changes are noticed at Lake Mead.
An analysis by NOAA showed that the world experienced its 4th warmest Feb. on record since data collection began 174 yrs ago. Feb. was also the 2nd-straight month in which global sea ice cover was the lowest on record, with Antarctic sea ice at a record low for its seasonal min. Overall, there’s a 65% chance that 2023 will rank in the top 5 warmest years and a greater than 99.5% chance of a top-10 warmest year.
Scientists discovered DNA from the human nose and mouth in soil samples above 26K ft on Mount Everest. The data suggest that extremely high-elevation environments could act as "deep-freeze collection points" for certain microbes, including human-borne contaminants "that may never leave once they arrive."
Global smartwatch shipments grew 12% year over year in 2022. Apple led the pack in shipment share, increasing from 32.6% to 34.1% year over year.
Microsoft is developing 3D avatars that animate based on your voice — no camera needed. The feature will be available on Teams starting in May.
Last Tue., OpenAI released ChatGPT-4 which now has the ability to respond to images as well as text. For example, you can take a picture of the inside of your fridge and ask ChatGPT-4 for recipe suggestions or for a detailed description. It’s also more accurate. ChatGPT-4 "exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks." It ranked in the top 10% of a simulated bar exam, whereas GPT-3.5 scored in the bottom 10%. The tech still has flaws (🔒NYT), however, like struggling to discuss the future and it still has a tendency to make things up (aka hallucinate). To guide improvements, OpenAI created an open source software framework, called Evals, to evaluate the performance of its models and enable anyone to report shortcomings.
ChatGPT-4 has been integrated into Be My Eyes, which is an app that lets blind and low-vision folks ask sighted people to describe what their phone sees.
YouTube TV raised the price of its subscription by 12% to $73/mo.
The latest drought outlook from NOAA shows continuing improvement in the CA’s surface water drought and currently shows zero coverage of the worst categories of drought, eliminating them for the first time since 2020. The snowpack stood at 223% of the average on Mar. 16 and could break the seasonal record by Apr. 1. However, when this snowpack melts, it could cause dangerous flooding.
LinkedIn announced a suite of new AI tools, powered by ChatGPT, like AI-generated profiles and job descriptions.
Wishing you a productive week
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