Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of the favorite things we read over the past week. The links are mostly market related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.

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Social (Anti-Social)

How Duolingo Grew Its TikTok to 6.6M Followers (Digital Native)
Duolingo has one of the savviest corporate social presences on TikTok. Here’s a profile of the person who is responsible for it all. [link]

‘Citi Bike Karen’ viral video shows why we shouldn’t rush to judgment (USA Today)
When it comes to viral videos, things aren’t always as they seem. One pregnant woman, who was the victim of a crime, appears to have had her career and reputation tarnished over accusations of racism. [link]

Whistleblower Drops 100 Gigabytes of Tesla Secrets To German News Site: Report (Jalopnik)
“The Tesla files contain more than 2,400 self-acceleration complaints and more than 1,500 braking function problems, including 139 cases of unintentional emergency braking.” For perspective, the files date back to 2015 covering a period where Tesla delivered around 2.6 million vehicles. [link]

Virginia Tech researchers conduct proof-of-concept study on mosquito scent preferences (Virginia Tech)
Just in time for mosquito season, a Virginia Tech study found that the pests are attracted to certain scents of soap. One fragrance they’re not attracted to is coconut. [link]

Economy

Colorado’s cannabis industry has fallen on hard times. What does the future hold? (Denver Post)
Now that marijuana has been legalized in many more states, Colorado is no longer the weed mecca it once was, and the industry there has been falling on hard times. [link]

Nine Rounds of Interviews and No Call Back: It’s Harder Than Ever to Land a White Collar Job (WSJ)
After years of breakneck hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic, white-collar job seekers are feeling whiplash. “Everybody’s being extra-cautious,” she says. “A lot of companies have gotten burned.” [link]

How some people get away with doing nothing at work (VOX)
“I don’t have a problem with being asked to do work; it’s just I’m not really being asked”. This story covers workers who are ‘funemployed’ in that they sit at work all day with little to do. The best part of this article is the url address. Take a look. [link]

Half-Empty a Year Ago, Cruises Are Now Packed Like Sardines (WSJ)
For all the people who said people would never cruise again after COVID, ships are now routinely fully booked to the point where in some cases passengers have to be bumped.  Not out at sea we hope! Prices are also higher.  The average five-night cruise in an inside cabin is $743 which is up from $551 a year ago. [link]

Retailers Clamp Down on Returns (WSJ)
It costs an average of $26.50 for every hundred dollars worth of goods sold to process a return, which costs retailers millions.  Some are fighting back. [link]

Why the Debt-Ceiling Deadline Isn’t Really June 1 (Barron’s)
Not to give politicians any more excuses to delay, this article provides a good explainer for why June 1st may not actually be the X-day that Treasury Secretary Yellen said it would be. [link]

France bans short-haul flights to cut carbon emissions (BBC)
To cut down on greenhouse gases, France will prohibit any flight where the option of a train ride of fewer than 2.5 hours exists. [link]

Fashion

J.N. Shapiro Debuts the First Fully American-Made Watch in Over 50 Years (Robb Report)
The trend of onshoring is even moving into the premium watch industry. J.N. Shapiro is the first watchmaker since 1969 that can say their timepieces are “Made in the USA”. You can get either of the 18-karat gold versions for $85,000. [link]

Science and Technology

JPMorgan is developing a ChatGPT-like A.I. service that gives investment advice (CNBC)
ChatGPT is coming for your financial advisor. The next time you seek out financial advice, it may not be the person that you turn to. [link]

AI Will ‘Exceed Expert Skill Level in Most Domains’ in 10 Years: OpenAI (Decrypt)
ChatGPT has only been around for six months, but some experts believe it will outsmart them and experts in other industries within ten years. [link]

Incredibly Detailed Close-Ups of the Sun From Earth’s Most Powerful Solar Telescope (SciTech Daily)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released eight new photos of the sun from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and they look like molten gold. [link]

Ford EV Customers to Gain Access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers (Ford)
In a sign that charging protocols for EVs may be starting to standardize, certain Ford EVs will now have access to Tesla Superchargers.  Increased adoption of one standard will only accelerate the shift to EVs. [link]

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Says It Has FDA Approval for Study of Brain Implants in Humans (WSJ)
Ever feel like you could use a new brain? Well, those days may not be far off. Elon Musk’s Neuralink has received approval from the FDA to begin testing a brain implant to control computer interfaces and restore vision. [link]

Can multivitamins improve memory? A new study shows ‘intriguing’ results (NPR)
People taking the multivitamin were able to recall about a quarter more words, which translates into remembering just a few more words, compared to the placebo group. “We estimate that the effect of the multivitamin intervention improved memory performance above placebo by the equivalent of 3.1 years of age-related memory change”. [link]

Sports

One of the NFL’s Most Exciting Plays Is Trending Toward Extinction (WSJ)
Baseball isn’t the only league with major rule changes this season.  This Fall the NFL will allow kick returners to call fair catch anywhere inside the 25-year line and take the ball at the 25 which will only cut down on the number of kickoff returns even more. [link]

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Have a great weekend!

The S&P 500 has been closing in on new 52-week highs as the index gains another 1.3% headed into the long weekend.  Although the index has been moving higher, looking at relative strength lines across the S&P’s eleven sectors, it would be hard to tell. Indicating what has broadly been mediocre breadth at best, the only two sectors with relative strength lines that are currently moving higher are Tech and Communication Services.  The former has made a vertical move higher over the past few days in the wake of the surge in NVIDIA (NVDA), while the climb in Communication Services has been more steady.  As for the other sectors, relative strength lines have been falling off a cliff for everything except Consumer Discretionary, which has been flat.

Again, Tech has led the way higher with a sharp move this week.  The sector is now extremely overbought, trading 3.23 standard deviations above its 50-DMA; the fifth most overbought reading on record.  Since 1990, there have only been a handful of times in which the S&P 500 Tech sector has traded at least 3 standard deviations overbought, with the most recent being roughly six years ago. But to find the last time the sector was as extended as it is today, you’d have to go all the way back to early 2004!

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