The hottest Market Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Buon Anno!

Greed • 137 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
🍲 Food & Drink Recipes Market Ingredients Cuisine
  1. Italian tradition of saying 'Buon Anno' can lead to interesting culinary experiences like the Florentine steak ​
  2. Personal rituals can offer a meaningful way to mark important life events like giving up drinking ​
  3. Seasonal, local food not only tastes better but also encourages more creative cooking by working with what's available ​

Lou Jiwei on China's banking, PE/VC, IPOs, and Big Tech's role in lending

Pekingnology • 49 implied HN points • 06 Jan 25
💰 Finance Banking Investment Regulation Technology Market
  1. Finance should support high-quality development by improving access to loans for private companies. This includes reducing risks for banks and treating all companies equally, whether state-owned or private.
  2. Government-backed venture capital funds need to focus more on market-driven models. This will help them foster innovation while allowing for some tolerance of failure among startups.
  3. It's important for internet platforms to share the risk in lending to small businesses. By co-lending a portion of the loans, they can help prevent systemic risks in the financial system.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Most Bitcoin Inscriptions belong to a single person or entity

block21m • 159 HN points • 28 May 23
🔮 Crypto Bitcoin Blockchain Transactions Market Vulnerabilities
  1. 80% of Bitcoin inscriptions since March 2023 are controlled by a single person or entity with a specific public key
  2. This entity has influenced the blockchain significantly by controlling 64% of all inscriptions with a transaction fee total of 1056 BTC
  3. This high level of control showcases a vulnerability in the blockchain that could be exploited by entities with large amounts of Bitcoin

The Market Vs. The Bank of Japan

Japan Economy Watch • 319 implied HN points • 20 Dec 22
💰 Finance Market Interest Rates Inflation Financial Markets
  1. Market pressure forced the Bank of Japan to increase the maximum rate of 10-year Japan Government Bonds
  2. BOJ Governor Kuroda believes the rate hike was a technical measure, not a start of tightening monetary policy
  3. The outcome will be shaped by factors like BOJ's bond purchases, impact of interest rate rises on businesses, value of the yen, and course of inflation

Lawsuits Rock Realtors and What it Means for Home Sales

The Sunday Morning Post • 78 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
💼 Business Real Estate Lawsuits Market Industry
  1. A series of lawsuits have shaken up the National Association of Realtors and real estate brokerage firms, potentially leading to changes in how homes are bought and sold.
  2. The lawsuits focus on inflated commissions in real estate transactions, aiming to decouple commissions between buyers' and sellers' agents, and could lead to different compensation structures in the industry.
  3. A new organization, the American Real Estate Association, has emerged to challenge the NAR's hold on the real estate market by offering more flexible commission fees and membership dues.

The Age of Incumbents

Investing 101 • 133 implied HN points • 02 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Data AI Market Competition Software
  1. Technology as an asset class is relatively new in the stock market, with tech companies now dominating market capitalization.
  2. The age of dynamic dinosaurs is here, with established tech companies evolving and becoming more challenging to displace.
  3. Big markets attract big attention, but distribution is key for success in tech, as seen with companies like Microsoft leveraging built-in distribution for products like Teams.

Why some data companies struggle to sell to the financial markets

The Data Score • 138 implied HN points • 18 Apr 23
💼 Business Data Finance Market Investment Sales
  1. In the financial market, selling data can be difficult if data companies don't align their products with the specific needs and capabilities of asset managers
  2. Understanding different types of asset managers and their unique requirements is crucial for data companies to succeed in selling to the financial markets
  3. Data companies must consider financial market outcomes and work backward from there to create data solutions that meet the demands of their clients

Jiang Xiaojuan on further deepening economic reforms

Pekingnology • 60 implied HN points • 26 Oct 24
💼 Business Economics Policy Market Reform Trade
  1. Economic reforms in China focus on creating a level playing field. This means all types of businesses should have equal chances to compete and get resources without favoritism.
  2. There is an emphasis on letting the market decide which businesses succeed or fail. This encourages efficiency and helps the best companies thrive while weaker ones are phased out.
  3. Aligning China's economic rules with international standards is important. This helps local companies compete better globally and supports further opening up the economy.

Why Health Insurance Systems are Mismanaged

In My Tribe • 455 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🏥 Health Politics Health Insurance Incentives Costs Government Market
  1. Incentives in health insurance systems can be misaligned, leading to issues like services being rationed for those with expensive illnesses.
  2. Government can create artificial pools within health insurance to avoid selection games, but challenges in insurer-provider conflicts may persist.
  3. Integrating health insurance with health care, like in HMOs, can help manage costs, but compensation methods for HMOs and providers remain contentious.

Underwriter Certification of Nuclear Power, 2.0:

Gordian Knot News • 124 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
💼 Business Regulation Insurance Certification Market Energy
  1. Regulation of hazardous activities requires finding a balance between safety and economy to prevent both excessive harm and economic burden.
  2. Certification Societies, like those for ocean transportation and high-pressure steam, play a crucial role in setting industry standards, inspecting compliance, and ensuring safety.
  3. Underwriter Certification for nuclear power leverages market competition, government oversight, and insurance to provide a feasible and safe regulatory system for nuclear energy.

About that ISDA Pt 3: The Preamble

The Jolly Contrarian • 59 implied HN points • 17 Feb 24
💼 Business Legal Contracts Derivatives Market
  1. A preamble in a legal document sets the scene and primes you for the contract, like a story's beginning. It's where important elements are hinted at before they become relevant.
  2. ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) has evolved from older versions like the 1992 ISDA to the more widely-used 2002 version, highlighting the slow adoption of new agreements in established industries.
  3. The ISDA Master Agreement includes important sections like the Schedule, which fine-tunes termination provisions and tax representations, and Transactions, which vary widely based on the type of swap being made.

The Math of the Housing Crunch

The Sunday Morning Post • 58 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
💰 Finance Housing Market Interest Rates Construction Economy
  1. The housing crisis has worsened in recent years due to factors like increased rents and higher home prices, impacting policymakers and individuals alike.
  2. The root of the housing crunch dates back to the Great Recession in 2007, leading to a significant drop in new home construction that never fully recovered.
  3. To ease the housing crunch, there is a need for an increase in the construction of various types of housing units, which has already shown some promise in the rental market.

Putting The "Ce" In "DeFi" (Part 2) - Bancor Explained (Important Read)

DeFi Education • 419 implied HN points • 29 Jun 22
🔮 Crypto Blockchain DeFi Tokens Trading Market
  1. Bancor is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Ethereum that offers protection against impermanent loss for liquidity providers. This means it helps users avoid losses when the value of their assets changes while being locked in the exchange.
  2. Impermanent loss happens when the value of liquidity provider tokens is different from holding the assets directly. Bancor aims to minimize this difference for its users.
  3. Bancor uses its own token, BNT, to cover any losses that liquidity providers might experience. However, this protection is currently paused due to challenging market conditions.

Welcome to the AI bubble

The Down Round • 98 implied HN points • 14 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Market Investing Venture Machine Learning
  1. The AI industry may be experiencing a bubble similar to what the crypto industry went through before.
  2. There are signs of hype and questionable practices in AI, such as companies quickly pivoting to AI and non-experts making bold claims.
  3. Being cautious and vigilant in an AI bubble is important to avoid getting caught up in unrealistic narratives and disconnected market valuations.

A Note: What Is "Management" Anyway?

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 92 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Consulting Theory Bureaucracy Market
  1. Management is different from hierarchical command-and-control, bureaucratic obedience, and market haggling. It's about reconciling various interests for the smooth operation of the system.
  2. Peter F. Drucker viewed the manager as a trustee of civilization and envisioned a role that balanced freedom, efficiency, equity, and order.
  3. Management is seen as a profession that aligns the interests of all stakeholders while ensuring the free development of individuals within society.

Four Lenses of Productivity: From Individuals to the Market

Wisdom over Waves • 39 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Team Organizational Market
  1. Productivity is essential for success, and it varies from individual to market level.
  2. Measuring individual productivity involves achieving flow state, quick feedback, and managing cognitive load.
  3. Team and organizational productivity rely on factors like cross-functional teams, reducing work in progress, automation, software development practices, and software architecture.

Is Japan’s Inflation As High As It Seems?

Japan Economy Watch • 279 implied HN points • 24 Jun 22
💰 Finance Inflation Banking Policy Economy Market
  1. Japan's inflation rate may not be as high as it seems, with different measures showing varying results.
  2. Central banks like the Bank of Japan use 'core' inflation rates that exclude volatile items to gauge long-term trends.
  3. The challenge for Japan's economy is to achieve healthy inflation driven by domestic demand rather than by high import prices.

Art: Investing vs Collecting

tsalikhov • 78 implied HN points • 09 Jun 23
💰 Finance Art Investing Collecting Market Returns
  1. Investing in traditional fine art is challenging due to market complexities and transaction limitations.
  2. Art indices provide an incomplete picture of the art market, with limited representativeness and investability.
  3. Digital art on the blockchain offers potential as a more accessible and diverse asset class with compelling risk-reward ratios.

Instacart S-1 Breakdown

Tanay’s Newsletter • 145 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
💼 Business Technology Market Scale Financials Membership
  1. Instacart offers different products like an online grocery marketplace, an enterprise platform, and advertising services.
  2. The US grocery market has significant online growth potential, and Instacart is a major player in capturing that online market share.
  3. Instacart operates as a three-sided marketplace connecting retailers, customers, and shoppers, along with indirect involvement from CPG brands.

The subscriptionization of AI

Artificial Ignorance • 67 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Subscriptions Market Open Source Tools
  1. Many of the best AI models and features are now hidden behind subscription paywalls, changing how we access and use powerful AI technologies.
  2. Leading AI companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, and Google offer paid versions of their chatbots with flagship models and extra features, contributing to the rise of subscription-based AI services.
  3. As the AI industry becomes saturated with monthly subscription options, consumers may experience 'subscription fatigue,' similar to what has happened with streaming services, leading to a complex decision-making process on which services to pay for.

Lowering Costs and Increasing Value for Students, Institutions, and Taxpayers

The Future of Education • 99 implied HN points • 16 Aug 23
🚌 Education Policy Market Innovation Regulation Outcomes
  1. The current higher education system lacks incentives for institutions to focus on student outcomes and financial returns.
  2. Accreditors play a gatekeeper role for federal financial aid, but are not incentivized to focus on student outcomes.
  3. Policy should shift focus to student outcomes, transparency in pricing, and requiring colleges to share in the risk of student loan repayments.

Stage 2: Nuclear Power's Economics Suck

Gordian Knot News • 219 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
💼 Business Energy Economics Regulations Costs Market
  1. Nuclear power in the West is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to build, hindering its potential to combat global issues like climate change.
  2. Historically, nuclear power has been cost-competitive with coal, but rising costs due to regulations and construction delays have made it less viable.
  3. The core issue with nuclear power's economics lies in the perception of any radioactive release as intolerable, leading to excessive safety measures that drive up costs.

"Products" & "Protocols" are NOT the same

@MacBrennan’s Investor Updates • 58 implied HN points • 08 Aug 23
🔮 Crypto Products Protocols DeFi Infrastructure Market
  1. Products are applications that define user experiences and focus on capturing markets.
  2. Protocols are infrastructure enabling specific product experiences and compete on resources and architecture.
  3. Successful products retain and grow through effective distribution, while successful protocols aggregate resources and serve multiple products.

💾 E14: The Real AI Bottleneck: High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 💾

Let Us Face the Future • 158 implied HN points • 08 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Memory AI Hardware Innovation Market
  1. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is crucial for datacenter AI accelerators and large language models due to its high bandwidth, low latency, and low power consumption.
  2. HBM is commercially viable, but cost and complexity remain restraints, making it more suitable for high-performance computing and AI rather than mainstream applications.
  3. The future growth of HBM depends on reducing costs, advancing technology like through-silicon vias, and addressing challenges like thermal management for wider adoption beyond datacenter and HPC.

Calibration of Sports Betting Markets

Mike’s Blog • 39 implied HN points • 07 Nov 23
🎾 Sports Analysis Betting Calibration Market Predictions
  1. Calibration plots show how accurate forecasts are by comparing predicted probabilities to actual outcomes.
  2. Sports betting markets are remarkably well-calibrated based on analysis of MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAA data from 2016-2020.
  3. Implied probabilities in sports betting are normalized for analysis, where they sum to 1, to compare prediction accuracy.

FAQs: Starship, Starlink, and some SpaceX-conomics

The efficient frontier • 39 implied HN points • 20 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Space Economics Innovation Market Integration
  1. SpaceX will price their Starship slots based on the cost of launching a Starlink satellite, creating a connection between launch prices and satellite values.
  2. Even if SpaceX's goal is to get to Mars fast, they still need profits to fund big projects and attract capital.
  3. SpaceX may aim to grow the space industry, but they will likely price Starship slots at cost plus markup, not markdown, due to market power.

Starbucks Shares Plunge After Sales, Earnings Miss

Dr.John B’s Newsletter • 8 HN points • 01 May 24
💼 Business Finance Sales Earnings Market Profitability
  1. Starbucks experienced a significant drop in sales and earnings, leading to a plunge in shares due to a 4% decrease in global comparable store sales
  2. The decrease in sales was particularly notable in China where competition with lower prices impacted transactions and average spend negatively
  3. Despite new store openings, Starbucks struggled to offset the declining sales in existing cafeterias due to various factors like colder weather, cautious consumers, and conflicts globally

Disposability & Repair in the Digital Age

The Digital Anthropologist • 19 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Repair Consumers Subscriptions Market Quality
  1. The rise of the right to repair movement and disposable technologies can lead to better technology and happier consumers.
  2. Ownership is preferred over borrowing, showing that subscriptions often fail to create brand loyalty.
  3. The right to repair movement challenges the subscription model, aiming for higher quality products that benefit the planet and society.