Everything in Tech Is Collapsing

Welcome to This Week’s Leyendecker View

We’re going to dream a little less.
– Sequoia’s Doug Leone after FTX collapse

THOUGHTS FROM DOUG

Russia may freeze the Ukrainians into submission, but it seems obvious they have already lost the war. What kind of economy can they have now without Western interaction?

Crypto is looking like another woke mass psychosis. If you don’t fall in line with the believers, you get called stupid or worse. What other mass psychosis narratives have infected our “modern” culture?

Maybe people a hundred years from now will look back and say, “They were all brainwashed because they did not know how to handle technologies that were way ahead of their intellectual and emotional capacities.”

Wouldn’t it make sense that the more free stuff you hand out, the more freeloaders you will make? Where’s the fine line between social safety net and government hand out dependency? And how do we know when this line has been crossed?

Tons of people today are trying to time the stock market bottom. But could our post-financial-asset-bubble future look like what happened to Japan after their 1980s financial asset bubble experience? Here’s their Nikkei 225 chart for the last 67 years.

I wonder if the Fed is not just focused on inflation but also on taming the animal spirits in financial asset investing and inflation. Are they trying to narrow the wealth gap to reduce social stress?

What if the next social wave is a rejection of technology? Could that even happen?

THE ECONOMIC VIEW

Home sales fall again
Ninth straight month of declines.
But mortgage rates are dropping

Are retiring Baby Boomers in trouble?
Inflation plus lower stock values not good.

Leading economic indicators
Continued to decline in October
Fed official uses the “C” word

THE INFLATION BOGEYMAN

Possible US rail strike coming
That would be inflationary.
Could devastate coal industry
That’s 22% of US electricity!!!

Rent growth is slowing
But it’s still growing.

NYC taxi fares going up 23%
Is Uber going to be cheaper?

THE LABOR VIEW

What the heck is career cushioning?
Is everyone really doing it?

WFH does not work
Says Elon Musk.

The Starbucks Red Cup rebellion
Early days of a new organized labor trend?

California academic workers on strike
They need higher wages to afford to live there.

MEANWHILE IN EUROPE

Europe eases back from apocalypse
Economic decline may be manageable.

Germany’s needed LNG infrastructure
Will cost much more than expected.

German unions just got a 5.2% raise
Is this a good sign?

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Russia is trying to freeze Ukraine
By destroying their power infrastructure
And it’s working

The Russian Empire must die
So suggests The Atlantic.

War is real hell in the winter
As Russia pours it on.

GLOBAL

Which country is on the wrong track?
According to their population’s opinion.

The COP27 achievement
Pay for low-income countries’ climate events.

The 25 richest families in the world
I’m not in one.

THE FINANCE WORLD

Wall Street is betting on stagflation
Forget the soft landing.

There could be a run on the bank
At Credit Suisse.

Investors are pouring into stocks
Time to learn a new lesson?
Goldman sees bear market through 2023

LBO debt goes wanting
Banks can’t sell it off.
Some PE groups are buying the debt

THE CRYPTO WRECK

Let crypto burn
The case for no regulation.

“You’re a fraud. You’re an absolute fraud.”
Terry Duffy, derivatives market CEO, tells SBF.

$41B in the last 19 months
The amount VCs poured into crypto.

Coinbase at a record low
World’s largest crypto fund struggles
Are the tulips all dying?

THE TECH WRECK

Everything in tech is collapsing at once
The new tech midlife crisis.

eScooter company could go bankrupt
How hard was it to see this coming?

VCs raise record amount this year
Time for bargain hunting?

THE NEXT NORMAL

The masculinity crisis
It’s real, and it’s global.

Top baby names for 2022
No John and Mary anymore.

Colorado legalizes magic mushrooms
Imagine your ski trip now!

THE WAR ON CARBON

Deep drilling geothermal
Is it the best clean energy answer?

US solar power
Is totally dependent on China

Goldman says oil will go to $125
If China backs off covid restrictions.

THE NEW ENERGY TRANSITION

New England is like Europe
They have a power price problem.
Winter blackout risk is big

Europe’s solar power is stumbling
Time to load up on more, right?

Europe loads up on Russian diesel
Before the ban begins.
England loads up on Russian crude

EU about to cap gas prices
Private sector to take a big hit.

THE EV DREAM

GM can make a profit on EVs
So long as Washington sends them money.

Ford is building a giant new plant
Jobs are moving south.

Tesla recalls 350,000 vehicles
The battery works great, but…

THE CHINA SYNDROME

China widens its covid curbs
So much for reopening the economy.
While it starts to nationalize real estate debt

China’s elite find safety abroad
Getting those fortunes to safer ground.
Singapore is a top destination

China and Japan
Agree to work on improving relations

THE WASHING-TONE

Chevron to pump oil in Venezuela
Rather than support domestic production.

How do Democrats investigate SBF
Their second largest donor?

IRA bill requires economic success
To balance out with carbon emissions.

MAKING A BETTER YOU

How to harness your flow state
Keep that good momentum going.

Why life can’t be simpler
Necessity is the mother of invention.

How to wake up early
Even if you’re a night owl.

HOW ABOUT A BREAK

Mink alert
10,000 go missing in Ohio.

Want to create your own song?
Us this AI music generator

The highest paid dead celebrities
Yes, someone is tracking this data.

SONG OF THE WEEK

“Be Thankful for What You Got”
William DeVaughn in 1974.
Lyrics are poetry, you know

PODCAST OF THE WEEK

“How Thanksgiving Works”
From the folks at Stuff You Should Know

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

Just in time for Thanksgiving.
Florence Pugh eats 11 English dishes

The world’s grumpiest cat
Lives in a frozen world.

Trailers of the week
What to do on a long weekend?

FROM THE HEADHUNTER’S KITCHEN

Why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving
Not ’cause it’s yummy?
The pies we love to eat

Best Thanksgiving leftover recipes
Tired of turkey yet?

Brussels sprouts taste better today.
Here’s why

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Americans Have $5T in Cash
November 18, 2022

The Middle Class Is Struggling
November 11, 2022