Billionaires & bankers, but no Biden.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini | Agence France-Presse

(Jan 19) — The world’s elite flocked back to the Swiss ski village of Davos this week, celebrating the post-pandemic return of the World Economic Forum. But among the assembled billionaires, bankers, politicians and philanthropists, there was a low-level grumble: Where are the Americans?

Among the absentees was President Joe Biden, who presides over the world’s largest economy. Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also were no-shows. Nobody from the White House was dispatched to the summit.

Three Cabinet secretaries attended — Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Trade Representative Katherine Tai. None of them delivered keynote speeches.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled this week to Zurich — just two hours by train from Davos — to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, then left for a previously scheduled trip to Africa.

— Bloomberg Politics

Photo: Bloomberg

Market pressures add to US active mutual fund woes

Sales of active US mutual funds suffered in 2022, as investors continued to demand cheaper products while inflation soared and the Federal Reserve continued to raise rates. Investors pulled $879bn out of active mutual funds during the first 11 months of 2022, according to data from Morningstar Direct. Assets in these funds plummeted 18 percent from a year ago, to $12.2tn as of November 30, the database shows, due to investor redemptions and market depreciation. Passive mutual funds, meanwhile, recorded $51.6bn in net inflows during the same period, according to the data provider. The funds had $4.9tn in assets, down 10 percent year on year. (Financial Times | Jan 19)

The new bankers to the world aren't on Wall Street

As many debt markets slammed shut last year, cash became king — and the Middle East's sovereign wealth funds have plenty. Gulf countries' sovereign funds spent almost $89 billion globally last year, with deal makers using their wealth to diversify their economies and win geopolitical influence. (Bloomberg | Jan 18)

Investors seek to pull $20 billion from core real estate funds

Some of the biggest investors in US commercial real estate are looking to cash in before property values slide further. A group of property funds for institutional investors ended last year with $20 billion in withdrawal requests, the biggest waiting line since the Great Recession, according to IDR Investment Management, which tracks an index of the open-end diversified core equity funds. (Bloomberg Wealth | Jan 17)

NY Fed finds relatively benign factors drive recent discount window borrowing rise

A recent uptick in borrowing at a central bank facility that has historically provided emergency credit is likely tied to small bank liquidity management, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday. The Fed research was taking stock of a recent rise in borrowing at the central bank’s Discount Window, which had left many analysts scratching their heads. (Reuters | Jan 17)

Bright start to year for bonds eases market pressures

Another strong week for the US bond market is giving investors increasing hope that they can turn the page on a brutal 2022. Yields on US Treasurys, which fall when bond prices rise, have plunged this year even more than they shot upward last January, at the start of what ultimately became the worst year for bonds on record. It is still extremely early, and many analysts believe that bonds will face challenges ahead. But the rally so far has exceeded most expectations, providing a boost to other assets, including stocks, and improving vibes across exhausted trading desks. (The Wall Street Journal | Jan 16)

Photo: Bloomberg

Fewer companies are paying ransoms to hackers, researchers say

Fewer companies that are infected with ransomware are coughing up extortion payments demanded by hackers, according to new research from Chainalysis Inc. In findings published on Thursday, the blockchain forensics firm estimated that ransom payments — which are almost always paid in cryptocurrency — fell to $456.8 million in 2022 from $765.6 million in 2021, a 40 percent drop.

— Bloomberg Technology | Cybersecurity

Ransomware attackers simplify their tactics by ditching encryption

Criminal gangs are using a new method to guarantee a ransomware payout: They're ditching the part where they lock up a target firm's systems by encrypting them and are skipping straight to holding the company's precious data for ransom.

— Axios

Economic uncertainty weighs on cyber chiefs

Cybersecurity is expected to be spared the brunt of the corporate belt-tightening, owing to its critical function and enhanced profile after years of increasing cyberattacks. Still, security chiefs are looking for ways to be more efficient in their approach to protecting companies — and their decisions will reshape the cybersecurity business.

— The Wall Street Journal

Sign up for cybersecurity advisories from the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency here.

Dalia Fichmann: portrait of an avalanche rescue dog. Fichmann accompanied an avalanche rescue team in Melchsee-Frutt, Switzerland. To capture the shot, she lay in an ice cave and let dogs search for her.

Pooch portraits: dog photography awards – in pictures

The winners of the 2022 Dog Photography awards, chosen from more than 1,400 entries from 50 different countries.

— The Guardian

Love for sale in Davos

Representatives of the oldest trade in the world swarmed to the Swiss ski resort town of Davos to offer their services to the rich and powerful this week — with some said to be charging up to $2,500 a night. One prostitute who goes by the name “Liana” told the German newspaper Bild that she frequently provides services to an American attendee at Davos who pays $750 per hour — or $2,500 to spend the whole night. She added that she dresses in business attire in order to blend in with the crowd at the World Economic Forum gathering.

— New York Post

Why the scary, funny, profane ‘FAFO’ was 2022’s word of the year

2022 was a year when people who did dumb or awful things (coups, tax scams, attacking smaller countries, making overinflated weed-meme offers for social media sites) would finally face some consequences. Can you do that? Can you just lie, cheat, and swindle with impunity? 2022 suggested that you couldn’t: “eff around, find out” was a bratty, satisfying way to reclaim the high ground.

— The Washington Post | opinion