How fun are you?

For some, there’s nothing less fun than company-sponsored “fun” with co-workers.

It’s no longer just a happy hour here and a holiday party there. In the hybrid era, when bosses feel compelled to make up for the reduction of daily chitchat, the quarterly all-hands meeting now comes with a team-building trip to the go-kart track, brewery or ballgame.

Then there’s the new avalanche of off-sites, multiday tests of togetherness in which you might be expected to hash out a new sales strategy one minute and the next brave the hotel pool with Speedo Steve and other colleagues, perhaps in a swimsuit of your own. 

— The Wall Street Journal

Jerome Powell, chair of the US Federal Reserve, speaks during a news conference following a meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Fed fallout

The Federal Reserve delivered an expected 25 basis-point hike on Wednesday with Chair Jerome Powell saying policymakers expect to deliver a “couple” more interest-rate increases before putting their aggressive tightening campaign on hold. But traders took heart from his remarks acknowledging that price pressures have started to ease, sending stocks on a rally and pushing the dollar lower. Expect that bullishness to be tested again within weeks by key economic data. (Bloomberg Economics | Feb 2)

Treasury holds auction sizes steady in quarterly refunding as debt limit looms

The Treasury Department plans to hold the size of its auctions for notes and bonds steady between February and April, as the US faces its debt limit. The department said Wednesday it plans to sell $96 billion of Treasury securities next week to refund roughly $67 billion of Treasurys and raise roughly $29 billion in new cash. Holding auction sizes steady for the second quarter in a row comes after the Treasury had reduced auction sizes last fiscal year as the deficit dropped. (The Wall Street Journal | Feb 1)

Housing slump from US to China adds risks to global economy

Property markets look shaky across much of the world, posing another risk to the global economy. Reports this week have shown the US housing slump stretched into a fifth month, China’s home-sales slide continued and UK home prices are on their worst losing streak since 2008. (Bloomberg Wealth | Jan 31)

Liquidity loses top slot as investors’ biggest concern after six years

Liquidity is no longer the biggest worry for traders in financial markets, following a year in which markets survived a series of major shocks without the ability to buy and sell becoming too severely impaired. Instead, volatility has climbed to the top of the list of traders’ concerns in 2023, as rising global interest rates and geopolitical tensions spark big moves in markets, according to a survey of traders by JPMorgan. (Financial Times | Jan 31)

Here are the arguments for a bond comeback

The high starting yield in 2023 could be setting the stage for a bond market comeback. Over the last four and half decades, years that feature higher yields early on often produce higher returns by the end of the year, according to Nuveen’s latest fixed-income report. And after consecutive rate hikes last year, the bond yield in early 2023 is now at its highest level since the global financial crisis. (Institutional Investor | Jan 30)

Report underscores FINRA’s focus on cybersecurity

A FINRA report highlights the continued compliance obligations and risks facing the securities industry. Chief among those risks is cybersecurity. With this report and new regulations coming from the SEC, now is the time to consider a comprehensive cybersecurity compliance review.

— Debevoise & Plimpton

DDoS attacks rise, a sign of concern for banks, finance

Long considered a nuisance, distributed-denial-of-service attacks, or DDoS, are a growing problem for banks and other financial businesses, according to a new report. The volume of DDoS attacks targeting financial firms increased 22% year-over-year as of November, according to a new report first provided to Bloomberg News by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which is known as FS-ISAC. The issue is particularly pronounced in Europe, where financial services saw a 73% increase in DDoS attacks, the report showed. 

— Bloomberg Law

Hacker groups are hiring

Coders, reverse engineers and designers are among the hot jobs in the cybercrime world, according to an analysis of dark-web posts by cybersecurity company Kaspersky. Sought-after skills include the ability to encrypt data and get by antivirus tools.

— CyberScoop

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Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency here.

Illustration: Kenneth Andersson | FT

Inside the grim world of office spyware

These Big Brotherish apps can monitor the websites workers visit and the programs they use to tally up how much time is spent on, say, Twitter vs Excel — even if people are working at home, as many more are thanks to Covid. Some apps can also log workers’ keystrokes and physical whereabouts, or take screenshots of their screen.

— Financial Times

Luxury Valentine’s Day gifts to impress your beloved this year

The best Valentine’s Day gifts are aimed straight at the heart. But this guide mostly focuses on your loved one’s wrists, ears, and feet, with gifts to wear that will proudly show how much they’re loved.

— Bloomberg Pursuits

There's no quick fix for social media

Ignore the simplistic slogans. Separating what’s invaluable about services like Twitter and Facebook from what’s noxious will require years of experimentation.

— The Wall Street Journal