Week InReview
Friday | Jan 15, 2021
Habit-forming home workouts.
Something for everyone. The unmotivated. The whole family. Quick recovery. Cardio fiends. Lapsed athletes. Absolute beginners. If you’ve ironed out the kinks of working from home, it may be time to address working out from home. The odds are stacked against you: barriers to equipment, a lack of guidance, waning motivation. The experts’ tip: Streamline and personalize.

let's recap...
Jerome Powell
Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sought to stamp out talk of a premature reduction in the central bank’s massive bond-buying campaign, saying “now is not the time” to hold that discussion. “We know we need to be very careful in communicating about asset purchases,” he said Thursday during a virtual discussion. “Now is not the time to be talking about exit. I think that is another lesson of the global financial crisis, is be careful not to exit too early.” (Bloomberg Economics | Jan 14) see also Fed talk of taper rekindles specter of wrenching 2013 tantrum (Bloomberg Economics | Jan 13)

U.S. economic activity increased modestly at the end of 2020 while hiring slowed amid resurgent infections and new restrictions, even as vaccinations got underway, the Federal Reserve said. “Some districts noted declines in retail sales and demand for leisure and hospitality services, largely owing to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and stricter containment measures,” according to the Beige Book based on information collected by the Fed’s 12 regional banks through Jan. 4. (Bloomberg Economics | Jan 13)

Few predicted – and most were unprepared for – the enormous challenges that have kicked off this decade: pandemic, economic collapse, social unrest, and political divisions around the world. Yet it’s the job of a Wall Street executive to factor in all the unknowns. So Bloomberg Markets asked three of the wisest and most visionary people in the industry about their worries for the next 5 to 10 years. (Bloomberg Wealth | Jan 12)

The Trump administration is poised to unveil last-minute changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would allow the mortgage giants to retain significantly more capital, while leaving many of the thorniest issues on releasing the companies from federal control to President-elect Joe Biden. (Bloomberg Politics | Jan 13)

President-elect Joe Biden’s team is considering former Federal Reserve official Nellie Liang and ex-Securities and Exchange Commission member Robert Jackson for key economic-policy positions, including at the Treasury Department. Jackson, who’s also a candidate to head the SEC, is being looked at for a Treasury position such as general counsel or potentially undersecretary for domestic finance. (Bloomberg Politics | Jan 11)
the cyber cafe
NSA releases 2020 cybersecurity YIR
The NSA Cybersecurity Directorate released their 2020 NSA Cybersecurity year in review, which details how NSA worked to prevent and eradicate cyber threats to the U.S.'s most sensitive systems and critical infrastructure.
— NSA/CSS (National Security Agency / Central Security Service)

CISA: SolarWinds hackers got into networks by guessing passwords
Perpetrators of a widespread, intelligence-gathering campaign used common hacker techniques to get through passwords in addition to more sophisticated methods, according to an update to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s alert. 
— Nextgov

Corporate secrets at risk in hack of U.S. courts docs
A cyberhack of the U.S. federal courts filing system puts at risk a range of highly sensitive competitive and financial information and trade secrets, including companies’ sales figures, contracts, and product plans, attorneys said. Whatever insider information has been improperly accessed could be used to manipulate securities markets and benefit foreign competitors.
MORE CYBER SECURITY NEWS HERE:
binge reading disorder
Photo: Bernice Liu/Bloomberg
Whisky, music rights, bugs: Alternative investing ideas for 2021
Art, wine, jewelry, classic cars… These are the alternative assets affluent investors often buy when they want to diversify their holdings and have some fun collecting beautiful objects. Yet there are a number of other unorthodox moves you could consider that not only bestow the pleasures of ownership but also aren’t tied to the ups and downs of capital markets.

How asset managers value their relationships with institutional investors
Can you put a price tag on relationships between asset managers and institutional investors? Experts on accounting practices for mergers and acquisitions say yes.  

Disagreeing takes up a lot of brain real estate
When two people agree, their brains exhibit a calm synchronicity of activity focused on sensory areas of the brain. When they disagree, however, many other regions of the brain involved in higher cognitive functions become mobilized as each individual combats the other's argument, a Yale-led research team reports.
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