Good day valued readers,

This week was so intense that we have another extra edition for Sunday with more news and recommended reads. Of course, as always, we strive to provide you with useful information, data and commentary.

Please enjoy this extra newsletter. We're grateful for the opportunity to share these insights with you and look forward to continuing to be a valuable resource.

Read time: 5 minutes

Sign Up to this newsletter.

Image of the week

Investing and Finance

This week we examine key economic developments, from recessions in Japan and the UK to BRICS nations forecast to see the largest rise in millionaires over the next decade. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hit new stock price records nearing $1 trillion value, though trimmed some tech holdings like HP, Apple and Paramount in Q4. Americans sought to save more in 2023 across age groups amidst economic uncertainty, while Coinbase earnings impressively beat estimates on transaction growth.

However, the record US stock rally now faces threats from global turmoil, as G7 power wanes compared to emerging giants like the BRICS bloc. With economic gravity shifts underway, recession risks rising in major economies, and markets at inflection points, making sense of crosscurrents is crucial. As giants like Berkshire Hathaway and Coinbase rise, how much should investors celebrate amidst risks of overvalued stocks, crypto volatility, and relative declines ahead for US and UK wealth?

Now let's dive into the nuanced economic and market forces in motion globally, from demographic changes to tech adoption, underpinning this week's headlines.

1. Super Micro Computer Just Hit a New All-Time High. Is the Stock Still a Buy? - Read more

2. UK and Japan Fell into Recessions at the End of Last Year - Read more

3. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Trimmed Positions in HP, Apple, and Paramount Global in Q4 - Read more

4. BRICS nations to see highest surge in millionaire count over the next decade - exceed the rise in G7 countries - Read more

5. How much money Americans saved in 2023 at every age - and how you can put away more this year - Read more

6. Coinbase Stock Jumps On Big Earnings Beat As Transaction Volume Grows - Read more

7. Record US Stock Rally Is Under Threat From a World in Turmoil - Read more

8. Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares top $600,000 for the first time as Warren Buffett's conglomerate edges toward $1 trillion milestone - Read more

Crypto News

This week we analyze key developments in the crypto sector, as Bitcoin holds $52,000 ground amidst US inflation worries. MicroStrategy's BTC holdings reach astonishing new valuation heights following the recent Bitcoin price surge. Meanwhile, Coinbase dominates the nascent Bitcoin ETF industry, securing custody of 90% of assets under management so far. However, risks persist around whether Bitcoin can maintain momentum as a hedge against inflation longer-term.

More broadly, the blockchain space continues expanding with new decentralized apps, though hype exceeds reality on many projects. Crypto lobbying also accelerates in Washington, but lacks cohesion on policy goals beyond light-touch regulation. With crypto asset values fluctuating amid economic uncertainty, the technology's evolution continues - raising questions on the path ahead. As mainstream adoption increases but doubts linger on sustainability, understanding crypto's current landscape and trajectory remains vital.

Now let's examine the latest trends, power dynamics, opportunities and risks shaping the future of digital assets and blockchain technology.

1. MicroStrategy’s BTC Holdings Reach Astonishing Value After Bitcoin’s Recent Surge - Read more

2. Coinbase dominates Bitcoin ETF custody with 90% asset management - Read more

3. Bitcoin Holds Ground at $52,000 Amidst US Inflation Concerns - Read more

4. A look at the blockchain industry: the best decentralized applications and the current trend - Read more

5. What’s actually going on with crypto lobbying? - Read more

Artificial Intelligence

This week we examine key AI developments, as experts warn controlling advanced models may prove impossible and relationship risks emerge. Slack and Google unveil major upgrades like summarization, but data harvesting and bias issues persist, with an artist set to marry an AI hologram. Meanwhile, OpenAI's valuation hits $80 billion after a reported deal, underscoring intense interest in large language models like GPT-3 despite control concerns. However, hype exceeds reality so far, with AI still focused on narrow tasks versus achieving general intelligence.

Leaders at Davos also signal AI priorities like job displacement preparations, algorithmic auditing, and managing geopolitical impacts. So while AI generates excitement and fear, assessing realistic timelines and focusing governance remain crucial. As expanding applications attract funding and attention, ethical risks loom large, requiring proactive policy ahead of technological capability. Now let's dive into the latest AI breakthroughs, risks, and unknowns that will shape our shared human future on this planet.

1. There is no evidence that AI can be controlled, expert says - Read more

2. Slack adds AI-fueled search and summarization to the platform - Read more

3. Your AI Girlfriend Is a Data-Harvesting Horror Show - Read more

4. Google Gemini 1.5 - The model delivers dramatically enhanced performance - Read more

5. OpenAI introduces Sora, its text-to-video AI model - Read more

6. Spanish Artist Alicia Framis Set To Become First Woman To Marry AI-Generated Hologram - Read more

7. OpenAI valued at $80 billion after deal, NYT reports - Read more

8. Notes from Davos: 10 things you should know about AI - Read more

Top Article Picks this week

This week we explore fascinating insights into society, psychology, and technology through expert analysis and new research findings. Overrated personal finance tips are questioned alongside revelations on what truly drives depression as we examine assumptions about human nature. Meanwhile well-off DINKs enjoy sweet lives and Putin connects with Fox, while professors scramble to rethink lessons Google-raised students no longer relate to. As elites feel like losers, iPhone notes perfectly reflect messy modernity and emotional intelligence needs improvement, yet career change remains intimidating.

Though uncertainty underlies existence more than human flaw, disproportionate risks leave Black women 6 times more likely killed than white women as vast wealth inequities persist, largely untouched. The super rich avoid taxes thanks to political loopholes and secretive European finance groups as digital disruptions fundamentally reshape business, media, and education. With long-held social contracts, beliefs, and hierarchies now unraveling, we must examine the yawning gaps between institutions and lived realities shaping mental health, relationships, and even professor-student dynamics in the AI age.

Now let's explore the fascinating, unsettling truths revealed in this week's top provocative headlines across culture, technology, politics, and academic research.

This week’s featured article is No 14. This article discusses how today's college students have a different understanding of computer file storage compared to previous generations. Many professors have noticed that since around 2017, students seem confused by the concept of file directories and folder structures. Today's students are more accustomed to search functions and storing documents in cloud services. The article argues this is likely because current students grew up in a world where search was ubiquitous, so they never needed to manually organize files.

This causes issues in STEM fields where knowing directory structures is still essential for programming and working with large datasets. As a result, professors now have to spend significant time teaching file organization basics before they can instruct on actual course content. Some professors cling to folder systems as superior, while others argue new approaches focused on search may be better. Ultimately, the article states that professors should accept that student familiarity with technology will continue to evolve, so their teaching methods also need to change with the times.

The piece effectively highlights this generation gap through concrete examples and professor anecdotes. It makes a thoughtful case that neither students nor professors are necessarily wrong in their approaches, but rather have differences rooted in their technological upbringings. You can read more in article No 14 below - File not found.

1. The Most Overrated Things in Personal Finance / 11 min - Read more

2. Why So Many Elites Feel Like Losers / 10 min - Read more

3. How Quora Died / 11 min - Read more

4. Want Better Emotional Intelligence? Try Practicing These 7 Easy Habits in 2024 / 3 min - Read more

5. How to Reengineer Yourself for a Career Change / 6 min - Read more

6. The iPhone’s Notes App Is the Purest Reflection of Our Messy Existence / 5 min - Read more

7. The sweet, sweet life of America's DINKs / 9 min - Read more

8. The Cause of Depression Is Probably Not What You Think / 12 min - Read more

9. The real message of Vladimir Putin’s chat with Tucker Carlson / 4 min - Read more

10. A Clock In The Forest / 14 min - Read more

11. Uncertainty isn’t a human flaw, it’s a feature of the world / 10 min - Read more

12. Black women are six times more likely to be killed than white women, data reveals / 3 min - Read more

13. The limits of wealth — calling time on the super-rich / 10 min - Read more

14. File not found - A generation that grew up with Google is forcing professors to rethink their lesson plans / 11 min - Read more

15. Inside European finance’s most secretive society / 10 min - Read more

Weekly YouTube videos

Investment Bonus

🎇 Investing in Loan receivables.

❄ We can both earn up to 2% bonus based on the invested amount during the first 30 days.

Swaper - Investing in Loan receivables - Join Here!

Book of the week

In his latest book, acclaimed economist Yanis Varoufakis argues that big tech companies have created a new exploitative economic system he calls "technofeudalism." He contends that the insane sums of money meant to revive economies post-2008 instead empowered tech giants to construct private digital fiefdoms and privatize the internet. Varoufakis warns that technofeudalism now threatens liberal democracy, efforts to address climate change, and fuels new geopolitical tensions like the U.S.-China Cold War.

The book explains how technofeudalism enslaves users' attention to increase platform power and rewrite global rules to benefit private tech interests over public good. Drawing on references from Homer to Mad Men, Varoufakis makes the case that technofeudalism has replaced free markets and profit motive with digital rents and coercion. He ultimately argues that confronting the new corporate tech overlords will take a massive coordinated effort to reclaim digital sovereignty through regulation and activism.

Technofeudalism serves as a wake-up call regarding big tech's rapidly growing ability to control economics, politics, and culture globally.

Do you want to get free shares worth up to €100?

Join Trading 212 Invest with this link, and we will both get FREE shares.

Thanks for reading!

If you like what you read, forward it to your friends, so they can sign up here.