Hello! A submersible superyacht sounds like it should belong to a supervillain in an animated movie. But an Austrian company says it’s a real possibility, and it’s already in talks with potential buyers.
But first: Why Wall Street is so happy to see the job market slowing down.
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This week’s dispatch
Job market slowdown
The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April, falling short of expectations for the first time in six months and showing a steep drop from the revised 315,000 figure for March.
That sent stocks soaring and bond yields plunging. Why? A higher number had the potential to push any rate cuts from the Federal Reserve further out into the future. A lower number would signal cracks in economic growth and hint at stagflation.
Instead, investors took the not-too-high, not-too-low hiring numbers as a sign that the hoped for soft landing for the economy is still on the cards, despite sticky inflation.
“In our view, the softening trend in labor markets will make it easier for the Fed to cut rates,” Brian Rose, a senior US economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote.
While investors might be happy with the jobs numbers, they’re likely to do little for the economic mood. Wage growth slowed while unemployment picked up. White-collar workers are finding it harder to get hired.
It’s a reminder that good news for the stock market isn’t always good news for workers.
Big Tech’s urban hero
Jan Sramek quietly became the largest landowner in Solano County, a sparsely populated area wedged between Napa and Sacramento that he hopes will one day become California Forever.
Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, is backed by a who’s who of Silicon Valley billionaire investors. Tech barons from Reid Hoffman to Marc Andreessen are betting on him to make the city of the future — the question is whether he can pull it off.
Meet the man behind California Forever.
The white-collar recession
For people who’ve recently searched for a job, the market appears to be brutal.
That’s especially true if you’re a relatively high-earning worker. New data from Vanguard shows a two-tier job market: one divided between a blue-collar boom and a white-collar recession.
Why high-earners can’t find work.
Also read:
10 things you should be negotiating every time you land a job offer, according to ex-Microsoft HR VP
Big Tech’s green card problem
As competition dwindles and the green-card process gets tougher, some Big Tech companies are backing off green-card applications.
The situation is making it harder for foreign tech workers to stay in the US. One top immigration attorney said overseas candidates may want to search far beyond Silicon Valley and New York City for jobs in the industry.
More on that here.
Also read:
The portfolio-manager whisperers
The new power figures in hedge funds do not manage money. Instead, these business development professionals scout and evaluate investment talent.
These so-called BD roles, once an under-the-radar gig, have become coveted, multimillion-dollar jobs amid the war for talent.
Inside the rise of the business-development professional.
Also read:
This week’s quote:
“Satya (Nadella) and the entire senior leadership team lean on (Bill) Gates very significantly. His opinion is sought every time we make a major change.”
– A Microsoft executive on Gates’ continued presence.
