Investors clinging onto the S&P 500 aren’t safe, according to BofA’s Savita Subramanian.
The benchmark stock index is overcrowded, and any selling could spark more pain for investors.
She encouraged investors to allocate more funds into overlooked areas of the market, like energy and small cap stocks.
Investors clinging to the benchmark S&P 500 shouldn’t get comfortable, and they need to get out of overcrowded stocks before mass selling drives more pain, according to Bank of America’s chief stock strategist Savita Subramanian.
“Everyone is talking about this recession, we’ve got the most telegraphed recession in the history of mankind coming up, and the problem is everyone is using muscle memory to go back into what they think of as the safest equity market, which is the S&P 500. Trouble is, if everybody is in the S&P 500, and they’re all selling at the same time, the S&P isn’t really that safe,” Subramanian said in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday.
Last year was dismal for stocks, with the S&P 500 losing 20% as the Fed jacked up interest rates and battled sky-high inflation. Market bulls are optimistic that the Fed could ease up on rate hikes this year and give stocks more room to breathe, but the Fed changing policy unlikely, Subramanian previously said, warning investors of a volatile January.
But investors seeking shelter in the S&P 500 will only worsen the volatility, Subramanian warned, as are investors who are sticking to overcrowded sectors of the market like technology. She pointed instead to areas like energy and small cap stocks, which are relatively less crowded compared to the S&P 500 and could be a safer bet.
“That’s really an area where you can get exposure to equities without the risk of everybody being crowded into the same index,” she added.
Subramanian predicted that a recession will cause the S&P 500 to plunge another 24% in the first half of the year, though the benchmark index would overall see flat returns in 2023. Other Wall Street analysts have also predicted a 20% drop in the first half, which could be a major buying opportunity for investors, Subramanian said.
“Our supply chain should never be short in our lifetime,” Ross Maguire, the cofounder of Azure, told Insider in August.Plastic waste fills a dumpsite in Nairobi, Kenya, where countries in March agreed to start negotiating a global treaty on plastic pollution.
And this year, the startup will begin delivering its preordered studios and ADUs to consumers …
Brittany Chang/Insider
… which will include 10 rental homes throughout Los Angeles and the neighboring Orange County, California.
Azure Printed Homes
Like other 3D printing construction-tech startups, Azure says it can construct its homes more efficiently than traditional construction, specifically 70% faster and 30% cheaper.
But unlike other companies that only print the walls of their homes …Icon’s over 2,000-square-foot House Zero in Austin.
Brittany Chang/Insider
… Azure prints the floor, ceiling, and walls. An example of the white printed floor is shown below.
Brittany Chang/Insider
This streamlines the final on-site installation process, Maguire told Insider during a tour of the company’s manufacturing site in Los Angeles in November 2022.
Brittany Chang/Insider
So when the team finishes printing and assembling its units in-house, all that’s left to do is deliver the home to its customer, forklift or crane it onto its foundation …
Azure Printed Homes
… bolt it down, and plug it into the utilities.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Despite the unique plastic printing material, Azure’s units still have design elements reminiscent of “traditional” — as far as this new tech goes —printed homes …
Brittany Chang/Insider
… like the layered printing pattern and curved walls shown below. Both are visual signatures of the construction-tech.
Brittany Chang/Insider
The two units shown below are Azure’s first builds.
Brittany Chang/Insider
This one is its backyard studio, a 120-square-foot room starting at $26,900.
Brittany Chang/Insider
This smaller unit take around 16 hours to print.
Brittany Chang/Insider
But inside, there’s almost no indication of its unique construction method.
Brittany Chang/Insider
The interior wood-lined floor, wall, and ceiling seamlessly blend together.
Brittany Chang/Insider
And the smooth white walls don’t have the same layered appearance as the exterior walls.
Brittany Chang/Insider
This unit may be small. But its uses are as endless as its owner’s imagination, from a detached gym to a recording studio with some additional soundproofing …
Brittany Chang/Insider
… to a home office like the one shown below in Azure’s headquarters.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Meanwhile, the backyard studio’s larger counterpart, Azure’s ADU series, operates more like a true tiny home.
Brittany Chang/Insider
These units start at 180 square feet with a price tag of $43,900.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Larger models can be built by connecting multiples of this module.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Despite its small square footage, the unit below has space for a bathroom, kitchen, and couch or sleeper sofa for those who want a true studio apartment feel.
Brittany Chang/Insider
This size makes it ideal for use as a backyard ADU guest home or rental property, a growing trend in the real estate market.
Brittany Chang/Insider
So unsurprisingly, this tiny home is one of Azure’s most popular sizes, Maguire told Insider.
Brittany Chang/Insider
It takes over 20 hours to print an ADU of this size.
Brittany Chang/Insider
The one in these photos isn’t complete yet.
Brittany Chang/Insider
But you can already see features like the kitchen beginning to take shape.
Brittany Chang/Insider
It takes about two days to install this ADU, Eidelman said, noting that the installation process will be longer for larger modules.
Brittany Chang/Insider
And within the next few months, you could see one of these printed homes around California.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Azure’s 2023 deliveries will be some of the many 3D-printed homes that are projected to go up around the US this year.
Brittany Chang/Insider
Alquist is working with Muscatine, Iowa, and the city’s local organizations to print 10 homes in the new year.
And down south, Alquist will work with Florida startup CPH-3D (Click, Print, Home) to begin construction on a Tampa, Florida home that’s been listed at almost $600,000.
The new self-driving stroller called the Ella AI will have rocking and white noise features.
Courtesy of Glüxkind.
Canadian startup Glüxkind is selling a self-driving baby stroller called the Ella AI for $3,300.
The AI-powered stroller includes motors, a brake-assist, automatic rocking, and other features.
Ella AI was displayed at the 2023 Consumer Electronic Show and is slated to be available in April.
Parents who may be looking for some relief on their walks can now pre-order a new self-driving baby stroller for a $3,300.
The Ella AI, made by Canadian startup Glüxkind, features a dual-motor system designed for walking uphill and an automatic brake assist function for walking downhill, in case the parent accidentally drops something or lets go of the handle, per Glüxkind’s website. The technology is similar to pedal-assistance in electric bikes, according to Auto Evolution.
Meant to serve as “an extra pair of eyes and an extra set of hands,” the AI-powered stroller contains a 360-degree “safety bubble” made up of sensors that can monitor its surroundings and alert parents when it detects any potential obstructions such as cars and bikes.
Parents can also activate hands-free strolling, which allows the stroller to drive itself when a baby wants to walk or be held. The stroller cannot drive itself when a baby is inside of it.
For additional support, the Glüxkind stroller has a built in a “rock-my-baby” mode which automatically rocks the stroller for a comforting effect when the stroller is not in motion. It also has a white noise feature that can help babies stay asleep.
Glüxkind — a name inspired by the German word for “lucky child” — was founded in 2020 by Anne Hunger and Kevin Huang who were inspired to develop the stroller as new parents themselves, according to a press release.
The company displayed its smart stroller at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and was named the CES 2023 Innovation Awards Honoree.
Parents and caretakers alike can now reserve the stroller by putting down a $200 deposit. Deliveries are slated to begin in April.
Taryn Williams moved to Alaska to take a teaching job when the pandemic hit in 2020.
She lives in a tiny village of 89 people and teaches five students in grades eight and up.
She enjoys living off the land and having time to cook and read, even with short daylight hours.
I’ve lived and worked in the Alaskan Bush for two years, and it’s been one of the most incredible experiences of my life.The view from Williams’ front door, during winter.
Taryn WIlliams/Insider
I grew up in Massachusetts and have lived in many different places. Prior to 2020, I was living and teaching in Germany and had plans to move to the Dominican Republic.Williams backpacking on an Alaskan mountaintop.
Taryn Williams/Insider
After COVID-19 hit and my initial plans disintegrated, I took a teaching position in Alaska that I found on Indeed.Locals going out on a ‘skiff’ (local word for a boat).
Taryn Williams/Insider
My village, Perryville, is located on the Ring of Fire, the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The land belongs to the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people.The view from Williams’ front door at sunset.
The Alaskan Bush refers to the parts of Alaska that aren’t accessible by the road system. My village is approximately three hours from Anchorage by plane and has about 89 residents.Rock formations along the beach.
Living here is quite expensive, but my district pays more than districts on the road system and also helps with airfare to Anchorage and back. Overall, I make about $10,000 to $15,000 more than I would if I taught in the Lower 48.Some of the rock formations around the village.
I’m a secondary generalist teacher, which means I’m responsible for all subjects for grades eight and up. This year, I only have five students in my class, and I love that I’m able to spend more time with each student.A design featuring Perryville school’s mascot on the gym floor.
Taryn Williams/Insider
There are many challenges to teaching multiple grades and subjects at once, but it also has its benefits. I have a lot of flexibility to choose curricula and materials that are culturally responsive and relevant to my students.A map showing the earthquakes in Alaska in 2020.
Alaska Earthquake Center
I live in a large house that holds four two-bedroom apartments — one apartment for each teacher at my school (an elementary, middle school, high school, and special education teacher).The building Williams lives in; it has four apartments in total.
Taryn Williams/Insider
The walk from my house to school is short — about three minutes long — and scenic. I usually reach school between 6:30 and 7 a.m.The boardwalk between my house and the school, with a view of the school.
Taryn Williams/Insider
We don’t have a principal in the village, so I’m responsible for many administrative duties, such as picking up people — and freight — from the planes that come in. A plane arrives at least once per day, except when the weather is bad. I order most of my groceries this way.Freight sitting next to a Navajo plane, with an eagle perched on top.
Taryn Williams/Insider
I implement a lot of interdisciplinary teaching to keep my students engaged. As part of a unit on art around the world, we completed paintings in George Seurat’s style of Pointillism.A colorful art piece created by William’s colleague.
Taryn Williams/McKenna Conselyea/Insider
It’s important for me to get outside after school, so I often head right home and go for a run or a hike.The view from one of the hills in the village.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Two of my favorite places to go to are our tsunami shelter or the beach. The tsunami shelter is two miles from the ocean and is where we congregate when there’s a tsunami warning (usually following a large earthquake).The view from the beach.
Taryn Williams/Insider
I also usually take a few photos from the tsunami shelter, as the view never gets old. It’s possible to see the whole eleven miles of our village from up there.The view from the tsunami shelter.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Living here allows me to have time for activities I enjoy, such as cooking and baking.Homemade bread.
Taryn Williams/Insider
I usually spend a full hour cooking dinner each night, as it’s one of my favorite hobbies.Williams’ kitchen.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Living in such a remote area means getting creative with pantry ingredients and more durable produce. As a vegetarian, this means I cook and eat a lot of lentils, beans, and root vegetables. Lentil dahl is one of my regular staples.Dahl, inspired by Cookie and Kate’s recipe.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Subsistence living — or living off of the land — is common in the region that I live in. I don’t hunt, but I do like to spend time picking berries in the summer and fall.Freshly picked Tundra blueberries.
Taryn Williams/Insider
I often get to catch Alaskan sunrises and sunsets, especially in the winter when there aren’t as many hours of sunlight. The long hours of darkness don’t bother me, but I know it’s tough for many people.The view of the school’s other housing unit at sunset.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Each night, I read for at least 30 minutes before going to bed — I go to bed on the earlier side, usually around 9 p.m. I prefer beach books, as they’re light and easy to read before falling asleep.Williams’ bookshelf.
Taryn Williams/Insider
Living here has allowed me to create a life that’s different from anything I’ve known and has taught me to be adaptable.Taryn Williams in Alaska.
Taryn Williams/Insider
I’m content with the life that I’ve built here and grateful for the community that’s accepted me. Every day brings new opportunities, and I’m continuously astounded by the beauty of the place I get to call my home.The village at sunset, during winter, from Williams’ front door.
A trader works during the Fed rate announcement on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 20, 2019.
Reuters/Brendan McDermid
Silvergate crashed 48% on Thursday after the bank said it experienced a staggering $8.1 billion in customer withdrawals.
Silvergate was forced to sell assets on its balance sheet at a steep loss to meet the withdrawals.
The ongoing weakness in crypto spread to Coinbase on Monday, which fell 13% as trading volumes remain light.
The alarms are still blaring in the crypto market as 2023 gets underway, with confidence continuing to weaken and sentiment showing little sign of improving.
The waning confidence was on full display Thursday after shares of Silvergate Capital crashed 48%, while Coinbase fell as much as 13%.
Silvergate said that due to the sharp increase in withdrawals, it was forced to sell billions of dollars of debt securities it held on its balance sheet at a steep loss of more than $700 million. The move allowed the company to increase its liquidity, which is mission critical in terms of shoring up confidence and preventing a further run on the bank.
Given the “economic realities” it is now facing, Silvergate said it would cut 40% of its staff, amounting to 200 employees.
Silvergate’s Thursday loss of 48% sounds massive, and it is, but it’s all relative when you consider that the stock is down 95% from its record high reached in November 2021. To further put that into perspective, on Wednesday, the stock finished down 91% from its record high. In other words, Thursday’s 50% sell-off in the stock pushed the company’s total drawdown down by 4 percentage points.
And it could get worse.
The shakiness of crypto confidence is impacting Coinbase as well, which fell on Thursday to levels just above its all-time low. The decline in Coinbase stock came after Cowen downgraded the company to “market perform” on concerns that retail trading volumes have not yet stabilized.
That’s a problem for Coinbase because retail trading makes up the bulk of its profits.
“Coinbase’s monthly trading volumes have seen a fairly consistent drawdown each subsequent month since November 2021, and there remains low visibility into either a stabilization or rebound in retail trading volumes over 2023 given the macro backdrop and FTX contagion risks on crypto asset prices,” Cowen analyst Stephen Glagola said.
Shares of Coinbase are down 92% from their record high reached shortly after its IPO in April 2021.
Thursday’s crypto developments reiterate for investors that even the companies thought to be of the highest quality in the crypto space are not immune to the ongoing deflating of the crypto bubble, which has so far erased more than $2.2 trillion in market value.
Germany has hinted that it may allow tanks or armoured vehicles to be sent to Ukraine a day after France said it would supply armoured vehicles to Kyiv in an attempt to create a breakthrough in the 10-month war.
Ministers and officials from Berlin indicated that a decision to supply Marder infantry fighting vehicles or Leopard 2 tanks for the first time could be taken at the next meeting of the “Ramstein” Ukraine Defence Contact Group – a series of regular talks between Ukraine and its allies – in mid-January.
The German position on delivering heavy weapons to Ukraine had never been “static”, said Robert Habeck, the economy minister and deputy to the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on a visit to the Norwegian capital Oslo.
“The allies have expanded their position at two points, namely France and the US being prepared to deliver lighter tanks,” Habeck said. “And that will certainly also influence the German position.”
France said on Wednesday it was upping its military aid to Kyiv by supplying an unspecified number of AMX-10 RC light armoured vehicles capable – experts said – of scouting roles and supporting main battle tanks.
A few hours later, Joe Biden, the US president, said American-made Bradley fighting vehicles could also be sent to Ukraine. Administration officials told Reuters on Thursday that a US security package to be unveiled on Friday would include about 50 of the vehicles for Ukraine.
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, also signalled that her country’s approach was evolving. “I have pointed out time and time again we work with our partners to see what kind of military support is required by Ukraine,” she said following a meeting with her British counterpart, James Cleverly. Cleverly himself said tanks “might well be” part of the next phase of weapons transfers.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it needs about 300 tanks and 600 to 700 infantry fighting vehicles from the west in order to give its military a chance of breaking through the increasingly fortified Russian positions along the frontline.
However, the US and Germany have been wary of supplying Ukraine with Nato-standard tanks, because they feared it would be interpreted by Russia as escalatory. But as the fighting has gone on, the west has gradually given Kyiv more effective western weapons to try to help it win the war.
On Wednesday night, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Paris’s decision “sends a clear signal to all our other partners: there is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with western-type tanks”.
Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank in Donetsk region. Ukraine has long had its eye on western tanks to complement its reduced fleet of Soviet-designed T-64 and T-72s. Photograph: Reuters
Zelenskiy also highlighted the forthcoming defence ministers’ meeting, and said “before the new ‘Ramstein’ such signal is extremely relevant”. Chaired by the US, the international meeting is where western defence ministers discuss and coordinate future packages of military aid for Ukraine.
Ukraine has long had its eye on western tanks and armour to complement its reduced fleet of Soviet-designed T-64 and T-72 tanks and BMP infantry vehicles, after more than 10 months of fighting. Kyiv has received about 200 post-Soviet tanks from eastern European countries since the start of the war, but the available supply in Europe is now limited.
To replenish its stocks and build up a fresh attacking force, Ukraine has sought to obtain US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks and most persistently, German-made Leopard 2 tanks, of which there are about 2,000 in service in 13 European countries, and Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
Regardless of which country owns the Leopards or Marders, approval from Berlin is required to re-export them to Ukraine.
“Tanks are potentially decisive because there is no substitute if you want to attack enemy formations in defensive positions,” said Ben Barry, a former British army tank commander and land warfare analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies thinktank.
Russia has largely sought to dig in since abandoning its exposed position in Kherson on the west side of the Dnipro River in November, as it tries to consolidate its occupation of a swathe of territory roughly the size of Portugal in the east and south of Ukraine.
A breakthrough, if it comes at all, is likely to require the combined use of tanks, heavy armour and infantry, replicating a standard offensive tactic that dates back to the second world war. “The effectiveness of infantry is doubled, even with just three or four tanks helping,” Barry added.
France’s six-wheeled AMX-10 RC were first deployed in the 1980s and have been used in multiple operations from Afghanistan to Mali. They are in the process of being phased out by Paris however, making them an ideal gift for Ukraine.
An aide to France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said it was “the first time that western-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces” but experts said the AMX-10 RC is too lightly armoured to be considered a proper tank. Such rhetoric, however, may be useful cover if Germany shifts its position.
The Forward has been solving reader dilemmas since 1906 in A Bintel Brief, Yiddish for a bundle of letters. Send us your quandaries about Jewish life, love, family, friends or work via email, Twitter or this form.
Dear Bintel:
Longtime friends live near my daughter and she invited them to meet with us at her home while we were visiting. She asked the friends days before the visit to take a rapid COVID-19 test prior to entering her home. They declined and indicated they would not come.
I am not sure how to handle this, since I see it as a sign of disrespect. If I had a cold and told them not to come for fear of getting them sick, I assume they would not come, or at least appreciate my concern. Do I speak with them, or just let the friendship go?
Sincerely,
Virus-Averse
Dear Virus-Averse,
After three years of living with this pandemic, finding out that people you feel close to have a different approach to managing COVID-19 risk can still be destabilizing.
You have every right to be hurt. Your friends handled this situation with an apparent lack of care for you. That’s never pleasant, and your reaction is valid.
But: You’re missing a crucial step between “my longtime friends denied what I perceive as a perfectly reasonable request” and “do I let the friendship go?” — which is, as you already know, speaking with them.
It’s important to remember that people make decisions based on all kinds of information, as well as completely illogical emotional stimuli. You don’t know why they refused to take the rapid test. Perhaps they were taken aback by the request. Perhaps they made (possibly unfair) assumptions about what the request suggested, and decided the visit itself might then be uncomfortable. (After all, who among us has never had a friend ask for something we saw as burdensome, and made an impulsive decision to just opt out?) Perhaps, even though there have been some free tests made available, the cost or hassle of getting a test felt like too much.
And it’s important to remember that the pandemic has left us all a little off our game socially. Many of us went months, if not years, without regular social interactions, and now find even simple visits to old friends more difficult to navigate.
Isolation makes it easy to zero in on tiny behaviors and wildly overanalyze them. The politicization of issues like vaccination, masking and testing has made it so that articulating a personal preference can feel alarmingly like making a major moral statement.
It is so, so easy, under these circumstances, to feel that you would simply rather not see someone than explain, say, why you do or don’t want to eat outside. It is so, so easy to drop a friendship rather than worry that the conversation might devolve into a political battle with the fruits of years of personal intimacy as ammo.
It’s so, so easy to want to just let things go. But you shouldn’t.
Judaism is full of teachings about how to apologize, as well as how to ask for and accept forgiveness. All of them come down to one central point: Human relationships are complicated, and it takes bravery, heart, respect and humility to maintain them. Human relationships are also essential. Bringing those qualities to bear is what helps us all to live meaningful lives within our communities.
Your friends have hurt you, and once you let them know that, they should apologize. That does not mean they bear the entire burden of maintaining what sounds like a mutually significant friendship. Neither of you benefits from a silent standoff, and you both have a lot to lose: a rich shared history, a previously strong emotional connection, a sense of some closeness in this divided world.
Show them bravery, heart, respect and humility, and ask them — kindly, and with compassion — why they backed out. Be honest — but not accusatory — about how their response to your daughter’s request left you feeling. Listen fully to what they say.
Maybe this ends the friendship, and maybe it doesn’t. Regardless, by doing your part to maintain those essential, fragile human ties, you’ll walk away feeling that something has been completed. It’s better to do the work and have it fail, than not to try.
Democratic mayors who have struggled to address an influx of illegal immigrants in their cities are taking out their frustrations on the Biden administration, demanding the White House grant them resources to manage the overflow, according to a Wednesday Politicoreport.
“What’s callous is how we have been ignored as a city. And now I have to make tough decisions on the resources of New York,” said New York City mayor Eric Adams at a Wednesday press conference. “It is time for the federal government to step up.”
Adams’s comments this week came as New York faces a surge of illegal immigrants bused in from Republican states, including Texas and Florida. Adams on Tuesday said Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis is also planning to send migrants to New York.
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has also dealt with an influx of migrants, is similarly frustrated with the Biden administration, Adams said at the Wednesday press conference.
“When I spoke to her yesterday,” Adams said, “she says, ‘Eric, you know, we have been a little too patient. You know, we can’t do anything to embarrass our families, but it’s about time we started to do that.'”
The Biden administration told Politico the White House has been in contact with Adams and is increasing support for cities burdened by migrants.
Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser in September declared a public health emergency when the state of Texas bused migrants to the nation’s capital. Bowser said Washington, D.C., would seek federal reimbursement for the city’s programs to address the migrant arrivals.
