Your Saturday Briefing: Good Times for the NYC Landlord

(Bloomberg) — Well, hello there. 

A decision looms for stock investors everywhere. Sit quietly and pray your dumb luck compounds, or take the money and run in case a summer’s silly season gives way to the crash of ‘22. Friday probably didn’t help much. The S&P 500 Index racked up its first weekly loss in five as traders turned cautious over dimming hopes of a softer Fed pivot.

These may not necessarily help you make that decision but we have a handful of stories to help you make sense of some of it all, or help you switch off at least.

Jay Powell’s appearance at Jackson Hole next Friday is arguably the most anticipated event next week, even if the Fed chair did get things disastrously wrong at last year’s event. Ahead of his speech, data released this past week showed both resilience in the face of high inflation and signs of troubles ahead. The mixed picture of the economy can be confusing for investors, but as at least one Nobel laureate says, don’t count out a recession yet.

The stratospheric surge, and resulting crash, of Bed Bath & Beyond was the standout market drama in recent days. Ryan Cohen weaved some meme-stock magic, dumped his stake and cashed in on a $68 million profit. Easy money. But as our markets team reveals, his fans are sitting on losses totaling $205 million, at least. In Bloomberg Opinion, Andrea Felsted explains that the company is still just another struggling retailer.

Warren Buffett is deepening his bet on Occidental Petroleum in what threatens to be his largest acquisition yet. Our energy reporter Kevin Crowley spells out what the great investor is up to. And unless you were looking very closely, you might have missed how hedge funds have been quietly piling into T-Mobile.

This past week offered up growing signs of housing weakness, but New York landlords are still enjoying the good times. Tenants are applying to several units at once without even looking first. You can generally expect to pay on average $4,100 a month for a place in Manhattan.

It’s a similar story over in London, where apartments are generally larger and closer to the ground. Take Notting Hill (of Hugh Grant fame) for example, there’s a frenzy for real estate—as many as 50 applicants are competing for each place that comes available. Part of the reason: Would-be buyers are turning to the rental market because they have to save so much to put down a deposit.What’s in everything from t-shirts to diapers to cardboards and now costs 30% more? Answer: Cotton. Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on virtually all the world’s largest cotton suppliers, shrinking yields and threatening to raise the costs of these everyday goods.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, and we’ll be back tomorrow with a look-ahead to the coming week.