10 Friday AM Reads

My end-of-week morning reads: • The Credit Market Lens: Rich Spreads, Cheap Treasuries, and an Incomplete Explanation: The evolution of credit spreads remains driven primarily by credit fundamentals, investor risk appetite, flows, and broader market technicals rather than relative value between Treasuries and swaps. (PIMCO) • Meet All The Middle Aged Women Who Don’t Exist: They’re all gorgeous. They’re all “57.” And they’re all selling you NMN. AI-generated wellness influencers targeting women over 40 — fake people selling real supplements with fabricated testimonials. The grift is sophisticated and growing fast. (Charlotte’s Book) see also The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your Feed: The New York Times video investigation of the same phenomenon. (New York Times) • Palantir’s greatest enemy: Not competition or regulation. The thing most likely to undo Palantir is its relationship with the U.S. government. Barrett Brown has spent 15 years investigating Peter Thiel. Now he lives in exile in Mexico. But he’s plotting his comeback (Dispatch) • How Wall Street’s Bots Are Cashing In on Trump’s Truth Social Posts: Traders who already monitor the president’s pronouncements with automated systems can pay for an ultrafast feed. At least five firms have signed up. (Wall Street Journal) but see also The ‘decayed’ impact of Trump’s Truth Social bombs: Markets are gradually learning to ignore the president. (Financial Times free) • Forever chemicals are hidden in farm soil. Scientists found a new way to remove them: Existing methods of PFAS cleanup are expensive. A new approach is an order of magnitude cheaper—and could also help fight climate change. (Fast Company) • The breakthrough changing how Americans donate organs: A growing form of donation is expanding the organ supply in the US — and testing how medicine protects dying patients. (Vox) • ‘Ideological Emigration’: The Most Optimistic Israeli in Jerusalem Is Leaving the Country: Former brain researcher Hagai Agmon-Snir is behind a raft of initiatives to promote tolerance between Israelis and Palestinians, but he now has a one-way ticket to Italy. For him, Israel has become hopeless. A Haaretz profile of an Israeli who spent years arguing that things would get better — and finally gave up. The piece says as much about the state of Israel as it does about the man. (Haaretz) See also A Growing Number of Americans Are Seeking Residency and Citizenship Abroad—Here’s Where They’re Going: The emigration wave continues. Condé Nast Traveler maps where Americans are going — Portugal, Mexico, New Zealand, Ireland — and what’s pushing them out. It’s part of a global trend of travelers building so-called “sovereign portfolios,” a new report shows. (Conde Nast Traveler) • ‘See the whole world in lichens,’ the marvels that grow anywhere: You might think that in the kingdom of green that is our Northwest, the mighty Douglas fir is supreme, or perhaps the red cedar. Ah, but consider the humble, the ancient, the ultimate in Northwest non-fussy, the enduring, inspiring signature of our regional character. That companion to Washington landscapes, whether east side or west, that thrives on just about any surface — dry, wet, bright, dark, hard, soft, natural, manufactured, whatever. Consider lichens. (Seattle Times) • The history of stadium design in 15 buildings. From Ancient Greece Colosseum to SoFi Stadium to the modern Gulf States, the stadium’s evolution over millennia has relied on numerous innovations, many of them first tested at the buildings on this list. How the places where we watch sports have evolved, and what they reveal about the cultures that built them. (De Zeen) • The Biggest Hygiene Mistakes People Make in the Pool: We asked infectious disease doctors and water-quality experts which hygiene mistakes they see most. Here’s what you’re probably getting wrong—and what to do instead. (Time) Video of the day: Jamie Dimon: Why I Won’t Buy Bonds, AI’s Future & Leadership Lessons Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Lori Heinel, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Investment Management, the money management arm of investing giant State Street. She oversees over $5.7 trillion in assets (as of year-end 2025), which includes everything from index funds and ETFs to active strategies, multi-asset solutions, and alternatives. She was named to Forbes’ 2025 “50 Over 50” list. IPOs Have Been a Losing Bet Since 2019 Source: Apollo Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.