Friday links: the written word

Quote of the Day "The written word is the most visible work product, but it is not the valuable part of writing – the process is…" (Barry Ritholtz) Indexing - The first retail index fund, via Vanguard, turned 50 years old. (morningstar.com) - Who won from the index fund revolution? (bloomberg.com) - 'Bogle's folly' turned out not to be. (wsj.com) Finance - A look at the big players in the pre-IPO stock space. (pitchbook.com) - Is Jane Street a prop trading firm, or a hedge fund? (ft.com) Walmart - Last quarter, Walmart ($WMT) sales are best described as mid. (nytimes.com) - Walmart ($WMT) will finally accept tap-to-pay. (engadget.com) Technology - Anthropic is floating talk of a record IPO offering. (fa-mag.com) - Samsung is returning (big) capital to shareholders. (cnbc.com) - How Boise, Idaho is feeling the impact of Micron's ($MU) stock surge. (cnbc.com) - Stripe is buying OpenRouter for some $8 billion. (semafor.com) Sports business - Marc Lore is selling control of the Minnesota Timberwolves at a $4.5 billion valuation. (axios.com) - The story of UWM Holdings ($UWMC), Matt Ishibia and the Phoenix Suns. (huddleup.substack.com) - The Oakland Raiders already want more public money for Allegiant Stadium. (brobible.com) - Bill Simmons and Derek Thompson talk about America's sports plutocracy. (podcasts.apple.com) Stay in touch - Don't miss a thing! Sign up for our daily e-mail newsletter. (abnormalreturns.com) - Work in wealth management? Sign up for our exclusive Talking Wealth newsletter. (talkingwealthpod.com) Health insurance - Employer health care costs are moving in one direction: up. (axios.com) - Bank of America ($BAC) spends big on GLP-1s. (cnbc.com) - Florida saw a big drop in ACA enrollment. (theconversation.com) Treasury bonds - Is AI-related borrowing crowding out Treasuries? (nytimes.com) - Why the Treasury's move isn't going to have lasting effects on the yield curve. (ft.com) - Secretary Bessent isn't fooling anyone. (paulkrugman.substack.com) Earlier on Abnormal Returns - What you missed in our Thursday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com) - Longform links: the difference between work and play. (abnormalreturns.com)