Big Tech Storms the Gates

Goldman Sachs has a fashionable new interest ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 10, 2022

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Morning Brief

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Eleven years in the making, the European Central Bank is planning a rate hike.

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Big Tech is spending big bucks on anti-regulation advertisements.

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Goldman Sachs is staking out a place in the sustainable fashion industry.

Global Economy

European Central Bank To Hike Rates For First Time in Over a Decade

(Frankfurt: European Central Bank; Photo by RNW.org)

All buono things must come to an ende.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank committed to raising its primary interest rate, currently negative 0.5%, by a quarter-point next month. An even bigger hike is on the table for fall.

The ECB's first hike in eleven years, coupled with the planned end of a bond-buying stimulus program, has put immediate stress on the borrowing costs of cash-strapped Southern European nations.

Spread Betting

Sixty central banks have hiked interest rates this year to deal with the highest inflation in a generation. But the ECB has been hesitant, understandably slow — GDP growth in the Eurozone slowed to 0.2% in the first quarter as the effects of war ripple through the continent.

Leading up to last week's Eurozone inflation report — which at 8.1% registered more than four times the ECB's target — some had critized the ECB for being "asleep at the wheel." Now, inaction is no longer a viable option.

In addition to the rate hike, the bank announced it will end its remaining €20 billion-per-month bond purchases as of July 1. By autumn, interest rates should rise to above zero for the first time in a decade. For the weaker, Southern European economies (think Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece), the prospect of higher prevailing interest rates on already sizable debt burdens sent investors packing on Thursday:

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The spread between Italian and German bonds with a 10-year maturity — the most popular measure for comparing borrowing costs of debt-ridden southern countries and richer northern ones — widened to 225 basis points, the most since spring 2020.

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Similar to the immense interest whenever Jerome Powell utters a syllable, investors are laser-focused on what the ECB is prepared to do to prevent "fragmentation," a destabilizing phenomenon where economic changes are felt differently by member states. Fresh in people's minds is the 2012 debt crisis, which led to bailouts for Greece, Portugal, and Ireland and nearly toppled the Euro.

ECB president Christine Lagarde said the bank would remain flexible when assessing its "anti-fragmentation" tools, adding: "we will prevent it."

Don't Be So Negative: With the Eurozone headed towards positive rates, one might wonder where the holdouts are. Some analysts believe that Japan and Switzerland could be the last two major monetary authorities with negative rates. In case you're looking for a mortgage re-fi.

https://www.thedailyupside.com/european-central-bank-to-hike-rates-for-first-time-in-over-a-decade/

Big Tech

Big Tech Firms Pour Millions into Ads Opposing Antitrust Legislation

Silicon Valley giants like Google, Meta, and Amazon are typically thought of as ruthless competitors, but now they're acting in unison against a common threat.

With bipartisan support swelling for increased antitrust regulation against tech's biggest players, tech-funded advocacy groups have spent at least $36 million this year on TV and internet ads opposing any new legislation, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. With the most powerful messaging platforms ever created at their fingertips, you'd think Silicon Valley would find a cheaper way to voice their opinions.

The Anti-Antitrust Content Mill

Of particular concern for the cadre of tech giants is The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support and would forbid major tech platforms from favoring or promoting their own products and services over competitors.

Arguments on both sides are so familiar that they don't warrant retweeting. With whom and how Big Tech is spending, however, is slightly more interesting:

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So far the biggest spender is the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which has spent $23 million and counts Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta as major members. The Consumer Technology Association and conservative-leaning groups like Taxpayers Protection Alliance and NetChoice have also led oppositional ad campaigns.

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Ads have targeted states where Senate Democrats are running for re-election, and states with Republican senators with pro-business and strong national security views. "If the bills came to the floor for a vote, they would pass, and so big tech lobby groups are scrambling to try to prevent that from happening," Sacha Haworth, executive director of the pro-regulation Tech Oversight Project, told the WSJ.

Groups supporting the antitrust legislation have spent a paltry $193,000 on advertising in comparison, according to a WSJ data analysis. Perhaps a few viral online posts can make up the spending difference.

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Fashion

Goldman Headlines $100 Million Funding Round for Sustainable Textiles

There's a new way in the fashion world to avoid looking trashy: recycle.

Goldman Sachs' asset-management unit was revealed Thursday as the leader of a new $100 million investment in Recover, a pioneering Spanish sustainable fashion company that, thanks to the deal, is now valued at $1.1 billion.

Crime of Fashion

The facts about clothing waste are dizzying. According to the UN, of the 100 billion fashion items produced every year, 60% are discarded within twelve months. In the US, 70% of the 13 million tons of clothing and footwear waste generated each year ends up in a landfill, according to the EPA.

The Environmental Audit Committee determined 15% of all clothing fabric is thrown out at the cutting stage, before anything even ends up in stores. Greenpeace estimates consumers lose $500 billion every year because of under-wearing and lack of clothing recycling. Meanwhile, clothes account for up to 10% of global CO2 output, the UN says, which is why it couldn't be less surprising that eco-conscious consumers and investors have fostered a market for sustainable fashion:

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Recover — which says it plans to produce 350,000 metric tons of recycled cotton fiber and generate $1 billion in revenue by 2026 — provides recycled fiber to partners including retailers Primark, and Zara. It also sells clients access to its proprietary technology that can produce fiber blends from recycled material.

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The ethical fashion market, which includes firms that emphasize environmental and labor practices, is expected to grow at a 9.7% compound annual growth rate to $10 billion in 2025, according to data firm Research and Markets. Goldman joins California private equity firm Story3, Recover's majority owner, and the company's founding Ferre family as investors trying to reap that windfall.

Wet Jeans: The UN says almost 20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry — of note it takes 1,760 gallons of water, the same amount a person drinks in a year, to make one pair of jeans.

Extra Upside

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A new Google feature will show you what's happening on the earth's surface in real time.

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Taco Bell opened a futuristic, contact-free drive-thru in Minnesota where orders arrive in a space-age food tube from an elevated kitchen.

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