General Electric, the “129-year-old industrial conglomerate” founded by Thomas Edison, will fracture into three separate publicly traded companies—the latest effort by the struggling behemoth and CEO Larry Culp to “simplify its business and lift its stagnant stock price” after the 2008 financial crisis. GE will focus on aviation and plans to “spin off its health care division in early 2023, and its energy business a year later” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Former Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles revealed on Monday that he’s stepping down from the central bank at the end of the year. While Quarles’ 4-year tenure overseeing bank supervision wrapped in October, he had another decade+ left on his term as a Fed governor - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
The Fed made meme stocks (and social media-driven investing more broadly) a notable piece of its twice-yearly “update on America’s financial system,” noting that that the volatility associated with the phenomenon has “not threatened broader financial stability so far but could open the door to vulnerabilities.” The Fed also called out public health as a major “near-term” risk to the American financial system - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Robinhood has disclosed that “personal information of millions of customers was compromised in a data breach last week” in which the culprit “demanded a payment.” Early reports suggest upwards of 7 million users’ information was exposed, and ohhh man, just dig in a little bit on how the hackers pulled this off. Not exactly a shining moment for Robinhood - Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Law360 and WSJ and Mashable
As our first snow system looms in the forecast here in the North, the Times alerts us all that this winter’s heating bill—no matter the energy source behind it—will likely be yet another tangible example of persistent inflation in our lives - NYTimes
Beyond the supply-chain issues prompting retailers to encourage early buying for this year’s holiday season, retailers are struggling with the human supply-chain problem of the incredibly tight labor market that’s leaving staffing at both stores and distribution centers a giant question mark - NYTimes
How about a people problem that’s also a supply-chain problem: the dearth of long-haul truckers in America - NYTimes
Common wisdom as recently as the early aughts was that the German economy was the powerhouse (and envy) of Europe. Not so “as the continent emerges from a pandemic torpor,” as “parts and labor shortages, . . . surging energy prices,” and billions required to “meet new clean-energy standards” represent significant headwinds for the once-mighty German manufacturing sector - WSJ
Ford Motor shares closed trading above $20/share for the first time in two decades to start the week, with the company’s “push toward electric vehicles and deft navigation of the semiconductor supply shortage” apparently responsible for the surge - Bloomberg
More detail on the Deere factory strike in the wake of the UAW’s rejection of management’s latest deal, the company’s refusal to negotiate further, and the ripple effects already starting to hit Deere dealers and farmers who fear “higher prices ahead” - WSJ
Checking in with Portland’s famed Powell’s Books, which “survived an unending array of foundational threats”—including Amazon—only to find itself rocked to its core by the past 2 pandemic years - NYTimes
Stay safe, and get vaxxed,
MDR
