December 29: Sunday Funday #33
Articles, streams and books that caught our attention this week
Articles 📰
It’s Not Just Sunscreen. Toxic Products Line the Drugstore Aisles
“An emerging field of research has uncovered a minefield in US consumer goods, finding scores of products like sunscreen, tampons and antiperspirants are laced with poisons that can make people sick. These products are everywhere. Americans spend around $40 billion on nonprescription drugs each year, which include many personal care products, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.”
High Cortisol: Why We're All Obsessed With It
"The recent buzz around cortisol reflects how we oversimplify health issues, often tying them to weight and body size," Katherine Metzelaar, a dietitian and the owner of Bravespace Nutrition, told Newsweek. "There's this pervasive idea that if we can just 'fix' cortisol levels, we'll lose weight, and life will magically improve…"Elevated cortisol is caused by chronic stress," Maria Villamin, a hormone coach and functional nutritionist, told Newsweek. "The problem in our modern world is that…”.
What Your ‘Face Age’ Can Tell Doctors About Your Health
Scans of face photos are estimating people’s ‘biological age’ and even predicting how long they’ll live… “The FaceAge test is just being used in research for now, but you can find other consumer tests online already that estimate your biological age based only on a selfie. A free version from longevity company Novos gives a score not only for your overall face, but also for eyes, wrinkles and pores.”
De Beers amasses biggest diamond stockpile since 2008 financial crisis
“De Beers Group has amassed its biggest stockpile of diamonds since the 2008 financial crisis, laying bare the group’s challenge in reviving demand for jewels long seen as the pinnacle of luxury. A slump in Chinese demand, intensifying competition from lab-grown alternatives and the legacy of pandemic lockdowns, when the number of marriages fell, has left the world’s biggest diamond producer by revenue with inventory worth about $2bn.”
Trump wants federal workers back in the office. It may be a tall task.
“President-elect Donald Trump warned federal employees last week that they must return to the office — or else “they’re going to be dismissed.” The threat was the latest and loudest signal yet that Trump, his allies and Republicans in Congress are committed to ending a remote-work culture that became widespread for the civil service of 2.3 million during the coronavirus pandemic but that many conservatives now decry as an outdated taxpayer-funded perk that has hurt performance across the government.
Percussionist Evelyn Glennie: ‘Listening is tolerance’
“Very simply, listening is presence. It is the here and now. It is paying attention. It’s also a kind of tolerance — the ability to give somebody a chance without thinking, ‘Oh, no, not them again.’” It is, she says, “unbelievably simple in concept, something that we can all do and yet we don’t do it to our fullest ability”. Was there a time when we were better at it? “Yes. Far, far better,” she says, “Just think about how people used to listen to the environment for survival, how they listened using distance and space.”
‘New Year, New You’ Doesn’t Work. Here’s How You Can Actually Improve Your Life.
“Many of us are familiar with the experience of making New Year’s resolutions to boost our physical fitness, get on top of the to-do list, save money, be less irritable around the kids and so on. What keeps us from accomplishing those things is rarely a lack of self-discipline, or needing a more efficient system for building healthier habits. More often, it’s the very attempt to make sweeping changes—to “become unrecognizable,” in the parlance of contemporary self-help—that stands in the way of a different, happier and more meaningful life.”
2025 officially marks the transition from Gen Alpha to Gen Beta
“Generation Beta officially begins on January 1, ushering in an era likely to be marked by rapid technological advancements and profound societal changes. Spanning from 2025 to around 2039, this cohort follows Gen Alpha (2010–2024), Gen Z (1996–2010), and millennials (1981–1996). As with past generations, these dates are flexible, reflecting the evolving nature of generational definitions.”
What We’re Streaming 📺📲
The Omnicom/IPG deal, and What It Means for The Advertising Universe
What Your Online Self Reveals About You
Moment 190: Everything You Don’t Know About Marketing (But Should) From 4 World Leading Experts!
The Reading List 📖📚
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
“The residents of a quiet, gated community in London are appalled by the arrival of Giles Kenworthy. With his noisy children, parties, and plans for a swimming pool in his garden, Giles makes plenty of enemies when he moves to the neighbourhood. So, when he is found dead, everyone becomes a suspect. Retired Detective Daniel Hawthorne is on the case. But even with his sharp eye for clues, he is stumped: how can you solve a murder when everyone has the same motive?”
Recent Thematic Signals
Don’t be a stranger
Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion for an article or book we should read, or a stream we should catch, email us at info@tematicaresearch.com. The same email works if you want to know more about our thematic and targeted exposure models listed below.
The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models
Aging of the Population - Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings with it.
Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.
Cash Strapped Consumer - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
CHIPs Act – Capturing the reshoring of the US semiconductor industry and the $52.7 billion poised to be spent on semiconductor manufacturing.
Cloud Computing – Companies that provide hardware and services that enhance the cloud computing experience for users, such as co-location, security, and edge computing.
Core Holdings – Companies that reflect economic activity and are large enough to not get pushed around by day-to-day market trends. Low-beta, large-cap names able to better withstand economic turmoil.
Cybersecurity - Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption or destruction of data.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity -The buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment.
Digital Lifestyle - The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.
Digital Payments - This model focuses on companies benefitting from the accelerating structural adoption of digital payments and financial technology (FinTech).
EPS Diplomats - Profitable large capitalization companies proven to produce above-average EPS growth and provide investors with the benefit of multiple expansion.
EV Transition - Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.
Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.
Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.
Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
Market Hedge Model – This basket of daily reset swap-based broad market inverse ETFs protects in the face of market pullbacks, overbought market technicals, and other drivers of market volatility.
Nuclear Energy & Uranium – Companies that either build and maintain nuclear power plants or are involved in the production of uranium.
Rebuilding America - Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.
Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.
Space Economy – Companies that focus on the launch and operation of satellite networks.
The Strategies Behind Our Dividend Income Models
Monthly Dividend Model – Pretty much what the name says – this model invests in companies that pay monthly dividends to shareholders.
ETF Dividend Model – High-yielding ETFs that provide a range of exposures from domestic equities, international equities, emerging market equities, MLPS, and REITs.
ETF Enhanced Dividend Model – A group of high-yielding ETFs that utilize options to enhance yield through collecting option income.
Don’t be a stranger
Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion for an article or book we should read, or a stream we should catch, email us at info@tematicaresearch.com. The same email works if you want to know more about our thematic and targeted exposure models listed above.