Mystery Surrounds $7 Billion Outflow From Vanguard S&P 500 Fund

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Mystery Surrounds $7 Billion Outflow From Vanguard S&P 500 Fund

A record outflow from one of Vanguard Group’s biggest exchange-traded funds is stirring speculation over who was behind it and why.

More than $7 billion was pulled from the $172 billion Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) on a single day this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, about 4% of the fund’s assets. But trading volumes were below the one-year average and there were no obvious outsized transactions, while the U.S. equity benchmark rose on the day -- making a mass exodus less appealing.

December 5, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺! Probably not many drink specials today with the pandemic smoldering all around us. 👾Three weeks to Boxing Day 🥊. That’s the day after Christmas 🤶🏻 when people burn the boxes and wrapping paper 📦 🔥 🎁 or something like that. Rain and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️

Today will have a chance of rain before 3pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 38 degrees at 9am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 8th. North wind 6 to 11 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 2001. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1902.❄

Planning a quiet day today. 📖 Going to do some reading and a few little projects around the apartment, as today is a pretty awful day weather wise although at least we are missing the snow 🌨 for now.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 24.9° from the due south horizon (-45.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 9 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 38 degrees. Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the north-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 3 seconds over today.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 26 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 4th. Blustery, with a northwest wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -5 occurred back in 1901.

Honestly I feel a little guilty about buying that little $13 heater fan ♨ but I don’t plan to use it much – just occasionally on very cold days when I want to warm up my hands quickly and don’t want to turn up the gas heat or baseboard heat. It uses a kilowatt and a half each hour run so I want to make sure that I use it sparingly but if it allows me to keep the heat cooler it’s worth while. I thought about getting one for several years but I usually waited until it’s cold and they’re sold out. As a resistance fan it will heat up very quickly.

I would like to go camping 🏕 next weekend but I’ll be watching the snow accumulations. It’s also difficult with the early sunsets and work. 🌇 Maybe it will be a single night trip somewhere. Who knows.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Boxing Day 🥊 when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 5:00 pm. On that day in 2019, we had mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 41 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1895.

Photo.2012.12.04 15.29.39

the mythology of Snow’s map of cholera

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Something in the water: the mythology of Snow’s map of cholera

If there are positives to take from 2020 (a big ask I know but bear with me), the spotlight has shone brightly on the use of maps, charts, and data that help us understand COVID-19. It’s quite literally been a viral moment for geography and cartography. Not that maps weren’t vital visual and analytical tools beforehand, but they have taken centre stage this year. And of course, examining the role of geography, and cartography in contemporary infectious disease epidemiology has also meant looking at the past for examples. There’s definitely been something in the water in 2020 as inevitably the story of Dr John Snow and his map of cholera showing the outbreak in Soho, London in 1854 has frequently been recounted. You may know the story. Or you may think you know the story. Let’s see.

2017

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The Wealth of Households: 2017

Wealth is an important indicator of economic well-being that provides valuable insights into a household’s economic health. For example, during financial hardships, such as unemployment, illness, or divorce, wealth is a source of liquidity to pay expenses and bills. This brief uses the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine household wealth in 2017.

To save recycling, look to the aluminum can | TheHill

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To save recycling, look to the aluminum can | TheHill

On one hand, it found that the aluminum can continues to out-perform other packaging types on virtually every measure. The average new can produced in the U.S. was made of 73 percent recycled material, compared to less than 6 percent for the average plastic bottle. Further, aluminum cans are still the most recycled beverage container, with nearly 5 million cans recycled every hour in the U.S.

Unfortunately, our report also found that the aluminum can recycling rate among consumers fell almost 4 points to 46.1 percent, bringing it below its 20-year average of around 50 percent. We must reverse this trend so we can capture the value of aluminum rather than sending it to the landfill.