After a weekend in which the West’s major economies made it clear that they’re choosing economic isolation as the desired means of punishing Vladimir Putin and Russia for their invasion of Ukraine, Shell and BP have both announced plans to exit joint ventures with Russian state-owned natural gas and oil companies. As noted in the Times, the “twin declarations, each involving investments of billions of dollars, displayed a sudden revulsion in dealing with Moscow” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Some thoughts on how the U.S. is positioned the weather the “economic shock” associated with severed economic ties with Russia - WSJ
And on why the weekend-announced SWIFT ban is such a powerful sanction - Bloomberg and Marketplace
The invasion is also pushing Big Tech to grapple with their new place as “levers in the conflict,” as “their platforms have turned into major battlefields for a parallel information war and their data and services have become vital links in the conflict.” The response in coming weeks and months—from Google, Meta, Twitter, Telegram, and others—will likely tell us much about how other geopolitical conflicts will play out in the years to come - NYTimes
Canadian lender Toronto-Dominion Bank is dramatically increasing its U.S. footprint with a new $13.4 billion acquisition of the Tennessee-based First Horizon, a deal expected to close early next year that will “take the bank into new markets in Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas and Georgia” and make TD the “sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets” - WSJ
Four years into its $13 billion purchase of Whole Foods, Amazon is increasingly making its mark on the upscale grocery chain, and a newly revamped store north of Georgetown shows what’s likely coming for the rest of Amazon’s Whole Foods empire - NYTimes
You know we’re down for a bit of economist humbling around here, and a recent piece suggested that former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Larry Summers is overdue for that treatment. After spending part of last year suggesting that the government needed to rein in its pandemic spending or risk runaway inflation, Summers has been widely “lauded for making the right call,” as rising prices continue to worry markets and consumer alike. Yet we’re not really seeing inflation as a byproduct of an overheated economy; instead, the economic system Summers helped construct—including the hyper-efficient global supply chains undergirding it—is at the root of America’s current economic conundrum - NYTimes
John Demsey, the top Estee Lauder exec suspended last week for his racist Instagram posts, has been ousted from the company in what’s being called a forced retirement rather than a termination - NYTimes and WSJ
Albertson’s revealed this week that it’s undertaking a “strategic review” to “consider potential transactions and other moves” just 2 years after the grocery giant went public. Possibly on the table are the sale or spinoff of its Safeway and Jewel-Osco-branded chains - WSJ
Your hate reading for a Tuesday morning: these people and their farewell emails. Jeez - WSJ
Stay safe, and get boosted,
MDR
The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.
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