Numlock News: June 22, 2021 • Pistachios, The Deep, NCAA
By Walt HickeyTitle InsuranceWhen someone buys a new home in the U.S., they need to purchase title insurance, an odd little necessity often required by the state that essentially insures the sale in the event that a competing claim emerges and they sue to reclaim the property that was unjustly sold out from under them. Though cinematic and exciting, this is vanishingly rare. In practice, it usually means an extra grand or two tacked on to the sale price, and some states are worse than others: in Texas, the title insurance premium on an average house is $1,808, in New York it’s $1,125, and in Iowa it’s $110. Aside from the regional differences, the practice is essentially all profit for the title insurers: the loss ratio is just 1.2 percent, which is incredibly low. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, title companies sold $1.8 billion worth of title insurance policies, but only $24 million was needed to settle claims in title defects. That meant title companies held on to $1.5 billion and paid $335 million to underwriters, a ridiculously high profit margin. ShippingThe cost of sending a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam is now $10,500, up from $8,900 in January, $5,800 in December and $2,800 in November. The spike is in part due to long lines and one-directional demand, where containers are going back to China empty, often because of the high demand for empty boxes. The cost of sending a container from Shanghai to Rotterdam is 6.28 times the cost of sending it from Rotterdam to Shanghai. That ratio is even worse for the American West Coast, with the cost of sending a box from Shanghai to Los Angeles coming in 7.73 times the cost of getting one from L.A. to Shanghai. PistachiosA California truck driver was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell 42,000 pounds of pistachio nuts he had been carting. The Touchstone Pistachio company noticed that their load was 21 tons short, prompting an investigation into who was attempting to make some black market bad ice cream. The nuts are valued at $100,000, and have since been returned to the company after they were discovered having been moved to smaller bags to be resold. QuitsIn April, 649,000 retail workers put in notice they would leave their jobs in April, the single highest-ever month of quits since the Labor Department started tracking that two decades ago. Many are leaving the industry for other customer service jobs that pay considerably better, such as at insurance agencies, banks and local governments, places that are also hard up for workers but willing to pay benefits and higher wages. Abha Bhattarai, The Washington Post NCAAIn a 9-0 decision, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that NCAA limits on compensation for college athletes violated anti-trust law, and while the fire hose of unlimited pay for college athletes was not opened, the court said that the NCAA has to allow colleges to recruit athletes by offering them money and benefits beyond the cost of attending college. Fundamentally, it underscores the NCAA commitment to amateurism, specifically the amateurism in its attempted legal defense of not paying workers. Brent Kendall and Louise Radnofsky, The Wall Street Journal The DepthsThe ongoing attempt to assemble a passable map of the ocean floor has continued, with the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project announcing they have hit 20.6 percent of the total underwater area successfully mapped, up 1.6 percent from the 19 percent logged last year. This means that we have narrowed it down to just 79.4 percent of the ocean that could be chock-full of non-euclidean Chthonic monstrosities full of unnatural hyperdimensional horrors merely biding their time before they spring above the waves in cascades of madness, beckoning us to doom, doom, doom beneath the tides. It’s A Grid SystemWhile new and greener sources of energy are expected to command the bulk of investment for the foreseeable future, electrical grids are projected to outpace the investment in generation around 2037, according to BloombergNEF. For instance, in 2021 a projected $512 billion will be invested in new power generation, while $259.4 billion will go toward electrical grids. That latter amount is projected to steadily rise annually, hitting $371.9 billion by 2030, $481.4 billion by 2040 and $636.1 billion by 2050. Thanks to the paid subscribers to Numlock News who make this possible. Subscribers guarantee this stays ad-free, and get a special Sunday edition. Consider becoming a full subscriber today. The best way to reach new readers is word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends. Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips, or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Send corrections or typos to the copy desk at copy@numlock.news. Check out the Numlock Book Club and Numlock award season supplement. 2021 Sunday subscriber editions:Sticky Stuff · For-profit Med School · A Good Day · Press Reset · Perverse Incentives · Demon Slayer · Carbon Credits · Money in Politics · Local News · Oscar Upsets · Sneakers · Post-pandemic Cities · Facebook AI · Fireflies · Vehicle Safety ·Climate Codes · Figure Skating · True Believer · Apprentices · Sports Polls · Pipeline · Wattpad · The Nib · Driven2020 Sunday Edition Archive2019 Sunday Edition Archive2018 Sunday Edition ArchiveYou’re on the free list for Numlock News. 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Numlock News: June 21, 2021 • Canadian Belugas, Cheap Wine, Urban Gulls
Monday, June 21, 2021
By Walt Hickey Welcome back! Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard The film The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, which I imagine was named by someone who hated the film and desired it to fail, made $11.6
Numlock News: June 18, 2021 • Diamonds, Argentina, Movie Trailers
Friday, June 18, 2021
By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Trailers Weekly television spending on movie trailers is up considerably compared to last year, with $15.1 million in ad buys from June 7 to 13. That's the
Numlock News: June 17, 2021 • Hadal Zones, Supergiant Stars, David Bowie
Thursday, June 17, 2021
By Walt Hickey Cameo A new analysis of rates charged on Cameo — a service for the mildly famous where celebs can sell personalized messages directly to fans — found that male celebs were charging
Numlock News: June 16, 2021 • Imported Dogs, Domestic Beer, Olympic Games
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
By Walt Hickey Do you follow Numlock on Instagram? You should! Water The city of Brooksville in Florida accidentally sold their water tower as part of an otherwise routine real estate transaction. Last
Numlock News: June 15, 2021 • Wildfires, Rude Batters, Hatsune Miku
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
By Walt Hickey Lumber Lumber, which somehow became the most valuable substance on Earth for a little bit, saw its price take a pretty steep dive this week. Lumber production saw output increase 5
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