To The Moon

One of Wall Street's favorite recession indicators looks broken.An anomaly known as an inverted yield curve, in which yields on short-term Treasurys exceed those of longer-term government debt, has long been taken as a nearly surefire signal that an economic pullback looms. In each of the previous eight U.S. downturns, that has happened before the economy sputtered. There haven't been any glaring false alarms.Now, though, that streak is threatened. The yield curve has been inverted for a record stretch -- around 400 trading sessions or more by some measures -- with no signs of a major slowdown. U.S. employers added a solid 175,000 jobs last month, and economic growth this quarter is expected to pick up from earlier in the year.Bets on cuts could reflect some chance of a recession but also some probability of a benign

The Mouse House isn’t sure what to do with its languishing cash cow, ESPN.The sports network, once a financial engine for Disney, is suffering a decline in revenue owing to the slow death of traditional cable TV. Though ESPN is still profitable, Disney is looking to sell off a stake and transform the business into a digital streaming company, though near-term plans for that are unclear.ESPN has long been the reliable moneymaker of the media and entertainment giant. In the first half of 2023, Disney’s cable networks division, led by ESPN and its sister channels, generated $14 billion in revenue and $3 billion in profit. But revenue for those six months is down 6% from what it was a year earlier, and profit dropped 29%, according to the New York Times. Disney does not break out ESPN’s finances separately.In terms of advertising, ESPN has earned over $2 bi