☀️ Heat protection

…and Amazon's post-Prime Day earnings

Hot world summer (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Last Week's Market Moves   Dow Jones 35,459 (+0.66%) S&P 500 4,582 (+1.01%) Nasdaq 14,317 (+2.02%) Bitcoin $29,350 (-1.88%) Dow Jones 35,459 (+0.66%) S&P 500 4,582 (+1.01%) Nasdaq 14,317 (+2.02%) Bitcoin $29,350 (-1.88%)

Hey Snackers, Hot on the heels of the "Barbie" box-office success, Mattel's raiding its toy chest. It has films in the pipeline for * takes deep breath * American Girl, Barney, Polly Pocket, Hot Wheels, UNO, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Magic 8 Ball, and more. MCU = Mattel Cinematic Universe. Stocks rallied last week, led by the techy Nasdaq, as investors digested a slew of earnings, expectation-beating GDP data, and another rate hike from the Fed. The US economy's strong growth, coupled with fresh evidence of cooling inflation, boosted hopes of a "soft landing." This week, investors have eyes on earnings from Apple, Amazon, and other big names. Btw... Do you want to start getting Snacks daily? Or prefer to unsubscribe? Manage your subscription preferences here.

Sizzle

As Earth's hottest month on record wraps up, heat safety takes center stage in the US Too hot to handle… We've made it to the end of what scientists say is Earth's hottest month ever recorded (July temps may be the highest in 120K years). Over 250M people in the US faced heat indexes of at least 90F last week, putting outdoor workers at risk. 436 US workers died from heat exposure between 2011 and 2021, and fatalities are expected to rise. Last week, President Biden announced actions that the Labor Dept. will take to protect workers: Checking the thermostat: Heat-safety inspections in high-risk sectors like construction and agriculture will increase. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has already carried out 2.6K check-ins. Cooling off: A first-ever heat hazard alert will tell employers what steps they can take to protect workers, and remind employees of their rights. H2O break not included… There are many federal workplace safety rules around harmful substance exposure, but there are none specifically for heat exposure. Biden directed OSHA to develop heat standards nearly two years ago, but the process for new rules is seriously slow (locking in a limit on silica exposure took 19 years). New workplace standards often face fierce opposition from companies that lose money for every paid break. OSHA's working on a federal heat standard that's due for a business impact review next month. Meanwhile:  Only six states guarantee workers the right to water, rest, and shade (in CA, heat rules kick in when temps hit 80F). Last month, a TX law removed mandated water breaks for outdoor workers, while a heat protection bill failed in NY. THE TAKEAWAY Scorchers are heating up labor momentum… Without federal protections, heat safety has become a core issue during this "hot strike summer." Extreme temps were a catalyst in the first-ever Amazon delivery driver strike in CA last month. Installing AC in delivery vans was a key element of the deal reached between UPS and its 330K unionized employees last week. As the world warms, pressure for protections will likely heat up too.

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Events

Coming up this week Prime Day afterglow… Amazon reports Thursday after what it called its biggest Prime Day ever. Those deal-palooza dollars won't be included in Q2 #s, but it's a positive sign for the ecomm biz, which has seen slowing growth after the lockdown boom. Amazon's cloud growth has cooled as companies rein in tech spend, but Amazon's trying to juice demand with — you guessed it — AI. Its ad biz has been a bright spot, growing faster than cloud in Q1. (FYI: Meta and Google reported strong ad #s last week.) Meanwhile, the FTC could rain on Prime's parade with a major lawsuit.  Come for the Sphere… stay for the slots? Las Vegas' colossal casinos are feelin' lucky. MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment are basking in a travel boom that saw visits to Sin City soar 20% last year and revenue pop in the first quarter. But casinos' chips aren't all in on Vegas. In gambling capital Macau, where MGM has a 35-story resort, gaming revenue 6X'd in June from a year ago as China reopened. With travel and entertainment spending on the rise, analysts expect betting behemoths will sweeten the pot when they report.

Zoom out

Stories we're watching Reshoring bath bombs… US companies are bringing more production back to the States — aka: "reshoring." Scented-lotion icon Bath & Body Works brought every step of production to its Ohio "beauty park." Reshoring has gained steam as pandemic supply snags and geopolitical tensions caused corporate shortages (+ headaches). US manufacturing jobs hit a 13-year high last year. It could be just the beginning: mentions of "reshoring" in Q1 S&P 500 earnings were up 128%. Crumblegate comeback… In 2021, meal-delivery company Daily Harvest was valued at $1B+, backed by Gwyneth Paltrow, and #trending on IG. Then last year, an obscure ingredient in its "French Lentil + Leek Crumbles" meal made 393 people ill (many seriously). Subscription revenue reportedly tanked and customers sued. Now, the biz says it's "entering a new era" with a partnership to sell frozen meals at Kroger. We'll see if a bruised brand like Daily Harvest can re-up credibility (while avoiding niche ingredients that slip past the FDA).

ICYMI

Last week's highlights GuiltTip: "Tip fatigue" is spreading as Americans grow frustrated with tip-screen prompts everywhere (even self-checkout). Businesses far beyond restaurants are adding tip screens to keep workers without raising wages.  Barbiecore: "Barbie" surpassed "Super Mario Bros." as the year's top-grossing opening-weekend flick. In a marketing campaign that seemingly knows no limits, countless brands are in on the Mattel-doll hype.  Ship: UPS and the Teamsters reached a tentative deal, likely averting what would've been one of the largest US strikes. "Hot strike summer" is becoming "solidarity summer" as different unions picket together.

What else we're Snackin' Cone: Unilever (owner of Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Magnum) is seeing ice cream sales freeze despite the heat. Execs say temps are driving people past the ice cream "sweet spot" (picture: instant melting).  Fees: States are passing laws to combat pesky (and often surprising) hospital bill "facility fees." Transparency measures could cost hospitals billions, but ease the medical-debt burden.  IRL: Many workers in jobs that could conceivably be replaced by AI don't feel that the tech will threaten their gigs, Pew found. Nearly a third of IT and tech workers say AI will help more than hurt them in the next 20 years.

Want your Snacks daily? The Daily Newsletter Get fresh takes on financial news every week day. Try a sample: 🍃 Mastercard's canna-biz crackdown • Jul 28, 2023 💪 Hot strike summer • Jul 27, 2023 👛 Tip anxiety • Jul 26, 2023 Subscribe to the Daily

Snack Fact Of the Day "Mindful breathing" lessons are a new requirement in NYC public schools Read more

This Week Monday: Earnings expected from Avis, SoFi, and Sonoco Tuesday: Job openings report and earnings expected from Aflac, AMD, Bloomin' Brands, British Petroleum, Caesars Entertainment, Caterpillar, Denny's, JetBlue, Marriott International, Merck, Molson Coors, Norwegian Cruise Line, Pfizer, Pinterest, Starbucks, Sysco, and Uber  Wednesday: ADP nonfarm employment report and earnings expected from Bausch + Lomb, Cheesecake Factory, Fastly, Garmin, Kraft Foods, MetLife, MGM Resorts, PayPal, Phillips 66, Public Storage, Robinhood, Shopify, Spirit Airlines, and TripAdvisor  Thursday: Jobless claims and earnings expected from AB InBev, Adidas, Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Bally's, Block, BMW, Cigna, Coinbase, ConocoPhillips, Dolby, DraftKings, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Expedia, Hasbro, Hyatt, Kellogg, Moderna, Nintendo, Papa John's, Shake Shack, Symantec, Warner Bros. Discovery, Wayfair, and Yelp Friday: Nonfarm payrolls and earnings expected from Cinemark and Fisker  Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple, Amazon, AB InBev, Block, Fastly, Google, Kraft Foods, Robinhood, Mattel, Moderna, Molson Coors, Starbucks, Uber, Shopify, and Norwegian Cruise Line *Advertiser Disclosure: See important disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.

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