…and steel giant Nucor charges into fusion power
| Coming to your Lulu app (Scott Heins/Getty Images) | |
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Yesterday's Market Moves | | Dow Jones
33,666 (+0.35%) | S&P 500
4,300 (+0.59%) | Nasdaq
13,201 (+0.83%) | Bitcoin
$27,008 (+2.47%) |
| Dow Jones
33,666 (+0.35%) | S&P 500
4,300 (+0.59%) | Nasdaq
13,201 (+0.83%) | Bitcoin
$27,008 (+2.47%) |
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Hey Snackers, Remember when Gannett said it was hiring two reporters to cover Taylor Swift and Beyoncé? In two weeks nearly 1K hopefuls have applied, including a reporter who works at the White House. Stocks ticked up yesterday as Treasury yields cooled. Today investors have eyes on the latest data from the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (rolls off the tongue). 🧠Memory check: Take our Snacks Seven quiz to test your knowledge of the news we covered this week (you'll crush any biz-themed trivia night). | |
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After trying to copy each other, Lululemon and Peloton spin up a fitness partnership | Sporting Lulu on the Peloton… a match made in pricey fitness heaven. Lululemon and Peloton announced a five-year strategic partnership, hoping to set aside their fitness rivalry like a pair of discolored yoga pants. After the news on Wednesday, Peloton (which has been on the struggle bus for a while) saw its stock jump 15%. It's the first time the spin-bike maker will share its workout classes with another company. What Lulu gets: It'll become Peloton's main apparel partner and be able to stream Peloton classes on its Lululemon fitness app, which has 13M members (nearly double Peloton's). Also: some Peloton instructors will become Lulu ambassadors. What Peloton gets: The companies didn't disclose any deal terms or revenue-sharing plans, but Peloton could broaden its reach with the help of Lulu's app and brand-name-apparel power (its equipment sales have plunged since the pandemic boom).
When life gives you lemons… Peloton tried to make the leap from hardware into apparel, but that didn't fly. Meanwhile, Lulu tried to make the leap from sportswear into hardware by splurging half a billion dollars on futuristic home-fitness startup Mirror in 2020. Lulu was riding high from lockdown home workouts, and hoped people would spend $1.5K for vertical screens that stream classes. While demand for comfy Lulu fits has stayed strong, Mirror disappointed. Lulu said it would stop selling Mirror devices this year and direct users to Peloton classes instead. |  | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Stayin' in your lane can be wise… Peloton tried to branch out with apparel to rival Lululemon, while Lulu tried to sell hardware to rival Peloton. Those competitive bets soured, and now the two are trying to make Lululemonade: joining forces so they can both do what they're best at, together. | |
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Sponsored by LiquidPiston | | An engine the size of a basketball | Dream team… The innovators at LiquidPiston have spent 15 years researching and developing an engine that's up to 30% more fuel-efficient than diesel piston engines currently on the market and no bigger than the size of a basketball. Power forward… LiquidPiston is poised to disrupt a $400B market for combustion engines. With 82 patents issued and pending, LiquidPiston's applications range from military and aerospace to commercial markets like cars, drones, robots, and urban air mobility (think: flying cars).
Get in the game… Investors have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this startup that's revolutionizing combustion engine technology for the first time in 150 years.
Don't miss your chance to invest in LiquidPiston before it's too late. Learn more about LiquidPiston before the opportunity ends on 10/24.* |
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Steel giant Nucor and Helion Energy join forces to bring fusion power to the grid | Green steel… The US's largest steelmaker is pluggin' in to fusion power. This week, Nucor struck a deal with startup Helion Energy to build a 500-megawatt fusion powerplant at one of its mills. Nucor's steel is used in everything from ovens to skyscrapers, but requires lots of energy to produce. That's why it's hoping to harness nuclear fusion (joining atoms), which releases 4M times as much energy as burning fossil fuels. Steel yourself: The steel industry makes up 7% of the world's carbon emissions, but using fusion power could significantly reduce that because it doesn't release emissions. Nuclear-power plants produce electricity from fission (splitting atoms), which is considered nonrenewable. Mending metal: While fusion is much harder to produce, Nucor's new plant could generate enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of homes, and reduce its emissions by 500K metric tons.
Ignition ambitions… Investment in fusion power has surged since scientists made a major breakthrough last year: using a nuclear-fusion reaction to create "net energy gain" for the first time. Fusion funding has nearly 3X'd since 2021, hitting $6B. In May, Microsoft signed for Helion Energy to supply it with electricity. And Google and Chevron participated in a $250M raise last year for Japanese fusion startup TAE. | | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Fusing forces can fuel progress… By some estimates, fusion energy wasn't expected on the grid for decades. But surging funding and big-name backers could speed up the timeline. At least four companies now predict they'll be able to deliver fusion power to the grid by 2030. The Biden admin hopes there'll be some pilot demos of the tech by then. | |
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| đź’° Spendy… Binance said it would sell its Russian biz as the DOJ reportedly investigates the world's largest crypto exchange over possible sanctions violations. This year Binance has laid off 1.5K staff as its market share shrinks. 🤹♀️ Quirky… House Representatives pressed SEC Chair Gary Gensler over whether he considers PokĂ©mon cards securities (his answer: no). But the regulator wouldn't say the same for a theoretical tokenized PokĂ©mon card. 📸 Flashy… Coinbase said Bermudan regulators OK'd its plan to offer perpetual futures outside the US. It could be big biz for the exchange: the majority of overseas crypto trading involves derivatives like perpetual futures. | |
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What else we're Snackin' | Pandaplomocy: China plans to take back all its giant pandas from US zoos. The animals have been a sign of political goodwill, and their relocation could signal rising tensions as the US hits China with sanctions. Backlash: Delta's CEO hinted the airline may walk back some of its recent SkyMiles loyalty-program updates that made it pricier to earn rewards. Exclusive perks like lounges have become popular — and crowded. GameBoss: Ryan Cohen is GameStop's new (unpaid) CEO. The brick-and-mortar biz has been working on a reboot, and CNBC reported that Cohen said the company's survival demands "extreme frugality." ShieldX: SpaceX won a Pentagon contract (potential worth: $70M) for its Starshield network of military satellites. It's a first for SpaceX's newer business line, which pitches itself as Starlink for governments. Po$t: X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that the biz should be profitable by early next year. X (fka Twitter) has struggled to regain some advertisers that dipped out after Elon Musk's takeover of the company.
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Snack Fact Of the Day | Oliver Anthony is the first artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart without any previous history on any chart | | |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more | |
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