✈️ 737 crisis

…and spy cars are tattling on drivers, spiking premiums

(Snacks x Chartr) Sponsored by Yesterday's Market Moves Dow Jones 39,043 (+0.10%) S&P 500 5,165 (-0.19%) Nasdaq 16,178 (-0.54%) Bitcoin $73,313 (+2.57) Dow Jones 39,043 (+0.10%) S&P 500 5,165 (-0.19%) Nasdaq 16,178 (-0.54%) Bitcoin $73,313 (+2.57%) Hey Snackers, Savvy Americans are buying used vending machines and stuffing 'em with marked-up drinks and snacks. The machines take in $525/month, on average, and more when your soda gets stuck. Call it passive in-can. Stocks don't only go up: after Tuesday's record high, the S&P 500 fell yesterday as investors sold off weighty chip names like Nvidia and AMD. Today investors have eyes on retail sales #s and producer prices. Oh, and that TikTok ban bill? The House passed it. GROUNDED Boeing's 737 crisis reaches new heights as airlines are forced to cut flights and forecasts Your plane (delivery) is delayed… indefinitely. Boeing's 737 woes are causing delivery setbacks just as most airlines are trying to ramp up capacity. Refresher: in January the FAA began an extensive investigation after a sealed door on a 737 Max 9 yeeted off mid-flight. Since then, the aviation regulator has paused certification for Boeing's newest 737 (the Max 10). Delta expects deliveries could be delayed till 2027. Already… Rough landing: Shares of Southwest (which only flies 737s) sank 15% Tuesday after the carrier slashed its flight schedules and capacity for the year — and said it expects a net loss for the quarter. It's reevaluating its annual guidance too. Frozen delivery: Alaska Airlines said the production stoppage puts its capacity expectations in "flux." United, which is halting pilot hiring, asked Boeing to stop building the Max 10s it ordered and deliver Max 9s instead (it's also subbing some for Airbus jets). Tarnation on the tarmac… The FAA said Boeing needs "enormous" scrutiny after its Alaska doorbacle, and it reportedly found dozens of issues during a recent audit. Last month the FAA released a damning report that said a safety "disconnect" exists between Boeing execs and staff, and added that the company had 90 days to address its issues before it can return to business as usual. Boeing said it planned to work with employees who violated manufacturing procedures to make sure they understood instructions. Meanwhile, the Justice Department just launched a criminal investigation into the Alaska blowout.   THE TAKEAWAY A wound can reveal a deeper issue… Boeing whistleblowers and regulators have long raised concerns over quality control and intense work schedules. Now, what started as an isolated incident has unearthed more systemic problems. Last month Boeing said it would fall short of its 38 planes/month production goal for at least the first half of the year. SPONSORED BY APPLE CARD Spend. Earn. Grow. Repeat. Earn Daily Cash. Apple Card gives you up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase you make. It's real cash to spend or grow automatically at 4.50% APY when you open a high-yield Savings account through Apple Card. It all adds up: Earn interest on your Daily Cash with Savings. Simply choose to send your Daily Cash to Savings, then watch it grow at 4.50% APY. Apple Card has a cash back rewards program unlike others — great for the spenders, and great for the savers. Apply for Apple Card now. Disclosure: Terms apply. Savings provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC.  SPONSORED BY APPLE CARD Spend. Earn. Grow. Repeat. Earn Daily Cash. Apple Card gives you up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase you make. It's real cash to spend or grow automatically at 4.50% APY when you open a high-yield Savings account through Apple Card. It all adds up: Earn interest on your Daily Cash with Savings. Simply choose to send your Daily Cash to Savings, then watch it grow at 4.50% APY. Apple Card has a cash back rewards program unlike others — great for the spenders, and great for the savers. Apply for Apple Card now. Disclosure: Terms apply. Savings provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC.  CONNECTED Techy narc cars are sharing driver behavior with insurers — and catapulting premiums Oops, all spies… Car-tech advances have ushered in an era of heated steering wheels and dashboard Spotify apps — and perhaps a privacy nightmare. A report from The New York Times said that major automakers including GM , Honda , and Ford harvest detailed driver data (think: speeding, hard braking, phone distraction) and share it with data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk, which then sell the data to insurers. The process is spiking drivers' insurance premiums, often without their knowing why. Brake check: Some drivers' premiums spiked by as much as 21% (half the average jump after an at-fault accident) once their insurer got their "risk score." Some drivers who questioned their rates were sent personalized reports that ran over a hundred pages long. Self-inflicted: Several major automakers offer connected services that enable customers to track their driving habits (like GM's "Smart Driver"). By opting in to the gamified service, drivers consent to their data being sent to insurers. Backseat brother: The harvesting of drivers' data is its own industry (aka "automotive telematics"), and it's set to reach $16B by the end of the decade. The data's valuable to insurers and law enforcement (it's been used to solve crimes). Insurers are doin' donuts… After raking in $19B in profits in 2020 — as cars stayed in garages and payouts plunged — auto insurers like State Farm and Progressive are still pumping premiums. US rates are up 26% so far this year, after the top 10 US auto insurers all won regulatory approval to significantly boost premiums. Economists say that rising car-insurance prices are pushing up inflation, which last month came in a little spicier than expected.   THE TAKEAWAY It can pay to read the T&Cs… By getting drivers to opt in to safety-tracking services, carmakers can comfortably (and legally) collect valuable telematics data and earn more $$. Still, critics and lawmakers take issue with fine-print agreements. Democratic Senator Ed Markey last month urged the FTC to investigate car companies' data practices. What else we're Snackin' Weighty : Eli Lilly is teaming up with Amazon for home delivery of its weight-loss drug, Zepbound. The Prime touch could give it an edge over rival Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy drugs, which have faced shortages. Sour: Former CNN host Don Lemon said Elon Musk scrapped his deal for a show on X after Lemon interviewed him (and included questions about Musk's ketamine use). X is said to be launching a YouTube rival. Kiss: As cocoa prices hit record highs, Hershey and other chocolate makers are upping prices and shrinking products to cover the costly beans. Meantime, inflation-weary shoppers are resting their sweet tooth. ShipOff: SpaceX got the FAA greenlight for a test flight of its Starship rocket, which is scheduled to launch from Texas this morning. The past two flights had mixed results, but SpaceX aims to go farther with this one. Newsy: OpenAI struck a deal with Le Monde and Prisa Media to include their news on ChatGPT, after a similar partnership with Business Insider's publisher. Still, The New York Times is suing OpenAI over copyright infringement. Snack Fact Of the Day The Oscars drew nearly 20M viewers, a four-year high Read more Thursday  Pi Day PGA Players Championship begins Earnings expected from Adobe, Build-A-Bear, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar General, Getty Images, Kodak, Ulta Beauty, and Weibo Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alaska Air, Amazon, Delta, Eli Lilly, GM, Nvidia, and Ulta   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 Sherwood Terms and Conditions • Our Editorial Principles • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Advertise with us Unsubscribe