There's a new kind of group date: Tinder's "Share My Date" feature lets users send their tacos-and-margs plans directly to curious friends. Y'know, since they were gonna ask for screenshots anyway. Stocks rebounded yesterday ahead of this week's earnings avalanche. About a third of S&P 500 companies report this week — including tech biggies Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft. |
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Shop while you watch… Amazon's live shopping is hitting prime time: starting this month, fans of Amazon Live can find the QVC-style channel on Prime Video and Freevee (Amazon's ad-supported streamer). FYI: Amazon Live, which debuted in 2019, is an online platform where celebs and influencers showcase "must-have products," answer Qs, and engage with fans through live-streamed shows. Viewers can add items directly from the stream to their cart. It's not Amazon's first dive into interactive shopping… |
- #ShopTheShow: Last year, Amazon's NFL Black Friday game showcased QR codes with exclusive deals during commercial breaks. The company said 1B+ people in the US and India watched Amazon Live content last year.
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Streamin' to carts… Three-fourths of US adults are said to look at their phones while watching TV, and retailers and streamers are taking note. In January, Disney rolled out its first shoppable streaming ad platform, Gateway Shop, which sends viewers info about on-screen products via push notifications (no pausing required). Last year Walmart teamed up with NBCUniversal to place shoppable ads on Peacock. And TikTok Shop — which lets users shop from both their feeds and live videos — hopes to make up to $17.5B in US sales this year. |
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Split screens can create seamless opportunities… Live shopping's still a fraction of total online retail sales, with just 14% of US adults having made a live-stream shopping purchase, a recent survey suggested. But as more folks scroll while they stream, the #AddToCart opportunities appear to be growing. Another survey showed 75% of viewers said they'd rather see an interactive TV ad than a regular commercial. |
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U.S. infrastructure is due an update… |
Investing in infrastructure: Legislation is funneling billions in federal spending toward revitalizing U.S. infrastructure. In the last congress, three landmark packages appropriated nearly $1tn to fund critical projects from roads, bridges, and ports to renewable energy — and Global X's PAVE ETF seeks to capture this trend. PAVE the way…The Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) invests in companies positioned to benefit from increased infrastructure activities in America. PAVE provides exposure to a range of sectors, including industrials, materials, and utilities. With net assets of more than $7 billion*, PAVE's history of risk-adjusted returns has also earned a 5-star overall rating from Morningstar (out of 92 Infrastructure funds, based on risk-adjusted returns as of 03/31/2024). Explore the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF in full here.** *As of 04/24/2024. |
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U.S. infrastructure is due an update… |
Investing in infrastructure: Legislation is funneling billions in federal spending toward revitalizing U.S. infrastructure. In the last congress, three landmark packages appropriated nearly $1tn to fund critical projects from roads, bridges, and ports to renewable energy — and Global X's PAVE ETF seeks to capture this trend. PAVE the way…The Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) invests in companies positioned to benefit from increased infrastructure activities in America. PAVE provides exposure to a range of sectors, including industrials, materials, and utilities. With net assets of more than $7 billion*, PAVE's history of risk-adjusted returns has also earned a 5-star overall rating from Morningstar (out of 92 Infrastructure funds, based on risk-adjusted returns as of 03/31/2024). Explore the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF in full here.** *As of 04/24/2024. |
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Trouble in forklift paradise… Prologis, the company that retailers like Amazon and Home Depot pay for warehouse space, is warning of trouble in the industrial real-estate market. The world's largest industrial property company (with 1B+ square feet of warehouses globally) last week cut its annual guidance. Analysts saw it as a signal that the pandemic-fueled boom in warehousing demand has been deflating as retailers shift inventory strategies. |
- Palletable: Prologis shares fell more than 20% this year as warehouse rents flattened industry-wide. The average industrial rent didn't budge in Q1 — the first time rents haven't climbed in four years.
- The unboxing: The average US warehouse-vacancy rate rose to nearly 6% last quarter, roughly double 2022's 3%. That uptick could = millions of square feet of empty warehouse space across America.
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From "just in case" to "just in time"… retailers are rethinking storage strategies. Warehouse demand spiked during the pandemic as the likes of Target and Foot Locker protected themselves from unexpected supply issues (think: a ship getting stuck in a canal) by stockpiling products. That excess supply cost retailers that struggled to track goods and sometimes turned to discounts to offload glut. Now retailers like Walmart and Ikea have returned to "just in time" inventory management — aka holding only as much as is needed. In December, inventory declined for the seventh time in eight months. |
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The bigger the box, the harder the return… Plans made during brighter days may be hurting warehouse owners like Prologis. 115M square feet of freshly built US warehouse space became available last quarter, nearly triple the 10-year quarterly average. It's keeping supply up while demand slows, pushing rents, and outlooks, down for the industrial-property owners that've covered vast amounts of the country in delivery hubs. |
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- Kicks: Nike said it's laying off 740 corporate employees as it slashes $2B in costs. The shoe slinger, which reportedly just signed a $28M deal with basketball star Caitlin Clark, said it expected revenue to dip this year.
- Volks: Workers at Volkswagen's Tennessee plant voted to join the UAW, a first for foreign-owned auto plants in the South. As the union tries to grow, workers at an Alabama Mercedes plant are planning a vote.
- TikToff: The House passed legislation that could ban TikTok in the US if signed into law. The social juggernaut's trying to rally its 170M US users to push back as officials worry over the app's China ties.
- Pressed: Mall staple Express filed for bankruptcy and said it'd close 95 stores in an effort to prep the biz for sale to an investor group. The business-casual clothier struggled with sales as WFH fashion soared.
- FSDiscount: Tesla slashed the price of its Full Self Driving software to $8K from $12K. The EV icon, which reports today, has been cutting prices in the face of declining vehicle delivery #s.
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- Shakespeare's birthday
- Earnings expected from Tesla, Pepsi, GE Aerospace, GM, Spotify, Mattel, Philip Morris, UPS, Halliburton, Novartis, Lockheed Martin, JetBlue, RTX, NextEra Energy, Chubb, and Visa
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Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Comcast, Visa, and Walmart |
**Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Narrowly focused investments typically exhibit higher volatility. Investments in infrastructure-related companies have greater exposure to the potential adverse economic, regulatory, political, and other changes affecting such entities. Investment in infrastructure-related companies are subject to various risks including governmental regulations, high interest costs associated with capital construction programs, costs associated with compliance and changes in environmental regulation, economic slowdown and excess capacity, competition from other providers of services and other factors. PAVE is non-diversified. Carefully consider the funds' investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the funds' summary or full prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting globalxetfs.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. PAVE is distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co.
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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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