🚗 The jalopy jump

…and ethereum's on the spot

Rush-hour veterans (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Yesterday's Market Moves   Dow Jones 39,671 (-0.51%) S&P 500 5,307 (-0.27%) Nasdaq 16,802 (-0.18%) Bitcoin $69,450 (-0.99%) Dow Jones 39,671 (-0.51%) S&P 500 5,307 (-0.27%) Nasdaq 16,802 (-0.18%) Bitcoin $69,450 (-0.99%)

Hey Snackers, If you want your snail mail to smell like a Parisian bakery, you can buy the French post office's new scratch-'n'-sniff baguette stamp. Sounds like an "Emily in Paris" marketing campaign. Stocks dipped and the Dow had its worst session of the month after Fed meeting minutes suggested officials saw a lack of progress in taming inflation. Some even discussed the possibility of hiking interest rates again if inflation doesn't fall closer to the Fed's goal.

CLUNK

US cars are older than ever as driving costs leave savings tanks on empty This weekend, expect traffic… and lots of Dodge Calibers. As an estimated 38M drivers take to the open road over Memorial Day weekend, the cars they'll be driving are older than ever. The average age of US cars, trucks, and SUVs hit 12.6 years, new data said. Pandemic supply snags and chip shortages led to rising average vehicle ages in recent years. But this year analysts attribute the bump to higher car prices, insurance premiums, and auto-loan rates. Vintage is in: The average price to drive a new car off the lot was $48.5K last month, up 21% from April 2021. That's making potential new car buyers think twice. Wheel deals: Lower-cost models drove Toyota's 20% US sales spike in Q1, and an 82% surge in sales of cheaper trucks boosted Ford's #s. Fixer-uppers: Older cars on the road = good business for repair shops as maintenance costs rise. O'Reilly last month reported 7% year-over-year revenue growth, and this week AutoZone beat estimates, opening 30+ new US stores last quarter. Runnin' on fumes… Owning a car is pricier than ever. AAA said the average annual cost of having a new car hit $12.2K last year, or 16% of the median US household income. US auto-insurance rates spiked 22% last month from a year ago (the highest jump in nearly a half century), and repair costs rose almost 8%. At the same time, automakers are getting rid of more-affordable sedans. GM said it's scrapping the Chevy Malibu and Subaru plans to sunset its Legacy. THE TAKEAWAY Cars are slowing Americans down… They drive more than citizens of any other country. As car costs pile up, folks are finding it harder to save. In March, the personal savings rate fell to 3.2% (the long-term average is more than 8%). Higher driving costs may be one reason consumer sentiment fell to a six-month low (something you may gather from chats around the BBQ this weekend).

Sponsored by GraniteShares The long and short of it… When it comes to Nvidia, investors are divided. Some back the stock's unparalleled price growth, while others chalk it up to overvaluation. Concentrated daily exposure to the moves of an individual stock can potentially yield investment returns. So if you're firmly on either side of the fence, you might want to leverage the probable stock price moves flowing from Nvidia's earnings announcement. GraniteShares' suite of Short and Leveraged single stock ETFs* give high-conviction investors a way to do just that.  NVDL seeks +2X the daily variations of underlying NVDA stock. NVD seeks -2X the daily variations of underlying NVDA stock. Accessible through a traditional brokerage account, these two ETFs magnify exposure to NVDA's price moves in a single trade — with no margin calls.*  Go long or short on NVDA with GraniteShares Single Stock ETFs.** *An investment in these ETFs involve significant risks. Click each fund for more information.

CRYPT-OH

Prediction markets flip toward spot ether ETF approvals as the SEC's deadline looms Wanna bet… Crypto-prediction markets strapped in for a roller coaster ride this week. On Polymarket the odds that the SEC will approve a spot ethereum ETF this month soared earlier this week to nearly 75%, up from 10% on Monday. Those betting their crypto on the decentralized platform won't have to hold their breath: the SEC is facing two deadlines — one today and one tomorrow — to either approve or deny spot ether ETF applications from VanEck and Ark Invest/21Shares. Analy$ts: The odds about-face followed reports that the regulator had asked asset managers to update official ETF-related filings. Analysts saw this as a bullish sign. Into the ether: The price of ethereum spiked nearly 20% Monday on the news, with one analyst predicting spot ether ETFs could pull in up to $45B in the first year. Round two: The SEC approved spot bitcoin ETFs in January. The funds pulled in billions in investments and helped push the price of BTC to an all-time high of $73K+. Bit different: Some experts say that ethereum's proof-of-stake nature might be a sticking point for regulators (bitcoin uses proof of work). Feelin' on the spot… If the SEC does approve spot ether ETFs, analysts say it'd represent a 180 for the crypto-skeptical regulator. Shifting political winds may've played a role. Just yesterday the House passed an industry-supported bill that would create a framework for digital assets. And while President Biden said he opposed the bill, he didn't threaten a veto should it reach his desk. Plus, last week the Senate passed a pro-crypto measure viewed as a rebuke to the SEC's approach to crypto regs. THE TAKEAWAY Politics push policy… The politics of crypto have evolved since the height of crypto winter. There's now bipartisan support for crypto legislation, and pro-crypto PACs reportedly plan to spend $100M ahead of the upcoming US congressional elections in support of crypto-friendly candidates. The SEC's decision could show whether it's leaning into the shift.

Darlin

The pandemic darlings: where are they now? We checked in on the share prices of six Covid-era winners, and each is down from its pandemic peak. See why the new normal hasn't stuck.

What else we're Snackin' Envy-dia: Nvidia had a chipper earnings beat, reporting that its quarterly revenue more than tripled from a year earlier. The AI chip champ, whose shares hit nearly $1K yesterday, announced a 10-to-1 stock split. Tarjay: Target missed the bull's-eye, with same-store sales dipping for a fourth straight quarter as consumers cut back on discretionary items like home decor and essentials like groceries. Coiny: Former President Trump's campaign said it'll accept crypto donations in an appeal to blockchain stans. Past nominees have accepted bitcoin, but Trump, who said he's building a "crypto army," will allow a host of coins (including meme coins). L8er: Regulators are about to hold BNPL "pay in four" installment plans to some of the same standards as credit cards to protect consumers facing fees and ballooning debt. Klarna said BNPL should have "bespoke" rules. Pause: Pixar's laying off 14% of its workforce (~175 employees) as part of parent Disney's cost slashing. The studio's focusing on quality over quantity after a series of box-office flops like "Elemental."

Snack Fact Of the Day As of last year, nearly 40% of decade-old web links led nowhere Read more

Thursday World Turtle Day Earnings expected from Ralph Lauren, Intuit, Workday, Deckers Brands, TD Bank, BJ's Wholesale Club, and Ross Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares of: Disney, GM, and Nvidia Advertiser's Disclosure: **Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Funds, please call (844) 476 8747 or click here for NVD and click here for NVDL. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing. The Fund is not suitable for all investors. The investment program of the funds is speculative, entails substantial risks and includes asset classes and investment techniques not employed by most other ETFs and mutual funds. Investments in the ETFs are not bank deposits and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily inverse (-2 X) investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of inverse exposure and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. For periods longer than a single day, the Fund will lose money if the Underlying Stock's performance is flat, and it is possible that the Fund will lose money even if the Underlying Stock's performance decreases over a period longer than a single day. An investor could lose the full principal value of his/her investment within a single day. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results and is intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles. This Fund attempts to provide daily investment results that correspond to the respective inverse of the performance of its underlying stock (an inverse Fund). Investors should note that the fund pursues daily leveraged investment objectives, which means that the fund is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the fund magnifies the performance of their underlying security. The volatility of the underlying security may affect a Fund's return as much as, or more than, the return of the underlying security. Because of daily rebalancing and the compounding of each day's return over time, the return of the Fund for periods longer than a single day will be the result of each day's returns compounded over the period, which will very likely differ from -200% of the return of the Underlying Stock over the same period. The Fund will lose money if the Underlying Stock's performance is flat over time, and as a result of daily rebalancing, the Underlying Stock volatility and the effects of compounding, it is even possible that the Fund will lose money over time while the Underlying Stock's performance decreases over a period longer than a single day. THE FUNDS ARE DISTRIBUTED BY ALPS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. GRANITESHARES IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ALPS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.

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