Jul 18, 2024

It's Nacho Average Thursday!

Elon Musk is moving his X and SpaceX HQs to TX after California passed a law that said school districts can't compel teachers to tell parents about their children's gender identity. Totally coincidentally, Musk is the world's richest man and Texas has no personal income tax—a fact @elonmusk did not mention on whatever we're supposed to call Twitter now.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift may be responsible for the UK's inability to "shake off" inflation. It must be remarkable for a pop star to be able to meaningfully impact a country's GDP. It reminds me of the time my band, Hispona Sueza, once did the same: We got about five people to stop spending money in the Croydon pub we were playing at and walk out. It was basically Black Wednesday.

Also, plenty more cheddlines today:

Have a grate one!

Matt Davis, N2K Chedditor

P.S. We have video of a robot solving a Rubik's cube in 0.3 seconds.

1. Musk Moves the Cheese on SpaceX and Twitter

Elon Musk has decided to relocate the headquarters of his SpaceX and the social media platform formerly (but also still) known as Twitter from the bustling tech-hub of California to the wide-open spaces of Texas.

SpaceX is set to transform its launch pad in Texas, dubbing it Starbase, into its new home base. Meanwhile, X will also find a new pasture in Austin, leaving behind the sour taste Musk has acquired for California's legislative environment. The tipping point was a new law that bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child's gender identification. Musk, it should be noted, has a trans daughter who cut ties with him in 2022.

Musk already moved Tesla to Texas, the state with no personal income tax, in 2021. Oddly enough, Musk, who is set to earn $56 billion from Tesla, potentially escapes paying a LOT in personal income tax by making the move, and it makes his $45 million donation to Donald Trump's PAC seem rather paltry by comparison. Is that all ya got, Musk? Read More

2. Female Athletes Smash Ceilings, Boost Investor Appeal

The Paris Olympics are right around the corner and female athletes are smashing the glass ceiling. Gender parity in sports is great for women, great for all of us, and, of course, great for investors.

"There's really crazy growth we're seeing in terms of viewership and attendance right now in women sports," said S&P's Nicole Serino. "The last NCAA women's basketball tournament, the championship game had 18.9 million viewers. It outpaced the viewership of the men's equivalent championship game. The Women's Super League, which is women's soccer in the UK, saw teams like Arsenal triple their attendance records in just one year."

It's been slow progress to get gender parity at the Paris Olympics, however.

"When women were first allowed to compete in 1900, it was only 2.2% women athletes. And then 84 years later, in 1984, Los Angeles Summer games, we only had less than 25%. And here we are in 2024 with 50/50," Nicole said. "People are finally catching on and they're realizing that we shouldn't be just supporting women sports because it's the right thing to do, but it is the profitable thing to do as well."

More eyeballs mean more media rights revenue, which means clubs are making more money. S&P has a research lab focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, which produced a huge report on this trend. A great example is in the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces had a 350% return on investment when they sold recently. The Seattle Reign also sold last month for $52 million or a 1,500% return on investment in just four years. Time to put your money where your eyeballs are, America. 🤑 Watch Now

From @cheddar

Blink and you'll miss it!

An AI-powered robot built with advanced factory automation technology solved a 3x3 cube in just .305 seconds, equivalent to the duration of a human blink. That's more than 10 times faster than the human record of 3.13 seconds.

Follow @cheddar on Instagram!

3. Taylor Swift May Have Impacted UK Inflation?!

Pop culture and economic policy collided in Britain with Taylor Swift preventing the Bank of England from making interest rate cuts they've been pondering. Yes, you read that correctly. While economists were betting on inflation dipping to 1.9% due to lower domestic energy bills, the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics threw a curveball by announcing that inflation decided to stick to its stubborn rate of 2% thanks to restaurants and hotels feeling the Swiftie love. Swift's June dates in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff, and London caused a notable stir in those local economies, causing a "swift effect." We now need to wait to see if this "Swiftonomics" phenomenon reverses. Meantime Taylor Swift is essentially running the British economy. Perhaps the Brits will try to nationalize her. Read More

You Need 2 Know About This Box!

Meet the Sunset Box, a quarterly subscription service sending home, wellness, and travel goodies straight to your doorstep, curated by editors at mag Sunset, the Western-lifestyle magazine that just so happens to be a sister company of ours.

Since you clearly have good taste (you're an N2K subscriber, after all), we think you'll love this box. Use code CHEDDAR15 for 15% off your subscription.

Gimme the Box!

Note: Sadly does not contain any cheese.

4. Crystal Ball: A Billion AI Humanoids by 2050

Elon Musk recently raised eyebrows by predicting there will be a billion humanoid robots utilizing AI in the next two decades. Tesla's share of that market would make the company worth $30 trillion. No wonder the guy just moved to a state with no personal income tax!

The predictions for the rise of the robots are "on-track" said Zeno Mercer who researches robots at Vettafi. "It's real. It's happening."

"Robots have been around since the '60s and AI has been around for decades now," he said. "We're now getting to the point where you can start to train robots because of the advancements in AI. It's a huge upgrade in the how robots have been trained, and it opens massive new markets and opportunities."

We're seeing the rise of AI-enabled robots in companies doing automated agriculture, and in areas like supporting aging populations by moving things around the house. From government services to robotaxis, there are few limits on the possibilities. Firms like Vettafi are now tracking the growth of robotics for investors and seeing huge influxes of interest. Watch Now

5. As Inflation Persists, Gen Z Gets Its Side Hustle Game On

Young adults are leading the side hustle charge with 48% of Gen Z'ers having one. Another way of putting that is that half of people under 27 are working at least two jobs to make ends meet. Tomato-tomahto? There'd be a revolution, probably, if you weren't all too busy bolstering TikTok's stock price with your roving youthful eyeballs!

Seriously. Work is changing, there's less loyalty in the job market, and people need to pay off their credit cards, with many Americans struggling financially. Could a side hustle be the solution? After all, the average American with a side hustle makes $891 a month from the gig.

Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman found that 36% of U.S. adults have a side hustle, and that's about double the 19% that we saw back in 2017. "Technology is part of it," he said. "It's easier than ever to do these things online or through mobile apps or from home."

Rossman admires the work ethic but worries about the burnout risk. Credit card rates are near record highs with the average interest rate at 21%, perpetuating inequality between those who pay their balance in full and cash in the points, and those who don't.

"It's especially hard on young adults because they have hefty student loan burdens, high housing costs, and high childcare costs," he said. Amen, brother. Amen! [Sets mouse-jiggler on automatic. Posts something witty in Slack. Starts another gig.] Watch Now