Cristiano Ronaldo's new YouTube channel broke the world record for the fastest channel to hit 1M subscribers (within 90 minutes of launching). The soccer superstar's channel, started on Wednesday, has 26.7M subs and counting. Social-media #goals. Stocks dropped yesterday, dragged down by a tech selloff. Today, all eyes are on Fed Chair Powell's speech at Jackson Hole, which could shed light on future rate policy. 🧠 All up in your quizness: Try to go 7 for 7 in our weekly Snacks Seven quiz, which covers this week's biggest biz news. Here's question #1: |
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Another one, thank you… While major Hollywood streaming services bet on live sports, a possible upstart is putting its money on waffle fries. Chick-fil-A is reportedly planning to launch a streaming platform this year. The 3K-restaurant chicken joint is apparently working with production companies to create "family-friendly" reality shows, game shows, and scripted content. Chick-fil-A tapped an exec behind "X Factor" and "Top Gear" to lead programming that will (probably) feature folks eating nuggets. |
- Family size: Chick-fil-A's owners, the Cathy family, aren't new to entertainment. They're said to be invested in a major Atlanta studio that's had contracts with Disney's Marvel.
- The Roostelor: Chick-fil-A could enter reality TV at a time when viewers are hungry for new content: from April to June, reality-TV production in LA plunged 57% YoY.
- Decent timing: The five top streamers made $3.2B in the first half of this year, up from a $542M loss in the same period last year.
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Going multi-hyphenate… corporation/aspiring filmmaker. With audiences fractured across TV, web, and mobile, ads aren't hitting like they used to. That has companies trying to grab attention by making content that looks more like TV. Starbucks debuted a content studio in June, and Coke created short films for Amazon last year. Airbnb produced an MTV doc, Lyft made a game show, and last year Bud maker AB InBev rolled out an entertainment division. Even hospitals are calling action: Northwell Health just intro'd a TV-content division. |
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Streaming doesn't have to be the main course… It can just be a tasty side hustle. It's a notoriously difficult business, but it's probably easier if you're only making a few game shows about chicken sandwiches, and looking at it as more of an advertising and customer-data play. While it took companies like Paramount and Disney years to make their streaming units profitable, smaller streamers like Dropout TV have managed it much faster. It helps that Chick-fil-A has the money to burn: it pulled in almost $22B in sales last year. |
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Beyond Nasdaq… Monogram's new investment potential |
Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM), known for its autonomous robotic surgical systems, completed a crowd funded public offering and NASDAQ listing last year. What's next? They just filed for FDA approval* to market and commercialize their patented AI joint replacement tech. By the year 2027, 50% of knee replacement surgeries will be robotic –up from 12% today. Now, Monogram's offering a new chance for investors: the opportunity to invest in preferred stock with an 8% dividend (in cash or kind). Their common stock traded at a 52-week high of $5.15**, and its closing price on 8/22 was $3.40, but the unlisted preferred stock (which is convertible into one share of common) is available for $2.25/share. Monogram currently plans to close the Series D Preferred offering on September 12, 2024.*** ** 52-week range for MGRM is $1.53-$5.15 as of 8/22/24. |
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Beyond Nasdaq… Monogram's new investment potential |
Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM), known for its autonomous robotic surgical systems, completed a crowd funded public offering and NASDAQ listing last year. What's next? They just filed for FDA approval* to market and commercialize their patented AI joint replacement tech. By the year 2027, 50% of knee replacement surgeries will be robotic –up from 12% today. Now, Monogram's offering a new chance for investors: the opportunity to invest in preferred stock with an 8% dividend (in cash or kind). Their common stock traded at a 52-week high of $5.15**, and its closing price on 8/22 was $3.40, but the unlisted preferred stock (which is convertible into one share of common) is available for $2.25/share. Monogram currently plans to close the Series D Preferred offering on September 12, 2024.*** ** 52-week range for MGRM is $1.53-$5.15 as of 8/22/24. |
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That's bananas… "Black Myth: Wukong," a Chinese PC-console game where you play as a mythical Monkey King, set a record on the Steam game store for most first-day plays. More than 2.4M gamers played it concurrently after its debut, making it Steam's most-played single-player title, beating "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Elden Ring." It's highly rated on gaming sites too. The $60 game took six years and a reported $50M+ to make, but it seems to be paying off for China. |
- Mobilized: Tencent-backed developer Game Science made "Black Myth: Wukong." Tencent is China's top game publisher, but it's mostly put out mobile hits like "Honor of Kings."
- Calling AAA: "Black Myth: Wukong" is considered China's first "AAA" game, a loosely defined term that denotes advanced graphics and gameplay.
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Comin' for consoles… China's a major player in the global gaming industry, but mostly on mobile. "Black Myth: Wukong" signals a shift to PCs and consoles, and experts say its success could encourage Chinese companies to develop more games to rival hits from Take-Two Interactive and Microsoft-owned Bethesda. But China's not just looking to nab a "Game of the Year" nom. "Black Myth: Wukong," which is based on a classic Chinese novel and features Chinese landmarks, expands the country's cultural clout, aka its "soft power" (think: the prevalence of Hollywood flicks in foreign theaters). |
- A Chinese state-owned newspaper wrote, "The success of 'Black Myth: Wukong' is not only a victory for the gaming industry, but also an important milestone in the overseas expansion of Chinese culture."
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Soft power is hard to control… China doesn't seem to think that any press is good press. Streamers told The New York Times that a company affiliated with "Black Myth: Wukong" gave them a list of topics to avoid chatting about while playing the game live (like "quarantine," "feminist propaganda"). China's censorship could make global gamers wary of Chinese titles (some streamers refuse to play "Black Myth: Wukong"). |
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Financial therapist Amanda Clayman dives in to to help a reader understand not just how to stop clicking "add to cart" but why she wants to in the first place. Read More. |
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- Peloton shares soared 35% after the company spun up its first sales growth since 2022.
- OpenAI spoke out against a California bill requiring stricter AI safety measures.
- BMW sold more EVs than Tesla in Europe last month for the first time.
- Canada's biggest freight-rail companies locked out workers after failing to reach a deal.
- Burger King teamed up with Walmart to offer Walmart+ members food discounts.
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- Fed Chair Powell speaks at Jackson Hole symposium
- New-home sales
- Earnings expected from Gold Fields
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Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Disney, Microsoft, Starbucks, Tesla, and Walmart |
Advertiser's disclosures:
* A filing for FDA approval is no guarantee of an actual FDA approval. *** This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Technologies Series D Preferred Stock offering. A prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before making any investment, you are urged to read the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus carefully for a more complete understanding of the issuer and the offering. The securities offered by Monogram are highly speculative. Investing in these securities involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. There is no existing public trading market for the Series D Preferred Stock. Monogram does not intend to apply for listing of the Series D Preferred Stock or the common stock purchase warrants on a national securities exchange or quoted on an over the counter market. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck. |
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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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