Erewhon, the upscale LA grocer known for $40 sea-moss gel and $20 smoothies, has drink collabs with the likes of Katy Perry, Hailey Bieber, and… General Motors? Chevy's blue Erewhon "Electric Juice" is a new promo for its EVs. Stocks fell yesterday from Tuesday's record highs. September is historically a weaker month for the market, but the Fed's rate cut and China's new stimulus measures have helped the S&P 500 buck that trend. |
|
|
Swiper no swiping… The Department of Justice sued Visa this week, saying that the world's largest payments network maintained an illegal monopoly over debit-card swipes. Visa stock has dropped over 6% since the department accused it of smothering the competition. FYI: Visa makes $$ on every swipe of its cards by charging banks and merchants for using its payments network. The DOJ said that Visa's practices have led to consumers and merchants paying billions in extra swipe fees. |
- Key quote: "Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa's unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing — but the price of nearly everything."
- Visa called the suit "meritless," saying that the debit space is growing with plenty of competition, including rivals who are "thriving" (possibly: Mastercard, Discover). The DOJ says that over 60% of US debit transactions happen on Visa's network.
|
Keep your friends close… and your financial-services enemies closer. For the Justice Department, the problem isn't necessarily Visa's dominance; it's how it thinks Visa has kept that dominance. The DOJ alleges that Visa has made agreements with other financial-services companies that prevent them from threatening its position. Visa has deals with Apple, PayPal, and Square, which the department says turns them from potential rivals into partners (Apple agreed not to directly compete with Visa's network). Visa also tried to snatch up fintech co Plaid (now Block), but the DOJ sued to stop that in 2020. |
|
|
There's no such thing as a free swipe… Consumers don't often think of the invisible fee network behind each noncash purchase they make. But the charges cost US merchants $72B last year, and those can be passed to shoppers. Most of those fees go to the bank that issued your card, but it adds up to billions for networks like Visa that move your payments. |
|
|
General Motors Invested in This Unlisted Lithium Stock |
For General Motors to successfully meet its EV target by 2035, they'll need 414,469 tons of lithium per year. That's why the automaking behemoth led a $50M investment round for lithium extraction startup EnergyX. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods. Plus, where modern methods take 12+ months, EnergyX needs just two days. Now, EnergyX has acquired 100,000+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land and a $5M DOE grant toward a recently announced US lithium plant. The energy storage market could reach $546B by 20351 — and it's powered by lithium. EnergyX's plan to produce 65,000 tons per year will help them lead the charge. However, EnergyX is only accepting shareholders until October 3.2 |
|
|
General Motors Invested in This Unlisted Lithium Stock |
For General Motors to successfully meet its EV target by 2035, they'll need 414,469 tons of lithium per year. That's why the automaking behemoth led a $50M investment round for lithium extraction startup EnergyX. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods. Plus, where modern methods take 12+ months, EnergyX needs just two days. Now, EnergyX has acquired 100,000+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land and a $5M DOE grant toward a recently announced US lithium plant. The energy storage market could reach $546B by 20351 — and it's powered by lithium. EnergyX's plan to produce 65,000 tons per year will help them lead the charge. However, EnergyX is only accepting shareholders until October 3.2 |
|
|
"Hell yeah"... Mark Zuckerberg cheered during yesterday's Connect developer conference, where the Meta boss unveiled mixed-reality headsets, AI-infused specs, and other tech. The next gen of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses appears to use the social co's AI chatbot to analyze what users see and act as a virtual assistant. (Picture: looking at a bowl of fruit and asking what kind of smoothie to make.) Zuck also debuted Meta's $300 Quest 3S headset. The mixed-reality base model costs $200 less than last year's Quest 3 and appears to offer similar experiences like gaming and virtual concerts. |
- Smart sight: Face-worn tech hasn't really taken off, but Meta's hoping its style-forward smart glasses (which look like regular Ray-Bans) can cast a wider net.
- AR you ready: Zuckerberg showed off a prototype of "full holographic" augmented-reality glasses that he called "the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen."
|
Rose-colored headset… Meta's road to the metaverse has been bumpy. Since changing its name from Facebook in 2021 to signal its expansion beyond social media, the company has spent tens of billions on its virtual ambitions. Meta estimates its capital expenses will hit a record of up to $40B this year as its metaverse division (which includes VR and AR tech) loses about $16B annually. Meta's ad revenue, which grew 22% in its last reported quarter, is propping up investments on those big bets. |
|
|
The vision's unclear… Meta's new hardware could give investors hope that its massive investments might pay off. But only if folks want to buy it. So far consumers have shown underwhelming interest in face gadgets. Snap Spectacles and Google Glass flopped, and Apple's $3.5K Vision Pro headset has failed to appeal to a wide audience. It's unclear whether Meta's Quest headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses will make it into the mainstream. |
|
|
The CEO of Duolingo sat down for Sherwood's new Q&A series and revealed the two places AI fits in his plans and how a lesser-known product is leading to his next big ambition. Read more. |
|
|
- Boeing's 33K striking workers are overwhelmingly against the company's "best and final" offer of a 30% pay hike.
- China slashed interest rates as it tries to revive its sluggish economy and said it'll give one-time cash handouts to people in extreme poverty.
- At least 26 US states have passed or are weighing laws to rein in the use of genAI in election material.
- Mortgage refinancing in the US nearly tripled from a year ago as the average 30-year rate fell below 6%.
- Worldcoin, Sam Altman's iris-scanning project, was reportedly targeted by hustlers for nearly $700K.
|
|
|
- Weekly jobless claims
- Pending home sales
- Earnings expected from CarMax, Jabil, Accenture, Costco, BlackBerry, Scholastic, and Vail Resorts
|
Authors of this Snacks own shares of Alphabet, Apple, and Snap |
Advertiser's disclosures: 1 "Global battery energy storage market could grow to $546B, says analyst," Renewable Energy World, 2020. 2 Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.energyx.com 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. |
|
|
Was this email forwarded to you? Love what you're reading?
Don't miss out on future stories — subscribe to Snacks and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox. |
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
