Oct 24, 2024

There's More Than One Way to Skin a Cathelain

First: Thanks to Peter, Ryan, Preston, and Jeremy, who wrote yesterday to let me know that it was Jon Favreau, not Jeremy Piven, who was so money in the movie Swingers. I regret the error, but I'm grateful you cared enough to point it out, fellas. YOU'RE SO MONEY, and YOU don't even know it. You know?

Now as we all know, Cathelain is a French cow's milk cheese whose name means, confusingly, "goat" in the old dialect of the country's Savoie region. It is a round cheese with a smooth, slightly sour rind that melts in the mouth — just like this newsletter.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks fell by about 1.5% yesterday to retreat from their recent record-breaking streak, thanks to a variety of bad news including a 6% fall in Starbucks sales, Denny's closing 150 locations, and McDonald's killing somebody in Colorado with a Quarter Pounder (of which more shortly). Home sales also slumped to their weakest annual pace since 2010. None of that filled investors with joy, but you know what? There's more than one way to make a buck in this economy, hence today's cheese pun. The cheddlines:

Go get 'em, tiger.

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

P.S. We've got a robot throwing shade at another robot for telling a bad joke on our instagram.

Quote of the Day

"I used to go to Letterman all the time and he would ask me about weed all the time and I would freely talk about it." — Seth Rogen

Read the story

1. New at McDonald's: Boo Buckets, E.Coli, 5% Stock Dip

In very bad timing for trick-or-treat season, McDonald's experienced a $10 billion decline in its company value on Wednesday after a CDC announcement the day before linked an E. coli outbreak to the chain's Quarter Pounder burgers. It's so far killed one person in Colorado and sent 10 more to the hospital.

As far as we know, this has nothing to do with Donald Trump serving fries in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania last weekend, but wouldn't that be crazy if it did? Anyway, McDonald's has traced the issue instead to slivered onions from a single sliverer and has temporarily removed the Quarter Pounder from its menu in affected areas across four states and parts of eight others as a cautionary measure. The outbreak's effects are expected to be relatively limited, impacting less than 10% of McDonald's U.S. operations.

Despite the initial negative impact, financial analysts believe McDonald's will likely face only a short-lived hit to its sales and stock price because of the outbreak. So if we were in the habit of offering #FinancialAdvice, we'd suggest you buy now while the stock is down. But that's not financial advice, no sirree! Anyway, this optimism is partly due to McDonald's advanced supply-chain capabilities, positioning it better than some past cases like the 2015 Chipotle outbreak, although nobody died back then, but 60 people were hospitalized. E. coli: never a great look for a fast-food chain. Now pass me my Boo Bucket! Read More

2. How to Buy Stock in Your Favorite Pro Athletes: 'It's Pretty Simple, Actually'

Have you ever wished your favorite tight end was also a collateralized debt obligation? Do you like IPOs as much as RBIs? Well, thanks to Vestible, you can now buy stock in professional athletes.

"It's pretty simple, actually," said Vestible co-founder and CEO Parker Graham. "What we do is we have an athlete. When we partner with them, they basically sign an agreement that owns a portion of their income. We take that and see that document. We securitize it via regulation, and we sell it to fans in an IPO, just like you would be able to do an IPO of a stock. The key difference is that with our IPOs, you're not only able to invest in it, but you're also able to sell those shares after the fact. So, you're investing in an athlete and getting paid a dividend based off what they make on the field, while you hold those shares."

They're focusing on the NFL and the NBA. I'm just sad I didn't invest in one-time Portland Trailblazer Greg Oden, who was signed with great fanfare in 2007 before his knees shattered and he missed his first six seasons, playing a grand total of three before retiring. Read More

From @cheddar

Who said robots can't throw shade?

A new video from Engineered Arts shows two AI bots engaged in a bicker. It introduces Azi, the male counterpart to Ameca, who's known as "the world's most advanced human-shaped robot." Ameca, however, doesn't seem too amused by Azi's joke.

Follow @cheddar on Instagram!

3. Scaring People Is Big Business, Says CEO of Haunted House Company

Ryan Stana, CEO of RWS Global, makes it his business to scare people. Right now, his firm has hired 2,500 performers and technicians around the world to put on scary experiences on cruise ships, at theme parks, and all over the place for Halloween. He's also created a 30 Rock room based on Jimmy Fallon's nightmares.

"35% of Americans between 18 and 24 go to haunted houses," he said. "We're providing haunted experiences from design to fabrication. So, this year for Six Flags, we are taking famous intellectual property like Stranger Things, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Annabelle, The Conjuring, Army of the Dead, and taking that IP and bringing it to life and scaring people in the most unexpected ways."

Sounds like a lot of work, to be honest. But there's a frightful amount of money in it.

"Halloween in America is an $11.6 billion business," he said — or about the amount McDonald's lost yesterday because of its E. coli outbreak. Read More

4. Seth Rogen Talked to Us About His Weed Company

Michael Mohr grew up watching movies in his cousin's basement with Seth Rogen. Now they run Houseplant, which sells marijuana paraphernalia. It has estimated revenue in the millions of dollars, has secured venture capital investment and is poised to capitalize on a trend toward legalization across the U.S., where more Americans use cannabis daily than drink alcohol.

"Canada has federally legalized weed. A lot of countries in Europe are starting to recreationally legalize weed," Seth said. "And so, yeah, things are encouraging. You know, it should be legalized. There's absolutely no reason it isn't. I've just seen it go from being something that literally only I was talking about to something that a lot more people start to talk about. I used to go to Letterman all the time and he would ask me about weed all the time and I would freely talk about it. And one time in commercial, I asked him, 'How come you always asked me about this? Like you seemed so fascinated by it.' He's like, 'Honestly, there's no other actor will even admit they smoke weed.'"

The firm makes "multi-functional products" you can smoke weed with, roll joints with, and ashtrays, which are not so multi-functional, unless you get so high—or old—you mistake one for a cereal bowl. But still, they're products.

"This was a thing that plagued me for so long," Seth said. "It's like, like what do I roll my weed on and how do I make it like a nice experience, you know?"

Good for you, mate. In Southern states this country still hands down life sentences for marijuana possession, but I'm sure it's fine. Read More

5. Campaign Trail Heats Up With Days to Go

Rapper Eminem made a political appearance to support Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign at an event in Detroit, with voting in Michigan about to kick off.

Former President Barack Obama joined the stage to the tune of Eminem's "Lose Yourself," engaging with the crowd and even rapping several lines from the song. The star-studded rally, aiming to boost voter enthusiasm, saw appearances from notable figures like former NFL Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson.

The event's timing is critical as early voting in Michigan is set to begin, with Democrats hoping to secure the state — a key battleground in determining the outcome of the presidency and control of the U.S. Senate. Obama, alongside Democrat Elissa Slotkin, attacked Trump's fitness for office, citing his desire for "unchecked power" and erratic behavior.

Trump described Detroit negatively at a rally on October 10, saying "our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president," comments that were sharply criticized by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who defended the city's honor in her speech at the Harris rally. Harris herself wore a T-shirt that said "Detroit vs. Everybody" this weekend.

"We stand for the idea that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it's on who you lift up," she said. Trump, meanwhile, drew a major feature in The Atlantic this week focusing on his remarks to a White House aide reported by two people who once heard him say in the oval office: "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had."

What kind of generals do YOU need, dear reader? Email me and let me know! Read More