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America's largest pharmacy | |
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Bye, reindeers: capybaras are the holiday season's new "it" animal. The world's largest rodent has inspired a slew of plushies, T-shirts, and even a meme coin. Capy slay. Stocks calmed down yesterday after Wednesday's big sell-off, with the S&P 500 closing out the day barely changed. After the close, Nike unboxed sales and profit declines that weren't as bad as expected during its first quarter under its new CEO. 🎁 Merry quizmas: Give yourself the gift of biz-news trivia and take our new Snacks Seven Quiz. Here's the first q: |
- Which company that owns Toys "R" Us and Bonobos just said it's buying Vera Wang? (Check your answer.)
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"Massive quantities"... The Justice Department filed a complaint against CVS, accusing the US's largest pharmacy chain of dispensing wrongfully prescribed opioids. The DOJ said that CVS knowingly filled thousands of prescriptions from "pill mills," operations that issue a large number of controlled substance scripts without any legitimate medical reason. The agency also claimed CVS wrongfully sought federal reimbursement for those prescriptions. The pharmacy chain said it strongly disagrees with the complaint and its "false narrative." |
- If it's found liable, CVS could face fines and penalties for every unlawful prescription it filled and each federal reimbursement it received. CVS stock is down 46% this year.
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Held accountable… Prosecutors are still probing companies that may've been involved in the mass production and distribution of opioids. The crisis started with addictive prescription drugs like oxycodone in the '90s and has expanded to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. 82K Americans died from opioid-related overdoses in 2022. Last week, McKinsey settled a federal suit for $650M that claimed the consulting firm advised drug-maker Purdue Pharma on how to "turbocharge" sales of OxyContin. The company at the center of it all is still in court: |
- The Supreme Court this year threw out a $6B settlement by Purdue that could've shielded the family that owns the company, the Sacklers, from lawsuits.
- Purdue previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to downplaying OxyContin's addictiveness.
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It's an ongoing crisis… and efforts to contain it are intensifying. In the last decade, Big Pharma has agreed to pay more than $50B in gov't settlements, money that will mostly be used to fight the epidemic. Legislation led to a clamp down on opioid prescriptions, and Trump has said his proposed tariffs are meant to pressure China, Mexico, and Canada to curb flows of fentanyl into the US. |
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Could FAA-approved Swarm Drones Revolutionize Agriculture? |
🚨 Meet Hylio, the ag-tech pioneer hoping to transform farming with cutting-edge drone technology. With over $23M in lifetime revenue1, this is your chance to invest in a company with a mission of reshaping how the world grows food. 💡 A $556B Market Opportunity. By 2030, Hylio's total addressable market across multiple industries is estimated to reach $556B. Hylio aims to lead this market with scalable, U.S.-built drone solutions. 🤝 Trusted By USDA and Other Industry Leaders. Hylio's FAA-approved swarm technology is used by USDA, Nutrien, and King Ranch, automating crop treatment with speed and precision. 🌍 Invest in the Future of Farming. Hylio's drones have treated 1M+ acres, showing their potential to scale globally. Join the revolution aimed at transforming one of the world's most vital industries.2 |
1 Lifetime revenues are for 9 years. |
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Could FAA-approved Swarm Drones Revolutionize Agriculture? |
🚨 Meet Hylio, the ag-tech pioneer hoping to transform farming with cutting-edge drone technology. With over $23M in lifetime revenue1, this is your chance to invest in a company with a mission of reshaping how the world grows food. 💡 A $556B Market Opportunity. By 2030, Hylio's total addressable market across multiple industries is estimated to reach $556B. Hylio aims to lead this market with scalable, U.S.-built drone solutions. 🤝 Trusted By USDA and Other Industry Leaders. Hylio's FAA-approved swarm technology is used by USDA, Nutrien, and King Ranch, automating crop treatment with speed and precision. 🌍 Invest in the Future of Farming. Hylio's drones have treated 1M+ acres, showing their potential to scale globally. Join the revolution aimed at transforming one of the world's most vital industries.2 |
1 Lifetime revenues are for 9 years. |
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Freshly charged… The United Auto Workers could be uniting some more autoworkers soon. The 400K-member union is said to have struck a deal with EV-maker Rivian that'd make unionizing the company's workforce less difficult. FYI: the NLRB is investigating Rivian over allegations of union busting. Bloomberg reported that Rivian agreed to take a neutral stance in future organization efforts, as long as they happen once the company reaches profitability. |
- Could be a minute: Rivian has never reported a quarterly adjusted profit. Last quarter, the electric SUV and truck maker lost $39K per car sold (up about $7K from the previous q). In October, it slashed its annual production target by 10K vehicles.
- Greasing the wheel: The neutrality agreement is said to have helped Rivian secure a conditional $6.6B loan from the US gov't to build a new factory in Georgia.
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Lane change… The agreement signals a shift in the relationship between Rivian and the UAW, which has had its sights set outside the Big 3 carmakers for years. After securing contracts with Ford, GM, and Stellantis last year, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a $40M campaign to unionize workers at automakers including EV biggies Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid. A handful of battery plants, co-owned by big carmakers, have already moved to unionize. |
- Musk be watching: After the UAW's big contract win, Tesla boosted its factory pay in an apparent effort to combat union wage arguments.
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EV unionization needs a jump… Because EV motors are simpler to produce than their gas-powered counterparts and EV factories are largely located in the nonunion South, the UAW has been worried that the electric transition could lead to lower wages and fewer union jobs. As EV ownership grows, successfully organizing the industry will be vital for the union's future. |
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American has another $1 trillion stock: Broadcom. Read more. |
🪙 Coins… The prices of bitcoin, ethereum, and solana sank this week after the Fed suggested it'd only cut rates twice next year. Plus, Fed Chair Powell's comment that the central bank is "not allowed" to own BTC didn't do the crypto any favors. 🤹♀️ Quirky… The latest meme coin gassing up the crypto charts is "fartcoin," a solana-based token that's grown to a nearly $1B market cap. Fartcoin has zero utility, but transacting with the coin creates digital fart sounds, so that's something. 📜 Policy… El Salvador said it'd get rid of its official bitcoin app, Chivo, as the country looks to make nice with the IMF after making BTC legal tender in 2021. The move's part of a $1.4B loan deal which required El Salvador to slow its crypto roll. |
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The 20 biggest US stocks are just one trade away |
The 20 largest U.S. stocks represent $23.1 trillion in market cap — close to the total of the 480 other stocks in the S&P 500 ($27.8T).3 Through iShares Top 20 U.S. Stocks ETF (TOPT), investors can access some of the largest companies by market capitalization in the U.S — all in a single trade.4 1 Standard & Poor's indices for market cap as of Nov. 30 2024. |
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The 20 biggest US stocks are just one trade away |
The 20 largest U.S. stocks represent $23.1 trillion in market cap — close to the total of the 480 other stocks in the S&P 500 ($27.8T).3 Through iShares Top 20 U.S. Stocks ETF (TOPT), investors can access some of the largest companies by market capitalization in the U.S — all in a single trade.4 3 Standard & Poor's indices for market cap as of Nov. 30 2024. |
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- Olive Garden parent Darden saw its stock surge 20% yesterday after reporting expectation beating growth at its breadstick-slinging chain.
- Amazon warehouse workers at seven US facilities went on strike ahead of the holiday shopping crunch as the Teamsters union pushes for a new contract.
- Freezer-aisle fry maker Lamb Weston crinkle cut its sales forecast and said it'd swap CEOs as higher restaurant prices sapped appetite for frozen potatoes.
- Grubhub's set to deliver a $25M settlement after the FTC accused it of misrepresenting costs to customers and deceiving drivers' on pay.
- Folks are rushing to buy up big ticket items (think: washers, computers, cars) ahead of the Trump admin's expected tariffs that economists say could spike prices.
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- Personal consumption expenditures
- Consumer sentiment
- Earnings expected from Winnebago
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Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares of: Amazon, CVS, GM, Disney, and Tesla |
Advertiser's disclosures:
2 This is a paid advertisement for Hylio's Regulation CF Offering. This Reg CF offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC. Please read the offering circular and related risks at https://www.startengine.com/offering/hylio. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. This was a paid for ad. Sherwood Media has been compensated for this ad by the Hylio Reg CF Campaign hosted on StartEngine. 4 Visit www.iShares.com to view a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Funds that concentrate investments in specific industries, sectors, markets or asset classes may underperform or be more volatile than other industries, sectors, markets or asset classes and the general securities market. The Funds are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (together with its affiliates, "BlackRock"). The iShares Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, nor does this company make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Funds. BlackRock is not affiliated with S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. iCRMH1224U/S-4104889 BLACKROCK and iSHARES are trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its affiliates. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners. |
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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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