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The owners of an Albuquerque house made famous by "Breaking Bad" listed the four-bedroom property for $4M, well above the asking price of surrounding homes. That's the kind of business savvy Walter White would be proud of. The techy Nasdaq popped yesterday, boosted by robust chip demand as Nvidia shares hit a record high. For the first time this year, bitcoin climbed past $100K. |
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Seeing a local plumbing ad… after the "Yellowstone" finale. Comcast unveiled a new platform (dubbed: Universal Ads) designed to make it easier for small and midsize businesses to buy ad time on premium streamed content. FYI: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, Universal Pictures, and streamer Peacock. Universal Ads is set to launch this quarter and takes a page from tech cos like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok, which have scored advertisers by offering simplified ad-buying options. |
- Channel surf: DirecTV, AMC Networks, Paramount, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery all said they'd join Universal Ads.
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Big tech's ad dominance… Last year Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Google were forecast to be on the receiving end of nearly two-thirds of all US digital ad spend. Streamers have been trying to get in on the action, with experts saying there could be more revenue potential than there was for TV a decade ago. Meantime, Netflix was expected to earn $1B+ in ad revenue last year as millions of users signed up for its less expensive ad tier. |
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Cable needs an ad update… While smaller businesses once dominated local TV ads, they've struggled to get their foot in the prime-streaming door. Now, media cos like Comcast are circling back to those smaller players in hope of creating bigger ad-portunities. The Universal Ads platform could simplify ad buying through traditional TV streamers and unlock a new customer base. |
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Turning the page… After being on the brink of bankruptcy six years ago, Barnes & Noble is again a bestseller. The bookstore icon plans to open 60 new US stores this year. Recall: B&N shifted its strategy to one closer resembling that of indie shops after being scooped up by hedge fund Elliott Management in 2019. It meant leaving stocking and display choices up to individual stores and investing in browsing-friendly renovations like more book space. Since the acquisition, foot traffic to B&N is up 7%. |
- Self-help: With more than 600 stores in the US, the retailer is slowly building its collection back toward its 2008 peak of 726 locations.
- Current affairs: B&N's success comes as several big US retailers buckle. Last month The Container Store filed for bankruptcy, Big Lots said it would close many of its stores, and Party City said it was shuttering entirely.
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Reading into it… Last year, US book sales rose 7%+ through October, eclipsing $12B. Print still reigns supreme, reaching $846M in October sales (10x what e-books earned). The romantasy genre (imagine "Lord of the Rings," only sexier) has been a major boon to the industry, and a fresh entry from star author Rebecca Yarros is set to drop this month. It's already made bestseller charts on preorders. |
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Employees can read the room… In the Amazon era, selling books isn't the easiest biz (Costco is nixing book sections from most of its stores). By letting locations make their own display choices, B&N can cater to regional tastes and better keep up with the speed of #BookTok. Its focus on IRL browsing offers something Amazon's algorithms can't: physical discovery. |
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The January pay hikes could affect more than 9M US workers, one analysis found. See which state raised the minimum wage the most. |
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- Disney's combining its Hulu + Live TV biz with FuboTV to create a jointly owned streamer that'd be the No. 2 digital pay-TV provider after YouTube TV.
- US Steel and Nippon Steel sued the US gov't, accusing Prez Biden of blocking their $14B merger under false pretenses.
- MicroStrategy bought more bitcoin, for the ninth straight week, upping its holdings to $44B+ worth of the crypto.
- Uber and Lyft — which abandoned efforts to develop their own self-driving tech — plan to offer self-driving rides from Waymo and May Mobility, respectively.
- OpenAI's CEO said the unprofitable company's losing money on its $200/month ChatGPT subscription.
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- Job openings
- CES tech expo begins
- Earnings expected from Cal-Maine Foods
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Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Disney, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Warner Bros. Discovery |
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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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