Go West, West, Young Man, Man! |
"Go West" is something we — "we" meaning abolitionist newspaper owner Horace Greeley — used to say to a young man in search of opportunity. But it seems you need to go West, West, these days, because the job market kinda sucks out there right now in the regular ol' West, and in the East, and the South, and the middle. Is there anywhere we left out? |
Meanwhile, West, West as we all know, is a two-day-aged Gorgonzola-style cheese made by Parish Hill Creamery in Vermont. Salty and sweet flavors dominate its profile with added notes of grass, barnyard, and burnt caramel. In other words? It's a lot like—say it with me now!—this newsletter. |
Today's Cheddlines You Need2Know |
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There's no need to feel down, young man! |
—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor |
P.S. Teach your pet to play the piano on our 'gram. |
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Quote of the Day |
| ❝ | | | It's an effective cop on the finance beat and has stood side-by-side with hundreds of millions of Americans… | | | | — Dennis Kelleher |
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Should You Check Your 401(k) Today? |
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(yep) |
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Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl Sunday, which must be the most American thing anybody has ever done, President Trump announced a coming 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. |
The stock market still gained on Monday, mostly thanks to tech stocks like Nvidia, but analysts also said the promised tariffs are too narrow to affect things too broadly. Stocks in U.S. steel and aluminum (or aluminium, as we call it correctly, in 🇬🇧) producers saw notable gains in response to the tariff news, whereas companies in industries that rely heavily on the materials for their very existence experienced "mixed reactions." Nearly a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported, and Trump has vowed to revive domestic output. Somehow. |
Gold prices rose, reflecting ongoing investor anxiety, though it was also noted that President Trump has previously retracted tariff threats, suggesting they may be negotiation tactics rather than long-term policy measures. On that note Brazil and Mexico, two top shippers of steel to the U.S., said they will wait to see if Trump announces actual tariffs on steel and aluminum imports before reacting. It appears they think he could be bluffing. |
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Last week, Amazon surpassed Walmart in Q4 revenue for the first time, so we caught up with Arun Sundarum, who covers the stock at investment research firm CFRA. "Why is the stock poised for continued success?" we asked him, while making sure to add the hashtag #NotFinancialAdvice. |
Arun highlighted Amazon's diverse businesses. "A lot of things are working for them right now," he said. "Their e-commerce business is doing well. Growing better than expectations. I think they're still taking market share in the e-commerce space, even though they lead in that business."
He also pointed to Amazon Web Services and advertising as significant growth drivers. "AWS grew 19% in Q4. It's one of their fastest-growing businesses. Advertising is probably the other side that's growing just as fast right now, which is great for Amazon because their two highest margin businesses are AWS and ads."
Prime Video has been what we call a "lossy" business, but Arun emphasized its potential for future profitability. "It really was another perk for Amazon Prime members, really. The reason why people subscribe to Amazon Prime is not because of Prime Video, it's mainly because of their fast and free shipping."
However, Arun sees opportunities for monetization through advertising and live sports. "I think this year they're going to ramp up the ads in Prime Video. They're investing in live sports right now. Thursday Night Football, for example," he said. "So I think in the coming years, we'll likely see Prime Video become at least break even and then soon become profitable." |
I'm amazed it's not profitable already, given how much revenue I'm giving the damned service every month. |
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From @cheddar |
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Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat and the Philadelphia Eagles' ferocious defense denied Patrick Mahomes, Taylor Swift's boyfriend and the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat on Sunday. The game was such a walkover for Philadelphia, it was completely dull to watch. Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score on a "tush push," winning MVP. |
Mahomes looked "more goat than GOAT" on Sunday, wrote the ever-forgiving New York Post. Taylor Swift's boyfriend might now retire. The Philadelphia Eagles are now favorite to win next year's Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in second place. |
"Defense wins championships," Hurts said. |
Pulitzer Prize–winning rapper Kendrick Lamar smiled at the camera during his half-time show, while accusing rival Drake of "like[ing] 'em young." It was a great smile and one which might even spawn a meme. |
 | 𝑮𝒊𝒐 🇲🇽 @Palace_gio |  |
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kendrick was smiling at the camera like this: | |   | | | 2:19 AM • Feb 10, 2025 | | | | | | 196 Likes 28 Retweets | 3 Replies |
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While that stole headlines, Lamar may have been expecting a conservative backlash for his half-time show. The Hill rounded up the hidden messages in his performance, which are not exactly subtle. And yet the would-be backlash is yet to come because the press focused on the Drake thing and the hidden messages were indeed… comparatively subtle. Worthy of a Pulitzer, nonetheless. It prompted comedian Jourdain Searles to muse aloud on Twitter about the need for more Kendrick energy on the political stage. |
 | jourdain searles @judysquirrels | |
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I'll vote for whoever will come at the republicans like kendrick went for drake. i'm not joking either. give me that energy or shut up. don't email me. don't text me. don't ask me for anything. | | | 6:26 PM • Feb 4, 2025 | | | | | | 49.2K Likes 5.56K Retweets | 2 Replies |
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Still, it turns out you can say and even do anything you like in this country as long as you do something outrageous to distract people first? Also: Defense wins championships. Write that one down. Now in completely unrelated news… |
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Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop work on Saturday night, just before Super Bowl Sunday, effectively shutting down an agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. On the social media platform he bought for $44 billion, Elon Musk commented: |
 | Elon Musk @elonmusk | |
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CFPB RIP 🪦 | | | 9:41 PM • Feb 7, 2025 | | | | | | 144K Likes 14.4K Retweets | 8.96K Replies |
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The CFPB homepage was down Sunday, replaced by a message reading "page not found." The CFPB says it has obtained more than $21 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers since its founding. Last month, the bureau sued Capital One for allegedly misleading consumers about its offerings for high-interest savings accounts — and "cheating" customers out of more than $2 billion in lost interest payments as a result. Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, an advocacy group, told the Associated Press: |
"That's why Wall Street's biggest banks and Trump's billionaire allies hate the bureau: it's an effective cop on the finance beat and has stood side-by-side with hundreds of millions of Americans — Republicans and Democrats — battling financial predators, scammers, and crooks." |
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Vought's email on Saturday night said that President Donald Trump had made him acting director of the CFPB on Friday. Trump fired the previous director of the bureau, Rohit Chopra, on Feb. 1. Vought was an architect of Project 2025, a policy blueprint for the Trump White House that Trump tried to disavow during last year's campaign. |
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President Donald Trump announced an order to cease production of the 1-cent coin yesterday, citing its diminished purchasing power and the high cost of production, which is currently almost 4 cents per penny, according to the U.S. Mint. |
While advocates for eliminating the penny highlight its limited utility and excessive production costs, supporters argue for its value in charity drives and its cost-effectiveness compared to other coins such as the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to mint. I've said it before but I really do think we'd save this country a lot of further mess if we rounded up our egg prices to the nearest billion dollars. |
Despite past failed attempts by Congress to eliminate the penny, mainly opposed by the zinc lobby — pennies, as we all know, are primarily made of zinc — Trump's move follows an administrative path to ceasing its production. The U.S. Mint reported producing over 3.2 billion pennies last year, marking them as the most minted coin, even though they reportedly exit active circulation faster than other coins because people don't care about pennies due to their low desirability. |
Experiences from Canada and other countries that have phased out their lowest-denomination coins suggest that Americans are unlikely to miss the penny, with those nations not regretting their decisions. It's a fair observation. I am not exactly stricken at the news. Are you? |
Trump announced his order via social media, framing it as part of broader efforts to eliminate government waste, even "if it's a penny at a time." Meanwhile people are questioning why Trump left the Super Bowl so early when it cost him an estimated $20 million to attend. But I say he's the president. He can do whatever he wants. |
Wait. What's that? A federal judge in Rhode Island has called out the Trump administration for failing to follow a court order in a move that could provoke a constitutional crisis? Quick! Somebody say something about Drake! |
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