Hey Snackers,
Can’t stop, won’t stop… the scams Meta knows are flooding Facebook and Instagram, an investigation from The Wall Street Journal reported. In 2022, Meta itself found that “70% of newly active advertisers on the platform are promoting scams, illicit goods or ‘low quality’ products,” yet is loath to crack down on the lucrative revenue stream. So make sure to take a beat before clicking buy on that cheap summer ’fit!
The S&P 500 capped a perfect week of gains with a 0.7% gain on Friday as the recovery train kept on chugging. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 0.4% and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 0.9% rise. The Financial Times said that the US and Europe have exchanged negotiating documents on trade, helping buoy hopes that the recent trend towards dialing down tariffs will continue.
After the bell, Moody’s, the last credit ratings agency to bestow the US government with a pristine AAA credit rating, took away that title, sending 10-year Treasury yields as much as 6 basis points higher. You can see in this chart just when the news hit.
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The market got slammed with two massive blows this year. Here’s how it shrugged it off
The two biggest catalysts for US stocks this year — the DeepSeek-inspired rout that began to tip over the AI momentum trade and the Rose Garden reciprocal tariffs announcement that accentuated recession fears and crippled consumer-facing stocks — are so far shaping up to be complete nothingburgers in the eyes of the market.
For AI stocks, it’s that the sum of all fears added up to zero; for consumer stocks, it’s that the sum of all fears turned from something unquantifiable into something traders could wrap their heads around.
It’s amazing to see how there was virtually no break whatsoever in the upward trend in earnings estimates for stocks that play different roles in the AI data center supply chain, like Nvidia, Arista Networks, or Constellation Energy, following the DeepSeek realization moment. Just look at this chart.
What’s happened since DeepSeek? Meta actually upped its already ample 2025 capex budget. And all the concern about Microsoft pulling away from some data center opportunities may be a case of missing the $80 billion forest for the trees. DeepSeek was only ever a threat to tech in narrative terms, not fundamental ones.
Meanwhile, a basket of consumer stocks compiled by Goldman Sachs as being particularly vulnerable to tariffs has erased its drop since the April 2 Rose Garden tariff announcement, and then some. No, seriously, look at the chart.
What’s common to the recoveries in both is the diminution of recession fears, largely due to the pausing of reciprocal tariffs and the trade truce with China. Tariffs have turned from an existential threat to potentially everything into a manageable, localized hit to profits in the market’s eyes, and that’s something you see priced in broadly across financial markets.
The Takeaway
The AI momentum rally is the market rally. And this rally faces two threats: collapsing under the sheer scale of being unable to build on its past successes, or a broad downturn in the business cycle that leaves no company unscathed. Right now, both of those threats look like they’ve been dismissed.
This tech company grew 32,481%
It's Mode Mobile, 2023’s fastest-growing software company according to Deloitte.1
While big tech continues to find ways to extract and profit from user data, Mode continues to pay users for screen time. Their EarnPhone, has helped users earn and save an eye-popping $325M+, driving 32,418% revenue growth from 2019-2022 and a massive 45M+ consumer base.
Some companies have turned vehicles into income-generating assets, Mode is now turning smartphones into an easy passive income source. One important difference? You still have a chance to invest early in Mode’s pre-IPO offering2 at just $0.30/share.
They’ve just been granted the stock ticker $MODE by the Nasdaq2 and their current offering is almost fully subscribed.
Secure your investment at $0.30/share while there is still room.3
Stories we’re obsessed with
Box factories everywhere are folding, and it’s a bigger deal than you think. The humble cardboard box has long been considered a leading indicator for the economy. Their ubiquity both in shipments of materials needed for industrial activity and their centrality to online retail sales mean a rash of corrugated companies shuttering is a red flag for the US outlook.
Nvidia’s AI-ura effect: The halo of AI chip giant Nvidia remains remarkably powerful, and just the mention of a stock’s name in its SEC disclosure filing can send a stock soaring, as was the case with CoreWeave last Friday. But even just reading that Nvidia stayed the course and didn’t change positions — as it did with Applied Digital — can also boost shares. Here’s what Nvidia’s invested in.
The Best Thing We Read Today
The economics are rapidly becoming impossible for your favorite street festival
The Wicker Park Fest, celebrating its 21st year the weekend of July 25, will be a massive undertaking in Chicago. The three-day event will include more than 100 vendors, dozens of local stores, and two stages of musical acts. It’s usually a huge success for all involved but last year, for the first time ever, the festival didn’t make any money.
Mode Share Price Increases 15% After Raising +$45M in Pre-IPO Offering
Mode Mobile, 2023’s fastest-growing software company according to Deloitte,1 has raised $45M in their pre-IPO offering — and their share price just increased by 15%.4
Their current pre-IPO offering2 is almost fully subscribed, but there’s still limited room for investors to invest at $0.30/share.
⏰ Limited room available – invest at $0.30/share before the offer closes.3
What Else We're Snackin'
How tariffs swiftly became one of the biggest issues for Corporate America, in one chart
US funeral businesses are being squeezed by the rise of cremations
Over 36 staff and associates of Tesla’s Elon Musk and fellow tech titans got federal roles that oversee their companies
UnitedHealth’s comeback CEO is getting $1 million a year and way, way more in stock options
A bold new vision is emerging in response to AI taking over human jobs: tech-driven Universal Basic Income. +45M users have earned over $325M, and you can still invest in this industry-disrupting technology at $0.30/share.3
Snack Fact of the Day
More than 150 million people now have a Google One subscription.
This Week's Events
Earnings expected from Home Depot and Palo Alto Networks
Earnings expected from Target and TJX
Initial Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Manufacturing and Services PMI. Earnings expected from PDD Holdings, Williams-Sonoma, Ralph Lauren, Ross Stores, Intuit, and Deckers Outdoors
New Home Sales and April Building Permits
1 The rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period. See Deloitte 2023 Technology Fast 500™rankings for further details.
2 Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
3 The minimum investment is $999.90. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering.
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.
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.
4 There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations.