đ Cryptoâs short honeymoon
Hey Snackers,
When life gives you lemons, hire robots to make lemonade. Chick-fil-A said its lemon-squeezing robots are saving 10K hours of labor a day. But do they work on Sunday?
The S&P 500 clawed back early losses yesterday to finish in the green, though the Magnificent 7 underperformed. Check out our Big Movers below to see some market moves that stood out. Tomorrow big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup kick off Q4 earnings szn.
Bitcoin slips as cryptoâs postelection honeymoon hits a rough patch
On the rocks⌠Bitcoinâs kept sliding today, down nearly 10% on the week and briefly dipping below $90K â its lowest price since November. The OG crypto, 16% off its $108K record, had plenty of miserable company. As of this morning, ethereum, Solana, dogecoin, and cardano were all down nearly 20% on the week. It wasnât just name-brand coins feeling winterâs chill: the CoinDesk 20, an index tracking a basket of crypto assets, was down 12% on the week. Driving the pain:
Hot and heavy: Last weekâs stronger-than-expected jobs report saw traders reassess their rate-cut expectations. Now demand for ârisk onâ assets like crypto and tech stocks may be cooling.Â
Options open: $940M flowed out of crypto-investment products (like: spot bitcoin ETFs) in the back half of last week.
Not yet newlyweds⌠but getting a reality check. The crypto industry had been riding high since Trumpâs victory in November, banking on a belief that the incoming admin would unlock a favorable regulatory regime and cheerlead key legislation like a stablecoin bill. And while Trump-nominated SEC Chair Paul Atkins is seen as a crypto ally, the reality of DC may be starting to seep in. Analysts suggest a nearly evenly divided House of Representatives could slow down lawmakersâ efforts to rewrite crypto rules.
Relationships need give and take⌠The crypto industry donated $238M+ in the last election cycle to coin-friendly PACs and candidates. Those $$ helped secure spots for 298 lawmakers in the new Congress, which mayâve helped boost bitcoinâs price to a record high in December. With the fresh Congress now seated and Trumpâs inauguration on Monday, investors are waiting to see whether their new relationship is reciprocal.
Are Smartphones Key to Basic Income in the AI Era?
Some of todayâs most prolific thinkers predict that universal basic income will be necessary if AI takes over human jobs.
And itâs Mode Mobile whoâs stepping up and paying real people â right now. By monetizing smartphone usage, their EarnPhone has put over $325M in their customersâ pockets.
đ˛ Mode saw 32,481% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, ranking them the #1 overall software company on Deloitteâs fastest-growing companies list1 by aiming to pioneer "Privatized Universal Basic Income" powered by technology â not government.Â
Theyâve just been granted the stock ticker $MODE by the Nasdaq2, and you still have a chance to invest in their pre-IPO offering at just $0.26/share.3 Â
This is your exclusive offer to earn up to 100% bonus shares4 in Modeâs pre-IPO offering.5
Abercrombie, Urban, and other trendy retail names tumble despite strong holiday growth
Y2K problems⌠Retailers spruced up their holiday-quarter outlooks yesterday ahead of their earnings reports, but investors weren't cheery. Abercrombie stock sank 16% after the denim dynamo said it expects a 7% jump in holiday sales, a big slowdown from the 21% growth it posted for Q4 a year ago. Urban Outfitters stock dipped even after the company scored record holiday sales fueled by its Nuuly rental service and Free People and Anthropologie brands. American Eagle fell after bumping its quarterly outlook, but said full-year sales would drop because of a shorter shopping window.
Department doldrums: While Nordstrom hiked its forecast, Macyâs and Kohlâs said sales would likely come up short.
Bright spot: Lululemon stock stretched up after the athleisure icon raised its Q4 sales and profit outlook as shoppers paid full price for yoga sets.
Fourth-quarter frenzy⌠The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to have grown between 2.5% and 3.5%. Compare that to 2021, when holiday sales surged 14% on stimulus-fueled splurges. The spending slowdown comes as retailers try to lure deal hunters: clothing saw the steepest holiday discounts, with prices slashed about 33% as brands tried to fend off low-priced ecomm rivals Shein, Temu, and Amazon.
Itâs hard to stay on the top shelf⌠Millennial staples like A&F, Urban Outfitters, and American Eagle have been on a tear, but it may be getting harder to keep up double-digit growth as discount competition intensifies. In a survey last year, over a third of Gen Z consumers said theyâd made at least one monthly purchase from Shein, Temu, or TikTok Shop.
Could this company become the Uber of smartphones?
Marc Cuban turned down the chance to invest in Uber at basement prices before the companyâs IPO.
And by the time the rest of us hear about industry-changing disruptions like these, it's usually too late... but right now thereâs a tech-startup making waves behind the scenes. Like Uber turned vehicles into income-generating assets, theyâre turning smartphones into an easy passive income source â already making over $325M for their customers!
And this time, you have a chance to invest5 in their pre-IPO offering2 at just $0.26/share.3
Big Daily Movers
Moderna wiped out all its Covid-vax-era gains yesterday, slumping 17%, after its annual revenue forecast disappointed (the pandemic-year comparisons are rough).
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group spiked nearly 22% yesterday as options traders went gaga ahead of next weekâs inauguration.
Quantum-computing stocks including Rigetti plunged around 30% after D-Wave Quantum reached an agreement to unload more shares.
What else weâre Snackinâ
OpenAI urged the US govât to prioritize AI policy in a 15-page wish list that includes freedom from copyright restrictions, less regulation, and federal funding.
Jeff Bezosâ Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its largest-ever rocket yesterday because of a last-minute glitch, as the company struggles to keep up with SpaceX.
Early data suggested that Appleâs and Samsungâs smartphone deliveries sagged in the holiday quarter as Chinese competitors like Xiaomi gained ground.
In a push to maintain the USâs AI lead over China, the Biden admin proposed new restrictions on advanced-chip exports. Nvidia shares fell 2%.
Appleâs recent $3T valuation has spurred a series of impressive raises among smartphone innovators â and $MODEâs pre-IPO offering² is no exception. Itâs now live at $0.26/shareÂł â lock in up to 100% bonus sharesâ´ while the raise lasts.âľ
Snack Fact of the Day
Cottage-cheese sales in the US have surged over 50% in the past half decade
Tuesday
Producer-price inflation data for December
Fed Beige Book
Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin and shares of: Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, and Moderna
Advertiser's disclosures:
š The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
² Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
Âł The minimum investment is $999.96.
â´ A minimum investment of $1,950 is required to receive bonus shares. 100% bonus shares are offered on investments of $9,950+.
âľ Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobileâs 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.