🌯 Snacks wrap

The final stretch… With just a handful of trading days left this year, the S&P 500 is on track to end 2024 up 27%. After a 24% gain in 2023, it would mark only the fourth time in the past century that the index has notched 20%+ returns for two years straight (the last time was in the ’90s). The year’s rally has been fueled by AI hype, Fed rate cuts, and a perception that POTUS-elect Trump’s policies will be favorable for markets. His victory has Wall Street anticipating corporate tax cuts, looser regulatory scrutiny, and a dealmaking boom, especially with the expected departures of FTC chair Lina Khan and SEC boss Gary Gensler.

The techy Nasdaq appears poised to outperform the S&P 500 with AI-flavored stocks leading the pack (Nvidia and Palantir have racked up triple-digit annual gains). Still, about a fifth of stocks in the S&P 500 are down for the year. Among the biggest losers: Walgreens, Boeing, Intel, and Moderna.

Makin’ Satoshi proud… Crypto’s EOY holiday card is packed. The launch of spot bitcoin ETFs helped cryptocurrency gain Wall Street acceptance and hit fresh records. And while April’s “halving” brought growing pains, most miners overcame ’em: MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and Hut 8 all reported soaring Q3 revenues. Bitcoin soared past the $100K milestone this month, and companies like MicroStrategy have scooped up billions in coins. Meantime, Trump has talked about creating a strategic bitcoin reserve.

But this year wasn’t just BTC’s show. Solana, XRP, and dogecoin all saw mega gains, and 4M+ meme coins were launched on Pump.fun. Elsewhere, traders wagered $3.6B+ on the US presidential election on blockchain-based Polymarket as prediction markets hit the mainstream. With an incoming industry-friendly White House and turnover at the SEC, 2024 has teed up the crypto industry for what it hopes will be another banner year.

Hard takeoff, soft landing… The US economy has spent the year finding its sea legs. In July, price-weary consumers celebrated inflation falling below 3% for the first time since March 2021. In September, they cheered the Fed’s first rate cut in four years. Rates were cut again in November, and an expected final trim for the year is due Wednesday. As the cuts came, inflation closed in on the Fed’s 2% target, dropping to as low as 2.4% in September before climbing to 2.7% last month. Unemployment ticked up — though still historically low — and November marked the sixth straight month in which unemployment eclipsed 4%.

The US has added about 186K jobs/month, on average, and hourly wages have risen an average of 4% for the year. While a lot of metrics pointed to a strong economy (growing GDP, jobs, and household wealth), Americans’ vibes stayed pretty bleak. Consumer sentiment started the year at 79 points (below the historical average) and dropped in July to 66. Since then, it’s gone up for five straight months, ending the year at 74.

Ozempi-economy… Prescription fills for weight-loss drugs more than doubled in 2024 as folks splurged to shed lbs. Novo Nordisk is expected to rake in $65B this year from its Ozempic and Wegovy injectables, while Eli Lilly Mounjaro and Zepbound are forecast to earn $15B. Meanwhile, telehealth cos like Hims & Hers and Ro have capitalized on weight-loss-drug shortages with copycats.

Boeing’s bumps… The beleaguered jet maker has lost a third of its value since a door plug yeeted off a 737 during a flight in January, which led to federal investigations. In October, Boeing had its lowest deliveries since 2020 after a seven-week workers’ strike. It just restarted 737 Max production, but this year has lost ~$8B.

CrowdStrike outage… The cybersecurity provider sent a faulty update in July that blued out 8.5M screens and rocked the airline industry. Delta Air Lines alone canceled 7K flights and lost $380M in biz that quarter. 

The Caitlin Clark effect… Basketball stars like Clark attracted millions of viewers to women’s college and WNBA games. As attention heats up, women’s elite sports are estimated to have earned $1B+ in global revenue for the first time. 

Bowl-spiracy… Chipotle found itself in the limelight as TikTokers went viral complaining about skimpy bowls, which led one investor to sue the chain. 

Dead lobster… Months after Red Lobster ended its costly “endless shrimp” promo, the Cheddar Bay Biscuit chain declared bankruptcy. 

Paul vs. Tyson… 65M Netflixers watched Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson in a live but glitchy boxing match. Netflix is punching into live content (next up: holiday NFL games). 

Chief exits… CEOs private-jetted to new jobs at rival companies, with Starbucks nabbing Chipotle’s chief and Victoria’s Secret scooping up Savage x Fenty’s top exec.