Hey Snackers,
As the world’s millionaire count continues to tick up, adding 684,000 to their ranks last year to reach about ~60 million, it follows that members of the seven-figure club are moving to places that will help keep them in the green. Earlier this week, a new report outlined that 142,000 millionaires, the highest number ever recorded, are expected to gain citizenship in another country this year, and it’s not good news for the UK. We charted where they’re leaving and which countries are reaping the relocation rewards.
On Friday, the S&P 500 booked its highest close ever, as the benchmark US stock index gained 3.4% last week.Â
🇺🇲 Happy quiz-dependence day! In honor of this week’s holiday, check your knowledge on Americans’ preferences for chain restaurants and grocery stores, along with more trivia.Â
According to Americans, which restaurant chain is the best value?
Check your answer.
Just Doing It
Sportswear company Nike has had a rough patch, dropping its CEO last year ahead of the company retooling its offerings and strategy. Heading into last Thursday’s earnings, the athletic giant had lost more than a third of its value over the past year — and was down 15% year to date — amid cooling demand and tariff turmoil.
That said, if there’s one message coming out of last week, it’s that Wall Street is buying this comeback strategy.Â
The footwear and athletic wear company’s external challenges are very real. Nike is now facing a 30% duty on goods imported from China. Meanwhile, North America, Nike’s biggest market, has seen softer sales as upstart sneaker and athletic wear brands gain traction.
Nike was the best performer in the S&P 500 on Friday, with shares jumping 15% after the sneaker giant beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations and laid out a clearer game plan for its comeback.
Analysts also said the company is taking a more strategic approach by delaying splashy launches (like the upcoming Nike x SKIMS collab) to better time performance-led campaigns.
Friday’s 15% pop in share price was just what the company needed: Nike shares finished the week down only about 4.8% year to date. UBS analysts raised their price target from $56 to $63 (though they maintained a “neutral” rating), citing a better-than-expected sales outlook and less margin pressure from tariffs.
The Takeaway
Nike’s game plan to spend more on athletes and to get strategic about its plan to handle tariffs is exactly the kind of come-from-behind victory that the brand stakes its name on. It’s won back Wall Street; now comes the hard part of executing and actually winning back consumers.
Are Smart Shades The Next Chapter In the Smart Home Script?
The Smart Home industry has seen spectacular exits — often through big tech acquiring scrappy startups that went on to dominate their markets.
That playbook can yield impressive returns for early investors. And one Smart Home innovation is still looking for its leader: smart shades.
RYSE wants to claim that title. They’ve patented a simple retrofit device that automates window shades and integrates seamlessly into the Smart Home platforms and voice speakers like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit. Here’s the story so far:
🗓️ 67% increase in revenue YoY to CA$2.5M for 20241
🤝 60,000+ units sold (since 2018) to residential and commercial customers
📦 Stocked in 100+ Best Buy locationsÂ
🌱$5.8M+ raised across all offeringsÂ
Build, scale, get acquired by big tech. RYSE is hoping to mirror the Smart Home startup playbook — and you can invest today, RYSE is still open to everyday investors.2
Stories we’re obsessed with
Back your mortgage with crypto? Last week, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency instructed mortgage heavyweights Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create proposals on including cryptocurrency assets as part of their evaluations for new home mortgages. “This is a really revolutionary moment that’s going to change home ownership forever,” one expert told Sherwood News as we dove into what this order means, who it may help most, and how long it will take.
Dirty data centers: As Big Tech continues to spend big on bigger and bigger data centers, the high-powered compute facilities are on track to create more CO2 emissions than flights do. There is some hope that moving some of that compute to our own phones could mitigate the environmental impact, but for now, here’s when the carbon emissions from the data centers will overtake those of all of aviation.Â
Disrupting the Smart Home — And You Can Invest
RYSE isn’t just another smart home startup — they own 10 patents that make their devices one-of-a-kind.
And they've already been putting that IP to work, having successfully forced copycats off Amazon via the platform’s patent enforcement process.
That means less competition and more market share for the company.Â
With Best Buy selling RYSE’s patented devices in over 100 stores and 2024 revenue up 67% year-over-year to CA$2.5M,1 they’re safeguarding their future — and their investors — by ensuring no one can copy their technology.
RYSE is already funded by high-profile investors and VCs — and their current round is open to all at $2.00/share.3 Learn how you can invest.2
YouTube may be undergoing its most profound shift ever
Is YouTube losing the “you”? In the past few months, AI-generated videos have quietly begun to take over the platform, with four of the top 10 YouTube channels by subscriber count featuring AI-generated material in every video. Case in point: this channel, the fastest-growing across all of YouTube, suspiciously grew from a few hundred subscribers in February to over 30 million in June.
What this means for the future of YouTube and its plans for TV domination.
What else we’re Snackin’
Tesla and Google’s autonomous vehicle launches last week sent self-driving tech companies soaring
We have to talk about the B word (and it’s unfortunately not balderdash)
Meta’s “superintelligence” team: the firm’s path to AI domination seems to be paved by other AI companies’ talent
SPACs are back — maybe? Our “where are they now” chart for the last round of SPAC darlings tells an interesting tale
An early sign that tariff-driven inflation may not be the same as the postpandemic price surges
Build, scale, hope to get acquired by big tech. With 10 ultra-strong patents, YoY revenue up 67% for 20241 and a Best Buy retail rollout, RYSE is hoping to mirror the Smart Home startup playbook. Learn how you can invest.2
Snack Fact of the Day
$2.1 billion of crypto funds were stolen in the first half of 2025, nearly as much as was stolen in all of 2024.
This Week
June Chicago PMI
May job openings, June Manufacturing PMI, earnings expected from Constellation Brands
June ADP employment
June jobs report. Markets close at 1 p.m. ET
Markets closed for Independence DayÂ
Advertiser’s DisclosuresÂ
1 Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Revenue growth is based on the 10K Annual Report.The 67.1% increase in 2024 revenue was due to the company providing additional discounts during the year, especially during sale periods and providing extra volume discounts. In addition, the company executed a greater number of promotional campaigns compared to prior years, leading to the increase in revenue. For further details for FY 2024 and FY 2023, see Form 1-K Annual Report.Â
2 This is a paid advertisement for RYSE's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at: SEC website.
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.
3 The minimum investment amount is $1000.00.