Hey Snackers,
In the world of AI, the one who cannot be named is apparently David Mayer. The internet has been investigating why putting that name and some others into ChatGPT causes the bot to crash.Â
Stocks inched up yesterday, driven by tech. Palantir led the pack, with shares up 7%, after boosting its ability to sell cloud services to the US govât. South Koreaâs finance ministry said the countryâs stock market was stabilizing after President Yoon Suk Yeol lifted a martial-law order hours after abruptly imposing it.
100K autoworkers strike in Volkswagenâs biggest German walkout in years
No punch backs⊠A year after the UAW went on strike against Detroit carmakers, autoworkers are driving another big labor movement. Nearly a third of all Volkswagen employees in Germany (~100K workers) participated in âwarning strikesâ on Monday and Tuesday to protest wage-cutting proposals put forth by Europeâs leading carmaker. Workers at nine of Volkswagenâs factories in Germany walked off the job for several hours, threatening to expand their strike if an agreement isnât reached. Itâs just the latest headache for the Beetle icon as European car sales slump and costs spike.
Bug problems: VW has the lofty goal of slashing $11B in costs by the end of next year to stay competitive with rivals like Tesla and Chinaâs BYD. Its proposals include a 10% pay cut for workers and closing German factories for the first time in its history.
Stalled out: Negotiations between VW and workers havenât gone well. Last week the union proposed forgoing wage hikes for two years in exchange for job security, but VW rejected the pitch.
A foot on the labor gas⊠Autoworkers have been at the forefront of reinvigorated labor momentum. Aside from last yearâs historic UAW strikes against Ford, GM, and Stellantis, the union expanded into the largely nonunion South early this year by organizing a Tennessee VW plant. More recently, workers at battery plants co-owned by major automakers have also unionized.
Laborâs tired of footing the bill⊠Central to the VW dispute: workersâ resistance to being a cost that can be easily cut. A representative for Germanyâs chancellor said that autoworkers, the backbone of the countryâs most important industry, shouldnât have to pay for poor management decisions.
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China bans rare-minerals exports to the US â threatening everything from chips to EVs
Supply-chain standoff⊠Chinaâs testing the Biden adminâs mettle by restricting the USâs access to rare minerals used to make semiconductors, solar panels, and EV batteries. FYI: China produces about 60% of the worldâs rare minerals and processes 85% of them. Beijingâs ban came a day after the Biden admin further restricted Chinaâs access to advanced US tech. The tit-for-tat trade war between the US and China is expected to only escalate if President-elect Trump follows through on his hefty tariff proposals.
Hold your tungsten: Both countries say their mounting restrictions stem from national-security concerns â namely, that the other nation could use its exports to build advanced military tech.
Turning the (periodic) tables⊠Beijingâs ban will cut the US off from Chinaâs supply of valuable elements including gallium and germanium, which China is the largest producer of. Those two minerals are essential for making products like chips and cars. FYI: the US relies on China for more than half its germanium and a fifth of its gallium, which it hasnât mined in nearly four decades. Chinaâs also banning exports of antimony and tungsten, which the US relies on to make bullets, shells, and explosives. The ban could also affect EV makers: China said it would more closely monitor exports of graphite, a component in EV batteries.
Bans can backfire⊠The US could struggle to shore up its supply of rare minerals without imports from China. But mainland mineral companies will also lose a major buyer in the US, and that could become permanent if America figures out its own supply in Chinaâs absence (which could take years). After China temporarily blocked Japanâs access to its minerals in 2010, Japan slashed its reliance on Chinese supply by 33%.
What else weâre Snackinâ
Budget carrier Frontier Airlines is adding first-class seats to compete for premium passengers after rival Spirit filed for bankruptcy.
Booze biggie Constellation Brands is selling off its Svedka vodka brand as wine and spirits struggle (its Modelo beer is thriving, though).
In a positive sign for the labor market, US job openings grew by 372K in October and layoffs fell by the most in over a year and a half.
Banks including Citi and Barclays raised rates and added fees on store-branded credit cards ahead of pro-consumer regs that experts now say likely wonât go into effect.
RTFKT, a Nike-owned NFT company (picture: digital sneakers), said itâd close shop as the NFT market has largely missed out on the recent crypto rally.
Snack Fact of the Day
The median net worth of US retirees aged 65 to 74 is $410K
Wednesday
ADP employment
Fed Beige Book
Earnings expected from Chewy, Foot Locker, Dollar Tree, Cracker Barrel, Campbell, Hormel, American Eagle Outfitters, and Five Below
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: GM, Target, Tesla, and Walmart
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