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Hey there weekday warriors,
Here’s what we’re getting into today…
Amazon’s latest AI investment
Coinbase vs. SEC
Disney settles with Florida
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 14 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
PS, no newsletter tomorrow. Markets are closed for Good Friday. See you all Monday.
+ US stocks “rebounded Wednesday after several days of red closings, as the S&P 500 jumped to a fresh record and the Dow surged more than 475 points.” (Yahoo! Finance)
+The 10-year Treasury yield “slipped on Wednesday as investors considered the economic outlook and looked to fresh data.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “fell for the second consecutive session on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened and government data showed a surprise jump in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks.” (Reuters)
+ Bitcoin “reversed course at the $71,000 level as professional traders' confidence began to waver.” (Cointelegraph)
+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Trump Media & Technology Group +14.1% 2) Nvidia -2.5% 3) Reddit -11.3%
How did @TheArbFather make $10,000+ profit in February?
His secret sauce: Arbitrage betting.
Instead of getting bettings tips from slick-talking handicappers, TheArbFather bets on both sides of an outcome to guarantee a risk-free return. An example of this is betting on a game total to be over 224.5 AND under 224.5.
This might sound too good to be true, but the reason this can happen is sportsbooks set their lines for games independently. Sometimes, they make mistakes and there are situations where FanDuel’s odds are different from DraftKings’ odds.
Unless you are a PhD-wielding, Python-coding, Excel-Wizard… finding arbitrage opportunities consistently has been out of reach. Until now…
OddsJam scans millions of odds every second and finds these need-in-a-haystack opportunities that you can bet on to secure a risk-free profit.
The market moves you need to know about…
+ Semtech jumped 10.6% after Baird said it was well-positioned to take advantage of the “AI revolution.”
– And so it begins. After climbing more than 100% above its IPO price over the past few days, Reddit slumped 10.9% on news that it was added to a list of “short ideas” by Hedgeye.
+ Robinhood rose 3.7% thanks largely to a product launch Tuesday evening that announced a new cash-back credit card.
“Shut up and take my money.” - Andy Jassy
(Source: Giphy)
Amazon: *Invests $4B in a company*
Everyone: “So you got a board seat, right… right?”
Amazon: “Well…”
Imagine investing $4B in a company and not even asking for a board seat. That’s the beta move Amazon (+0.8%) CEO Andy Jassy just made. Jeff Bezos would never…
The company is writing a $2.75B check to AI startup Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot (spoiler: Claude is basically the Android to OpenAI’s ChatGPT).
If it feels like you’ve seen this movie before, it’s because you have. Amazon made a $1.25B investment in Anthropic back in September and had the option to invest up to $4B. Hence, yesterday’s investment.
As part of the arrangement, Anthropic will use Amazon’s cloud services. AMZN did not, however, get a board seat.
Details, please
The deal didn’t change Anthropic’s valuation, which was set during the previous round at $18.4B. Not that it’s a contest (jk, it’s definitely a contest), but OpenAI is currently worth $29B.
But Anthropic ain’t loyal like OpenAI is to Microsoft. It’s taken cash from Google and Salesforce as well.
“How can I play this?”
I hate to break it to you, but pikers like us can’t invest in Anthropic (or OpenAI). So you’ll have to invest in the publicly traded companies investing in these AI platforms if you’re looking for exposure.
“Why should I care?”
There is another interesting angle here, though. Big tech has pumped the brakes on major acquisitions thanks to antitrust regulators cracking down.
Instead, they’ve just started acting like VC firms and throwing piles of money at companies they’d really love to own. And the government has been paying attention.
This loophole closing for big tech could be bad news…
+ Home Flipping Flops as Profits Fall—but These 5 Places Are Still Raking It In (Read)
+ Adding these features can help sell your home for over $10,000 more, research finds (Read) [With the correct link this time]
+ BTW, if you want to get smarter about real estate investing, you'll love a brand-new newsletter I’ve been working on.
The Pocket List has two goals. 1) keep investors updated on the industry and 2) help them make more money
I JUST sent out this week’s Pocket List newsletter this morning. You can check it out AND subscribe by clicking below.
+ This SEC vs. Coinbase (-3.7%) case is going to be must-see TV. Friendly reminder: Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong might be the only person on earth who hates the Shortseller Enrichment Commission more than Elon.
On Tuesday, a judge said that a jury should be able to hear a trial related to COIN’s unregistered sales of securities. The SEC’s suit says that Coinbase’s Staking Program “engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities.”
Next up? The jury trial.
+ Big day over on the Disney Adult message boards. Disney (+0.8%) and the state of Florida have settled all litigation related to the special governing tax district.
A quick history lesson: Back in the 60s, the State of Florida cut a deal with Disney to give it autonomy over a 25k acre plot in Florida that included some pretty advantageous tax savings.
Fast-forward to 2022 and then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek shared his concerns with Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis about the state’s “Don’t Say Gay" bill. That’s approximately when sh*t hit the fan…
A DeSantis coup overthrew the board overseeing Disney’s special district. Both sides sued each other, with Disney claiming the move violated its First Amendment rights.
Then, yesterday, after a very ugly 2+ year legal saga, the two sides decided to settle. A real life fairy tale.
+ We’re finally getting some reasonably priced EVs, you guys. Fisker (-22.4%) just cut the price of its Ocean SUV by 40%. That means its sticker price is ~$38k. The catch? EV maker is on the brink of collapse and trying to raise cash as part of some Hail Mary to keep the lights on.
+ The fun police strike again. The NCAA president is looking to play God. Charlie Baker wants to ban prop bets on college sports. You might find this surprising, but shares of DraftKings (-6.8%) and Flutter (-5.8%) (aka FanDuel) all fell on the news.
Here's what I'm keeping an eye on today...
+ Walgreens Boots Alliance reports
+ Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will start deliveries of its EV. What’s your excuse, Apple?
Yesterday, I asked, “Are we OK with the NFL's new kickoff rules?”
I’m shocked that 67.4% of you were fine with the rule change. A huge win for the NFL.
Here’s today’s question…
This has been a topic of discussion in my house, so…
Should I buy or lease a new car? |
Oh, and…
What did you think about today's newsletter? |
Does this look like the face of a guy you should take financial advice from?
No, it’s the face of an individual who is financially irresponsible/dumb enough to be talked into spending money on a family photo shoot that he could have just done with his iPhone. So, act accordingly...
This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter is an investment recommendation. All content is created for entertainment, educational, or informational purposes only. Do your own research, or do yourself a favor and hire a professional.