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Hey there weekday warriors,
Waymo on Uber is coming to a city near you.
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 21 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
BTW, if you had trouble falling asleep last night, or woke up feeling like you didn’t get the rest you needed, you should check out Beam. Their Dream Powder drink mix works wonders. Thank me later.
+ US stocks “rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posting their strongest week of 2024 ahead of the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting.” (CNBC)
+ The 10-year Treasury yield “slipped on Friday as investors set their sights on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “fell on Friday as U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude production resumed following Hurricane Francine and rising data showed a weekly rise in U.S. rig count.” (Reuters)
+ Bitcoin popped midday Friday and held most of its gainz over the weekend.
+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia -0.03% 2) Trump Media +11.7% 3) C3.ai +0.5%
The market moves you need to know about…
+ Shares of Upwork rose 9.9% on news that an activist investor had taken a 3.5% stake and has plans to help the freelancer platform get its sh*t together. Engine Capital is asking for board seats to reduce costs and simplify the site.
+ The last time we talked about BuzzFeed, it was because Vivek Ramaswamy wanted to turn it into Newsmax Jr. Now, the company is in talks with Netflix to air its ‘Hot Ones’ show on the streaming network. Shares of BZFD jumped 6.3%.
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Autonomous thriving
Source: Giphy
Personal injury lawyers in Austin and Atlanta licking their chops right now…
On Friday, Uber (+6.4%) and Waymo (Google +1.8%) announced that they were expanding their driverless car partnership to ATL and ATX. Now, when you call an Uber it might not have a driver who is always talking to someone on Bluetooth…
You might recall that the two already collab in Phoenix, Arizona to offer driverless rides. Uber also uses autonomous cars to deliver Uber Eats orders there. The Austin and Atlanta deal won’t extend to food for now.
But Uber has no intention of being monogamous. Back in August, Uber announced it was partnering with GM’s Cruise to offer autonomous rides. Yes, the same Cruise that recently dragged a pedestrian in SF.
Uber got dragged for its decision to partner with the company.
Arms race
It’s probably not a coincidence that Uber is making moves in the autonomous driving space right now. Tesla’s robotaxi day is slated for October 10th, which could certainly apply some pressure to Uber… even though it will probably be a letdown if past Tesla events are any indication.
Just one problem for Uber…
It doesn’t actually have any autonomous tech in-house. Uber sold that business off back in 2020 after realizing how f*cking hard it is to get cars to drive themselves. Oh, and its car killed someone…
That means Uber will need to partner with the likes of Waymo, Cruise, and Wayve to beat Elon and Tesla.
When he’s not dodging bullets, Donny Politics is busy HODLing DJT. On Friday, the former President told members of an audience at a speech that he wasn’t planning to unload his shares in Trump Media (+11.7%).
Given his major stake, DJT shareholders had some very real concerns about Trump selling the stock and bringing the ship down with him when the lockup period ends.
+ It appears that President Biden finally bought something on Temu…
How can I be so sure? Because the White House is preparing to crack down on “low-value” shipments. Right now Temu, Shein, Alibaba and others, are able to avoid tariffs on goods under $800. Lowering that threshold threatens the low-cost Chinese retailer’s entire business model.
The rule change sent shares of Chinese e-comm players tumbling. Pinduoduo, the owner of Temu, had the worst day, falling almost 2.5%.
+ Our long national nightmare is over…
DirecTV and Disney (+1.4%) have reached a deal to bring the entertainment juggernaut’s programming back to DirecTV.
It ends a nearly two-week blackout that saw customers unable to watch ABC or ESPN (think: Monday Night Football).
In addition to agreeing on “market-based terms,” DirecTV will be able to offer its users Disney’s streaming services.
What else?
+ Axel Springer and KKR reached fundamental deal in summer, source says. What could possibly go wrong with PE owning media?
+ When to book holiday travel this fall: ‘That window of low prices is brief,’ economist says. Travel hack: piss off your family so you don’t get invited to the holidays.
+ 41-year-old who just completed the first civilian spacewalk dropped out of high school to start his $7 billion business. This is why I am going to have my kids drop out of high school.
+ 9 Reasons this Card is Your Ticket to Your Dream Vacation. Drinks on a flight that you paid for with points just hit different. Change my mind.
+ Here’s why Americans are going back to Chili’s. Three words: ‘3 for me’ deal.
🔥 This college has the highest-paid graduates—it’s not Harvard, Princeton or any Ivy League school. “The school of hard knocks” - the guy who grew up in the Connecticut suburbs
FYI, TWC might be compensated if you click on the links above. So, what are you waiting for? Start clicking.
⏪ On Friday, we had Roblox’s Developer Conference.
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
+ Microsoft hosts an event to discuss its Copilot technology
Yesterday, I asked, “What is the worst 'minor' inconvenience? ”
Biting tongue/cheek came in at #1. Followed by autocorrect and forgetting password.
Here’s what some of you guys had to say (and my thoughts in italics)…
Write in: "When your rechargeable toothbrush battery is dead and you have to brush your teeth with no fancy vibration and hope you get close to the 2-minute dentist recommended time."
Forgetting password: "You know the password. You type it in multiple times and it still says it’s wrong. You click forgot password and jump through all the 2-factor authentication hoops to finally reset your password. You type in your password, and it tells you that you can’t use a previous password"
Write in: "Websites that load, then at the exact moment you click on something, adjust, so you end up clicking on some random ad. Honestly seems like a conspiracy, probably developed by Zuck or some other *ucksucker..."
Write in: "iMessage not working and you need to send a green text message"
Write in: "Hangnail."
Write in: "Waking up to find your phone did not charge."
Write in: "Having to create small talk."
Write in: "Wife buying cheap a** TP."
Write in: "Eyelash stuck in your eye and trying to get that little sh*t out"
Here’s today’s question…
You get $10k right now, but you can't upgrade your current phone for the rest of your life. You taking the money?
Oh, and one more thing…
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.