Hey there weekday warriors,

Listen, you didn’t hear it from me, but the black market trade for NyQuil, Benadryl, Sudafed and Mucinex is about to be booming. CVS just said it plans to take the cold meds off the shelf after the FDA announced they’re not actually effective.

Here’s what else is on tap for this Monday…

• FaZe Clan sells out

• Solar stocks lack power

• Oracle AI event is a letdown

Enjoy the next few 4 minutes and 9 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

- tyler

PS, in case you missed it… after nearly two years at Barstool, The Water Coolest has gone independent (again). And I'm in the driver's seat.

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+ US stocks "moved off session lows Friday as Treasury yields took a breather from their recent melt up, but stocks remained on course to snap a two-week week win streak amid mixed quarterly corporate earnings." (Investing.com)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield dropped below the 5% mark it hit on Thursday. (CNBC)

+ Oil fell as "the Israel-Hamas war pushed crude prices up for a second straight week, though the absence of any real disruption to barrels coming out of the Middle East is also giving rise to intraday volatility." (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin "had a good week with prices rising about 10% to reach the psychologically important level of $30,000." (Cointelegraph)

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24-hours were: 1) Tesla -3.69% 2) C3.ai -3.65% 3) Meta -1.33%.

Game Over

On second thought, perhaps having a CEO who once compared what a group of video game influencers were doing to the rise of hip-hop​ wasn't the most sound business decision...

GameSquare (which no less than 5k Twitter users mixed up with GameStop) bought FaZe Clan, in what certainly qualifies as a fire sale, for ~$18M​. It was an all stock deal.

Still with me boomers?

No, FaZe Clan isn't some spinoff cell of ISIS or something. It's a stable of e-sports talent (read: video gamers) and a cultural juggernaut, slinging ads and branded merch. In fact, it was such a phenomenon that it decided to cash in by going public.

It SPAC-ed (which explains a lot) at the tail end of the blank check craze (which also explains a lot) in July 2022. And, well, it's gone about as well as the launch of CNN+. For what it's worth, it did last longer and featured content people actually give a damn about.

FaZe went public at a $725M valuation, which may or may not have been overkill. The stock has since lost 99% of its value... falling from a high of $17 per share to just 20 cents on Friday.

What went wrong?

Did I mention it went public via SPAC at a bloated valuation? Oh, and it's been posting crippling losses. Exhibit A: it lost $28.4M​ through the first half of 2023. And the e-sports industry in general didn't do it any favors. Like the IoT and crypto, gaming has fallen out of favor with investors at least.

Of course, there are worse spots to land. The new c-suite will join a Jerry Jones (yes, that Jerry Jones) owned e-sports brand that also houses Complexity, the team of Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, the Michael Jordan of video games.

Interested in being one of The Water Coolest’s first advertising partners? Fill out this form and I’ll be in touch.

+ Don’t buy a home as an investment, says CFP: It’s just a ‘roof over your head’ (Read)

+ If you use any of these 6 phrases every day, you’re ‘genuinely happier’ than most: Happiness experts (Read)​​

+ This Low-Cost Home Improvement Can Deliver A 484% Return On Investment (Read​)

+ ICYMI yesterday... Here’s the Income You Need To Be a Securely Middle Class Family (Read)

+ Friday was a yuge day for big fossil fuel. Those soy bois (their words, not mine) that have been trying to make solar power a thing since the Bush administration took their lumps.

One of the largest players in the space, Solaredge, warned it was going to miss on sales, margin and operating income. A trifecta, if you will. Shares fell almost 28%. The reason? According to CEO Zvi Lando "installation rates for the third quarter were much slower at the end of the summer and in September where traditionally there is a rise in installation rates."

The rest of the sector sold off in sympathy. The Invesco solar ETF dropped 6.5% on the day. (Read)

What else?

+ Investors to Oracle: "I'm not mad, I'm disappointed..." After Oracles' AI event on Thursday, investors took their frustrations out on the stock. Which doesn't make a ton of sense, considering most analysts left the gathering confident that the only issue ORCL had was a supply chain one. Which, for the record, every other AI player has as well. The stock fell more than 6% on the day. (Read)

+ When the entire house of cards that is the economy comes crashing down, there will have been signs... like Amex reporting that customers continue to spend with reckless abandon. Travel and entertainment spending rose 13% in the most recent quarter, driven by millennials and Gen Z (so, probably on avocado toast). And the cracks are beginning to form... Amex upped its provision for credit losses from $1.19B to $1.23B. Despite beating on the top and bottom line, investors were spooked by the bailout fund. Shares fell more than 5%. (Read)

+ X/Twitter: *hires CEO with experience slinging ads.*

Also X/Twitter: *goes all in on subscription model*

On Friday, Elon tweeted that two new tiers of X premium are dropping soon. The lite version will have all the features of the current premium offering (blue checkmark, tweet editing, longer video uploads etc.) but will still feature ads. The more expensive tier will offer everything in the Jr. version... just without ads. I'm sure advertisers are happy to hear the most engaged users won't be served ads. (Read​)

Here's what I'm keeping an eye on today...

+ Fairly slow day as tech earnings begin loading for later this week

Friday, I asked Who is the worst type of person at work?

Lots of classics: fish in microwave guy, no courtesy flush person, know it all, Mr. Throw You Under the Bus.

But probably the best answer that I didn't really think of (but is super obvious): HR. Just all of them. A bunch of kids who got stuffed in lockers in high school.

Here's today's question...

Taylor Swift is out here moving the needle for the NFL. But who's the finance world equivalent? Who on God's green earth has the ability to move markets/stocks the most?

Who is the Taylor Swift of the finance world?

Respond directly to this email and I'll share the best answers tomorrow.

Does this look like the face of a guy you should take financial advice from?

No, it’s the face of a God-fearing family man with sh*t-for-brains. 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.