Today we’re catching up with HubSpot. Plus, Intuit’s AI pivot.

Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 11 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

- tyler

+ US stocks “soared to fresh all-time highs on Wednesday as Jerome Powell's remarks on Capitol Hill buoyed rate-cut hopes and Big Tech stocks piled on the gains.” (Yahoo! Finance)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield was “little changed on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that keeping interest rates elevated for too long could stunt economic growth." (CNBC)

+ Oil “settled higher on Wednesday after a jump in U.S. refining activity last week drove a larger-than-expected decline in gasoline and crude inventories, but gains were capped due to minimal supply disruptions from Hurricane Beryl.” (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin “sentiment remained negative in the face of increased supply due to Mt Gox and the German government.” (Investing.com)

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +2.6% 2) Tesla +0.3% 3) AMD +3.8%

The market moves you need to know about…

+ Shares of LL Flooring mooned 23.1% on news that F9 Investments had won 3 board seats. One of those board seats belongs to Tom Sullivan, who founded what was previously called Lumber Liquidators. The additions come as LL teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

– Ziff Davis plummeted 10.3% after reporting that its Q2 results will almost certainly be below the Street’s expectations. Woof.

+ Friendly reminder: there is a 45-day go-shop period in Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Paramount. PARA rose 1.4% on news that IAC’s Barry Diller might still be interested in the studio. That, or he really just wants to be a d*ck…

“I don’t want to play with you anymore.” - Google

Remember that time Google (+1.1%) was going to buy HubSpot (-12.2%)?

Well, those rumors might have been a tad bit overblown. You see, according to reports, “the sides didn’t reach a point of detailed discussions about due diligence.”

So not only were they not rounding third and heading for home… HubSpot never even took the bat off its shoulder.

The revelation is of the “not great, Bob” variety for HubSpot…

Not only was a potential Google deal juicing HubSpot’s stonk price. But it also put pressure on other potential suitors.

Without the 800-pound gorilla in the room, negotiations could look a whole lot different. That is, if HubSpot is still planning on putting itself up for sale.

It’s not entirely surprising that Google wouldn’t pursue the deal…

Regulators in the US are cracking down on deals with reckless abandon. Plus, Google’s legal team is already up to its eyeballs in antitrust suits.

Not to mention, the deal would be Google’s largest ever (by a wide margin).

Shares of HubSpot fell more than 12%.

+ You might be having a bad day, but you’re definitely not having as bad of a day as Bill Hwang…

Not only is the Archegos Capital founder poor, but now he’s a convicted felon. A jury found Bill guilty on 10 of 11 counts, including fraud and market manipulation.

You might recall that Archegos’ epic blowup in 2021 led to more than $10B in losses at global banks (pour one out for Credit Suisse). Oh, and it wiped out ~$100B in shareholder value at companies in its portfolio.

Hwang lied to banks about his positions so that he could borrow billions, which he used to manipulate stock prices.

He could face up to 20 years in prison, but it will probably be much less.

+ “They took our jobs.” - current Intuit employees looking at the “AI prompt engineers” taking their jobs

There’s a bloodbath brewing at Intuit (-2.5%), the maker of TurboTax and Quickbooks. The company plans to lay off 1.8k employees and close two offices as it hunkers down for the AI revolution.

So, how will it put all of that savings to work? By hiring 1.8k workers. Stay with me…

The layoffs will make room for new engineering, product, and customer service roles… all with a focus on artificial intelligence.

+ Speaking of layoffs… things haven’t been this bleak at CNN since the CNN+ clusterf*ck

The network is slashing ~100 jobs as it refocuses on digital (think: website) as the cable news division continues its death spiral.

The news network also plans to launch its first CNN.com subscription product… which probably means we’re about to get some left-leaning Wordle knockoff.

+ “F*ck my life.” - everyone who invested in “smart ring” company Oura

During its Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris yesterday, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy Ring. The $400 smart ring will track sleep, heart rate, and physical activity. Think: smartwatch, but even more useless. The niche product is a play to increase sales as consumers go longer between phone purchases.

On the phone front, Samsung debuted the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. For those of you keeping score at home, that means Samsung has launched 6 folding phones before Apple announced one…

+ Bad day to be Nancy Pelosi. Congress is getting closer to a bipartisan deal that would ban lawmakers (and their spouses and kids… sorry, Paul) from investing in stonks. It’s the first time a Senate committee has considered a proposal. Of course, even if it does find its way through Congress, it wouldn’t take effect until 2027…

+ ‘Taxes are on sale’: Why now is a great time to save in a Roth account, says CPA. They are even cheaper if you just don’t pay them…

+ The presidential election shouldn’t influence how you invest, financial experts say. Unless you’re invested in Trump Media…

🔥 3 tips for using Google Flights to score cheaper airfare, from a travel expert. No, they do not just recommend flying Spirit 3 times.

⏪ Yesterday we were keeping an eye on Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event and J-Poww’s second day on Capitol Hill…

⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…

+ Pepsi and Delta report before the open

+ Chewy hosts its annual meeting and the only thing anyone cares about is Roaring Kitty’s stake in the company

+ June CPI data drops. Technically, the Fed doesn’t give a damn about CPI, but the rest of the world will be keeping a close eye on it.

Yesterday I asked “Thoughts on the McRib?”

67.4% of you think it’s gross. That means 67.4% of you have bad taste…

Here’s today’s question…

Legend.

Every time…

Oh, and one more thing…

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.