TOGETHER WITH

Hey there weekday warriors,

Perplexity is out here doing its best Napster impression. And Spirit is so back.

Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 10 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

– tyler

+ US stocks “closed mixed on Monday as the 10-year Treasury yield rose and investors braced for a packed week of top-tier earnings that could drive or drag on a record-setting rally.” (Yahoo! Finance)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield “jumped on Monday as investors digest a flurry of speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers.” (CNBC)

+ Oil “settled nearly 2% higher on Monday, recouping some of last week's more than 7% decline, with no letup of fighting in the Middle East and expected Israeli retaliation on Iran worrying markets about supply from the region.” (Reuters)

+ After a “failed challenge of the $70,000 level during early Monday trading hours in Asia, bitcoin (BTC) fell below $67,000 in U.S. morning action.” (Coindesk)

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +4.1% 2) Visa -1.3% 3) Tesla -0.8%

The market moves you need to know about…

+ JCP Investment Management is well aware we must protect the Cheesecake Factory at all costs. Which is probably why the activist recommended to management that it should spin off its 3 lesser-known brands (think: non-Cheesecake Factory eateries) into a separate publicly traded company. JCP owns about 2% of outstanding CAKE (first ballot Hall of Fame ticker symbol, btw) shares. Cheesecake Factory jumped 4.6% after hours.

+ Shares of Kenvue, the portfolio of brand-name OTC pills, ointments, and creams spun off by J&J last year, rose 5.5% yesterday. On Sunday the WSJ reported that activist investor Starboard had taken a stake in the company and was planning to do f*ck sh*t up in the name of shareholder value.

Why the hell is one of the biggest retailers in the US doubling down on this smart home product?

Smart home device shipments are booming, with smart lighting and shades leading the charge.

And Best Buy has hand-picked RYSE as the next innovator in this smart home category with a massive inventory rollout.

The retailer has a track record of success in the category. It made similar bets on smart-home titans Ring and Nest, both of which saw billion-dollar exits at the hands of Amazon and Google.

Through that same extensive retail distribution and a growing number of deals in commercial real estate, RYSE is on the path toward making its brand synonymous with Smart Shades.

If you missed out on Ring and Nest and their billion-dollar acquisitions, this is your chance to secure your stake in the smart home market.

⚠️ Every day I bring you markets news, insights, and low-brow humor for free. The only thing I ask is that you support our sponsors. You know what to do 🤝

Putting the ‘perp’ in Perplexity

Sean Parker walked so Perplexity could run...

Just a few days after the NYT sent the AI search engine a strongly worded letter asking it to stop helping people solve today's Wordle stealing its content, News Corp. (UNCH) went all you better lawyer up a**shole (read: it filed a lawsuit).

Turns out that when he isn't busy soiling his Depends or failing to satisfy his 5th wife in bed, Rupert Murdoch is busy protecting his empire.

News Corp.'s suit claims Perplexity copies and pastes news articles from its publications like the WSJ And NY Post "on a massive" scale.

Unlike Google, which indexes content, Perplexity answers users' search inquiries with summaries from the sources themselves. Read: it bypasses sites like the NYP and WSJ, altogether. That means Rupert and News Corp. can't collect fractions of a penny every time you skip over a banner ad.

But wait, it gets worse (allegedly)...

The real-life Waystar Royco also accuses the AI search engine of straight-up copying content in some cases. Other times Perplexity just kinda makes sh*t up in its search results (but still cites articles), which presumably gets journos big mad.

The best part? According to News Corp.'s lawyers, Perplexity "did not bother to respond" to requests to shut it down (in extreme Jon Taffer voice). In Perplexity’s defense, it probably got lost in the massive pile of cease and desist letters it receives daily…

The NYT and News Corp. aren't the first pubs to call out Perplexity for copying their homework.

And the situation is further complicated by the fact that Perp-lexity is paying some outlets for access to their content, but not others.

So, should I tell Rupert that Google is trying (poorly) to do the exact same thing on a much more colossal scale, or should you?

+ Just when the Spirit Airlines’ (53.0%) legal and finance teams thought “it can’t get much worse,” the airline’s creditors accepted a 2-month debt refinancing extension.

If my math is correct, that means the new drop-dead date is December 21. So, barring a successful Hail Mary, Spirit will be filing for bankruptcy during the most wonderful time of the year…

Shares of SAVE mooned 53% on news that the airline was able to delay the inevitable (see: Chapter 11).

The company also said it has fully drawn its $300M credit facility, which puts its total liquidity around $1B.

Just one problem: the debt coming due next year that it’s hoping to refinance totals ~$1.1B. The math is not mathing.

+ Ok, don’t freak out but… Chick-fil-A is getting into the streaming game. And one can only hope the content is created by the same people who make those wholesome a** commercials that feature an employee who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to deliver nuggets to “a real Chick-fil-A customer” at an orphanage.

The fast-food chicken restaurant is launching the Play app in November. Even though nobody asked, it will give us “a slate of original animated shows, scripted podcasts, games, recipes and e-books aimed at families.” “Hidden Islands,” for example, is a scripted podcast about a family stranded on a deserted island. Something tells me the family won’t have two moms or two dads…

According to Chick-fil-A management, research indicates that “content and games are both adjacent to mealtime.” Translation? “Please eat more of our chicken.”

+ Disney (-0.6%) CEO Bob Iger just went all “I’m not f*cking leaving”… until at least 2026.

The entertainment giant said in a statement that it will name Bob Iger’s replacement in the year of our lord 2026. All 4 of Bob’s direct reports have reportedly interviewed for the position. And there’s at least one person HR has crossed off its list (looking at you, Bob Chapek).

Meanwhile, in the boardroom, Jim Gorman, the former CEO of Morgan Stanley will replace Mark Parker as chairman in January.

+ What’s that? You inherited high cholesterol and a sweet tooth from your dear old dad? That’s cute. Cooper Hefner got a bad case of male pattern horniness from his father.

Hugh Hefner’s youngest (known) son submitted a bid to buy back the Playboy empire for ~$100M. ICYMI, PLBY Group (+15.3%) went public via SPAC back in 2020. In addition to owning the Playboy IP (so, tasteful n*des) the company also slings lingerie and launched an app.

+ This is the next big career track at business schools. I’ll save you the click… it’s OF

+ Want to earn more on your cash? This account offers the best return, says financial planner. These metaverse REITs are creating generational wealth.

🔥 How much money should I have saved by 30? Spoiler: probably more than you have…

🏠 The U.S. Cities Plummeting in Popularity—Where Homebuyers Could Soon Score a Bargain

🔥 A crisis-era mortgage strategy is making a comeback — and this time it’s bailing out buyers. What could possibly go wrong?

FYI, TWC might be compensated if you click on the links above. So, what are you waiting for? Start clicking.

⏪ Yesterday Nucor reported, and we heard from a handful of Fed speakers

⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…

+ GE, Philip Morris, Verizon, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Fiserv, 3M, Norfolk Southern, and GM drop earnings this AM

+ Texas Instruments, Costar Group, and Seagate report after the close

Yesterday, I asked, “You get $50M but for 10 minutes a day you randomly black out. You taking the money?”

"Yea, probably" took the day with 77.6% of the vote. And, my god, a lot of you black out ALL THE TIME. Not that I’m judging or anything…

Here’s what some of you guys had to say (and my thoughts in italics)…

• Yes: “People say I’m fun blacked out” I promise, they're lying...

• No: "What if I black out while driving? Ok. I can hire a driver with $50 mil. What if I'm out walking or something or in a pool? I feel like the odds are more likely you'd die sometime in the first 3-4 month in those 10 minutes. What's the point of having it if, you can't spend it?"

• Yes: "I’ll hire someone to be with me when it happens. I can afford it"

• Yes: "I have blacked out for way longer than 10 minutes and I am still here. I may be better behaved blacked out according to multiple sources."

• Yes: "I’m usually paying to black out, so very much an upgrade”

• Yes: “Blackout as in, don’t remember or blackout as in fall asleep? Two very different answers. I would absolutely turn into Frank the tank for 10 minutes a day. I don’t think I would risk randomly falling asleep while driving, although I guess for $50 million I never need to drive again.”

And here’s today’s question…

Chick-fil-A is rolling out content, so why can’t other brands?

+ I cannot wait to be middle-aged for this reason and this reason only

🔥 “Have you guys ever had an iced coffee so strong that for like 4 minutes you have hope?”

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.