Hey there weekday warriors,

Don’t say I never gave you anything: Applebee’s is offering a year’s worth of weekly date night passes for $200.

Here’s what else we’re getting into today…

• Reddit is finally going to IPO (maybe)

• Spirit’s still got some fight left in it

• Taiwan Semi is a grower and a show-er

Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 31 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

- tyler

+ US stocks “closed higher Thursday, overcoming an intraday stumble as big tech resumed its climb higher, powered by a rally in Apple and chip stocks.” (Reuters)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield “rose Thursday as the latest jobs data came in stronger than expected." (CNBC)

+ Oil prices “settled higher on Thursday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) joined producer group OPEC in forecasting strong growth in global oil demand and as cold winter weather disrupted U.S. crude output while the government reported a big weekly draw in crude inventories.” (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin “fell another 4.5% on Thursday, tumbling to its lowest price in a month at $40,800. Since the newly approved spot bitcoin ETFs began trading on Jan. 11, the price of bitcoin – after a very brief spike higher – is now lower by about 13%.” (Coindesk)

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +1.88% 2) AMD +1.56% 3) Spirit -7.17%.

r/IPO

You: “I really wish I could invest in a company whose biggest contribution to society has been originating memes that make it to Facebook like 3 months later…”

Reddit: “Say no more…”

At long last (it filed confidentially in 2021), Reddit has plans to go public. So, not only did it fail to cash in on the WallStreetBets buzz, but it waited for the worst IPO market in the past decade…

Details are still a bit fuzzy (like the thumbnails on NSFW subreddits), but it looks like the roadshow will get underway in late February or early March.

The biggest question mark, however, is what value Reddit will fetch. Back in 2021 it raised money at a $10B valuation. But I probably don’t need to explain like you’re 5 why 2024 is a whole lot different than 2021.

Not to mention, Reddit still isn’t profitable, despite growing revenue by 20% to $800M in 2023. While other social media stocks have mooned, Reddit itself has admitted its user base is built different. And I mean that in the worst way possible. They tend to be less receptive to ads invading their space.

Plus, Reddit’s move last year to charge for API feeds (see: seeking profitability) pissed off users who used third-party apps to get their Reddit on. Did I mention their UI is a disaster?

But…

To be fair, Reddit would be the first major social media player to IPO since Pinterest in 2019.

Right now some 13-year-old hacker somewhere in the former Soviet Union could be buying your personal data...

Your phone number, date of birth, and Social Security Number is being exploited by data brokers who sell it to the highest bidder.

The buyers?

Best-case scenario: companies bombarding you with ads.

Worst-case scenario: scammers and identity thieves.

It's about damn time you take a look at Incogni. Their tool wipes your personal data clean from the internet, taking on the data brokers on your behalf.

What sets Incogni apart is its ability to eliminate your sensitive information from all types of brokers, even those tricky People Search Sites. Safeguard yourself from identity theft, annoying spam calls, and identity fraud.

You can get 55% off Incogni with code TWC55 right now.

+ The No. 1 challenge Fortune 500 execs say they’re facing with employees right now, according to new research (Read)

+ How to negotiate a real estate commission when selling your house (Read)

+ ICYMI... Grant Cardone Says, 'If You're Going To Buy A Car, Don't' — But This $158,000 Vehicle Is The Only One You Should Ever Own (lol) (Read)

+ According to Spirit, the airline is not about to go all “I declare bankruptcy” [in an extremely Michael Scott voice]. But it is trying to refinance its debt. The move comes after a judge upheld the Department of Justice’s decision to prevent JetBlue from buying Spirit.

Earlier in the day, the WSJ seemed to hint that Spirit was heading towards “restructuring.” That sent shares down as much as 34%. Then, after Reuters clarified that the airline was simply hoping its creditors would give it a break like it was a single mom late on rent, shares mounted a comeback. The stock ended down 7% on the day.

Oh, and it appears that Davey Day Trader is back. I repeat, DDTG is back. (Read)

+ Taiwan Semi is like the ‘Inception’ of AI stocks. It’s the pick and shovel trade… of the pick and shovel trade. You see, it makes chips… for the companies that make chips… for AI companies.

Shares of TSMC jumped just shy of 10% after reporting that it expects full-year revenue for 2024 to grow by 20%+… after posting similar top-line growth in 2023. If you guessed that this was entirely driven by the demand for AI chips, you’d be correct. (Read)

+ OpenAI has inked its first partnership with a university. And with the first pick, OpenAI selects *checks notes* Arizona State University. Was The University of Phoenix otherwise engaged?

ASU students and faculty will get access to ChatGPT Enterprise. And the university plans to develop AI tutor bots. OpenAI on the other hand, said it’s “keen to learn from ASU” which presumably means it’ll be Hoovering up all sorts of student data. (Read)

+ EU antitrust regulators are not about to stand idly by and let its counterparts across the pond be the only Buzz Killingtons on God’s green earth. While the DOJ watched Spirit implode, rumors began swirling that the European Commission would move to block Amazon’s $1.7B acquisition of the Roomba maker.

Shares of iRobot got put in a body bag, falling 39% after hours. Of course, there’s a very real chance Amazon welcomes the government intervention. It’s been doing what it can to cut costs. And by that, I mean layoffs. Just yesterday, it parted ways with 5% of its Buy with Prime team. (Read)

What else?

+ Time for Kirk Tanner to update his LinkedIn. The current head of Pepsi’s North America is taking over as Wendy’s CEO. Shares of the second-largest burger chain (sucks to suck, Burger King) rose about 1% after hours when the news broke. (Read)

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

+ Ally, Comerica, Fifth Third, and Travelers report

+ The January U of M Consumer Sentiment Index drops

Yesterday, I asked You get to spend an hour with one person (they have to be alive), who is it? And why?

To the guy who said “your mom.” I hate you, but I also respect the hell out of the answer.

Now for some real answers:

• Charles Barkley

• Matt Stone and Trey Parker

• Jay-Z

• Mike Rowe

• The President

• Joe Rogan

And the best answer: “Manti Te'o. I want to find out if his love for Lennay Kekua was real...”

Here’s today’s question…

How many beers we deleting this weekend?

Reply directly to this email and I’ll share the results Monday.

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