Hey there weekday warriors,

We’re balls deep in summer, but the only thing investors can think about is September. Especially after Friday’s inflation data.

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

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

- tyler

+ US stocks “closed a volatile week with a flash of optimism as investors mounted a comeback off promising inflation data and hardening expectations of coming interest-rate cuts.” (Yahoo! Finance)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield “fell Friday after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge matched expectations ahead of the central bank’s monetary policy meeting next week." (CNBC)

+ Oil “fell about 1.5% on Friday, finishing the week lower on declining Chinese demand and hopes of a Gaza ceasefire agreement that could ease Middle East tensions and accompanying supply concerns.” (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin “price volatility boomed as former U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.” (Coindesk)

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +0.6% 2) C3.ai +3.3% 3) AST SpaceMobile +13.2%

The market moves you need to know about…

+ Shares of EVgo jumped 7.4% on Friday after announcing that it was adding execs from Tesla and GM to be the grown-ups in the room.

+ 3M mooned 22.9% on Friday. That’s its biggest gain on record. Not only did the company beat and raise, but it’s officially put two major legal overhangs behind it.

Summer Friday

On Friday we had a perfect sh*tstorm of news and data that helped markets get the monkey off its back…

It started on Thursday when we got an initial GDP read that just screamed “America f*ck yeah.” Q2 gross domestic product grew 2.8%, driven by consumer spending, because of course, it was. Economists were expecting growth of just 2.1%.

Then on Friday morning, we got some healthy-looking earnings reports in the CPG and industrial sectors. Colgate beat and hiked its guidance, and 3M had its best day since the 70s.

And to top it all off, we got a PCE print that showed the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge rose 2.5% year over year. Spoiler: that was in line with expectations.

What does it all mean?

Well, short of a black swan event, like, you know, a global pandemic, the path is clear for the Fed to cut in September.

Futures markets are pricing in a 90% chance of September, November, and December rate cuts.

All three major indices closed up more than 1% on the day.

+ President Trump got orange-pilled, you guys…

During a Bitcoin conference in Nashville on Saturday, #45 told HODLers that he would get his Nayib Bukele on if re-elected. He said that he plans to build a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile.” And that if crypto is here to stay, he’d much rather have the US lead the way.

But what really got the people going was his promise to “fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman” on day one of his next term. You might recall that Gary Gee sought to block the Bitcoin ETF, a fight he eventually lost in court.

Bitcoin traded higher after his bullish remarks (obviously).

+ Deckers is out here pissing on Nike’s grave. During the Olympics, no less. The maker of Hoka and UGG got the Wall Street upgrade treatment Friday.

The shoe company that’s making the OGs of the space its b*tch reported staggering growth (30%) in the Hoka line. In fact, things are so good that the company plans to stop discounting the shoes that scream “pickleball is my entire personality.”

Just in case it wasn’t clear how well things are going for Deckers at the moment, even UGG sales grew by double digits.

Now just imagine if their shoes didn’t look like you bought them at Payless…

+ You guys aren’t going to believe this, but someone who makes their living betting on the failure of others is (allegedly) not a straight shooter…

Well-known short-seller Andrew Left, who found himself in the middle of the GameStonk sh*tshow in 2021, got double-teamed by the SEC and federal prosecutors on Friday.

He stands accused of using Twitter to feed misleading information to the masses and then trade contrary to that stance. The suit claims he colluded with other hedgies to drop reports that would move markets so they could profit.

And before you go all “yeah, that’s what short-sellers do,” keep in mind Left was reportedly taking a cut of the trading profits after he created the catalyst.

It certainly won’t help his case that the Fed’s claim he said beating retail investors was like “taking candy from a baby.”

Oh, and…

+ Warner Bros. Discovery sues NBA to secure media rights awarded to Amazon. Full court press, amirite?

+ Ivy League-trained career coach shares the 2 simple strategies she uses to fight her own perfectionism. "Yeah, my biggest weakness is that I’m a bit of a perfectionist.” - me in literally every interview

+ Businesses are losing $100 billion a year from ‘friendly fraud,’ report finds — and sometimes it’s an accident. Is this illegal? Asking for a friend…

+ Hack your Amazon shopping experience (they can’t stop you). Lauren Sanchez gonna be big mad when she finds out about these.

🔥 It might be time to put your savings into a high-yield account before it’s too late. Friendly reminder: the smart money expects a rate cut in September…

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

⏪ Friday, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate, Aon, 3M, and T. Rowe Price reported before the bell. Plus, PCE inflation data dropped.

⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…

+ McDonald's and On Semiconductor report before the open

+ Tilray drops earnings after the close

+ Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg will give keynotes at the SIGGRAPH Conference in Denver

Friday, I asked, “Do you love watching the Olympics or hate the Olympics?”

47.5% of you will watch it if it’s on. Nearly a third of you LOVE it.

The best response…

Love it: "Because America Tyler.”

Here’s today’s question…

It was my birthday over the weekend, and this was the first year I got more “Happy Birthdays” on LinkedIn than Facebook (to be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it, but I’m pretty sure it means I’m washed up)…

+ If your MD keeps one of these bad boys on him, you’re gonna survive the next recession…

daveramsey

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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.