Trouble's brewing: there are probably some passive-aggressive sticky notes in the break room of Tesla's German factory after the plant manager suggested its employees have taken home 65K coffee mugs. That's five cups per worker or 77 a day since the factory opened. Stocks rose yesterday as bets on the odds of a Trump reelection increased after Saturday's assassination attempt. The Dow clinched its 20th record close of the year ahead of a jam-packed earnings week. Small-cap stocks outperformed, with the Russell 2000 index popping 2%. Fed Chair Powell said he's feeling more confident that inflation's cooling. |
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Off to buy the Wiz… Money's burning a hole in Google parent Alphabet's pocket: it's said to be in late-stage talks to acquire cloud cybersecurity company Wiz for $23B. It would be Alphabet's largest deal ever, giving its cloud biz — which lags behind Microsoft's and Amazon's — a stronger selling point to lure hack-wary customers. Most genAI tools run on cloud servers, and security is a top concern for corporate clients. |
- Wiz kid: Four-year-old Wiz, which offers cybersecurity services like real-time threat detection, raised $1B earlier this year at a $12B valuation — a rarity for non-AI startups these days.
- Fortification: By bolstering Google's cloud biz, a Wiz-quisition could help the search giant diversify from advertising, where it makes most of its money. Google's cloud revenue reached $9.6B in Q1, compared to advertising's ~$62B.
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Tech is securitymaxing… The # of US data breaches rose 78% last year, and 82% of them involved data stored on the cloud. AT&T recently said that hackers, through a third-party cloud-storage company, accessed six months' worth of call and text records of nearly all its customers. The US gov't blasted Microsoft over its inability to stop Chinese hacks earlier this year. As data breaches make more headlines, companies are investing in security to restore trust. Cybersecurity spending is expected to reach $215B this year, up 14%. Google's second-largest acquisition ever was of cybersecurity company Mandiant, which it bought two years ago for $5.4B. |
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Risk it for the cloud biscuit… If Google does go through with this acquisition, antitrust scrutiny would almost certainly follow. On X, Sen. Richard Blumenthal called it an example of "how to enrage enforcers." But the tech behemoth, already facing two massive antitrust lawsuits and investigations from EU regulators, may still opt to make the offer to get ahead in the lucrative cloud game. |
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Survey Says: Investors are pivoting to private credit |
The stock market is burning red hot these days… so if a market correction happens, what might help investors ride out the storm? According to a recent Bloomberg survey1: private credit. 57% of respondents favored private credit over bonds to hedge against economic downturns. Why? T. Rowe Price's calculations2 suggest that allocating 10% to private credit historically reduces volatility and improves risk-adjusted returns. And unsurprisingly, institutions like Blackstone, KKR, and Morgan Stanley have been clued into private credit for years. Now, accredited investors can diversify with private credit, too. That's on Percent: |
- Low minimums: Start with as little as $500.
- Shorter durations: Maturity in 6-36 months (average ~9 months).
- Monthly cash flow: Most deals offer cash flow through monthly interest payments.
- Attractive yields: Percent boasts a current weighted average APY of 18.27%.3
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Survey Says: Investors are pivoting to private credit |
The stock market is burning red hot these days… so if a market correction happens, what might help investors ride out the storm? According to a recent Bloomberg survey1: private credit. 57% of respondents favored private credit over bonds to hedge against economic downturns. Why? T. Rowe Price's calculations2 suggest that allocating 10% to private credit historically reduces volatility and improves risk-adjusted returns. And unsurprisingly, institutions like Blackstone, KKR, and Morgan Stanley have been clued into private credit for years. Now, accredited investors can diversify with private credit, too. That's on Percent: | - Low minimums: Start with as little as $500.
- Shorter durations: Maturity in 6-36 months (average ~9 months).
- Monthly cash flow: Most deals offer cash flow through monthly interest payments.
- Attractive yields: Percent boasts a current weighted average APY of 18.27%.3
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Burbear market… Burberry shares sank 16% yesterday after the luxury British fashion house said its CEO would immediately step down. The surprise C-suite shake-up comes as demand for Burberry trenches and plaid purses sagged: the brand's sales fell 22% in Q1 and profit has shrunk by 40% over the past two years. Yesterday, Burberry scrapped its dividend and gave a gloomy profit warning, saying it expects an operating loss for the first half of the year. |
- Plaid out: Burberry's recent collections have missed the mark with shoppers (partly because of their high prices). Now it's reportedly planning to cut hundreds of jobs.
- Newberry: To recoup sales, the brand plans to target higher-end shoppers with more everyday luxury items (like: $70 plaid scrunchies) and a revamped website.
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Feelin' fancy… Even as the postpandemic luxury boom cools, some designers have managed to stay hot. Chanel's sales grew 16% last year to nearly $20B, outpacing luxury's overall sales growth of 4%. Louis Vuitton and Christion Dior parent LVMH saw a record $94B in annual revenue. Younger generations have become big luxury buyers, with millennials and Gen Z expected to make up over 75% of the market by 2030. Designers have tailored their marketing to younger generations by hiring Gen Z-fave stars (like Zendaya, Hailey Bieber, and Sabrina Carpenter) and highlighting sustainability efforts (think: Gucci going carbon-neutral). |
- Tabby town: Tapestry's Coach did an upscale rebrand and partnered with celeb ambassadors like Lil Nas X and Camila Mendes. After years of sales declines, it's become a hit with younger shoppers. In May, half of its new 1.2M North American customers were Gen Z and millennials.
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You can't always lean on legacy… As fashion trends shift quickly in the age of TikTok, OG designers are learning their name alone won't open wallets. With more folks turning to social media for shopping inspo, designers are working with influencers and creating social content to appeal to younger generations. Burberry has the name, but its performance suggests it hasn't achieved that cultural cool factor. |
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Market prices in a bigger boost to Trump than it did after stunning debate. Read more. |
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- Banner: Apple's and Samsung's smartphone shipments rose last quarter, but they're still losing ground to Chinese rivals like Xiaomi. Apple has looked to India, where it's said to have notched record annual sales.
- Slowed: Sagging consumer spending contributed to China's slowest economic growth in five quarters, new data showed. Policymakers are calling for increased public spending in the second-largest economy.
- Rally: Bitcoin and Trump-themed meme coins rose after Saturday's rally shooting. Traders thought it upped the former prez's odds of reelection, and the industry views him as pro-crypto (his campaign accepts crypto donations).
- Primed: Customers are expected to drop $14B on Amazon's two-day Prime Day promo this week, Adobe Analytics projected. Target and Walmart have jumped on the July-deal bandwagon with rival events.
- Redo: Goldman Sachs' profit spiked 150% annually last quarter after the bank reined in consumer-loan losses. Cue: Goldman's appealing the results of a stress test by the Fed that'd require it to hold more $$.
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- G7 trade ministers meet
- Earnings expected from UnitedHealth Group, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Progressive, Charles Schwab, State Street, PNC Financial Services Group, Interactive Brokers, and JB Hunt Transport Services
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Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and Walmart |
Advertiser's disclosures:
1 Bloomberg, 2024. 2 T. Rowe Price, 2024. See the Hypothetical Portfolio Risk/Reward Analysis chart for September 2004–June 2023 on page 4. Hypothetical/modeled performance is not actual performance achieved by an investor. Hypothetical analysis should be considered carefully. 3 Past performance is not indicative of future performance. 4 The up to $500 cash bonus offer is open to first-time investors who make a minimum investment of at least $1,000 in a single offering. See website for further details: https://percent.com/invest-with-percent-get-up-to-500/ 5 Alternative investments are speculative and possess a high level of risk. No assurance can be given that investors will receive a return of their capital. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Investments in private placements are highly illiquid and those investors who cannot hold an investment for an indefinite term should not invest. This website is only available to certain qualified investors. Please review the Private Placement Memorandum for each offering carefully before investing. |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more |
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