🆒 Cranking up the AC bill

…and StubHub's "drip pricing" lawsuit

Spencer Platt/Getty Images Everyone's sportin' sweat stains Sponsored by Yesterday's market moves Dow Jones 40,843 (+0.24%) S&P 500 5,522 (+1.58%) Nasdaq 17,599 (+2.64%) Bitcoin $64,961 (-1.83%) Dow Jones 40,843 (+0.24%) S&P 500 5,522 (+1.58%) Nasdaq 17,599 (+2.64%) Bitcoin $64,961 (-1.83%) Hey Snackers, There are always clicks in the banana stand? A video game that involves repeatedly clicking on a banana racked up nearly 900K simultaneous "players" — but most may've been bots.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied yesterday, posting their best days since February, after Fed Chair Powell said a September rate cut "could be on the table" if inflation keeps cooling.  DRIP In brutal temps, air-conditioning businesses thrive as the cooling industry heats up Blastin' the AC… In the dog days of summer, cooling is king. Scorching temps that saw 150M+ Americans under heat alerts last month have air-conditioning companies booming. Helping business: the average lifespan of an AC unit is 15 to 20 years, meaning thousands of units installed during the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis are due for replacement. Experts say about 10 new AC units will be sold every second through 2050. And cooling giants are reaping the gains:  Big drips: Shares of Trane — which raised its annual outlook after reporting strong growth yesterday — are up 40% YTD. The year's also been good to rivals like Lennox (up ~32%), Carrier (up 21%), and Aaon (up 19%). The S&P 500 is up 16% over the same period. The AI play: HVAC companies are also profiting on AI hype as energy-sucking data centers need to stay cool to work optimally. The global market for cooling data centers is set to reach ~$30B by the end of the decade. Stayin' cool… will cost ya. AC requires lots of power, which comes with a hefty price. The average US electric bill is expected to set a 10-year record, reaching $720 between June and September. Nearly 80% of US adults are concerned about rising energy bills, and a third have used credit cards, loans, or payment plans to cover them. Prices could rise even more in the next few years as the EPA rolls out new sustainability regulations for the HVAC industry. FYI: air-conditioning accounts for about 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. THE TAKEAWAY High temps aren't going anywhere… Global temps hit the highest levels on record in July. Last year, extreme heat was linked to the deaths of 11K+ people in the US alone. As the climate crisis sends temperatures soaring, more people will pay to beat the heat — spelling hot results for cooling companies. At the same time, more AC use = more emissions.  Read this online Sponsored by RAD AI Is Now the Time to Invest in AI? Meet RAD AI, the high-growth startup elevating content strategies for brands like Hasbro, Sweetgreen and The Black Tux. RAD's groundbreaking AI helps every post, email, and video effectively reach and engage its audience. AI's growing impact is clear. Nvidia's valuation hit $2.7 trillion in July 2024, and Reddit's $203 million contract for AI data licensing has been a win for Wall Street.    RAD AI is making strides too: 3.5X ROI across clients and campaigns. SaaS model retains enterprise clients for multi-year commitments, with booked revenue up 3X in the last 12 months.  $28M+ raised from 7,000+ investors, including execs from Google, Snap, Amazon, and Meta. Backing from the Adobe Fund for Design. The investment round closes this month — but you can still get in here.*  Sponsored by RAD AI Is Now the Time to Invest in AI? Meet RAD AI, the high-growth startup elevating content strategies for brands like Hasbro, Sweetgreen and The Black Tux. RAD's groundbreaking AI helps every post, email, and video effectively reach and engage its audience. AI's growing impact is clear. Nvidia's valuation hit $2.7 trillion in July 2024, and Reddit's $203 million contract for AI data licensing has been a win for Wall Street.    RAD AI is making strides too: 3.5X ROI across clients and campaigns. SaaS model retains enterprise clients for multi-year commitments, with booked revenue up 3X in the last 12 months.  $28M+ raised from 7,000+ investors, including execs from Google, Snap, Amazon, and Meta. Backing from the Adobe Fund for Design. The investment round closes this month — but you can still get in here.*  SPOTLIGHT StubHub is sued over "drip pricing" as regulators crack down on sneaky fees 6-minute countdown… to snag Billy Joel tix. Yesterday, the Washington, DC, attorney general sued ticketing heavyweight StubHub over its pricing practices. FYI: StubHub is a third-party platform that lets fans buy and resell tickets to shows that may've sold out on primary platforms (like: Live Nation's Ticketmaster). The lawsuit accuses StubHub of "drip pricing" — luring fans by displaying lower prices before hitting them with surprise fees at checkout. The complaint shows two tickets being advertised for $356 that end up costing nearly $500. The AG also said StubHub uses a checkout countdown clock to create "a false sense of urgency." Performance hall: The suit alleges that StubHub has earned an estimated $118M in hidden fees from ticket sales in the DC area since 2015. Curtain call: The AG is asking regulators to punish StubHub financially and force it to stop its "deceptive" pricing strategy. Eras Tour anger… Ticketing biggies have faced backlash from regulators and customers over extra fees. In May the DOJ filed an antitrust suit against Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, aiming to break up the country's largest concert promoter. It accused Ticketmaster of using its dominance to drive up prices with obscure fees. This week, Live Nation reported record Q2 revenue of $6B+ as the postpandemic concert boom continued. While event prices surge, consumers have been going into debt to go to shows and games.  THE TAKEAWAY Hidden fees are stealing the show… The concert boom has turned the spotlight on long-accepted practices like sky-high resale prices and hidden fees. It's not just ticket titans feeling the pressure: in June, the House passed the "No Hidden FEES Act," which would force hotels and booking platforms to show full prices up front.  Read this online REDACTED Off the charts: Which US airport phenomenon is mapped out below? The # of reported damaged-luggage incidents The # of pet passengers The # of private-jet departures The # of air-freight flight departures Answer here. ON SHERWOOD RIP Dark Brandon, hello coconut tree: Merch makers rise to meet the moment Making t-shirts is easier than ever. Keeping up with the presidential election is the real challenge. Read More. What else we're Snackin' MetAI: Meta's stock spiked after it posted surging quarterly sales and profit thanks to strong ad revenue (which makes up 98% of its total). Still, expenses climbed as the biz poured $$ into AI and its money-losing Reality Labs VR unit.  GPTaco: Yum Brands' Taco Bell said it'd test AI-powered drive-thrus in "hundreds" of restos by the end of the year. Fast-food chains have struggled with the tech, and McDonald's bailed on its AI drive-thrus in June.  Runway: Boeing announced a new CEO yesterday and said it had lost $1.4B in its latest quarter. The plane maker has faced strong headwinds following two deadly 737 Max crashes and January's plug-door blowout. CashFlow: Fertility and period-tracking app Flo Health raised $200M at a $1B+ valuation. Investments into women's-health startups have hit $5B over the past three years, up 60% from the previous three years.  Hinged: Dating-app colossus Match Group posted a smaller decline in paying users than in previous quarters, and revenue grew as folks spent more on swipes (though Tinder paying users fell 8%, Hinge payers jumped 24%).  Snack Fact of the Day The US became the first country to earn 3K Olympic medals Thursday US initial jobless claims Earnings expected from Allstate, Aflac, Goodyear, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, MetLife, Crocs, Moderna, ConocoPhillips, Wayfair, SiriusXM, Hershey, Wendy's, Toyota, Shake Shack, Roblox, Shell, Hertz, AB InBev, Thomas Reuters, Ferrari, Kellanova, Utz, Cigna, Shake Shack, Amazon, Apple, Intel, Coinbase, Roku, Block, Snap, Twilio, Microchip, Atlassian, DoorDash, GoDaddy, Motorola, Clorox, DraftKings, and Prudential  Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Apple, Match Group, Moderna, Snap, and Yum Brands Advertiser's disclosures: * INVESTMENTS IN PRIVATE PLACEMENTS ARE SPECULATIVE, POSSESS A HIGH LEVEL OF RISK, ARE HIGHLY ILLIQUID, AND THOSE INVESTORS WHO CANNOT HOLD AN INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE TERM SHOULD NOT INVEST. 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