Fandoms’ fantastic fortunes

We're solidly in what we believe shall be dubbed "the fandom decade." More than ever, people identify online and IRL with communities based on the characters and stories they connect with, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to manga megahit "One Piece" to "Game of Thrones."

(Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images) Presented by Hey Snackers, Remember when the Covid pandemic forced many of us to figure out quickly how to work from home, causing Black Friday-like rushes on home office furniture? Ikea remembers. For the first time in 20 years (other than a brief, pandemic-forced store closure blip), sales fell for the seller of BILLY bookcases, as this chart shows. To counter the slide, the retailer has teamed up with another blue-branded big-box store to open up a new "shop-in-shop" concept. So if you need a new laptop and a place to put it, you soon could be spared from visiting two stores.  A trio of troubles sank US stocks on Friday: Amazon's lackluster guidance after the bell on Thursday, President Donald Trump's plans for more tariff hikes starting August 7, and a string of poor economic data headlined by lower-than-expected job growth in July. The S&P 500 had its first daily move of at least 1% in 26 sessions, and it was to the downside. The benchmark index finished off 1.6%, while the Nasdaq 100 and Russell 2000 each slumped 2%.  🧠 Trivia time… With college football kicking off later this month, attempt our Snacks Seven Quiz:  What is the most valuable college football team? The Ohio State University University of Georgia University of Michigan University of Texas Check your answer. FACT OF FANFICTION The big business of fandom  We're solidly in what we believe shall be dubbed "the fandom decade." More than ever, people identify online and IRL with communities based on the characters and stories they connect with, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to manga megahit "One Piece" to "Game of Thrones."  But not all fandoms come from an original work, and while "fanfic" used to conjure thoughts of lesser, derivative works that could have an audience only within the original fandom, that's changed in a big way. After the success of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and its publicly acknowledged roots in "Twilight," fanfiction introduced the concept of fanworks to a broader audience, who wanted to know where they could find more stories starring their favorite swoon-worthy characters. That's where Wattpad comes in. Millions of global readers spend an average of about an hour a day reading and commenting on stories hosted on the platform, and it's especially popular with one desirable demographic.  Some of Wattpad's well-known successes include originals such as "The Kissing Booth" on Netflix and Anna Todd's hugely successful series "After," which has had four movies grossing $168 million worldwide despite not having a certain One Direction singer in the lead role. Now Wattpad is ready to truly say the quiet part out loud and is shifting to make fanfiction its focus. It has big plans on how to encourage fandoms to grow, which Aron Levitz, the president of Wattpad, shared with us. THE TAKEAWAY The path to growing and monetizing fandoms can be a tricky one filled with cease and desist letters, accusations of exploitation, and just bad, unlucky timing (see: every Comic Con during the pandemic). So Wattpad's approach of focusing on connecting creators and fans is a smart one. As Levitz told Sherwood News, "The creators that are most successful on our platform understand the contract with their fandom: 'I am not in this alone as a creator.'"  Read more Presented by Atombeam 🚨AI Can Overload Data Centers – Reserve Your Shares in Atombeam's Solution How does a company follow up a record-setting $20M campaign?  Just ask Atombeam.  After two oversubscribed offerings and a $3M waitlist, investors have already reserved $3.8M in Atombeam's potential upcoming round — which has a goal of just $5M. They are currently taking reservations — anyone who makes a reservation now can receive 10% bonus shares1 on their future investment if they move forward with another round. Atombeam's goal: tackle the growing issue of data center scarcity. In 2025, the world will produce over 90 zettabytes of data. With networks and storage struggling to keep up, Atombeam's patented AI software could be a game-changing solution: make data smaller. 💡 So What Sets Atombeam Apart? Up To 75% Smaller Data. Networks become up to 4x faster and more efficient. Proven Performance. Trusted by major military forces, plus partnerships in place with US tech titans.2 Defense Backing. Secured $2.4M in contracts, showcasing industry trust.  Reserve your shares in Atombeam now.3 2 The partnership relationship varies between companies and can include the following: inclusion on a preferred vendor list, invitations to participate in certain forums; listed on the other company's website, and introduction and networking opportunities. ZOOM OUT Stories we're obsessed with All eyes are on Hims' weight-loss biz ahead of today's earnings Hims & Hers' stock chart is looking like a roller coaster this year, and its earnings report after the bell today could offer some insight into whether the telehealth company has recovered its losses from its very public breakup with pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk — and, more importantly, show signs of how its weight-loss business is doing. Analysts are penciling in a 74% year-over-year increase, but can Hims live up to expectations? Why no one is moving homes Only 3% of homeowners said they'd be comfortable selling their homes this year, because the interest rate on their mortgage is too damn low: two-thirds of outstanding mortgages in the States have a rate below 4%. The result? A market freeze, as buyers wait for rates to cool while sellers remain anchored to their old mortgages. While the housing gridlock is a nationwide phenomenon, some states are more affected than others. See the states where homeowners feel the most locked in. THE BEST THING WE READ TODAY Xbox is doing pretty well at everything except selling Xboxes In Microsoft's earnings report last week, the tech giant said its annual gaming revenue climbed to $23.45 billion. About $5 billion of that was from its subscription service, Game Pass (a record). But gaming hardware revenue fell 25% this fiscal year. Just see the staggering difference between Xbox's hardware revenue and its competitor. Why Xbox's competition may be shifting Presented by Cboe Options, demystified  When it comes to options, traders may face psychological barriers and knowledge gaps that prevent them from exploring options opportunities.  We've partnered with the OG options experts from Cboe® to create a rookie-friendly options guide to help you build the confidence to overcome your options obstacles. What else we're Snackin' Are you getting paid enough to risk your money in the stock market?  In our exclusive interview, Interactive Brokers' chief strategist dishes on the evolution of dip-buying and the "flight to crap" Nintendo's Switch 2 is selling at more than twice the pace of the original Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta spent a record $88 billion on capex last quarter Air taxi maker Joby Aviation will partner with defense tech firm L3Harris Technologies to develop military aircraft Snack Fact of the Day Spot crypto ETFs trading in the US saw a record $12.8 billion of inflows in July. This Week Monday: Earnings expected from Palantir, Hims & Hers Health, Tyson Foods, and Wayfair  Tuesday: Earnings expected from Pfizer, Caterpillar, BP, Marriott, Duke Energy, DuPont, Yum! Brands, Advanced Micro Devices, Super Micro Computer, Amgen, Arista, Opendoor, Snap, Lucid, and Rivian Wednesday: Earnings expected from McDonald's, Novo Nordisk, Disney, Uber, Lyft, Shopify, DraftKings, AppLovin, DoorDash, Airbnb, IonQ, e.l.f., Jack in the Box, and Joby Aviation Thursday: Earnings expected from Eli Lilly, ConocoPhillips, Constellation Energy, SoundHound, Pinterest, Warner Bros. Discovery, Block, Expedia, Wynn Resorts, Celsius, Rocket Lab, and D-Wave Quantum  Friday: Earnings expected from Fubo, Tempus, and Wendy's   Advertiser's disclosures: 1 Reservation holders in the Company's Testing the Waters offering hosted on the StartEngine Crowdfunding platform will receive 10% bonus shares if they make a reservation now in the Test the Waters offering and then invest a minimum of $650 in the future Reg CF offering.  In order to be eligible for the Reservation Bonus an investor must indicate their interest in the Company's offering by making a non-binding "reservation" on the Company's testing the waters page hosted by StartEngine Crowdfunding. There is no minimum "reservation" amount required to be eligible for the Reservation Bonus. There is no obligation to purchase securities in the offering if a "reservation" is made. Any investor making a non-binding "reservation" will be eligible for the Reservation Bonus for the total number of shares they purchase in the Offering whether more or less than the shares "reserved". 3 This is a paid advertisement for Atombeam's Test the Waters offering under Reg CF. This Test the Waters offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Please read the information available onAtombeam's webpage on StartEngine to understand the terms of this Test the Waters offering for reservation of shares in a potential future Reg CF offering.. The reservation is non-binding and can be canceled at any time before making an actual investment. When the future Reg CF offering is launched, Atombeam will notify reservation holders and they can confirm whether they'd like to complete their investment or not. This potential investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.  NO MONEY OR OTHER CONSIDERATION IS BEING SOLICITED, AND IF SENT IN RESPONSE, WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. NO OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES CAN BE ACCEPTED AND NO PART OF THE PURCHASE PRICE CAN BE RECEIVED UNTIL THE OFFERING STATEMENT IS FILED AND ONLY THROUGH AN INTERMEDIARY'S PLATFORM. AN INDICATION OF INTEREST INVOLVES NO OBLIGATION OR COMMITMENT OF ANY KIND. "RESERVING" SECURITIES IS SIMPLY AN INDICATION OF INTEREST. This was a paid for ad. Sherwood Media has been compensated for this ad by the Atombeam Test The Waters offering (under Reg CF) hosted on StartEngine.   Was this email forwarded to you? Don't miss out on future stories — subscribe to Snacks and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox.  Craving more insights in your inbox? Subscribe to Chartr and The Wrap for quality reads. 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