Hi! The big news is that OpenAI unveiled its latest large language model GPT-5 yesterday… But, in the presentation's fine print, the company made a "mega chart screwup," per CEO Sam Altman. It's really not as easy as it looks, this stuff. Today we're exploring: |
- User era: How much do the biggest social platforms make from us?
- SHOP on top: Shopify just regained its title as Canada's most valuable public company.
- In poor taste: America's most hated foods.
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How much money do Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat make from you? |
We've all been on the internet long enough to know that when the product is free, you are the product. But just how much is your doomscrolling actually worth to the Mark Zuckerbergs and Evan Spiegels of the world? That answer, of course, depends on a few key factors. Users from lower-income countries tend to be a lot less valuable to advertisers. But which platform you're on matters a lot, too. Just this week, Reddit said its revenue was booming thanks to AI-powered ads. Pinterest shares, meanwhile, sunk this morning on the exact opposite — AI's influence underwhelmed investors. At Snap it was a similar story, with shares diving 17% on Wednesday as the company is somehow barely growing while its peers leap forward. For all three of those companies, the average revenue per active user (ARPU) was about $2.40 to $2.80 a month for a user in the US/Canada or North America. (They define their geographies slightly differently.) So, not a whole lot to split them. But what about Meta? |
Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant is a little harder to pin down, having inconveniently stopped splitting out daily active users by geography. However, based on our best estimate that it has 250 million daily active users in the US and Canada (more on this here), combined with the fact that it reported $20 billion in ad revenue in the US and Canada, implies that the typical Meta user is worth somewhere around 10x as much: about $26 and change a month. Even if you split that figure in half to account for the fact that it includes Facebook and Instagram, the platforms would still be miles ahead of their competitors. |
Shopify overtakes RBC to become Canada's most valuable public company |
Thanks to an impressive quarter that sent Shopify shares soaring on Wednesday, the e-commerce platform has become Canada's most valuable company, beating the Royal Bank of Canada to the top spot. After the company's earnings call, Shopify surged on an optimistic outlook for the next quarter, as it expects revenue to grow at a mid- to high-20s percentage rate on a year-over-year basis. "The numbers were astonishing — an absolute blowout quarter," said Mike Archibald, a portfolio manager at AGF Investments, via Reuters. The platform's climb also sent the entire Toronto stock market briefly to a new record high, bringing the S&P/TSX composite index up 1.3% on Wednesday from the day before. |
Shopify previously edged past RBC in 2020, when e-commerce enthusiasm exploded during the pandemic. That excitement soon evaporated, with Shopify losing the crown after two years. As noted by Bloomberg, that's given further fuel to the idea of the Canadian market curse — when rocket-like companies such as Blackberry and Nortel Networks Corp. have ended up dramatically collapsing in value after beating the nation's biggest bank. Maybe this time it's different with SHOP? |
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The zero days to expiration options boom |
Zero-day-to-expiration (0DTE) options have continued to gain popularity over the last five years, and retail traders looking for the benefits of index options are a huge part of the story. Cboe® reports that SPX® options 0DTE volume has grown 5x since 2022, accounting for over 50% of total SPX options volume, now averaging 1.98M contracts daily. Cboe data shows retail traders are reshaping the 0DTE landscape with precision. Over 95% of retail 0DTE trades use capped-risk strategies, most keeping losses under $2K per trade. When volatility spikes, they pull back fast. On April 9th, retail 0DTE volume dropped to 47%, as SPX swung 10% intraday, suggesting a cautious pullback rather than overexposure. |
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Anchovies are Americans' least favorite food |
Most of us grow out of being "fussy eaters" as we approach adulthood, leaving behind nugget-based kids meals in favor of complex flavors as our palates become more refined (though not totally nug-averse). But nearly everyone has a few residual food hang-ups that they simply can't shake — and, for a majority of Americans, nothing grosses them out more than the salty, slick taste of an oil-coated anchovy. |
A new YouGov survey, published last week, found that anchovies are Americans' most disliked food, with a total 56% of respondents expressing negative views towards the forage fish. Other forms of seafood, such as sardines and sushi, were met with similar disdain, making up six of the 10 least favorite foods. Although anchovies were the least popular overall, a greater share of Americans expressed hatred for liver, with 40% of respondents saying they loathed the organ meat. |
Cracking open a trawled one |
While millions of Americans can't abide anchovies, the US is actually seeing tinned fish sales rise at the moment — a potentially ominous sign, as the popularity of these long-life provisions has been pegged by some as a recession indicator. Per CNN, as videos of "tinned fish parties" circulate on social media, sardine prints have become fashionable, and cash-conscious consumers look to save money in tough economic conditions, Google searches for "tinned fish" are spiking again after hitting an all-time high in December. Check out the full poll of America's least favorite foods on YouGov. |
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- Paramount is now "a Skydance Corporation," completing its $8.4 billion merger deal following more than a year of negotiations (and one contentious cancellation).
- New data indicates that the share of calories in US diets derived from ultraprocessed foods is declining — but they still made up 55% of Americans' calorie intake from 2021-2023.
- The Conference Board's CEO confidence index has bounced back in the three months to July, rising 15 points from the previous quarter as earlier tariff jitters eased.
- Nvidia now dominates the S&P 500 more than any other individual stock has in at least 44 years.
- Winnie Labubu: Disney is jumping on the bag charm craze by launching its Japanese Urupocha-chan plushie line in the US at $17 a pop.
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Retail traders now drive 55% of SPX 0DTE volume, favoring low-capped risk strategies. During April's volatility spike, retail 0DTE volume dropped to 47%—a tactical retreat that highlights growing sophistication and influence in fast-moving markets. |
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Off the charts: Which footwear brand says it might be facing another sales slump this year after riding out a couple years-long drops over the past two decades? [Answer below]. |
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