Viral Stories of the Week: October 23

Vonetta Logan's recap of the big business, news, markets, political, cultural and viral trending stories featured this week on Daily Dose

What’s up tastynation! Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekly Dose! Each week, I recap the top stories that I covered on Daily Dose. If you missed any eps of Daily Dose you can catch up on them here. 

Do you guys dress up for Halloween in your office? I just think it's more fun if there’s a Power Ranger, a Mario Brother, a sexy kitty and a Barbie doll in your marketing meeting. 

Let’s get to this week’s recap. 

Monday

• Global billionaire tax could yield $250 billion annually: The EU Tax Observatory said governments should open a new front in the international clampdown on tax evasion with a global minimum tax on billionaires, which could raise $250 billion annually. If levied, the sum would be equivalent to only 2% of the nearly $13 trillion in wealth owned by the 2,700 billionaires globally, the research group hosted at the Paris School of Economics said. Look, we all know rich people and their fancy wealth managers know every trick in the book about not paying taxes. So, tax ‘em all, no matter where they live. 
• Apple's big push into AI: Apple (AAPL) was caught flat-footed when ChatGPT and other AI tools took the technology industry by storm. But the company is now preparing its response and plans to develop features for its full range of devices. Apple is investing more than $1 billion to ramp up its AI offerings across its line of products like HomePod and Siri. While Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) enhanced their product offerings all Apple-fanboys got was a newer version of autocorrect that finally realized you weren’t sick of your “ducking boss.” 
• Everything you know about the coin toss is a lie: Before you risk it for the biscuit while making a life-altering decision based on the flip of a coin, you might want to read this first, Popular Mechanics writes: 
  
  Before you call heads or tails, peek at the side of the coin facing up. You’ll improve your odds of getting it right by calling for the side facing up. Scientists say the “overwhelming evidence for a same-side bias” is proved out by the results of 350,757 coin flips.
  
  Frantisek Bartos, a psychological methods PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, led a pre-print study published on arXiv that built off the 2007 paper from Stanford mathematician Persi Diaconis asserting “that when people flip an ordinary coin, it tends to land on the same side it started.”
  
  Wait, even coins are out here being biased. SMH. Can’t anyone get a fair shake anymore? You’ll be fine as long as you can peep which face is face up the next time you’re flipping a coin. 

Tuesday

• Who you callin' dumb? Retail investors are just fine: If you listen to Gary Gensler, the current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, American retail investors are dumb twits who are easily manipulated by shiny items and the things that Elon Musk tweets. However, if you look at the numbers retail investors are putting up, the tape tells a different story. The average individual-investor stock portfolio has risen about 150% since the beginning of 2014, according to investment research firm Vanda Research, which began tracking the data nine years ago. That beats the S&P 500’s roughly 140% during the same period. 
• Ackman now backs bonds: After pocketing a tidy $200 million in tendies, Hedge fund guru Bill Ackman, says “Do as I say, not as I do” and buy bonds. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman revealed Monday he covered his bet against long-term Treasuries. The hedge fund manager believes investors may increasingly buy bonds as a "safe haven" because of growing geopolitical risks. Ackman also added that he removed the short because of concern about the economy. So I guess we’re supposed to be super pumped that instead of saying “finish him” to the Treasury market, bonds have now been classified as a safe haven by Ackman. I had no idea there were bond influencers. Has anyone checked on Bill Gross? Did he get invited to the bonds influencer trip with the rest of the Treasury girlies? 
• Bitcoin bounces on ETF news: You’ve heard of “buy the rumor, sell the news,” well bitcoin (BTC) bois are buying so many rumors that Fleetwood Mac is excited. Crypto got hot early in the week over news that Blackrock (BLK) was thisclose to getting its Bitcoin ETF approved. The best part about this story was that none of this has proven to be true. Yes, an ETF is probably on the horizon, but the ramp up in Bitcoin was outsized compared to what was actually happening in the digital currency market. 
• Tesla discloses DOJ probe: EV manufacturer, Tesla (TSLA) disclosed multiple subpoenas from the Department of Justice this week. The DOJ has pressed Tesla for information about the range of the company’s electric vehicles, as well as “personal benefits, related parties,” and “personnel decisions,” among other things the filing said. After probes from NHTSA, FTC, SEC, and now the DOJ, Tesla has enough alphabet agencies to make a nice soup. Tesla has been probed more than UFO junkie in New Mexico. 
• Off-duty pilot tries to crash plane: In a truly terrifying accounting of events, an Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight operated by Horizon Airlines diverted to Portland International Airport in Oregon on Sunday after an off-duty Alaska pilot traveling in the cockpit tried to disable the engines, the carrier said. The off-duty pilot, 44-year-old Joseph David Emerson, is in custody. He was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft. When questioned by authorities, Emerson remarked that he had consumed “psychedelic mushrooms” about 48 hours before the incident and subsequently hadn’t slept for 40 hours. Flight staff were able to subdue and handcuff Emerson. While restrained he made unsuccessful attempts to open the emergency exit door.
• Kim K. to make Skims for men: Skims, the underwear and apparel brand founded by Kim Kardashian and reportedly valued at $4 billion, is launching a line of clothing for men. The new lineup includes briefs, undershirts, boxers and leggings. Prices range from $16 to $54 depending on the item. Men’s sizes will also encompass Skims’ body positivity focus and stretch from extra small to 5X. Expanding into menswear is also a possible prelude to an initial public offering for the company, however nothing has officially been announced. Kardashian used male “models” from popular athletic teams to highlight her new line. I personally have watched this “try-on” video about 100 times. 

Wednesday

• Chase chief rips into central banks: JP Morgan Chase (JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, warned about the dangers of locking in an outlook about the economy, particularly considering the poor recent track record of central banks like the Federal Reserve. In the latest of multiple warnings about what lies ahead from the head of the largest U.S. bank by assets, he cautioned that myriad factors playing out now make things even more difficult. While I agree that his criticism is accurate, his own bank analysts are guilty of the same thing. Everyone in this business speculates and no one knows anything. But I guess it’s cool to pop off about the Fed. It’s like when I did standup comedy in the fourth grade. I pretty much gotta stick to jokes about how much homework sucks. That was not really groundbreaking but definitely guaranteed to get some laughs before they ran out of that square pizza and the kids started to get angry. 
• Former prosecutor thinks FTX cronies won't serve time: In recent weeks Gary Wang, co-founder and CTO of FTX; Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda; and Nishad Singh, FTX head of engineering all took the stand to testify against Sam Bankman Fried, their former boss, lover, and friend. All three have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud, and all three agreed to testify as a part of their cooperation agreements with the U.S. government in exchange for more-lenient sentences. Josh Naftalis, a former federal prosecutor and ex-assistant U.S. attorney for the SDNY thinks it's plausible that the three won’t serve any actual time. This to me is wild. You do some out of pocket stuff, you lawyer up, confess, flip evidence and then you just get to walk away? Like, how? We don’t know if this will happen, but this guy isn’t just some nutso calling in to a talk radio show, he’s a former prosecutor and I’ve only watched Judge Judy. But the audacity and avarice of these crimes is outrageous. I think they all should serve some time for their complicity. 
• Google (apparently) reports the worst earnings of all time: Alphabet (GOOGL) made $76 billion in revenue last quarter, but its cloud revenue came in at a paltry $8.4 billion and everyone lost their damn mind. Google shed the market cap equivalent of Nike (NKE). Google had its single worst day since March of 2020, and the loss in the stock is now one of the top five losses on Wall Street of ALL TIME. Hahahaha Google made $76 billion, and people are big mad, I don’t understand anything anymore. Make it make sense. How has $76 billion ever disappointed anyone? Like even if you’re as rich as a Saudi prince you’re not gonna be like “this $76 billion greatly disappoints me. You have brought shame upon my family.” Anyhoo, the move in the Goog spooked the market and the back half of the week has been terrible not just for the Nasdaq (QQQ) which is officially in “correction” town, but also the S&P 500 (SPY) which can’t get out of its own damn way. Good job, Google!
• Apple teases new Halloween-themed Mac event: Apple (AAPL) sent invites with the tagline “scary fast” for a launch event that will be streamed on its website on Oct. 30. The launch will be held at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, later than Apple’s typical launches, which usually kick off in the afternoon. New Mac laptops are expected, according to reports. Apple’s iMac and some of its MacBook laptops have not been updated yet this year. An event page posted on the Apple website shows a Finder logo animation, which is a Mac app. Apple held a launch event in September for its new line of iPhones and Apple Watches. 

Thursday

• Big Tech misses drag down S&P and Nasdaq: The S&P 500 (SPY) closed below a key level after disappointing quarterly results from Alphabet (GOOGL) and a rebound in interest rates. The benchmark index fell 1.43% to close at 4,186.77, ending the day below the 4,200 level that was being widely watched by chart analysts. It was the first time the S&P 500 closed below this threshold since May. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.43% to finish the session at 12,821.22 for its worst day since Feb. 21, when the index shed 2.5%. 
• U.S. GDP comes in hot: Gross domestic product, GDP, a measure of all goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a 4.9% annualized pace in the third quarter, ahead of the 4.7% estimate. The sharp increase came due to contributions from consumer spending, increased inventories, exports, residential investment and government spending. Swift. The answer to all this growth is Taylor Swift. I love how future generations will have to study the economic impact of Swifties in relation to consumer spending, inflationary pressures and the broader global economy. I feel like I have been training my whole life to teach a class on this. Swiftnomics 101. 
• White House to unveil executive order on AI on Monday: The Biden Administration is reportedly set to unveil a broad executive order on artificial intelligence on Monday. The order will allegedly require advanced AI models to undergo a series of assessments before federal agencies can adopt them. In addition, it would ease immigration for highly skilled workers, which was heavily restricted during the Trump administration. Federal agencies, including the Defense Department, Energy Department and intelligence branches, would also have to assess how they might incorporate AI into their work. The report notes that the analyses would emphasize strengthening the nation’s cyber defenses. An executive order does not require the participation of Congress, which is probably for the best as Congress is a non-functional entity. This means companies like Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) would have to have their models assessed by the government. So, a government that still uses Windows 95 is capable of properly assessing and deploying large language models? Ain’t no way. 
• Sam Bankman-Fried to testify in FTX trial: Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will take the stand in his own defense, his lawyer said. The move is widely considered to be a risky one since it opens him up to cross-examination by prosecutors. The former billionaire would be able to provide his own narrative on the collapse, but his testimony would be put up against the backdrop of all the previously damning testimony from his ex-friends, lovers and co-workers. Not sure what the right move here is. I mean if the kid had any “rizz” he’d be awesome to put on the stand. A couple of smiles, some funny stories, a few “aw shucks” he’d have that jury eating out the palm of his hand. But Bankman-Fried is the antithesis of “rizz”. He’s just gonna skeeve the jury out no matter what he says and no one believes that he’s just a “wittle math baby.” 
• Meta reports better than expected results ... market still hates Zuck: Meta (META) reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter as revenue increased 23%, the fastest rate of growth since 2021. Sales jumped from $27.71 billion a year earlier. Net income rose 164% to $11.58 billion, or $4.39 a share, from $4.4 billion, or $1.64 a share, a year earlier. Then, someone got on the earnings call and was like “oh yeah, we’re also slightly concerned about the unrest in the Middle East.” Then analysts were like, “there’s unrest in the Middle East??? SELL SELL SELL.” Meta is down like 5%. Again, I don’t understand why the market is shakier than a Chihuahua in air conditioning but then again Meta blew $3.5 billion on that dorky Metaquest headset so maybe that alone is worth a downgrade. 
• Whelp ... that's one way to secure startup funding: Eric Schmidt, 68, the former CEO of Alphabet (GOOGL) invested $100 million in Steel Perlot, a company led by Michelle Ritter, 29, whom he is banging. He is a "very, very active chairman," Ritter, the company's CEO, told Forbes of Schmidt. HAHAHHAHA. I bet he is. Get it, girl. Look, we don’t shame other women on this blog. I personally don't care about her business endeavors, but sis, drop the tutorial on how to bang a billionaire and then get him to invest in your hobby. Like, securing $100 milly based on va-jay-jay is amazing. She is a legend, an icon. The most I’ve ever been to procure from one of my relationships was a Panda Express gift card. 

Friday

• Amazon delivers for earnings: Amazon (AMZN) reported third-quarter earnings and revenue on Thursday that sailed past analysts’ estimates. Amazon reported revenue of $143 billion dollars. Man, I gotta stop drinking box wine and drunk ordering on Amazon. Revenue jumped 13% in the third quarter, a sign that the business is seeing some acceleration after a difficult 2022 that was marred by soaring inflation and rising interest rates. The company forecasted between $160 billion and $167 billion for the fourth quarter, which includes the busy holiday season. 
• Chipotle top earnings estimates: Chipotle (CMG) reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, helped by higher menu prices for its burritos and bowls. It’s wild that Chipotle is out in these streets charging more for burritos that are demonstrably smaller than they used to be. But we’re all addicted so what can we do? Earlier this month, the restaurant chain raised menu prices for the first time in more than a year, citing inflation. Customers in California can also expect to pay even more for their burritos next year. Executives said the company will pass along the higher labor costs that will come from California, raising wages for fast-food workers to $20 an hour in April. Real talk, I am expecting broad price hikes for a bunch of goods and services that I use because companies don’t want to pay their workers. Cool, cool. 
• More alarm bells for EV demand: Electric vehicle sales are still growing strongly, but that demand is not keeping up with the expectations of carmakers that have invested billions of dollars in the EV space. Expectations for persistently higher interest rates has led companies to alter plans as they eye 2024 warily. Honda (HMC) and General Motors (GM) announced it would end a $5 billion plan to develop lower-cost EVs together just a year after announcing the effort. GM on Tuesday said it would focus near-term EV efforts on meeting demand rather than hitting specific volume targets. Ford (F) announced during their earnings call that they are postponing about $12 billion in EV manufacturing investment.
• Taylor Swift enters her billionaire era: “When I walk in the room I can make the whole place shimmer” America’s favorite pop star is now a billionaire according to Bloomberg. Swift’s total net worth is now at $1.1 billion, thanks to a record-breaking Eras tour that helped boost the U.S. economy this summer. Bloomberg said Swift is one of the few entertainers to reach that status based on just her music and performance. Look, I would continue to date a whole slew of shady dudes if I knew at the end sharing my experience would net me a billion dollars. Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek, previously told CNN that “Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour is rewriting the playbook of entertainment economics. "She’s not just a performer — she’s an economic phenomenon,” Leyden said. Swift also negotiated her own deal for her Eras tour to be shown in theaters. There will need to be entire semesters of business school dedicated to the moves of Swift. Mark my words. 

The best brisket sandwich is in Arlington Heights, IL? For today’s Will Tom Eat It we travel all the way to that BBQ hot spot … Arlington, IL. Not gonna lie, this looks dope. 

That’s it for this week! See ya next week! 

Vonetta Logan has more than a decade of markets experience and has been a trader for five years. She is an on-air personality, creative writer and news correspondent at tastylive. Vonetta appears Monday-Friday on Daily Dose and contributes to Luckbox Magazine. @vonettalogan

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