Viral Stories of the Week: September 18

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 remember...the blog you wrote on the 21st day of September....

Let’s get to this week’s recap. 

Monday 

• Student loans, Strikes, and a Shutdown, oh my! Things may be looking decent in the U.S. economy right now, but Goldman Sachs (GS) doesn’t want y’all getting too complacent. Goldman warned that the resumption of student loan payments, the auto workers' strike, and a potential shutdown in Washington could all cause U.S. real gross domestic product growth to dip in the fourth quarter. Looks like the scariest thing in October will be the economy. 
• California sues oil giants: The state of California (I’m sorry I still can’t read that without doing an Ahnold accent) has sued basically every major oil company for causing billions of dollars of damage and for deceiving the public. The filing in a superior court in San Francisco, Calif. showed the state suing: Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM), Shell PLC (SHEL), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), and BP (BP). Wait, Big Oil is lying to me? If I can’t trust the nation’s largest petroleum producers, I really don’t know what to believe in anymore. The Californian economy is the fifth largest in the world. So, when the state sues you, people listen. The sentient haircut who serves as the state's Governor (Govenator, dammit Ahnold) posted this on Twitter. 
• Apple shows strong pre-orders for iPhone 15: Buyers of Apple's (AAPL) new iPhone 15 Pro Max in some countries including China, Japan and the United States may have to wait until November to get the smartphone. That's an early sign of strong demand for the company as it started taking pre-orders last week. In the U.S., buyers will have to wait for six to seven weeks before getting the Pro Max, the most expensive model in the iPhone 15 model line-up. But I want my new iPhone now! Apple’s stock has some nice pops to start the week as the street seemingly loved these backlogs. Some industry experts, however, have pointed out the delays are probably more closely related to Apple having a lower initial supply of devices. 
• Costco Monopoly debuts to celebrate store's 40th anniversary: “You must pass the sample lady. Do not collect a sample, do not check out for less than $300.” That is what I imagine the Costco (COST) branded version of Monopoly entails. Costco in collaboration with Hasbro (HAS) released the fully rebranded edition of the classic game just in time for the Seattle-based chain’s 40th anniversary. Costco’s giant carts, cheesy pizza and oversized teddy bears have all been turned into game pieces. Finally, someone has merged the violence of Monopoly with the desperation of being in a Costco on a busy Saturday into one satisfying experience guaranteed to have your Uncle Dan flipping over your dining room table in no time. 

Tuesday 

• Fear gauge signals bull market is alive and well: On Monday, a company called DataTrek pushed out some research that indicated that since the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hit a new post-pandemic low the week prior, it will be smooth, bullish, sailing for the market from now on. Narrator: It wasn’t. Wow, this take surely didn’t age well. Thanks J. Powell. DataTrek wrote, “The ultra-low VIX is telling us that none of these concerns matter enough to offset a fundamentally strong picture for US corporate earnings.” 
• Bitcoin breaks above 27k: Cryptocurrency prices rose broadly on Monday, with bitcoin climbing above $27,000 for the first time this month. The move was ahead of several central banks’ reporting of rate hikes/holds scheduled for this week. Spoiler Alert: Bitcoin was trading under $27,000 by Friday.
• Arm slides as options become available: Options on the newly listed shares of SoftBank's Arm Holdings (ARM), the year's biggest initial public offering, traded on Monday at a brisk pace, with many investors positioning for further downside. Arm made the list of the 50 most actively traded single-stock names in the options market on Monday, according to options analytics service Trade Alert. Arm has seen a steady decline in its price since it hit $66.32 on its IPO day. Stock got you down? No worries I made you a playlist of the 20 greatest songs with “arm” in the title. You’re welcome! 
• Instacart soars in trading debut: Instacart (CART) started trading Tuesday, opening at $42 per share and propelling the grocery-delivery company to a market valuation of just over $11 billion. The company hiked their estimated price range based on the strong reception for Arm’s (ARM) IPO the week before. Spoiler Alert: Instacart’s opening price would never be seen again. Oh see, Instacart…you don’t like it when you know how much your stock should cost, but then it gets marked up to a crazy high number. I know how much this yogurt costs, Instacart! What you charged me for it should be a crime. I hope you go to zero. Options also became available in Instacart on Thursday. 

Wednesday 

• Fed sez: Steady as she goes: The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but stiffened a hawkish monetary policy stance that its officials increasingly believe can succeed in lowering inflation without wrecking the economy or leading to large job losses. Though the Fed did leave the door open for an additional rate hike later this year and stated that rates would stay higher for longer. I don’t know what kind of Magic 8 Ball the Fed is using but I’m pretty sure Jerome just keeps shaking the damn thing and it's just saying “ask again later.” The market took a huge turn to the downside Thursday post-Fed announcement. Bond yields also freaked the hell out. Meanwhile, I’m just over here shoving as much cash as I can find into high yield savings accounts and CDs. 
• FTX sues scammers parents: Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued the parents of founder Sam Bankman-Fried, saying that Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried used the company to enrich themselves at the expense of FTX's customers. FTX said that company founder Sam Bankman-Fried ran FTX as a "family business" and misappropriated billions in customer funds for the benefit of a small circle of insiders, including his parents. Hahahaha omg you guys. I get it, you want to be proud of your children and support them in their endeavors. But you know good and damn well that your “special boy” isn’t so special that he could procure for you $10 million of Bahamian real estate. Come on! Weren’t the alarm bells going off, or did you just wash away your suspicions with another extra-large Last Mango in Paris margarita from Margaritaville. Stanford University, where the Bankman-Frieds are professors, also agreed this week to return any ill-gotten donations. 
• Disney doubles down on park expansion plans: Disney (DIS), the entertainment and amusement behemoth, announced this week it will nearly double its planned investment in its parks division to roughly $60 billion over the course of 10 years. Disney is grappling with the changing media and entertainment landscape—and trying to make its streaming business profitable while considering sales of its traditional TV networks. Disney theme parks, experiences and products division has been a bright spot. This whole endeavor is odd to me, since it spent a mind-bending almost $1 billion to build its Starcruiser immersive hotel experience. Their “investment” was so costly that the hotel cost $5,000 for a weekend rental for just one couple. The Starcruiser experience lasted barely a year and has now been shuttered by the park. 

Thursday 

• Klaviyo shares pop on IPO debut: Shares of data automation startup Klaviyo (KYVO) closed up around 9% on its first day of trading on Wednesday, a muted performance for the second big venture-backed IPO of the week. The company priced shares at $30 each, a bit above the projected range, rising to around $576 million. The offering set an initial valuation of around $9 billion for Boston-based Klaviyo, which made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “KYVO.” Options were made available on the stock on Friday. 
• Apple and Goldman were planning a stock trading feature: Apple (AAPL) was exploring the launch of an iPhone feature that would let users buy and sell stocks. The offering would have been in partnership with Goldman Sachs (GS), which has worked with Apple on other financial products. The iPhone maker decided the timing wasn’t right as markets slumped, and the company put the plan on pause, sources say. This sounds great in theory, but I can’t imagine the horrible execution. On the daily, I am frustrated by how every time I go to put my phone in my purse it thinks it wants to change my screen wallpaper and freaks out. Imagine just doing a casual “butt-dial” that loses you 10k on a YOLO trade in Target (TGT). Also, the current relationship Apple has with Goldman Sachs hasn’t been smooth sailing either. 
• Congrats! All your NFTs are worthless: A report by dappGambl, based on data provided by NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap, showed that out of 73,257 NFT collections the researchers looked at, 69,795 of them, or slightly over 95%, had a market value of zero ether. Around 23 million people now hold these worthless assets. If you need me, I’ll just be over her lint rolling my Beanie Baby collection. Glad these things still have some value. What’s that? They’re also useless. Dammit. 
• Walmart to open a pet grooming and veterinary center: Retail giant Walmart (WMT) is opening its first pet services center outside Atlanta signaling it wants to be a place that customers turn to for veterinarian visits and dog grooming appointments along with grocery runs. On the announcement competitor stocks like Chewy (CHWY) and Petco (WOOF) dropped. Labor costs have made everything from dog grooming to vet care super expensive, so I’m all for more competition in the space so hopefully it’s a more affordable option for consumers. I also can’t wait for the Dogs of Walmart accounts to start. 

Friday

• Cisco gets Splunky: Tech giant Cisco (CSCO) is acquiring Splunk (SPLK) for $157 per share in a cash deal worth about $28 billion, the company said Thursday, in its largest acquisition ever. Splunk shares ended Thursday up 21%, while Cisco shares closed down 4%. So, if Cisco buys Splunk will the new company be called CLUNK? Thank you, good night, everyone! Don’t forget to tip your waitress. Try the prime rib! 
• Rupert Murdoch steps down from Fox: It looks like we have a season finale for the real-life version of Succession. Media mogul, and the human embodiment of Mr. Burns, Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of News Corp. and Fox Corp. Murdoch’s son Lachlan will become sole chairman of News Corp. and will continue as Fox Corp.’s executive chair and CEO. Rupert announced he’s stepping down to spend more time with his soon to be fifth wife. 
• 10 Best Airports in America: The annual J.D. Power 2023 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, which compiled responses from over 27,000 individuals from the U.S. and Canada, found airport satisfaction rose three points even though, at multiple times last year, airlines seemingly forgot how to make planes take off and land and they couldn’t figure out what to do with all our luggage. Did your favorite airport make the list? 

Will Tom Eat It? Griddle Philly Cheesesteaks

Wanna put some South (Philly) in your mouth? Check out this recipe for how to grill some cheesesteaks at home. I love the battle in the comments from people who are and are not from Philadelphia.

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, She appears Monday-Friday on Daily Dose and contributes to Luckbox Magazine. @vonettalogan

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