Happy Wednesday all,
Hope you’re having a good week so far!
The 49ers lost over the weekend. What a tough way to end the season ☹️. I thought for sure SF was going to score a TD in overtime after the defensive holding call.
For those in relationships, I hope you bought/received flowers for Valentine’s Day! I just hope that they didn’t completely break the bank. Yesterday, I walked by a few flower shops and the prices they’re charging just seem outrageous to me! They looked cool, I guess. 🤷♂️
If you haven’t gotten a chance to check out the latest YouTube video, it’s linked at the bottom of the newsletter. It’s one of our best videos to date!
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
👀 Eye-Catching Headlines
❤️ Valentine’s Day chocolate prices highest in years amid cocoa shortage (CNBC)
🤑 X Hopes to Lure Creators, Take On YouTube With New Ad Targeting (Bloomberg)
🏈 Super Bowl smashes U.S. viewership record, highest since moonwalk broadcast (Reuters)
🧠 Early Adopters of Microsoft’s AI Bot Wonder if It’s Worth the Money (WSJ)
🚗 The Cost of Car Ownership Is Getting Painful (WSJ)
📦 Bezos Sells $4 Billion of Amazon Stock in Four Trading Days (Bloomberg)
⛽️ OPEC Sticks to Oil-Demand Growth View, Lifts Economic Forecast (WSJ)
⭐️ Celebrity-Packed Super Bowl Ads Won the Game Within the Game, Surveys Show (WSJ)
👨⚖️ House Republicans impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas (CNBC)
The Weekly Brief
1. U.S. Inflation Tops Forecasts in Blow to Fed Rate-Cut Hopes (Bloomberg)
In January, inflation surged unexpectedly, with a significant portion of service prices increasing by the most in nearly two years.
The inflation spike, particularly in housing costs, diminished the likelihood of the Fed lowering interest rates soon, with some policymakers advocating for easing price pressures before considering rate cuts.
The S&P 500 fell and treasury yields jumped after the release.
According to Bloomberg Ecomonics, the January CPI reports shows it won’t be a smooth path back to 2% inflation and that the base case for the Fed is to begin cutting rates in May.
Fed officials have one more CPI print before their next policy meeting in March.
Though policymakers have already indicated rates are likely to stay on hold for a fifth straight meeting
2. Lyft Shares Pull Way Back After CFO Corrects Major Earnings Release Error (CNBC)
Lyft shares shot up 60% in extended trading yesterday but since pulled back after the company’s CFO acknowledged a major error in the press release.
Rather than projecting 5% growth for 2024, the actual increase is only projected to be 1/10th of that at 0.5%.
The stock pulled back from +60% to +16% after the correction.
While Lyft posted better than expected earnings, the stock has struggled since its IPO in 2019 - down more than 80% off its debut price.
3. Temu Spent Millions on Six Super Bowl Ads as it Tries to Win Back U.S. Shoppers (Bloomberg)
Temu aired its advertisement six times and offered $10M in giveaways in hopes of reinvigorating wavering U.S. growth.
Observed sales were down 12.5% in December and 4.8% in January, representing a sharp drop from its >50% growth in mid-2023.
With the cost of a 30-second slot at the Super Bowl being about $7M, Temu’s ad spend may have run into the tens of millions of dollars.
The number of Americans shopping on Temu is also in decline and according to a survey from Morgan Stanley, nearly a third of its users plan to shop less on the app over the next three months.
The declining revenue and users is a concern for analysts who question whether Temu’s explosive growth in the U.S. may be cresting before it presents a threat to Amazon.
I think FarmGirl Flowers the online store has better value in their products