From Pin to pan [mapodile/E+ via Getty Images]
Hey Snackers,
The bus shortage intensifies: A Boston high school was forced to use a party bus complete with a dance pole and neon lights for a recent field trip. Slightly more fun than being picked up by the National Guard.
Stocks closed at fresh records today, as investors digested strong corporate earnings. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index was the biggest gainer ahead of Big Tech reports. Facebook shares jumped after expectation-beating earnings. Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and Amazon are up next.
DIY holiday gift inspo... Some want a hand-poured soy candle, some want a multibillion-dollar company. PayPal was reportedly in talks to buy Pinterest for a whopping $45B — a cushy premium on its $40B market cap. It would’ve been the biggest acquisition of a social-media company ever. But late on Sunday, PayPal said it was not pursuing a Pinterest acquisition “at this time.” Pinterest shares plunged on the news. At first tap, the pairing might have seemed random:
Came for the vintage Pin-spo... left with the vintage jeans. The PayPal-Pinterest reports come at a time when product discovery and spending are shifting to social apps like Insta and TikTok. US shopping on social sites is expected to jump 36% this year, to $36B. Not coincidentally: Many Pins have "shop" buttons that connect to merchants' sites. Pinterest is where people start the shopping journey — a payments company like PayPal might be interested in finishing it.
PayPal wants “super app” status… TBD if it can execute. Super apps like Alipay and Alibaba are used widely across Asia to shop, bank, chat, and post — all in one. Despite its big ambitions and $19B in cash to splurge, PayPal still hasn’t integrated with Venmo, which it bought in 2013 (you can’t Venmo someone who only has PayPal). PayPal isn’t pursuing a Pin-quisition at this time — but if it does eventually buy Pinterest or another social platform, seamless integration would likely be key to turbocharging its social-ecomm ambitions.
Immunity boost… not a ginger shot. The FDA authorized Moderna and J&J boosters last week. Pfizer had already gotten the green light, so people who are at high risk or 65+ can now choose from three boosters. Dr. Fauci expects people under 65 to be eligible for boosters soon. Pfizer said Friday that its vax is safe for kids — now the FDA’s reviewing the results. 80% of US adults are fully vaxxed, but the push isn’t over. And some un-vaxxed workers are quitting to avoid vax mandates.
Bit by bit… Crypto mainstreamification continues. Bitcoin prices hit a record $67K last week after two Bitcoin futures ETFs started trading in the US for the first time. These ETFs do not invest directly in Bitcoin, but they make crypto more accessible. 200M people now own $2.5T in crypto, and it’s attracting more individual and institutional investors. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo all launched Bitcoin funds this year. Looking ahead, crypto giants are building more crypto tools, and more Bitcoin futures ETFs are expected to launch this month.
FB under fire... Facebook reports earnings today, while in the thick of a public-trust crisis. First, WSJ’s bombshell coverage of internal FB files underscored Instagram’s toxicity for teens. Then, two whistleblowers said FB puts profits over user safety. Last quarter, FB’s booming ad sales drove revenue to a record $29B. But it warned that Apple’s iOS update, which now lets users opt out of ad tracking, could hurt profits. It already hurt Snap, whose stock plunged 22% Friday after it dropped disappointing results.
Restocking TP… During the pandemic, Amazon won over IRL shoppers as we scanned digital shelves for lockdown essentials. Amazon’s sales hit a record $125B for the quarter ending last December, but year-over-year growth slowed last quarter. Still, the ’Zon could make up half of US online sales this year. Ahead of holiday demand and supply-chain troubles, it plans to hire 150K seasonal staff, 50% more than last year. Amazon is set to drop earnings on Thursday.
Disclosure: The value of an investment in Bitcoin Futures ETFs could decline significantly and without warning, including to zero. Bitcoin Futures ETFs performance may differ significantly from the performance of bitcoin.
Authors of this Snacks own Bitcoin, and shares of Twitter, Google, Moderna, Tesla, Amazon, Apple, Starbucks, Shopify, Spotify, GM, Ford, and Square
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