Hey Snackers,
"A" for creativity. Office IM'ing software Slack just pulled a switcheroo on its future stock's ticker symbol before going public — from "SK" to "WORK."
Markets started the week with a loss, dragged down by little computer chips (more below).
Smile... You're being filmed by the smartglasses on the early-adopting human staring at you. Google is graduating its Google Glass from experiment to official Google product as the $999 Glass Enterprise Edition 2. They're like smartwatches. But for your eyes. And they're packed with buzzwords:
Universally hated... The original Google Glass arrived in 2013. It was swiftly panned for violating the privacy of everyone in eyesight. But this new version isn't for you. It's for business:
Pivot — Don't kill it... Glass originated in Google's X-department, aka "The Moonshot Factory" where they "create radical new technologies to solve some of the world's hardest problems." And instead of shelving version 1.0 of Google Glass, the team found a new customer segment to target.
Huawei drama: part deux... Last week we told you about the executive order blacklisting Chinese telecom company Huawei — we focused on companies that buy from Huawei (aka wireless phone icons like Verizon). On Monday, stocks of companies that sell to Huawei dropped because orders from Huawei are over.
Chip and dip... "Semiconductor" is the technical term for smartphone engines. NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, Qualcomm, Intel, and other American tech leaders power Apple, Samsung, and Huawei smartphones.
Customer #2 is gone... Samsung's been the world-leading smartphone company (Apple is usually runner-up). But Huawei's cheaper-but-still-iPhone-ish phones now make up 19% of all smartphones sold. This executive order hurts China, but semiconductor stocks take it personally, too.
Breaking: Trump is planning a 90-day pause on the banning on worries it could hurt US jobs.
Black tie or boho chic. DJ or Band. Vows or no vows... Sprint and T-Mobile aren't having typical pre-wedding pillow talk. They're still trying to convince the government to bless the nuptials. Then two surprise developments Monday messed with both stocks in the $26B merger:
T-Mobile knows this looks bad... The #3 and #4 biggest companies in an industry aren't typically allowed to merge. So here's what T-Mobile/Sprint promised the FCC if it's approved.
With fewer competitors, consumers tend to lose... Competition among providers is key so that you don't get ripped off. That's why the Justice Dep't blocked AT&T's attempt to buy T-Mobile in 2011. And while T-Mobile promised to not take advantage of its increased power for three years... what about years 4? And 5? And forever?