🐕 A Doge story

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 by Snacks
_The "Super League" has arrived [peepo/E+ via Getty Images]_

The "Super League" has arrived [peepo/E+ via Getty Images]

Yesterday’s Market Moves
Dow Jones
34,078 (-0.36%)
S&P 500
4,163 (-0.53%)
Nasdaq
13,915 (-0.98%)
Bitcoin
$56,272 (+0.32%)

Hey Snackers,

McDonald’s is beefing up its "Famous Orders" campaign by partnering with K-pop sensation BTS on nuggets and fries. Hope they fry ~ it~ up ~ like dynamite.

Stocks dipped from their record highs yesterday as investors geared up for a busy earnings week. Netflix and J&J report today — and Apple might announce some new products.

Doge

1. Dogecoin’s big rally: the joke, the rise, and the punchline

Much doge, such funny... Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was created by two engineers in 2013 as a joke. It's a literal meme investment, themed around the OG “doge” Shiba Inu meme. Unlike bitcoin, which is capped at 21M coins, dogecoin currently has no hard cap (theoretically: unlimited supply).

  • Dogecoin has massively rallied since January, when it was worth less than 1 cent. It’s up a whopping 8,000% this year, and hit a record of 45 cents last week.
  • Doge Day: Doge has more than 5X’d over the past week, after an ad campaign by Slim Jim (yes, the beef jerky) set off a social frenzy to drive Doge’s price up.

Not April Fool’s Day
 More like April 20. In case the nature of Doge wasn’t clear enough, certain fans are now gunning for the crypto to hit 69 cents on 4/20 (which some are calling "Doge Day”). Doge’s total market value has crossed $50B — more than Ford and DoorDash are worth. Meanwhile, celebs like Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg have been promoting doge, further fueling the social-driven buying campaign.

  • In context: Stimulus checks, the rise of retail investing, and the stay-at-home life may have all contributed to Doge’s rally — as well as a growing desire to “stick it” to the Wall Street establishment.
THE TAKEAWAY

The punchline is TBD... If Doge is a joke, then its future is determined by how long people are entertained by it. With traditional investing, people buy because they believe that the earnings and growth potential they see in an investment will drive more demand. With doge, people may buy because they believe others will buy based on a cultural fad. Investors could benefit short-term. But the long-term outcome of investing in these types of cultural assets remains unclear. Investing interest can wane as fast as it rises. From April 16 to April 17 alone, Doge plunged to nearly half its value.

Warn

2. Peloton faces pressure to recall its treadmills after dozens of injuries and one death

Warned... Peloton was the epitome of a corona-conomy thriver. Its stock ~5X'd in 2020, as its connected home fitness products sprinted off shelves. As SoulCycle and Equinox locations reopen, Peloton shares have fallen 26% this year. Peloton has been trying to expand beyond $2K spin bikes — so it launched $4K treadmills in 2018. Those are causing major problems now:

  • In March, Peloton's CEO disclosed that a child had died in an accident involving a Tread+.
  • On Saturday, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said people should stop using Peloton's Tread+ if small children or pets are at home.
  • 39: The CPSC cited 39 incidents involving a Tread+, including instances of children and pets getting sucked underneath it. See: this disturbing video.

Peloton got defensive... It called the agency’s claims inaccurate, saying there’s no reason to stop using the Tread+ if people follow safety instructions (which are included in the manual and on the treadmill). Peloton's instructions say that children, pets, and objects should always be kept away from the Tread+. Peloton also reminded adults to remove the "Safety Key," which prevents the Tread from being turned on post-workout.

THE TAKEAWAY

Rule #1 of crisis management = overcorrect... While Peloton may not be technically at fault, it could've done more to maintain trust and safety with users. Potential examples: shipping a protective tread cover to owners, or releasing a safety-related software update. Instead, all it did was warn people to follow instructions. It could also have issued a recall, which would be a big financial hit (think: moving Treads out of houses, plus compensating owners). Still, sometimes companies recall products — and Peloton now faces mounting pressure to recall its Treads.

What else we’re Snackin’

  • Burned: The Biden admin is reportedly considering requiring tobacco companies to lower nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels.
  • Vax: Covid cases are rising in parts of the US, even as vaccinations pick up. Half of US adults have had at least one dose.
  • Click: Website builder Squarespace filed to go public via direct listing, revealing it was profitable in 2019 (unlike competitor Wix).
  • Refreshing: Coke's March sales bounced back to pre-pandemic levels as people flocked back to restaurants (#ReservationAnxiety).
  • Chippy: Nvidia's proposed $40B acquisition of chip designer Arm faces another hurdle: a UK national-security probe.
  • Server: IBM shares jumped 3% after it reported sales growth for last quarter, after four quarters of declines.

Tuesday

  • Apple's press event (expect new products: possibly AirTags)
  • Earnings expected from Johnson & Johnson, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, and Lockheed Martin

Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple

ID: 1612058

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