Hey Snackers,
Apple is now trying to trademark the term "Slofie." Slow-mo selfies. Now a thing.
Stocks inched up as the Fed cut interest rates for the 2nd time this year — America's central bank is worried global issues will hurt the US economy's mojo so it's making it easier/cheaper to borrow and spend.
The "I-don't-know-what-to-get-mom/dad-for-Christmas" gift... Facebook's $149 Portal TV turns your tube into an eerily smart and aggressively social streaming device (it's a spinoff of Zuck's AI-powered Portal tablet). ETA is November, but the high-tech camera/speaker bar boasts 1 crucial gadget: A low-tech privacy knob you slide to block the camera.
The snuggling is sold separately... True to Facebook's original mission — connecting people online — the Alexa-powered Portal TV lets you and bae be together even when you're apart. Here are its 2 most powerful features:
The Living Room Wars... They're 1 chapter away from The Streaming Wars. You've heard about the battles between Netflix, Disney+, and others over who owns Seinfeld and Peter Pan. Even Comcast announced yesterday it's making its "Xfinity Flex" streaming device free for all cord-cutters, which dropped Roku shares 14%. Now it's all-out conflict for the living room, and Zuck wants in.
Tapping is the new clicking... And iPhone swipe/touch/scroll is like a massage for Corning's key product: the iPhone screen. The glass legend was founded before the Civil War in Corning, NY (population 10,700 and it's still HQ'd there). It supported the creation of the light bulb, car windshields, and — in 2006 — the iPhone. And it just earned a $250M investment from Apple.
One's not like the other... Seems weird that Apple's investing in a 19th-century supplier of glass parts. But it makes sense for two reasons:
Tiny slice of good news, big slice of bad... Corning's Apple announcement was outmatched by a bad one about the rest of its biz. Corning also makes TV screens and fiber optic cables (for the telecom industry) — The stock dropped 7% after its earnings revealed the outlooks for both are dimmed. Looking at where its revenues come from, it's clear why:
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon
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