Hey Snackers,
The mysterious metal monolith has appeared (and disappeared) in Utah, Romania, and CA. Now stunt artists are selling $45K "monoliths-as-a-service." But it's still aliens.
Stocks closed last week at record highs on COVID-19 vaccine progress: Pfizer's vax got approved in the UK, and is currently getting reviewed by the FDA.
On the pod: Petco filed to IPO under ticker symbol WOOF (meow-ouch to cats).
If only BLS did a "Wrapped"... Instead, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just dropped "The Employment Situation" for November — aka: the final jobs report we'll see this year. We're wrapping up 2020 so far:
Drum roll for November... The US added just 245K new jobs, down from 638K in October. Unemployment fell slightly to 6.7%, but that's partly thanks to people dropping out of the labor force (not searching for work = not unemployed).
This could be the tipping point... The $2.2T stimulus in March, coupled with reopenings, drove a swift recovery. But now the rest of jobs will be harder to bring back, especially with new business restrictions: California imposed a regional stay-at-home order that closes bars, salons, and forbids outdoor restaurant dining. Centrists in Congress have unveiled a $908B economic aid proposal — November's jobs report could be a wake-up call to pass something ASAP.
If you didn't post a "Wrapped" Insta story... did you even listen to music this year? Spotify stock soared 15% last week, hitting a record high on "Wrapped" hype. Bad Bunny hopped to #1 for most streams, while Spotify jumped to #9 on the US app store on Wednesday. The Swedish streamer also got boosted by Joe Rogan's podcast, which became Spotify exclusive (ICYMI: Spotify is obsessed with pods).
Freeing up parking space... Boeing's 737 MAX jets are back in the air after nearly two years of sitting in lots. Last week, American Airlines flew the 1st public 737 MAX flight since March 2019, when the FAA grounded the troubled airliner after two fatal crashes. American filled the plane with journalists to convince the public that it's safe ahead of its commercial flight on December 29th. Another show of support: Ryanair ordered 75 more MAX jets. Boeing stock jumped 7% for the week.
No-K, Zoomer... Zoom's sales soared 367% last quarter, nearly quintupling from the same quarter last year and accelerating for three straight quarters. Despite the insane momentum, investors weren't impressed because Zoom's expecting just 329% sales growth this quarter (yawn). Investors were also bummed about its shrinking profit margin, so the stock fell 13% for the week. Despite the tough crowd, Zoom shares have ~6X'd in value this year.
The Undoing... of movie theaters, courtesy of HBO. Brad Pitt hit the fan on destructive news from AT&T's WarnerMedia last week: Warner Bros. will release all 17 of its 2021 movies on HBO Max at the same time they hit theaters. Dropping the entire slate of films directly to streaming = no exclusive theatrical window. AMC, the world's largest theater chain, watched its stock plunge 21% for the week.
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