“@Amazon my cart continues to fail. Very disappointed. There are some great deals that I’m missing #PrimeDayFail” — An Amazon Prime Day shopper, in a frustrated tweet about the website’s poor performance during one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Nonetheless, Amazon says sales were up 30% compared to last year. No harm, no foul.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Big Picture
- The Dow and S&P continued to rally to record highs as we move towards earnings season and more stimulus is expected from the Bank of Japan to ease market tensions
Alternatives to Watch
- Discussed below, oil prices hopped more than 4% yesterday after reaching two-month lows in the previous session of trading
Market Movers
- Shares of Sage Therapeutics soared 38% after a promising clinical trial for its new treatment of postpartum depression
CORPORATE PRIMER
The Truth About Your Brew
…Will be known by 2020. Major beer companies like AB InBev, MillerCoors and Heineken are planning to add nutrition information online and on cardboard packaging within the next four years. The labels will detail the amount of calories and carbs in each beer. Just what everyone wanted to know, right? The move was criticized by some consumer advocates who wanted brewers to include ingredient information on the actual bottle or can, rather than online. Can’t win ‘em all.
AMC Theatres is Putting on a Show
…After acquiring British cinema chain Odeon. AMC, owned by Chinese conglomerate Wanda, is set to become the biggest movie-theater company in the world with 627 theaters. Believe it or not, you weren’t the only one to save big on Prime Day. Thanks to Brexit and the plunging pound, AMC saved $160 million on the deal. What’s next for the movie powerhouse? AMC plans to introduce new recliner chairs and food offerings at Odeon locations. Get ready for a next level cinema experience British movie-goers.
More Raises at JPMorgan
…This time for minimum wage workers. Yesterday, CEO Jamie Dimon committed to raising wages for JPMorgan’s 18,000 minimum wage employees. To boot, Dimon also wants to spend more time on training and career education to help workers advance. Why the move? With a tightening labor market many employers (think Starbucks, McDonald’s and Walmart) are trying to get ahead of the curve by raising wages to retain employees. Not your usual Wall Street investment, but a wise one nonetheless.
WORLD MACRO
Call it a Comeback Story
…Oil continues to rally. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) released its monthly report yesterday predicting that non-OPEC production will fall by as much as 880,000 barrels a day this year. The Energy Information Administration echoed OPEC, sending energy stocks soaring. On the other hand the report also revealed that OPEC, mostly due to Saudi Arabia, is oil than at any time in recent memory—increasing production by 1% since May. The rise in oil production didn’t seem to faze investors though. Go figure.
OTHER STORIES
- Hyperloop One co-founder hits company with lawsuit
- Tesla has no plans to disable Autopilot
- Airbus cuts A380 production plans
- Google unveils tools for shopping and hotel search
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
- Monday: Labor Market Conditions Index (-)
- Tuesday: Wholesale Trade (+)
- Wednesday: Yum! Brands Earnings; Import and Export Prices; Treasury Budget
- Thursday: BlackRock, Delta, JPMorgan Chase Earnings; Weekly Jobless Claims
- Friday: Citi, Wells Fargo Earnings; Consumer Price Index; Retail Sales
T-SWIZZLE MAKING BANK
Forbes had a blank space at the top of its 2016 100 highest-paid celebrities list, only to fill it with the beloved Taylor Swift. The popular singer-songwriter crushed it with her latest album 1989, shattering records left and right. Just how big is T-Swift? See for yourself:
- Swift made $170 million from June 2015 to June 2016 beating the number two-ranked One Direction by $60 million. Shake it off, Harry Styles.
- Who else made the list? Author James Patterson ($95 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($88 million), Adele ($80.5 million) and Madonna ($76.5 million) are just a few of the household names Swift topped.
- The country-turned-pop singer blew past the Rolling Stones’ North American touring record, grossing $200 million on the continent alone. That doesn’t even include all the money made promoting brands like Diet Pepsi and Apple.
- Remember when Swift dated DJ Calvin Harris? Well, he was number 21 on the list with $63 million. If the couple had stayed together they would have been the highest earning celebrity couple, more than doubling Beyonce and Jay Z’s $107.5 million. If only.
INTERVIEW QUESTION OF THE DAY
You have 25 horses and you want to pick the fastest three horses out of those 25. In each race, only five horses can run at the same time. What is the minimum number of races required to find the three fastest horses without using a stopwatch?
(Answer)
BUSINESS TERM OF THE DAY
Kenney Rule — The Kenney rule, also known as the Kenney ratio, is a guiding principle used by insurance companies. It’s the ratio of an insurance company’s unearned premiums to its policyholders’ surplus that is said to reduce insolvency risk.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Just mix alcohol into most business models and you have a good idea, right? At nearly 350 Whole Foods locations nationwide, shoppers can now carry open beverages out of the bar area and around the store as they shop around. What a time.
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