Stock Market Plummets; Super Bowl Ratings Are Down; Kroger Sells Convenience Stores

The Water Coolest

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THE HEADLINES

Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes and 33 seconds

 

FOURTH AND LONG

Aside from the sportsball crowd, it seemed like everybody was watching the Super Bowl … but that might not have been the case. The game’s 47.4% overnight rating makes Sunday’s affair the least watched Super Bowl since 2010.

Including online viewership, the NFL reported 106M viewers, which was a 6.8% drop from 2017, and a smaller crowd than the 2010 game when online viewing was just a blip in the eyes of millennials looking to save a few bucks.

The rating’s drop isn’t great news for the NFL as the NBA and MLB continue to make up ground in the hearts of Americans. The low ratings are nothing new for the league. NFL viewership been down all year. It’s hard to tell if the ratings plunge was tied to anthem protests, concussion worries … or everybody just really hating Philly and New England fans.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “Regardless of viewership dips, Super Bowl ads still had agencies paying around $5M for 30 seconds of air time. Given that they’re still making money, I think the NFL has a few years before they hit a full blown crisis.”

 

INCONVENIENCE TRUTH

It’s nothing if not a national security concern when a foreign entity encroaches on a staple of the American experience. EG, a UK-based firm will buy Kroger’s stable of convenience stores for $2.15B. If road trips aren’t sacred any more, what is?

EG will purchase a network of 800 cathedrals of convenience built on the blood, sweat and 87-octane-fumes of high school dropouts across this great nation. The lineup includes Turkey Hill, Loaf ’N Jug, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop. The 711 competitors employed 11k and brought in $4B last year.

Kroger is saying “thank you come again” to the fill-up stations to focus on its food stores and to pay off debt. The supermarket chain has gotten pummeled by Amazon’s entry into the market and hopes to free up some cash to launch a feeble assault vs. the impenetrable force.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “If EG even thinks about replacing those 3-day-old gas-station taquitos with fish and chips we might have to re-teach Great Britain a lesson we last taught them in 1776. There are few things more distinctly American than a 24-hour gas station/convenience store with a Cracker Barrel attached.”

 

STOCK, DROP, SHUT EM DOWN CLOSIN’ UP SHOP

Cue the R.E.M and get out your Dow -1k” hats. Monday marked the biggest 1 day drop in the S&P 500 and Dow since August 2011. Can you hear the “Buy Gold Now!” commercials on late night TV yet?

Investors are having a hard time pinpointing a reason for the market correction that all but erased 2018 gains. Possible culprits include rising inflation which many believe will lead the Fed to increase interest rates. The selloff may have also been confounded by algorithmic trading which accelerated the decline. 

So, it’s 2008 again?!

It’s not quite time to head into the doomsday lair and prepare for global financial apocalypse. But checking your Scottrade account over the next few days will not be for the feint of heart. The silver lining? Only about half of Americans are invested in the market through an employee sponsored plan or on their own.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “DISCLAIMER: Nothing above should be considered investment advice. Unless you wanna go half-sies on opening a drive-in rollerblading diner.”

 


IN OTHER NEWS

 

  • Lululemon CEO Laurent Potdevin announced he will be vacating his post immediately citing “poor conduct.” Did no one else see the issues with a dad-bod rocking man leading Lululemon?
  • Jay Y. Lee, the Samsung Group heir, walks free from jail after serving time for a widespread bribery and corruption scandal he was involved in that lead to the ouster of South Korea’s President. Lee will now try to pick up where he left off leading the conglomerate his grandfather started.
  • The Pentagon plans to buy 77 Lockheed Martin F-35’s for $10.5B. Why? Because America, that’s why.
  • Broadcom has upped the ante in its bid for Qualcomm, offering $121B. Hey Broadcom, desperation doesn’t look good on you.
  • US indices were down yesterday:
    • DOW: -4.60%
    • S&P 500: -4.10%
    • NASDAQ: -3.78%

 


TALKING SHOP

Professional motivation, tips, tricks, hacks & resources carefully-curated by yours truly. Something you’d like to see featured? Shoot me an email at team@thewatercoolest.com

 

VIEW FROM THE TOP

It’s a fact that the fastest way to become a CEO is having your families surname plastered on a library at an Ivy League institution. But surely there has to be a path for average Joes other than using decades of useless knowledge to hobble together a SharkTank-worthy idea? Someone with a lot more time on their hands than me studied CEO’s success over ten years. So let’s investigate this “Becoming a CEO for Dummies,” shall we?