Hey there weekday warrior,
Here’s what’s on the agenda today…
Warren Buffett kicks off his retirement tour, no one is safe from the government shutdown (including the global elite), and 50-year mortgages.
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 9 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
Away message
I’m not crying, you’re crying…
In a letter (not to be confused with his annual letter to shareholders), Warren Buffett said from here on out he’s “going quiet”… well, except for the annual Thanksgiving letter he plans to send (and whenever he’s given a platform to throw shade at bitcoin).
You might recall that he plans to step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. He’ll hand over the reins to Greg Abel, who will headline Buffett-palooza and write the annual letter from here on out.
So, what did he have to say in his farewell letter?
Well, he admitted what we all know… he’s old af (95). He gave a rare update on his health…
“I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people.” Imagine being the poor b*stard in HR who tried to pitch a work-from-home policy to Warren Buffett.
And like your grandpa, who knows the end is near and keeps trying to give you random tchotchkes every time you stop by to see him, Warren said he’s ratcheting his philanthropy up to 11.
He ran the numbers, and turns out he’s still got a lot of making it rain to do if he plans to have his kids give away his entire $150B fortune before they join him and Charlie Munger in the big conglomerate in the sky.
In his note on Thursday, he said he just gave $1.3B worth of Berkshire stock to four of his family’s charities. Only $148.7B to go…
+ The end is near for the government shutdown.
How can I be so sure? Because it has officially begun to impact the 1%. You see, the air traffic controller staffing problems are now impacting private jets. 12 major airports have prohibited PJs from touching down.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, peasants continue to get their cheeks clapped by the FAA. More than 6% of US flights were cancelled Monday.
You might recall the Trump administration ordered airlines to cut flights beginning last week. By this Friday, nearly 10% of flights across the country could be grounded… unless, of course, Congress ends the shutdown.
+ What’s that? You thought the worst thing Vlad Tenev would ever do to you was halting buying of GME in 2021? Think again…
Now he wants to let you buy illiquid shares of private AI companies via a Robinhood $HOOD ( ▲ 4.23% ) closed-end vehicle. Spoiler: the “end” means that will be the end of your relationship with that particular sum of money.
+ Bad day for everyone who bases their entire personality on being a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder…
Visa $V ( ▼ 0.35% ) and Mastercard $MA ( ▲ 0.18% ) reached a settlement related to a decades-old legal battle. Merchants filed suit claiming that when it comes to accepting cards, it shouldn’t be all or nothing. You see, until yesterday, if a merchant accepted one Visa card, they had to accept them all… even the ones that charge them more because they offer cardholders fat rewards.
Going forward, merchants could, in theory, pick and choose which specific Visas or Mastercards they want to accept. Of course, most sellers probably wouldn’t want to risk having butthurt customers (especially the biggest spenders armed with rewards cards).
+ Dave Ramsey in the year 2035: “So you have 75-year mortgage locked in at 19.5%?”
Caller: “That’s right, Dave.”
POTUS has an idea for putting an end to the housing affordability crisis plaguing the US once and for all: 50-year mortgages. The President posted about the extended release home loans over on TRUTH Social, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte confirmed his people are working on it.
As you might have guessed, some financial analysts are losing their collective minds at the mere suggestion of a mortgage longer than 30 years. They argue the 50-year variety would jack up total interest paid significantly (ok, they’ve got a point) and could drive up home prices (even more).
+ Michael Burry continues to go scorched earth…
+ US stocks “closed higher on Monday after Senate lawmakers took a critical step towards a potential deal to end the historic U.S. government shutdown.” (CNBC)
+ The 10-year yield “rose on Monday as investors anticipated an end to the historic government shutdown that’s frozen the federal government for almost six weeks.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “settled higher on Monday as analysts focused on potential fuel supply disruptions from fresh U.S. sanctions and Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries, although predictions of a crude supply surplus kept gains in check.” (Reuters)
+ The “smart” money (prediction markets) thinks there’s a 17% chance Trump announces a tariff stimmy check in 2025. (Polymarket)
⏪ Yesterday…
+ Monday.com, Maplebear, Barrick Mining, and Pagaya reported before the bell
+ Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, Rigetti, AST Spacemobile, BigBear.ai, Occidental, Plug Power, Terawulf, Microvast, and Paramount reported after hours
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
+ Nebius Group and Sea report before the bell
+ Oklo reports after the close
Yesterday, I asked, “You can only keep one Wendy's food item. Everything else disappears off the face of the earth. What you saving?”
28.2% of you said, “Frosty.”
Here’s what some of you guys had to say…
Frosty: “The only downside to a frosty is that it has to end.”
Baconator: “Frosty is going to win, but the Baconator was my go to Sunday lunch hangover for many years. It is legit.”
Frosty: “I was between this and the OG Spicy Chicken, however Chick-Fil-A or Popeye's wins those wars now so Frosty & Mudbutt it is!”
Spicy Nuggets (get outta here with regular nuggets): “Wendy's Nuggets stand alone atop of the fast food nugget mountain. People who said Baconator have bad taste, all fast food bacon is bad. The Frosty; What are you, 7?”
Asiago Ranch Chicken Club: “GOATed chicken sandwich way before it was cool to have a decent chicken sandwich.”
Here’s today’s question…
Tariffs are coming for pasta because nothing is sacred. Many Italian brands are expected to pull the plug on exporting to America once 100%+ tariffs kick in beginning in January. So…
What's the GOAT pasta shape?
Oh, and one more thing…
What did you think about today's newsletter?
Sent from my Amazon Fire Phone. Please excuse any mistakes and typos.
Does this look like the face of a guy you should take financial advice from?
No, it’s the face of an individual who is financially irresponsible/dumb enough to be talked into spending money on a family photo shoot that he could have just done with his iPhone. So, act accordingly...
This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter is an investment recommendation. All content is created for entertainment, educational, or informational purposes only. Do your own research, or do yourself a favor and hire a professional.