Hey there weekday warrior,
Kevin Rose just went all no some new friends.
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 23 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
Bridge un-burned
Tom from MySpace: “Hear me out, Zuck…”
Reddit $RDDT ( ▼ 2.94% ) co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Digg founder Kevin Rose have an idea so crazy it might just work (but probably not). They’re bringing Digg back to life. Yes, you read that right. The news aggregator that was popular when you were still downloading adult videos from Kazaa is back. And it’s all thanks to Kev’s sworn enemy, Mr. Serena Williams.
Don’t believe me? Peep this vid of the Digg return feat. two guys who supposedly hated each other 20 years ago looking like they just got back from an ayahuasca retreat with Jack Dorsey.
The frenemies just acquired the Digg platform for an undisclosed amount (read: less than $500k) and are building their waitlist.
So what’s the new Digg all about? Good question…
It appears Al and Kev haven’t quite figured that out either. The new social media site wants to focus on “AI innovations designed to enhance the user experience and build a human-centered alternative.” So your guess is as good as mine.
Friendly reminder…
Digg peaked in high school in 2008 at a $160M valuation. But by 2012, it had faded into internet obscurity. It was acquired that same year by Betaworks for a mere $500k.
But apparently, Digg hadn’t even begun to peak…
For Alexis, it’s an opportunity to get back in the game after stepping down from RDDT’s board in 2020. For Kevin, it’s a chance to once again live in Alexis’ shadow and be reminded daily about what could have been.
Of course, if Kev’s LinkedIn is any indication, this is going to go about as well as LimeWire’s relaunch. Not only did Rose oversee Digg’s downfall, but he worked at Google (on Google+), and launched an NFT project with GaryVee.
But if there’s one thing we know in tech, it’s that what others call failure (like Digg), we know to be “pre-greatness.”
ADP’s February jobs report just let everyone down harder than ‘Avatar 2’. Private companies added only 77k jobs for the month, less than half of the expected 148k (because, math). That marks the smallest gain since last July and adds to the total panic uncertainty around economic growth.
The top job losses hit trade, transportation, and utility (-33k positions) along with education and health services (-28k). Meanwhile, things haven’t been this good in leisure and hospitality since SBF was making it rain at Margaritaville (+41k jobs). On Friday, we’ll get the official BLS report on nonfarm payrolls… and what could possibly go wrong?
+ “Name of the company is NRC. It’s a cutting-edge, high-tech firm out of the Midwest…”
Amazon’s $AMZN ( ▼ 0.15% ) healthcare biz cannot stop taking Ls. One Medical CEO Trent Green is walking away after less than 2 years at the helm. No, not for the same reason as the Kroger chief. Trent’s heading out to become CEO of National Research Corp., a *checks notes* Midwest healthcare analytics firm. Define “down bad.”
Friendly reminder: Amazon spent $3.9B to acquire the Alexa of healthcare (think: big potential, terrible revenue).
+ Donny Politics is giving Canada and Mexico a one-month break on auto tariffs in hopes of doing Ford $F ( ▼ 0.04% ), GM $GM ( 0.0% ), and Stellantis $STLA ( ▼ 1.07% ) a solid. And according to reports, we may even see some agricultural exemptions. Great news, soy boys.
+ Things are about to get pretty un-magical for about 200 employees at the House of Mouse. Disney’s $DIS ( ▲ 1.18% ) Entertainment Networks and ABC News Group are cutting around 6% of their staff as Bob Iger works to triage some financial bleeding.
+ Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 0.25% ) announced its new MacBook Air featuring the faster M4 chip (yawn) and an upgraded camera… obviously. He can’t keep getting away with this. The new MacBook Air will also get a $100 price cut, despite the trade war.
+ Novo Nordisk is cutting the price of Wegovy to $499 per month (for cash-payers) to compete with Eli Lily’s Zepbound price cuts. Live look at Hims…
+ The No. 1 communication mistake people make at work, from a Wharton psychologist—it can damage your reputation. Going into the office…
🔥To influence people, use 6 phrases, says leadership expert: ‘Just a few words’ can make a difference. “Stop or I’ll sho—”
FYI, TWC might be compensated if you click on the links above. So, what are you waiting for? Start clicking.
+ US stocks “rallied on Wednesday as President Trump provided a one-month auto tariff exemption on Mexico and Canada.” (Yahoo! Finance)
+ The 10-year yield “advanced on Wednesday as investors considered the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs along with new data on U.S. private payrolls.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “prices settled down for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday after U.S. crude oil stockpiles posted a larger-than-expected build, adding a further headwind as investors worried about OPEC+ plans to increase output in April and U.S. tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico.” (Reuters)
+ Bitcoin “rose on Wednesday as an extended rout in crypto prices drew in some bargain buying, while hopes of a scaling down in U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs also aided risk appetite.“ (Investing.com)
+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Visa +0.1% 2) Nvidia +1.1% 3) Hims & Hers Health +0.9% // AH: -3.2%
⏪ Yesterday…
+ Abercrombie & Fitch and Foot Locker reported in the AM
+ Marvell, MongoDB, Zscaler, Rigetti, and Veeva dropped earnings after the close
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
+ JD.com, Kroger, Macy’s, and Burlington Stores report before the bell
+ Broadcom, Costco, BigBear.ai, Samsara, Hewlett Packard, and Serve Robotics report after the bell
+ European Union countries hold an emergency summit about next steps for Ukraine and Europe's security
+ V.F. Corporation and Wendy's will host investor days
+ The European Central Bank will drop its monetary policy statement
+ Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak before a luncheon at the University of Chicago. Hawk confit will be served.
Yesterday, I asked, “You can only drink one for the rest of your life. What are you taking?”
Crystal Light vodka sodas (vs. NA beer) won with 64.9% of the vote.
Here’s what some of you guys had to say…
Crystal Light vodka sodas: “this is the scenario that forced me to admit I might be an alcoholic”
Non alcoholic beer: “Crystal Light tastes bad on its own. Vodka won’t make it better.”
Crystal Light vodka sodas: “You had me at "Vodka".”
Non alcoholic beer: “You’re making it difficult to live one day at a time!”
And here’s today’s question…
I made fun of Digg’s (kinda sad and pathetic) attempt at a comeback (obviously), but I actually don’t think it’s THAT bad of an idea. There’s a lot of noise out there — an aggregator could be the move. Curious about your news consumption habits…
What is your go-to medium for consuming news?
Oh, and one more thing…
What did you think about today's newsletter?
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.