Hey there weekday warriors,
Hindenburg Research went hard in the paint with its latest short report.
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 48 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
+ US stocks “closed higher across the board on Tuesday as investors welcomed a rebound in tech and a pullback in surging oil prices, putting the focus back on interest rates and the state of the US economy.” (Yahoo! Finance)
+ The 10-year Treasury yield “was less than a basis point lower after hitting its highest level since Aug.1.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “slid on Tuesday, settling down more than 4% on news of a possible ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, although prices found some support on fears of a potential attack on Iranian oil infrastructure.” (Reuters)
+ Bitcoin “slipped on Tuesday, pulling back from recent gains amid growing bets that U.S. interest rates will fall at a slower pace than initially anticipated.” (Investing)
+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +4.0% 2) Super Micro Computer -5.0% 3) Alibaba -6.6%
The market moves you need to know about…
+ WeightWatchers mooned 46.9% on news that it was behind Lizzos’s epic weight loss would begin offering users compounded semaglutide (think: knockoff Ozempic) at a discounted price. In case you were wondering… yes, this is the same approach Hims & Hers has taken. And to answer your next question… yes, Hims & Hers stock got rekt on news that Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug was removed from the FDA’s “shortage” list.
+ Probably nothing, but Trump Media is up nearly 40% over the past 5 trading days. And nearly all of those gainz have come over the past two days. Why? Well, it’s not entirely clear, but on Sunday Donald Trump (and Elon Musk) returned to the scene of the attempt on the former President’s life (read: Butler, PA). There have also been some major changes in the C-Suite at DJT. News broke Thursday that COO Andrew Northwall had resigned in late September. The stock added 18.5% yesterday.
+ Shares of Robinhood soared 9.8% yesterday after announcing it would hold its first-ever investor day to share its plans for the next 10+ years… which presumably includes Vlad Tenenv continuing to be Ken Griffin’s lil b*tch.
Hide yo kids…
What’s that? You thought you just had to teach your kids not to get into windowless vans with ‘FREE CANDY’ scrawled on the side?
Think again.
Turns out it might be just as important to keep them off of Roblox (… allegedly).
Popular kids game Roblox (-2.1%) is the target of Hindenburg Research’s latest short report. And it includes some pretty disturbing claims. I’ll just leave this right here…
“We found Roblox to be an X-rated pedophile hellscape, replete with users attempting to groom our avatars, groups openly trading child p*rnography, widely accessible s*x games, violent content and extremely abusive speech – all of which is open to young children and all while Roblox has cut content moderation spending to appease Wall Street and boost earnings.”
Hindenburg went on to point out that there are hundreds of accounts that reference Jeffery Epstein and P. Diddy. Oh, and there are digital red-light districts and online strip clubs.
This is a big f*cking deal considering a huge chunk of Roblox’s 80M daily users are under 16 years old…
There were also some more run-of-the-mill accusations levied by Hindenburg…
It wasn’t just weird stuff that Hindenburg pointed out. The short sellers also claim that the company is cooking the books in a major way. Daily average users are reportedly inflated by “25-42%+” and hours spent on the platform could be juiced by 100%+.
What’s next?
We’ve seen this movie before. Shares of Roblox dip, they deny all of the claims, and try to make Hindenburg out to be the villain.
Unfortunately for Roblox, Hindenburg has a track record of raising some valid points. Take, for example, Super Micro Computer. Not long after the short seller called bullsh*t on the server maker’s accounting practices, it delayed its earnings report and the DOJ recently opened an investigation.
Oh, and did I mention that Icahn Enterprises settled with the SEC after Hindenburg pointed out some sketchy disclosures?
This can really only go one of two ways…
Hindenburg has brought attention to an absolute cesspool of a platform and should be applauded for its “forensic financial research”
Hindenburg is using pedophilia to spark outrage/make money, which is pretty despicable
+ You might be having a bad week, but it definitely isn’t as bad as Google’s (+0.8%). Monday the company was dealt a major blow related to its Play Store.
And yesterday the Department of Justice set in motion plans to break up Google. Earlier this year a judge ruled that Google’s search engine was indeed a monopoly. We won’t learn Google’s fate until the middle of next year. But if Tuesday’s filing was any indication, it appears that the DOJ is seeking the death penalty (think: forcing the company to break up).
The court docs also indicate that Google could be forced to share the underlying data it uses to build search results with its competitors. Honestly, sharing data with Bing might be a worse punishment than being torn apart limb from limb…
+ Turns out OpenAI isn’t using all $6.6B it just raised on Nvidia chips (… just most of it).
OpenAI inked a content partnership with Hearst, the media giant behind Esquire, Elle, and Cosmopolitan. Which is great in case you’ve been asking ChatGPT things like “give me 7 tips for giving my man the most mind-blowing hand j*bs.”
+ The perfect business model doesn’t exi—
They’re going to write books about Spirit (the holiday company, not the airline) when it’s all said and done. The company that occupies former Kmart locations for ~6 weeks leading up to Halloween has a new side hustle: Christmas.
In what seems like the most natural progression of all time, Spirit will be testing 10 “Spirit Christmas” stores this holiday season. The woke mob about to be big mad that Spirit is throwing around the C word…
As you might have guessed, the stores will be the go-to destination for holiday decorations and gifts. Like a life-sized gingerbread village… that I don’t want, but need.
+ Today in things you don’t want to hear from the CEO of a company in your portfolio: “Sorry we kinda suck…”
After dropping a brutal earnings report, Samsung kept it real about its semiconductor biz. The newly appointed boss of the chip division said “We have caused concerns about our technical competitiveness, with some talking about the crisis facing Samsung.”
He’s got a point. Samsung has fallen behind SK Hynix in developing chips that work with Nvidia GPUs to train AI. And TSMC is making Samsung its b*tch in the custom chip game.
+ Uber (+2.1%) just invented buses, you guys…
The rideshare giant has begun offering van rides to LaGuardia Airport in NYC from multiple locations in the city for $18. What’ll they think of next, folks?
+ The 10 least valuable college degrees—only 1 helps grads earn more than $50,000. Imagine racking up $250k in debt to get a degree in communications.
+ This lady makes $1m in 4 months decorating porches with pumpkins. Paying $1k to have your stoop decorated for Halloween just screams “f*ck you money.”
+ You’re not upper class in America until you’ve reached this coveted status. “Owner of a Chrysler Sebring convertible.”
🔥 Jeff Bezos claims a one-hour ritual led to his success - now science says he's right. I call bullsh*t… I spend 5 hours a day doing this and my net worth is still 4-figures…
You asked for more real estate content. Who am I to deny you?
+ After Hurricane Helene, I’m looking for property in Florida at a reduced price. Is now a good time to strike a deal? Some might say ‘too soon’… others would say ‘way too soon’…
+ 7 states where pre-war houses are worth more than the typical home. Which war? Asking for a friend…
🏠 Enjoy Aspen, you poors… I’ll be in this $24M, 13k square foot chalet in the Italian Alps overlooking Matterhorn
🔥 5 Housing Markets That Will Plummet in Value Before the End of 2025. Don’t go down with the ship.
FYI, TWC might be compensated if you click on the links above. So, what are you waiting for? Start clicking.
⏪ Yesterday, Pepsi reported before the bell and GM held its investor day.
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
+ The minutes from the Fed’s most recent meeting drop
+ If Albertson’s and Kroger don’t extend the deadline, their merger agreement officially terminates
Yesterday, I asked, “Do self-made super-wealthy people get weird because they're rich? Or are they rich because they're weird?”
61.1% of you think super-wealthy people are super-wealthy because they're weird.
Here’s what some of you guys had to say (and my thoughts in italics)…
Rich because weird: "Ya think Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk were normal teenagers?"
Rich because weird: "The old-school guys -- Bloomberg, Buffett, the Walton Family -- were hard workers, but the new-school rich are different. Nobody would have considered Gates, Musk, Zuck, Bezos, Ballmer anything but weird in their formative years."
Weird because rich: "They get bored of being normal"
Rich because weird: "They start off a little bit weird, but then they get super-weird when they get super-wealthy. People just end up validating all the crazy sh*t they say, and that's how we end up with Diddy owning a bajillion bottles of baby oil."
Rich because weird: "Rich because they're weird but I think the super rich get even weirder once they're rich. Can only do so much with money if it is essentially limitless so you just have to do crazy (illegal?) stuff to actually be entertained."
Weird because rich: "Once you have everything.... you only can go weirder."
Rich because weird: "I was always a weirdo before I got rich. My crazy perspective helped me break into new things that others did not see. Now I look like a weirdo, but nobody knows how well off I am. They’re very surprised when they find out!" Did I mention I’m looking for investors in The Water Coolest?
And here’s today’s questions…
Some ground rules for this one…
You have to give all the juicy details to everyone in the room. No holding back.
The audience can ask questions.
The audience can react and you can interact with them
You're locked in a room with 20 complete strangers from all walks of life. You have to divulge either your financials (how much you make etc.) or your political views. Which are you talking about?
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.