Hey there weekday warrior,
Here’s what’s on tap today… Anthropic is here to steal Elon’s thunder, probably, inflation is finally totally under control, and Workday actually had a good day for once.
Now, enjoy the next 3 minutes and 20 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
PS… thanks in advance for doing your part in helping keep TWC like the Fed (think: free and independent) by checking out today’s advertising partner.
Made to be token
Elon: *sets insane IPO valuation world record*
Claude like 5 minutes later: “Hold my beer.”
Anthropic is taking investor meetings to gear up for the 2nd yugest IPO in the history of capitalism.
But apparently, CFO Krishna Rao is being a little tease about what kinda valuation those disappointed SpaceX $SPCX ( ▼ 3.33% ) investors can expect…
Temu OpenAI is happy to talk about Claude Code, enterprise, new releases, but won’t drop cold
“But Tyler, what is the rumor mill saying?” -you, probably… unaware that ‘rumor mill’ makes you sound old AF
Well… yesterday, some early Anthropic investors (you jealous, bro?) told the Financial Times that they’re expecting Claude to double its current valuation.
Which, quick math… something over $2T, right?
Friendly reminder: Dario is looking at revenue around $100-120B by the end of the year…
Per one of those insider investors, “If Anthropic is growing 800% a year, you’d think at the incredibly low end they would trade at 30 times [revenue]. That would make them a $3 [trillion] company.” Ok relax.
*Elon punches drywall*
Meanwhile, over at Temu Anthropic (read: OpenAI)…
Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser is splitting after less than a year working for Scam Altman. Oof.
Oh, and ICYMI, ChatGPT OG Brad Lightcap left @sama on Tuesday, so…
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+ PPI be like…
Finally, some good economic news for K-Woww…
PPI was flat af in July. Both core and missionary wholesale costs came in lower than estimates…
Missionary PPI was totally unchanged for the month, while core only rose 0.2% compared to the expected 0.3%.
Friendly reminder: on Wednesday, we got a slight cooldown from CPI too (think: 3.4% compared to June’s 3.5%, because, math). And Core CPI rose only 0.2% for the month.
It was transitory, after all…
Workday $WDAY ( ▲ 17.78% ) stonk *double checks notes* mooned yesterday after news broke that the PE boys at Silver Lake are looking to buy out the HR software co. Been a big summer for PE bros.
Things got so outta hand that trading was halted yesterday afternoon, and the last time we saw an HR professional caught this off guard was…
No word on exactly how much of a premium SL might be willing to drop, but investors sent shares up 19%.
+ “I want my MTV CNN…” - libs, probably
Yesterday, Paramount $PSKY ( ▲ 4.95% ) let everybody know who their favorite child was. Spoiler: not CNN.
Turns out Davey Ellison would be more than willing to part with Anderson Cooper and Co. if the price was right CA antitrust suit over Warner Bros. $WBD ( ▲ 0.36% ) would disappear.
Oh, and in other crushing news for Gavin Newsom’s legacy, it sounds like PSKY is also down for a move out of California.
*Texas housing market go brrr*
> Databricks wraps $5 billion funding round at $190 billion valuation // Snowflake who?
> Reddit stock jumps on inclusion in S&P 500 // What were the smooth-brained regards over at S&P Dow Jones thinking?
> (Wednesday) Oracle to slash more jobs to fund AI plans // Another one 21k.
> (Wednesday) Josh Kushner’s Lakers buy continues winning streak after FIFA fiasco // “Bob Iger? The sports magnate?”
> (Wednesday) Wendy’s shares jump as Nelson Peltz prepares bid for fast-food chain to go private // Man won’t rest till he puts a ring on Wendy...
> (Wednesday) Google’s latest Pixel phones with slimmer cameras, more AI // Still not gonna buy one.
> (Tuesday) AI computing power becomes a tradable asset class as CME starts futures // New commodity just dropped.
On Tuesday, I asked, “When was the last time you spent any money at a GameStop store?”
44% of you said, “10+ years ago.” Dear god, we got so old…
Here’s what some of you guys had to say (and my response in italics)…
10+ years ago: “I traded in 3 consoles and 47 games to get GTA V back in ’13. Glad I had time to save up for this one.” Keep saving I guess…
Never: “i was popular and was out getting laid.” Says the guy who responds to TWC polls…
5-10 years ago: “why is the floor sticky in every GameStop?” Corporate requirement.
Within the last year: “Bought an Xbox hoping that GTA 6 comes out one day.” We’ve all been a little premature, my man.
Other (write-in): “GameStop is the new mattress store acting as one big money laundering front at this point right?” The math doesn’t math. How do they pay rent?
10+ years ago: “Taught me a lot about market making giving me $0.50 for a used PS2 game then turning around and selling it for $15.” We're buying from willing sellers at the current fair market price…
Here’s today’s question(s)…
Where was vacation this summer? (you better drop details in the comments)
+ US stocks slipped Tuesday (S&P 500: -0.3%) as growth sectors sagged and oil kept climbing, then rose Wednesday (S&P 500: +0.3%) on an in-line July inflation print, and pushed to a fresh all-time high Thursday (S&P 500: +0.7%), with the S&P 500 clearing 7,800 for the first time ever as oil finally backed off. New record, who dis?
+ The 10-year yield rose Tuesday on Middle East oil pressure, sat little changed Wednesday at 4.69% after the CPI print, then dipped more than 4 basis points Thursday to 4.64% on soft wholesale inflation data.
+ Oil edged up Tuesday to a one-week high on Hormuz supply fears, steadied Wednesday, then settled down more than 2% Thursday as weak demand forecasts and a big US inventory build finally cooled it off. Stacked.
+ The “smart” money (prediction markets) thinks there’s only a 30% chance the Iranian blockade ends this month. (Polymarket)
Oh, and one more thing….
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