Today there’s only one thing that anyone cares about… CPI data.

Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 9 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

- tyler

+ US stocks “rolled over on Thursday as investors rotated out of tech after a key inflation report showed consumer prices unexpectedly fell on a month-over-month basis for the first time since 2020.” (Yahoo! Finance)

+ The 10-year Treasury yield “tumbled Thursday after the latest inflation data showed a dip last month, suggesting the Federal Reserve could start to lower interest rates this year." (CNBC)

+ Oil “rose for the second consecutive session on Thursday with the Brent benchmark settling above $85 a barrel as hopes rose for U.S. interest rate cuts after data showed an unexpected slowdown in inflation.” (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin’s woes continue…

+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia -5.5% 2) Tesla -8.4% 3) Visa -0.1%

The market moves you need to know about…

+ Shares of WD-40 jumped 4.0% on Thursday after reporting a better-than-expected Q3 Wednesday after the close.

+ Have yourself a day, Quantumscape. Shares of the EV battery maker mooned 30.5% on news that Volkswagen would ramp up solid-state battery production.

I’m not freaking out, you’re freaking out.

We just got the best Consumer Price Index read since early 2021. You know, back when Roaring Kitty was still a hero and you were probably still washing your groceries.

In June headline inflation rose 3% vs. 2023… and fell 0.1% from May. That is not a typo, inflation is falling. What a time to be alive.

We’re even getting some relief in two of the most problematic categories: eggs and Eras Tour tickets food and shelter. Housing and food costs rose 0.2% for the month. Spoiler: that’s yuge considering housing makes up ~1/3 of CPI’s weighting.

F*ck food and energy, all my homies hate food and energy

Meanwhile, “core” CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 3.3% year over year and jumped just 0.1% vs. last month.

Ok, now what?

Two words: rate cut.

The US economy is putting together a strong case for a rate cut. In the past few weeks, we’ve gotten solid PCE data, a Goldilocks jobs report, and a pretty encouraging CPI print. Oh, and bonus, J-Poww told Congress that it’d be a mistake to wait too long to cut rates.

Some glass-half-full analysts believe the Fed could cut rates at the end of this month. But the smart money is betting on September…

+ Elon is just like us… he gets really excited, makes plans, and then cancels right before he has to follow through…

Rumor has it that Tesla (-8.4%) has communicated internally that its Robotaxi event scheduled for August 8th will be pushed back to October.

This, of course, is zero percent shocking, given Elon’s track record… and the fact that robotaxis don’t actually exist. The TSLA team reportedly needs more time to work on prototypes.

Understandably, shares got crushed.

+ “It’s so over.” - discount airlines

Piss poor results and an even worse outlook from Delta (-3.9%) don’t bode well for the airline industry. Especially since Delta has historically been the most profitable player in the sector…

DAL reported a revenue miss and earnings that were in line with expectations. That’s the good news.

The bad news? Its top and bottom line projections were well below the Street’s.

+ The days of Pepsi (+0.2%) getting away with endless price hikes because its snacks and beverages fell into the “little treats” category appear to be over…

Pepsi had largely been able to offset falling volume with price hikes over the past few years.

But yesterday it reported a slight revenue miss and warned of softening demand as consumers pump the brakes on reckless spending.

+ Here’s the median salary in the 25 biggest U.S. cities—see how you compare. Prepare to be let down.

+ Too young for an iPhone? Apple says its watch is ‘a great call for kids’ in new promotion. Ok, I need to know what age kids are getting iPhones (check out today’s Exit Interview).

🔥 ‘Taxes are on sale’: Why now is a great time to save in a Roth account, says CPA. They are even cheaper if you just don’t pay them…

⏪ Yesterday we were keeping an eye on June CPI, plus Pepsi and Delta’s earnings. You can check out all the details above.

⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…

+ Earnings szn kicks off with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo

+ PPI (inflation, but for producers instead of consumers) data will be released

Yesterday I asked, “Should members of Congress be allowed to trade individual stocks?”

79.6% of you said absolutely not… which was less than I thought…

Here’s today’s question…

🔥 Legend.

The truth hurts…

Oh, and one more thing…

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.