TOGETHER WITH
Hey there weekday warrior,
Nike just went full “how do you do, fellow kids?”
Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 19 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
Sike
Nike: *drops this ad during the Super Bowl*
Nike, like a week later: *partners with the woman who got famous because of Ray J*
Nike (+6.2%) is teaming up with Kim K’s Skims empire to launch NikeSKIMS (super original, marketing team). The new line is designed to make Lululemon its b*tch.
The mashup no one asked for is Nike’s next attempt to steal some market share in the women’s apparel space. After getting cooked by Lulu, (+1.5%) Alo Yoga, and Vuori, Nike is desperate to make an impact in women’s athletics.
The move makes sense…
Women account for 40% of Nike’s current customer base, and when it comes to clothing, women are more likely to spend their cold hard cash than men. Which, fair.
Details on the collab are still unclear, but a global rollout is planned for 2026 with apparel, shoes, and accessories. So get ready for skin-tight, neutral-tones, and shapewear that is engineered for thirst traps.
Meanwhile, Skims (last valued at $4B) has been what you’d call IPO-curious. With the brand partnership and access to Nike’s supply chain (think: children in Asia) this could be a legit win-win. Or, of course, it could end up like Kim’s PE shop…
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+ Pre-diabetesbiotics
Looks like Coca-Cola (+0.2%) just noticed that there’s market share to poach. Exhibits A and B: Upstart prebiotic soda startup Olipop recently raised $50M at a valuation of $1.8B, and Poppi spent $8M peddling their snake oil in a Super Bowl ad. Now, Coca-Cola is set to launch its “Simply Pop” brand of prebiotic sodas.
Coke’s Simply Pop will roll out 5 fruit flavors with zero sugar on the West Coast and Southeast this month if you’re into that kinda thing.
Meanwhile, Pepsi (+0.5%) is one step behind (shocker), with their prebiotic drink planned for release later this year. “We don’t have Simply Pop, is [Pepsi’s inferior product] OK?”
+ “Scoreboard” - Elon to Sam Altman
xAI just released Grok 3, and apparently, Elon isn’t completely full of sh*t (just mostly). The updated chatbot rolled out for X blue checkmarks yesterday, and these initial results gotta be putting blood in Sam Altman’s stool. Grok 3 outperformed ChatGPT and Gemini on Chatbot Arena, a 3rd party site that runs blind tests on AI bots. Live look at OpenAI BOD after turning down $97.4B for ChatGPT.
You might recall that last week Elon said “This might be the last time that an AI is better than Grok.” Next up for xAI is an AI search engine called “Deep Search” that hopes to do to Gemini what Google did to Yahoo! (read: bury it in an unmarked grave).
+ “Those cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating…etc” - Ford middle managers right now
Ford (+1.2%) is cutting stock bonuses for half its middle management this year. In what is definitely not an attempt to get a bloated management workforce to quit, ~1.5k middle managers are about to get stiffed. Senior management will decide who gets the shaft based on “performance.” This is why it’s always a good idea to be sleeping with your boss, folks. Just in case.
It’s been a rough stretch for GM’s kid brother. Ford shares are down 23% over the past year, leading CEO Jim Farley to aggressively find ways to cut costs and kill morale incentivize high performers. Ford’s EV business alone lost $5.1B last year and projects to lose another $5.5B this year. That’s a lotta damage.
+ Intel (+16.0) shares got a big boost Tuesday after the news that Broadcom (-1.9%) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (-0.5%) are circling like vultures around the chipmaker’s carcass.
+ “Dollar” Bill Ackman just bumped his takeover bid for Howard Hughes Holdings (+6.7%) to acquire 10M new shares at $90 per share. Bill says he wants to turn HHH into a modern-day Berkshire Hathaway (+0.6%). “I’m still alive, you know” - The Oracle of Omaha
+ KFC is getting its Jamie Dimon on. Not only is KFC (+1.0%) relocating its HQ to Plano, Texas… it’s taking its currently-remote workers with it.
+ New cheat code unlocked. Palantir (+4.5%) shares popped today after Alex Karp went on CNBC and publicly declared his love for Elon/DOGE.
+ Want to turn off the TV and pick up a book? This 5-second-rule will help you get it done, Mel Robbins says. Real talk: this is actually a pretty powerful life hack.
🔥 To avoid 'awkward, superficial' small talk, make one little change, says communication expert. Step 1: Avoid human interaction
FYI, TWC might be compensated if you click on the links above. So, what are you waiting for? Start clicking.
+ US stocks “were mixed on Tuesday to begin a holiday-shortened week of trading, with potential policy moves by the Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump in focus.” (Yahoo! Finance)
+ The 10-year yield was “higher Tuesday after a day’s holiday, as investors looked toward the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes later this week and digested a bond sell-off in Europe.” (CNBC)
+ Oil “prices settled higher on Tuesday as supply disruptions mounted in Russia and the U.S., while talks to end the war in Ukraine capped gains as this could boost supply from Moscow.” (Reuters)
+ Bitcoin “edged marginally lower on Tuesday, marking its third consecutive day of declines as market participants remained cautious amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade tariffs and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.” (Investing.com)
+ The three most talked about stocks on WallStreetBets in the past 24 hours were: 1) Nvidia +0.4% 2) Super Micro Computer Inc. +16.4% 3) Intuitive Machines Inc. +3.3%
⏪ Yesterday…
+ Baidu and Medtronic report before the bell
+ Arista, Occidental Petroleum, Cadence, Shift4, and Devon Energy dropped earnings after the bell
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
+ Wix, Etsy, Analog Devices, Garmin, Fiverr, Wingstop, HSBC, Global-E, and SolarEdge report before the bell
+ Carvana, Grab Holdings, Toast, Enovix, Vimeo, and The Cheesecake Factory report after hours
+ Apple’s holds a product launch event (prepare to be underwhelmed)
+ The FOMC drops the minutes from its latest meeting
Yesterday I asked, “You can only choose one for the rest of your life: always stay at Airbnbs or always stay at hotels. What are you choosing?”
“Hotels” won with 75.2% of the votes. I could not agree more. Airbnbs are for college kids.
Here’s what some of you guys had to say…
Hotels: “I don’t need to do the owners chores or possibly see the owner at a hotel plus I get reward points ”
Airbnbs: “Find me a hotel in Virgin Islands with a private beach that I exclusively share with 20 of my friends and I’ll change my vote ”
Stay with friends/family: “If it's free, it's for me”
Hotels: “I don't care much for small talk with strangers. Hotels are all business. The friendly concierge is the perfect amount of small talk”
Airbnbs: “Cooking is my creative outlet - need a kitchen!”
And here’s today’s question…
What's the best fried chicken chain in the game?
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.
Ad Disclosures
This content was sponsored by Plurilock Security Inc. (TSX-V: PLUR | OTCQB: PLCKF). The influencer was compensated $1,000 by Cashu Technologies on behalf of Plurilock Security Inc. to produce this content. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should consult a financial professional before making investment decisions.