RAT MONEY
RadioAustinTexas.com
04/26/2024
Inspiring, uninspiring, and down right messed up financial news of the day. RAT date 04/26/2024
The media on this page is taken largely from a financial newsletter now published by Sherwood Media. They enfolded the company Robinhood, which is an online stock trading company and financial company. Its CEO has done some really wild things in the stock trading game, and is one of the most impressive people known.
Around a year ago, he led the stampeded of investors at Robinhood in the GameStop market takeover, which made them billions, and cost many billionares and large hedgefunds billions, and made them the laughing stock of Wall Street. He named his copmpany well.
However, I am referring to Robinhood’s previous CEO. Now it is Bulgarian born Vladamir Tevin, 36 years old.
Robinhood Financial
Table for two… hundred. Desperate diners are snatching up coveted restaurant reservations from online scalpers. One reseller said they made $80K flipping tables last year.
Stocks and bonds dipped on news that the US economy lost momentum in the first quarter as inflation stuck around like gum on your shoe. After hours, strong tech earnings saw markets bouncing back.
TIP-OFF
NBA TV rights are finally up for grabs — with cable and streaming giants battling for the top spot.
Checkin’ the shot clock… NBA playoffs may be heating up, but there’s another battle brewing off the court. On Monday, the league’s exclusive media-rights negotiation window with Disney’s ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT closed without a deal. Refresher: in 2014, both cos closed a nine-year deal worth a combined $26B to air ~160 regular-season games, plus the playoffs and finals. But with the contract expiring after next season (and no new deal in place), streamers by Apple, Amazon, Google, and NBC could be tryin’ to get in the game.
New team: The NBA reportedly wants at least one new “robust” flagship streaming partner that can prioritize games on their platforms. The league’s also hoping to double the $$ of its current deal.
Home-court advantage… Americans say basketball’s their third favorite sport (behind football and baseball). In 2023, the NBA had its most-watched season in four years, with a record 71% of games selling out as fans splurged on stadium tix. It’s not just the men: the WNBA also scored record viewership and attendance for last year’s season. Meanwhile, the rise of college-basketball stars (see: the Caitlin Clark effect) has also sparked optimism about growing viewership.
THE TAKEAWAY
The sports-watching playbook is changing… and leagues are taking note. The NBA broadcast negotiations come as cable-TV demand continues to sink with shrinking overall viewership. Lots of households say they keep cable subscriptions because it’s the only way to watch their favorite teams play. That’s starting to change: the NFL, NHL, and MLB have all recently struck streaming broadcast deals. Last year, over a quarter of all US sports fans had paid for a subscription streaming service to catch a game.
Sponsored by Rocket Mortgage
Just plane rough… As fallout from Boeing’s January 737 Max door-plug fiasco continues to ripple through the industry, Southwest, which reported yesterday, is feeling the bumps. The airline, known for free bags and Wild West seat selection, is shutting down operations at four airports (in Houston, Syracuse, Washington state, and Cozumel, Mexico) and scaling back service at two major hubs: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Chicago’s O’Hare. Southwest, which flies only 737 planes, is the latest carrier to put numbers on its Boeing bite.
Ginger-ailing: Southwest now expects to get just 20 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes this year, down from 58. Last month it paused hiring of pilots and flight attendants.
Cabin pressure: Southwest’s per-seat flying costs will climb about 8% this year. CEO Bob Jordan said changes to its boarding and open-seating policies could be on the table to recoup costs.
Hurt planes hurt airlines… Boeing burned through nearly $4B in cash last quarter after its doorbacle, but Southwest isn’t the only carrier that took a hit. United Airlines last week said its $200M Boeing ding kept it from reporting a profit on the quarter. Alaska Air similarly reported $132M in losses and pointed to Boeing-related groundings. Even Delta, which doesn’t have any 737 Max jets in its fleet, sees Boeing L’s in its future. Last month it said it expected its order of 100 737 Max 10 jets to be delayed by about two years.
THE TAKEAWAY
Airlines are still bracing… Southwest’s airport exits are its first since 2019, when it pulled out of Newark because of previous 737 Max groundings. As basically all major US airlines deal with delayed Boeing deliveries, and the costs that follow, the industry’s final Boeing price tag is still adding up.
Word: Microsoft’s huge AI-vestments appear to be paying off. The PC legend reported a 20% profit spike. Meantime, Microsoft-backed (AI-adjacent) cybersecurity co Rubrik popped on its first day of trading.
AIverse: Meta’s Reality Labs, aka its metaverse division, hemorrhaged $3.8B in the first quarter. Zuck’s still bullish on the long-term potential of the metaverse (beyond floating torsos) and of AI.
Investigate: The DoJ is probing McKinsey’s role in advising opioid manufacturers and the related client records it kept. The consulting firm advised drugmakers including Purdue on how to boost sales.
Bisquit: Red Lobster is said to be seeking a buyer as it considers bankruptcy. The seafood icon’s woes go beyond its too-endless shrimp, as casual restos lose diners to fast-casual spots like Chipotle.
Last updated 04/26/2024