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The early bird gets the decorative bird: collectors of Target’s $5 seasonal foam-stuffed birds are flocking to get their hands on the new Halloween collection. #Summerween is here.

US stocks dipped yesterday, snapping the market’s longest win streak of the year. Today we’ll get minutes from the Fed’s July meeting, but the most up-to-date comments on interest-rate policy could come from Chair Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday.

Hitting a wall… The urge to retile your bathroom isn’t as strong as it used to be. Lowe’s sales #s disappointed yesterday: quarterly revenue fell more than 5% and profit slipped 11% as shoppers kept cutting back on big-ticket projects like new kitchen floors. Lowe’s said bad weather also hurt sales for its outdoor products (think: four-piece patio sets). The home-improvement staple slashed its annual guidance as DIY customers — who make up 75% of its business — sit on the sidelines.

Reno rollback… High mortgage rates have created the least affordable housing market in nearly two decades. Even as housing inventory rebounds, sky-high prices have kept many would-be buyers out of the market. Median home prices in the US hit a record $419K in May. That’s thrown a wrench in the home-makeover market, since owners tend to spend the most on upgrades within the first three years of buying. In the first quarter, spending on remodeling dropped for the first time in a decade.

Fix the base before the space… When people are antsy about the economy, they tend to spend less on unnecessary upgrades. Experts predict overall spending on home improvement and repairs will fall to about $450B this year — a 7% drop from last year. We’ll get the scoop on the housing market when home sales #s come out this week.

There’s zero traffic… when you fly to work. Starbucks’ incoming CEO, Brian Niccol, is getting a major work perk: he doesn’t have to move from his home of Newport Beach, California, to the coffee chain’s headquarters in Seattle. But for Niccol working remotely will mean less pajama-PJs and more private jet-PJs. He’s expected to commute 1K miles to HQ and travel to other sites such as roasting facilities and stores. He’ll also be set up with a remote office and assistant in Newport Beach.

Not blending in… Niccol is not the only exec with relocation perks in their offer letter. Victoria’s Secret’s new boss, Hillary Super (also recently poached), can work from New York rather than in the company’s main office in Columbus, Ohio. Another alternative for new CEOs: moving the HQ itself. When Niccol started his previous gig as head of Chipotle, the burrito chain’s main office was moved from Denver to Newport Beach. Similarly, Ken Griffin relocated his hedge fund, Citadel, from Chicago to Miami.

Flexibility’s not a free add-in… Like any other offer-letter perk, remote work tends to be easier to negotiate for higher-level employees who companies really want to lock in. Starbucks might think Niccol is worth bending the RTO policy for. Only 14% of working US adults are fully remote, but more than 40% of office workers say they’d take a pay cut to work remotely.

Without ASML — whose machines weigh as much as two jets and are precise to 8 nanometers — AI as we know it wouldn’t exist. Read more.

For the first time, a bar of gold is worth $1M

Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Starbucks and Tesla

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¹ There is a working product prototype, but the product is still currently under development.

² Dice Cream currently has non-binding LOIs signed with Shoprider to operate 80 units across Japan and Korea, and 75 units across South America

³ Each parlor would be able to serve over 500 customers before needing restocking. Dice Cream’s Unmatched Capacity and Efficiency, 6/13/24 Update

⁴ The minimum investment for this round is $300.

⁵ Equity crowdfunding investments in private placements, and start-up investments in particular, are speculative and involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment through equity crowdfunding tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns.

Please read the offering circular and related risks at Dice Cream’s Start Engine page. This is a paid advertisement for Dice Cream’s Regulation CF Offering.

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