Let the chips fall where they may

American kitchens are divided along partisan lines too: a YouGov survey said that conservatives prefer to snack on Pillsbury treats while liberals opt for Ben & Jerry’s. Liberals also prefer LaCroix, Subarus, and Instagram, while conservatives go for A&W, Ford, and X.

The S&P 500 continued to slip yesterday after news that job openings hit a 3-1/2-year low in July. All eyes are on tomorrow’s August jobs report, the last major piece of labor data ahead of the Fed’s rate-decision meeting this month. 

Playing DOJ-ball… On Tuesday Bloomberg reported that the US Justice Department had sent subpoenas to Nvidia (and other companies) in an escalation of an antitrust probe into whether the AI chip leader violated competition laws to stay dominant. Yesterday, though, Nvidia said it had not received a subpoena from the DOJ, but that it had been in contact with the agency. Nvidia stock plunged on Tuesday after the initial subpoena report, wiping out nearly $280B in market value — the biggest-ever daily market-cap decline for a US company. 

Chip outta luck?… Nvidia shares haven’t been faring well since the company reported earnings last week. Its quarterly growth was feverish as the AI spree raged, but it wasn’t quite as strong as usual (tough comparisons). Another issue for Nvidia: growing competition. Rivals like AMD, Intel, and even its biggest customers (like Google and Amazon) are cookin’ up their own AI chips. 

Winners draw attention… and it ain’t always good. Nvidia’s explosive success has attracted investors (the stock has more than 2x’d in the past year). But it’s also started to attract attention from regulators, who are reportedly asking questions about its acquisitions and biz practices. Nvidia joined the exclusive $2T club in March, and now it may be attracting the type of scrutiny that’s been focused on other trillion-dollar techies (like Apple, Microsoft, and Google).

Baitin’ the hook… with a DeFi worm. The X accounts of Lara and Tiffany Trump were reportedly hacked this week, posting links to a purported scam site that encouraged folks to connect their crypto wallets and purchase tokens. (FYI: Lara is the cochair of the RNC and Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law; Tiffany is his daughter.) The posts highlighted World Liberty Financial, an apparently real DeFi project that’s been promoted by Trump’s sons and even former Prez Trump himself. 

Reelin’ ’em in… Social-savvy crypto scammers have long hacked prominent X (fka Twitter) accounts to ensnare victims. In July, artist Doja Cat said her X account had been taken over to push a fake celeb coin. Even the SEC’s X account was hacked in January, in what may’ve been an attempt to move the price of bitcoin. Crypto-analytics co Chainalysis said hackers bulk-sell stolen social accounts, which are later used to scam folks out of crypto. In the first half of this year, the total value of stolen crypto funds hit $1.5B+ — up 84% on the year. 

Playing coy can backfire… The Trump family’s tried to drum up excitement for WLF with breezy social-media teasers. That may’ve left the door open to scammers looking to rip off Trump supporters. It wouldn’t be the first time: in May, the Trump presidential campaign said it’d accept crypto donations, but confusion around the donation process led to scammers stealing from supporters. Still, it goes both ways: Trump’s broad and generic embrace of crypto has gained him support from the industry. 

In Brazil, Elon Musk finally has a case worth fighting — but he has to do it in the courts. Read more.

Phoenix temps have been higher than 100 degrees F for a record 100 days straight

Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, AMD, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia

Advertiser's disclosures:

¹ Not available in all 50 states. Weight Loss by Hims is a holistic program that includes nutrition support, technological tools, and compounded GLP-1s or medication kits including customized compounded medications prescribed based on what your provider determines is medically appropriate and necessary for you. See website for full details, important safety information, and restrictions, including online provider consultation requirements.

² A minimum investment of $1000 is required to receive 20% bonus shares.

This is a paid advertisement for RAD AI’s Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.radintel.ai. 

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.

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more