Notes from Mike - 09/06/2024

Happy Friday Folks

Wanted to start this week's note off with a story we all lived through, but may not have been aware of! It’s a tale of missed chances, billion-dollar decisions, and what happens when opportunity knocks but no one answers. We’re talking about Yahoo and a series of 'what if' moments that could’ve changed tech history. Grab a coffee and get ready for a fun look back at one of the most famous business 'oops' stories of all time…

• 1998: Picture this—Yahoo had the chance to buy this little startup called Google for a mere $1 million. Yes, you read that right. A cool million could’ve landed them one of the biggest tech giants we know today. But Yahoo said, "Nah, we're good."
• 2002: Fast forward a few years, and Yahoo realizes its mistake. Oops! They knock on Google’s door again, offering $3 billion this time. But Google, now feeling its oats, says, “We’re worth $5 billion.” And Yahoo? Still too stubborn, they walk away. Strike two.
• 2008: The tables turn—Microsoft comes knocking on Yahoo’s door with a whopping $44 billion offer to buy them. Can you guess what happened? Yep, Yahoo turned them down. Fast forward, Yahoo ends up selling for a fraction of that just a few years later. Ouch.
• 2016: Yahoo finally gets sold to Verizon, but the price tag is a humble $4.5 billion. What could’ve been $44 billion is now less than 10% of that. Oh, the irony.
• Meanwhile… Google’s market cap skyrockets to an eye-popping $2 trillion. That’s 2,000,000 millions for those keeping score at home. 😅

Markets:

It’s been a tough week for equities, with all four major indices in the red. The majority of the pain came on Tuesday, 09/03/2024. We’re seeing some volatility as investors react to a mix of economic data, inflation concerns, and global uncertainty. While it may feel rough, remember that market dips can sometimes present long-term opportunities. As always, it's about keeping perspective and sticking to the plan. Summary performance below is as of the close on Thursday, 09/05/2024.  Let's see if Friday has a stronger finish to head into the weekend.

Other Headlines from this week Morning CORE (which you can subscribe to here)

• US, UK, & EU aiming to agree on artificial intelligence standards. -FT
• Qualcomm exec says the company is working on developing smart glasses with Samsung and Google. -CNBC
• China detained some AstraZeneca employees. -Bloomberg
• Russia has been forced to start storing gas from Vladimir Putin's Arctic project due to western sanctions deterring buyers. -FT
• Russia's Kursk region, which has been invaded and captured by Kyiv, has stabilized, and the Russian army is now pushing Ukrainian forces out of the area. -FT
• US Steel has warned that thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania are at risk if Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9B acquisition of the firm fails. -FT
• The US Department of Justice is seizing dozens of websites used by the Russian government to spread disinformation to influence the 2024 US presidential election. -FT
• Semiconductor stocks were mostly positive on Wednesday, following bears' negative economic news. -IBD
• Boeing has delivered nine 737 Max jet airliners to China in August, marking the highest monthly total in almost six years, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. -Caixin
• The falling birthrate in America is a significant issue in the upcoming election, with conservative policy agendas focusing on lifting fertility levels to boost economic growth and Social Security solvency. -WSJ
• Disney has disclosed a trove of data leaked by hackers earlier this summer, which includes financial and strategy information, as well as personally identifiable information of staff and customers. The leaked files include details about revenue generated by Disney+ and ESPN+, park pricing offers, and login credentials for some of Disney's cloud infrastructure. -WSJ
• Verizon is in advanced talks to acquire Frontier Communications in a deal that would bolster the company’s fiber network to compete with rivals including AT& T, according to people familiar with the matter. -WSJ
• Alibaba will offer payment services from rival Tencent on its biggest online marketplaces, a milestone toward breaking down the walls that divide Chinese internet giants. -WSJ (If all tech companies are commandeered by the Communist govt., why does it matter?)
• Nordstrom’s founding family made a $3.8 billion bid to take the retailer private, its second attempt to revive the department-store chain out of public view. -WSJ

Follower suggestions for social media (mostly X/Twitter)

My roster of accounts and pages I follow grows every week.  It's amazing the abundance of content available these days from some really good writers.  I'll try to add more recommendations each week.

SentimenTrader - Their tagline reads "analysis over emotion". Over 20 years of exclusive, data-driven insights and unrivaled market sentiment tools.  I find their reports and research to be very useful and always objective.

Unusual_whales - Famous for initially tracking politicians portfolio's (Nancy Pelosi), and has since developed a much deeper research bench covering macro trends and news, options trading volumes, insider buys/sell, and much more.

The Daily Shot - The Daily Shot® began as an internal daily memo at a multi-strategy hedge fund. The goal was to provide traders and analysts with a quick visual overview of key global macro trends. This daily memo was later made available to the fund’s clients, most of whom were institutional investors.

PVI's very own, Nick Lampone - The mastermind behind every morning's "The Morning CORE".