Viral Stories of the Week: August 28

Vonetta Logan's recap of the big business, news, markets, political, cultural and viral trending stories featured this week on Daily Dose

What’s up tastynation? Welcome to this week’s edition of Weekly Dose! Each week, I recap the top stories that I covered on Daily Dose. If you missed any eps of Daily Dose you can catch up on them here. 

I’m back! I ended up doing 1,192 miles on my motorcycle around Lake Michigan. I gotta say, trips that begin and end in the same place … way underrated. 

Let’s get to the recap! 

Monday 

• Fed chair warns about future rate hikes: Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell called for more vigilance in the fight against inflation. He warned that if we kids don’t knock it off with all the consumer spending, he will have no other choice but to “turn this economy around, and no one gets ice cream.”  You can read his prepared remarks on inflation if you have run out of snooze edibles and need help falling asleep. 
• Instacart files for IPO: Instacart, the once hot grocery delivery startup that loves to charge you a 300% markup on the organic yogurt of your dreams, has filed to go public. The stock will be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CART.” In March of last year, Instacart slashed its valuation from $39 billion to $24 billion. The valuation fell by another 50% by late 2022. Our Mike Butler wrote a useful article about Instacart, and you can read it here.  
• China realizes it needs stock trading: Chinese authorities are planning to cut stamp duty on stock trading by as much as 50%. The proposed cut comes after China’s leaders vowed in late July to reinvigorate the world’s second-largest stock market. China has been reeling lately from a whole host of other economic crises. China also announced this week that it has approved 37 exchange-traded funds and mutual funds for retail traders. 

Tuesday 

• Bitcoin trading volume hits lows: Bitcoin trading volume hit its lowest level in almost five years this month as investors keep waiting for reasons to hop back into the market. The price of bitcoin is still up 57% for the year. Sadly, the number of dudes who want to talk about how amazing crypto is has not fallen to new lows. I gotta get off the apps. 
• OpenAI launches ChatGPT enterprise: OpenAI announced it is launching an enterprise tier for their popular ChatGPT product. The enterprise edition of the tool was developed in partnership with 20 companies from a variety of industries. OpenAI closed a share sale in April of $300 million, which valued the company at $27 billion to 29 billion. 
• States want Shein vetted for labor practices before IPO: Republican attorneys general from 16 U.S. states asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to audit China-founded fast-fashion retailer Shein's supply chain for the use of forced labor ahead of Shein's potential initial public offering. Shein makes terrible clothes and even worse labor decisions, apparently. 
• We’re getting another tech utopia!: A company called Flannery Associates, which has spent more than $800 million scooping up thousands of acres of farmland in Solano County, California, has attracted some of the biggest investors in tech, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman; Marc Andreessen, an investor at Andreessen Horowitz; and billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz. The group has been quietly working to build an urban utopia in near San Francisco and Silicon Valley. What could go wrong? It’s not like rich tech bros have ever led us astray. I’m sure it’ll be fine.   
• A bar takes pettiness to a new level: Jack’s Pub in Milwaukee will pay your drink tab if the New York Jets lose and former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the starting QB. Relationships are hard. Especially sports ones. I’m not mad at the level of pettiness here at. All. You think you’re better off without me? You got a new offense who finally “gets you?” I hope you fail so hard it ends up on SportsCenter. I don’t really care either way. I’m a downtrodden Bears fan, and I’ll still hate the Packers no matter who is playing QB. But Rogers has a certain delightful punch-ability that's hard to ignore. 

Wednesday

• Hurricane Idalia brings trouble and higher costs: Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday. The impact could take gasoline refinery facilities offline and may limit some Gulf oil production and supplies. Plus, demand for gas is expected to surge as residents of the impacted areas evacuate. This, coupled with increased travel for the Labor Day holiday weekend could have an impact on gasoline prices. 
• U.S. Labor market loses steam: U.S. job openings dropped to the lowest level in nearly 2 1/2 years in July as the labor market gradually slowed. The job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) report released Tuesday by the U. S. Department of Labor also showed the number of people quitting their jobs dropped to levels last seen in early 2021, indicating Americans were becoming less confident in the labor market. I guess we should all stop bragging about our “lazy girl jobs” now. 
• FDIC issues new rules for banks: Large regional banks would have to issue roughly $70 billion in fresh debt under a new rule proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). The proposal would bring banks with over $100 billion in assets more in line with the largest Wall Street giants, which already have their own debt requirement. Regulators also proposed overhauling so-called "living will" plans which show how banks must show how they could be safely wound down after failing.
•  First Bitcoin ETF could be arriving soon: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with Grayscale in a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission which had denied the company’s application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The news sent Bitcoin and Ether higher, as well as stocks like Coinbase (COIN). I summon the power of Greyscale! BTC to the moon! 
• Apple sets date for September press event: Apple (AAPL) is expected to announce new iPhones Sept. 12 at a press event in its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company may release the iPhone 15 at the event and announce roll-out updates for its tablets and watches. Rumor also has it the new phones could possibly arrive with USB-C ports for charging, which would really help out my chaotic cable situation at home. 

Thursday 

• China’s factory activity continues to shrink: China’s factory activity shrank in August for a fifth straight month, while non-manufacturing activity hit a new low for the year—signs that the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy may not yet have bottomed out. Speaking of Chinese factories, I can't get enough of these Shein, Temu, Wish videos.  
• Baidu’s AI bot is released to the public: Chinese tech giant Baidu (BIDU) announced Thursday its ChatGPT-like Ernie bot was now open to the public. Baidu had previously restricted who could access the app, but now Ernie bot is at the top of the Apple (AAPL) app store in China. 
• Visa, Mastercard to hike merchant fees: Global payments processors Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) are planning to increase fees that many merchants pay when they accept customers' credit cards. The fee increases are scheduled to start in October and April. Increases in fees merchants pay to card issuers are typically passed on to consumers, regulators have previously said. I am a huge fan of the miles and points gang and put literally everything on my credit cards so I can accumulate miles and points. (I pay my balance off monthly) But I’m going to be super upset if places start charging me to use my card. I’m an elderly millennial—I never have cash, but it’s also not fair for merchants to have to eat all the higher costs. Come on Visa and Mastercard, can you try not to be evil for like 30 seconds?
• The government calls for easing restrictions on marijuana: In what is sure to be a slam dunk of a new campaign ad, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana. That news sent shares of pot stocks like Tilray Brands (TLRY), Canopy Growth (CGC) and Cronos (CRON) slightly higher. It’s about time we puff, puff, pass legislation that means the cannabis business can operate like any other modern business and not a gin-running speakeasy in the 1920s that has to be on an all-cash business.
• General Booty reporting for duty: Oklahoma University’s new quarterback, General Booty, has signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with the company Rock ‘Em Socks to launch a new line of booty-enhancing underwear. You can watch the Rock ‘Em ad here (I like to watch it on mute). First of all, how do you get away with naming your child General Booty? Is there a Mrs. Booty? Is there a Grandma Booty? Were they upset? Are they ecstatic about this deal now, and it’s going to be the best Booty Christmas ever? We may never know. Please watch this hilarious Instagram reel about all the great names in college football this season. 

 Friday 

• Markets cheer August jobs report: The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August, slightly more than expected, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nasdaq finished the month of August down, its first down month since December 2022. You can see how all the indices finished the month here.  
• Trump’s Georgia trial to be live-streamed: In what could shape up to be the “Trial of the Century”, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee said Thursday all court proceedings related to former President Donald Trump’s election interference case will be streamed live for the public. Trump, the current Republican presidential front-runner, is facing 13 felony counts, including racketeering, soliciting false statements and criminal conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty Thursday and will be arraigned Sept. 6. The court date would fall during the busy presidential election cycle.  
• Excerpts from new Musk bio are released: New excerpts from Walter Issacson’s highly anticipated Elon Musk (Simon & Schuster) biography were published online and they’re juicy. In the excerpts Issacson writes about Musk’s seemingly impulsive decision to purchase Twitter, his rift with his daughter, and his obsessive and petty moments. The book is due out Sept. 12 and you can pre-order it now. 
• Taylor Swift decides to save AMC: After saving the entire American economy, the reigning Queen of Pop has decided to turn her magnanimous gaze to another downtrodden soul: AMC. AMC (AMC) Theaters announced the concert film Taylor Swift–The Eras Tour will open in North American theaters Oct. 13. The theater chain AMC, anticipating high demand from Swift fans, said the film will play at least four times a day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at its U.S. locations. First-day ticket sales have already set records. 

Will Tom eat it?: Throw some brat patties on the grill this Labor Day weekend. 

That’s the recap for this week. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend! See ya next week! 

Vonetta Logan has more than a decade of markets experience and has been a trader for five years. She is an on-air personality, creative writer and news correspondent at tastylive, She appears Monday-Friday on Daily Dose and contributes to Luckbox Magazine. @vonettalogan

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