Happy Tuesday, y’all. Welcome back to the funhouse. 🎉
The Russell 2000 was the only index to close higher.
Real estate rallied for the fourth consecutive session. $XLRE and $XLC were the leading sectors, while $XLE lagged.
The trading month of August has concluded. 😇 Here’s the S&P 500’s monthly chart.
Ethereum increased 5% and broke back above $3,400.
$HNT.X hopped 13.25%, $DOCS drove 11.2% higher, and $RHE rose 34.7%.
Here are today’s quotes:
| S&P 500 | 4,522 | -0.13% |
| Nasdaq | 15,259 | -0.04% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,273 | +0.34% |
| Dow Jones | 35,360 | -0.11% |
Earnings
Sponsored
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Company News
Wells Fargo Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson
Wells Fargo lost $5 billion to fines and legal settlements. Now, the company might be prepping to lose even more.
In recent years, Wells Fargo committed unprecedented fraud through the creation of “fraudulent savings and checking accounts … without [customer] consent.” The fraud caused damage to Wells Fargo’s brand and buried the bank in civil and criminal suits.
That’s not much of a problem if you’ve got a lot of money, but regulators are supposedly unhappy with how slowly the company is compensating victims and righting its wrongs. 🙅
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that new sanctions could be imposed on the company. These sanctions would apply to a completely new management team — the last team got the boot, after all.
It’s unknown what sanctions might await the bank, but ‘regulators’ is always a scary word to investors. $WFC stock fell 5.4% today.
Company News
$AAPL To The Moon (Literally) 🚀
Apple’s latest schtick to get everyone to buy new iPhones? Satellites. 🛰️ 🚀
The company is reportedly integrating two new iPhone features which utilize satellite service. iPhone users could be able to call or text even without network service… remember satellite phones? iPhones might be bringing their best features back.
Why is this useful? Well, if you hypothetically got stuck on a deserted island, you would be able to call and/or text for help. The technology is intended for emergency circumstances, but it probably won’t be ready until at least next year.
Apple is developing an Emergency Message via Satellite service integrated into the Messages app and a tool to report emergencies, like plane crashes or sunken ships. The texting-via-satellite technology will be called Stewie (kind of like Siri?).
Apple is still debating whether or not the company should launch its own satellites. In the meantime, it is rumored that Apple will use satellite technology owned by Globalstar Inc.
$GSAT gained 64% yesterday, but closed down 15% today after analysts took a closer look Apple’s plans. Some claim that the satellite functionality might not make this generation of phones, but we’ll have to see. $AAPL is up 0.02% after hours.
Policy
Bad News for Big Tech
Speaking of Apple — is the Apple app store a monopoly? 🤔 A number of lawsuits against Big Tech players argue that it is.
Google and Apple are both in bitter wars with their app store developers. Famously, Fortnite creator Epic Games sued Apple and Google over their app store practices. It’s one of hundreds of lawsuits, many brought by state governments and app developers from the “Coalition for App Fairness.“ The coalition includes notable members like Match Group (Tinder), Epic, and Spotify.
Today, South Korea spiced up this ongoing beef. 🌶️ The country is expected to pass a law banning Apple and Google’s monopoly on app store payment requirements. In other words, Apple and Google won’t be able to hold developers in contempt for circumventing their commissions.
In most of the world, Apple and Google take a 30% commission on app purchases, in-app purchases, subscriptions, and other payment options. But once the bill passes in South Korea, app developers can use any payment provider they want.
South Korea’s move could mean bad news for Apple and Google, especially if it inspires copycat legislation in other countries. The app store generates hefty cashflow for both companies.
Earnings
Earning Against All Odds
Chinese internet company NetEase reported earnings today. NetEase did surprisingly well, considering its industry is being attacked by the Chinese government’s new restrictions.
The company posted an EPS of ¥6.24, a 2.21% surprise. NetEase slightly missed on revenue, reporting ¥20.5 billion (USD$3.2 billion). The company’s revenue was up 12.9% YoY. 👏
The majority of NetEase’s business comes from online game services. Gaming in China has been under attack and the country recently imposed playing time restrictions on minors. However, in the latest quarter, NetEase managed to pull ¥14.5 billion (USD$2.3 billion) in income from their gaming biz. That’s +5.1% YoY.
The remainder of the company’s revenue came from its Youdao and innovative businesses/others segment. Youdao is a search engine, which serves advertisements like Google. NetEase’s innovative business segment includes NetEase Cloud Music, among others.
It’s unknown if NetEase, one of China’s bigger tech companies (dare we say Big Tech), will be affected by ongoing restrictions and changes in China’s government. In the meantime, though, investors are somewhat satisfied.
$NTES rose 8.7% today.
Links
Links That Don’t Suck:
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🤖 Here’s the Robotaxi that Will Be Available on the Lyft App in 2023
🎮 The Investors Trying to Fix the Most Toxic Company in Video Games
🚨 Residents Scramble to Evacuate As Wildfire Approaches Lake Tahoe, CA
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