November 15, 2023

The Appetizer

“This has been a heck of a journey – we can’t figure it out. We don’t even know why he likes us.”

• Sarah Lande, an 85-year-old Iowa resident who’s among a group that’s been invited to a dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California, 38 years after they hosted him for a hog roast.

Now, on to the numbers. Drum roll, please …

• 1: The number of days the S&P 500 closed up more than 2% this year, compared to 23 last year.
• $73,800: The estimated auction price of a menu from the Titanic’s first-class restaurant. Dishes on the menu included spring lamb with mint sauce and mallard duck in a port wine sauce.
• 5.085%: The acceptance rate of the drawing for this year’s New York City Marathon, the second lowest ever.
• 23: The number of countries that have pandas on loan from China.
• $1.08 trillion: The amount that Americans owed on their credit cards in the third quarter, a new record.
• 1.3%: The unemployment rate for college graduates majoring in nursing, the second lowest behind “miscellaneous education.”

Dig In
The Skinny on Weight Loss Drugs

AI may have stolen the spotlight this year, but there’s a revolution taking place in healthcare. ChatGPT, meet Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Please don’t ask us how the healthcare industry picks these names, but they are being touted as game-changers in treating obesity.

These drugs have been around for a while, typically used to treat adults with Type 2 diabetes. However, scientists have learned over the past several years that they can also lead to weight loss. We won’t bore you with the science, but in essence these drugs mimic naturally occurring horomones that help people feel full after eating, helping individuals curb their appetite.

The World Health Organization estimates more than 650 million people are clinically obese and around 2 billion are considered overweight. So the opportunity is large, but there’s also still a lot of questions. What are the long-term side effects? How much will insurance cover? Will people still drink Coca-Cola and Pepsi? The Future of Health has never been brighter, especially as healthcare’s trajectory continues to be shaped by the convergence of the millennial generation and the aging population. Yes, another shameless plug of our Long-Term Investment Themes!

Weekly Specials

Off the coast of Sardinia, a diver swam upon 30,000 large bronze coins dating back to the 4th century. They were in “a rare state of preservation,” just lying in a sandy clearing between the beach and seagrass. It is surprising that no one noticed them before, considering the island welcomes over a million tourists annually.

South Korea has banned short selling until June 2024 due to a concern that naked short selling, which is already illegal, was hurting some stocks unfairly. This isn’t the first time either – South Korea banned short selling in 2020 as well. Regulators hope to use this time to make essential improvements, including standardizing short-selling requirements and penalties for illegal short selling.

Introducing “Grok,” the world’s newest AI bot coming to you from Elon Musk. With a voice modeled after “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” this chatbot has a bit of wit and answers to “spicy questions.” The waitlist is now open and will soon be available to X Premium+ subscribers.

Corporate Lunch

A study found Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy cuts risk of heart attack and stroke by 20% among people without diabetes.

Planet Fitness regained its pump as the company raised its revenue outlook.

Kahlúa created a $105 perfume that smells like an espresso martini. Essence of coffee and vodka … lovely.

The U.S. trading arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was hit by a ransomware attack, so the company was forced to handle trades via messengers carrying USB sticks.

Italy is not happy with Airbnb. Apparently landlords weren’t paying their taxes from 2017 to 2021. Oops! Now the public prosecutor’s office is coming for $800 million.

Lumen CEO Kate Johnson invested $1 million into the company’s stock after shares fell 90%.

Take-Two Interactive stock jumped in anticipation of a GTA 6 announcement.

These look familiar! Nike is suing New Balance and Sketchers for stealing their patented shoe design. This is the same technology they sued Adidas, Puma, and Lululemon for copying.

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Past performance is not indicative of future results.