May 15, 2024

The Appetizer

“The NFL spent $20 million and found that it was more ‘probable’ than not, that I was ‘generally’ aware that someone may have deflated my footballs. You could’ve just given me the $20 mil and I would’ve just told you I … did it.”

• NFL Legend Tom Brady during the “The Roast of Tom Brady,” which aired recently on Netflix.

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

• 40.1%: The percentage of U.S. renters that believe they will ever own a home, hitting a record low.
• 461 feet: The length of the world’s longest baguette, a record reclaimed by France after being held by Italy since 2019.
• 63%: The percentage of U.S. workers that say they are satisfied with their job, the highest level recorded since the survey began in 1987, according to the Conference Board.
• 2035: The year that Social Security is now expected to run short on funds, one year later than previously projected.
• 1.6 million: The estimated attendance for a free Madonna concert at Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana beach.

Dig In
Your Financial ID

Investing is an emotional journey, and everyone handles it differently. For some it can be pretty exciting, but also a little nerve-racking, while for others it can be about as exciting as watching paint dry. Some people want to be involved in every little decision, while others are happy to leave it all to the experts.

This is where the Stifel Financial ID comes in. It’s a behavioral finance tool that can help you and your Stifel Financial Advisor better understand your risk attributes and decision style across six dimensions. One of them, for example, is belief in skill. This captures your confidence in a professional investment manager’s ability to generate above-market returns. In other words, do you prefer actively managed products or passive, index-based products? Another dimension is composure, which measures your ability to handle market volatility and short-term gains or losses. Will you be nervous if the equity market corrects and falls more than 10%?

In short, the Stifel Financial ID will help you understand yourself better, so you and your Stifel Financial Advisor can work together more smoothly. Want to know more? Check out our latest Sight|Lines.

Weekly Specials

The newest rookie in professional soccer took the road less traveled to the professional ranks. He’s a 45-year-old American venture capitalist and ex-investment banker who’s now living his dream playing for a second-division team in Portugal.

Yes, for just $323 million, you can own the last remaining private plot of land in the Arctic. It is the size of Manhattan and sits about halfway between Norway and the North Pole. Talk about a cool investment!

The fate of Germany’s economy is resting on a skewer. Citizens have been calling for a price cap on doner kebabs, a beloved street dish. One political party is appealing to voters by proposing to use state funds to cap the price of kebabs.

Wally the emotional support alligator is MIA. Apparently, he was on vacation in Georgia and was snatched from his pen. A search mission is underway to bring him home. Let’s keep our eyes open for Wally.

Corporate Lunch

Warm up your ACLs, Life Time Fitness is setting up pickleball courts to capitalize on the fastest-growing sport in the country.

Meanwhile, Equinox is rolling out a $40,000 program to help you live longer; results may vary.

Red Lobster is considering filing for bankruptcy after losing $11 million due to its endless shrimp promo. Hot take, shrimp is better than lobster. Red Shrimp, anyone?

The chip war is heating up: The U.S. Commerce Department revoked Intel’s and Qualcomm’s licenses to supply chips for Chinese telecom equipment.

Apple had to apologize for an ad that showed a bunch of musical instruments being crushed into an iPad. The commercial was titled “Crush.”

Just as most automakers scale back their EV aspirations, GM is doubling down by stopping production of the Chevy Malibu so it can build the new generation of Chevrolet Bolt EVs.

Ferrari’s stock fell after deliveries to China dropped 20%. They must have just forgotten to put stamps on these shipments, because the CEO says they are “substantially sold out” until 2026.

The Boeing Starliner’s inaugural launch was scrubbed on the platform and delayed 10 days, making this the slowest ever countdown before liftoff.

Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss.

Indices are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is a capitalization-weighted index that is generally considered representative of the U.S. large capitalization market.

Past performance is not indicative of future results.