August 21, 2024

The Appetizer

“They were just staring at the stuffed animals in there getting ready to decide what to pick and saw the groundhog’s eyes blinking and realized there was something alive in there.”

• The manager of a frozen custard shop and mini-golf outlet in Pennsylvania after a groundhog now dubbed Colonel Custard was found in a mechanical claw machine.

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

• 2.9%: The July consumer price index (CPI) annual inflation rate, the lowest since 2021.
• 35%: The increase in mortgage refinancing applications for the week ending August 9, 2024, the strongest week since May 2022.
• 2+ hours: The time a typical American’s laundry load sits unattended in the washer, according to data from GE Appliances.
• 59%: The percentage of Americans who wrongly believe the U.S. is in a recession.
• 72: The number of days until Halloween. Since 2019, peak Halloween item sales on Amazon have been shifted back a week every year, according to forecasting service Granularity. Last year, they happened in mid-August.
• 1,418 square miles: The size of the world’s largest iceberg, A23a. For context, it is slightly bigger than Rhode Island.

Dig In
CEO Census

Last week there were some shake-ups at your favorite coffee and burrito joints, as Starbucks poached the CEO of Chipotle, Brian Niccol. The announcement led to a dramatic $27 billion shift in market value. So naturally this got us thinking about CEOs more broadly.

For starters, most CEOs in the S&P 500 are seasoned pros with an average age of 58 and about 7.5 years in the top job. Surprisingly, 25 of these CEOs are also the founders or co-founders of their companies, proving that entrepreneurial spirit can take you far – even to the corner office. As for diversity, while there’s a long way to go – 46 of the S&P 500 CEOs today are women, slowly but surely changing the face of corporate leadership.

Niccol’s new role at Starbucks comes with a base salary of $1.6 million, but his total compensation could exceed $100 million in his first year, thanks to a generous incentive contact. Remarkably, he can run the global coffee giant without leaving his home state. Sign me up! This level of compensation, while eye catching, isn’t unusual. The median pay package for CEOs globally hit $16.3 million in 2023. The highest paid CEO in the S&P 500 is from Broadcom, with total compensation climbing to $161.8 million last year.

If you’ve got your sights set on the corner office, don’t give up on your dreams!

Weekly Specials

Disney got the memo: “Go big or go home.” With its new $60 billion expansion, Disney fans – both adults and kids alike – will soon (within the coming decade) enjoy four new cruise ships, exciting new rides at both the Florida and California locations, and even more surprises to come.

Someone out there’s extreme travel dreams have come true! After a lengthy five-year border closure, North Korea is reopening to tourists. Adventurous foreigners will be able to visit the mountainous northern city of Samjiyon starting this winter. However, the U.S. still bans its citizens from traveling to the hermit kingdom.

Waymo’s autonomous cars were recently updated to honk their horns whenever another vehicle reversed too close to them. Unexpectedly, this led to a number of cars getting a little confused and honking at each other constantly while trying to park, frustrating residents as the noise keeps them up through the night.

Back in my day, we got in trouble for whispering to the person next to us or doodling in the margins of our paper. Now, the troublemakers are kids of all ages playing Flappy Bird or texting their crushes all day on their cell phones. The governor of California has had enough and proposed banning cell phones from schools before the new school year begins.

Corporate Lunch

DirecTV is promoting its new TV bundle, which finally embraces cable box technology. No more satellite dishes.

Home Depot took a hedge trimmer to its full-year sales outlook as U.S. consumers are expected to pare back spending.

Google unveiled some cutting-edge smartphones, watches, and earbuds that are leveraging AI. All I ask is that my phone beeps when it falls between the couch cushions.

Mars is acquiring Kellanova for $36 billion. Kellanova’s brands include some heavy hitters of snack time, such as Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its, Pringles, and Rice Krispies Treats.

Eli Lilly is bringing the hammer down on telehealth companies and wellness centers that are recommending “compounded” (knockoff) versions of its weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Pumpkin spice is taking over IHOP and Krispy Kreme almost a month before autumn. At this rate, eggnog-flavored drinks will start popping up in September.

Apple is apparently working on a new tabletop home robot. It will have an iPad-like display with a robotic arm. Now, you will be able to finally dab up Siri.

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Indices are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

Past performance is not indicative of future results.