COD-Maker Earnings, Not âSquareâ Stock, and Beauty NFTs
Letâs Get it StartedâŚ
Our fourth edition of âExtraGainzâ was published on Saturday morning. I hope you enjoyed the deep dive on Moderna AKA the âTesla of Biotechâ! ICYMI click here. Now itâs back to the news in a quick and digestible manner.
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1.) E-Z Money â The BIG Story
This week itâs all about video games. Take-Two Interactive, the maker of âNBA2Kâ, and Activision Blizzard, the maker of âCall of Dutyâ both report earnings. According to a report, nearly 2/3rds of Americans, or 227 million people, played video games during the pandemic. $TTWO added nearly 75% to its stock price in that 13 month period. The company is expected to report strong earnings on Monday. Activision Blizzard is also expected to perform well with strong sales from âWorld of Warcraftâ and the aforementioned âCall of Dutyâ franchise. But a lawsuit from the state of California and accusations of âfrat broâ culture could hurt $ATVI in the long term.
2.) âTo the Moonâ â Retail Investing
Twitter CEO Jack Dorseyâs other company, Square (yes, heâs the CEO of both), is flying on HypeEquity after the company announced its purchase of Australiaâs Afterpay for $29 billion dollars. Afterpay allows customers to pay in four interest-free installments and pay a fee if they miss an automated payment. âPay-laterâ companies continue to gain tremendous interest after Affirm, best known as Pelotonâs payment platform, went public in January. PayPal, Klarna, MasterCard, Fiserv, American Express and even Apple are all planning to launch investment lending platforms in the near future, among many other companies.
3.) âThe Cypherâ â Crypto Investing
Bitcoin rallied above $42K on Saturday but reversed course on Sunday falling below $40K. The worldâs largest cryptocurrency has surged since falling below $30K on July 20th. Bitcoin is currently up 14% over the past week and 38% this month, even though itâs off about 40% from its all-time high of 65K in April. Speaking of Square, its CashApp second quarter Bitcoin revenue rose 200%. Meaning thereâs more mainstream adoption than ever before.
4.) âStraight Cashâ â Sports Betting
Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is reportedly opting out of his $39 million dollar player option for next season, according to ESPNâs Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj seems to believe that Leonard will negotiate a new deal to remain with the Clippers but with weirdo Kawhi, who knows? Either way, NBA futures odds were changed dramatically this week when Russell Westbrook was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Right now the Brooklyn Nets and the LA Lakers are ahead of the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks for the 2022 NBA Champion odds.
5.) âThe Alternativesâ â NFTs, ESGs, & More!
Major beauty brands are also jumping into the NFT craze. Nars, Givenchy Beauty and E. I. f. are among the recent brands to launch NFTs. Nars is celebrating its hero âOrgasmâ blush with a collection of three NFT artworks by female artists on the platform Truesy. Most of these efforts are to drive buzz by tapping into NFT and crypto influencers while also partnering with TikTok creative studios (the Gen Z trifecta!). Nars also used the Tezos blockchain which reportedly uses 2 million times less energy to mint NFTs, compared to Ethereum.
BONUS: Fun Sh*t!!
Talk about an incredible comeback! Dutch Olympic runner Sifan Hassan fell during the first round of the womenâs 1500 meter but did the impossible and got back to her feet and won(!!) the heat. Now thatâs relentless effort! Have a great week.
Meme Roundup
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