If you’re like me and already starting to feel nostalgic about the summer that isn’t even done yet, here’s a cure: make a list.

Make a list of all the things that you want to do for the rest of the summer, schedule them, do them, and take pictures.

Don’t let the days slip by. But also remember the best days are ahead of us.

Wow. Am I crying? Maybe.

Anyway, here’s what happened last week.

Markets

Source: CoinGecko.com As of 5:38PM August 18, 2024

World news

Top news stories of the past week

1) Stocks recovered…a lot: Wall Street coasted to the close of its best week since November. U.S. stocks closed higher for the seventh day in a row. We’re almost back to all-time highs! Wild.

2) Starbucks’ new CEO made you pay extra for guac: The upcoming CEO at Starbucks used to be the CEO of Chipotle. They convinced him to join the coffee behemoth after waving a pay package worth potentially $100 million in his first year and not forcing him to relocate from his home in California to Seattle, where Starbucks is based. Wtf happened to return to office??

3) Youngest ever PM elected in Thailand: Paetongtarn Shinawatra (say that one time fast) was just sworn in as Thailand’s new Prime Minister, at 37 years old. She has politics in her blood, as the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand has had its share of issues lately, including political turmoil. Hopefully, Shinawatra can calm the waters.

Top WEIRD stories of the past week

1) A Chicago school worker was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to stealing more than $1.5M worth of chicken wings. Without ranch sauce? Worthless.

2) Driverless taxis are keeping people up all night, as they get into traffic jams with themselves and honk…at each other. We don’t have to worry about the robots taking over just yet.

3) A 12-foot deep sea fish was found floating dead off the coast of San Francisco. Why is this a big deal? This particular kind of fish has a reputation as a predictor of natural disasters or earthquakes. Greaaaaaat.

Chart

You like charts? Graphs? Ya you do

After peaking massively in 2021, when inflation was going parabolic, global shipping costs have been picking up again.

Investment idea

What are we investing in?

Let’s keep this real easy today, and just copy off the smart kids in class.

Four times a year, the biggest hedge funds in the world have to publish what they’re investing in. Now, we can just copy them.

Here are the top three companies hedge funds are buying right now:

1) Amazon

The American tech company is mostly known for its e-commerce business, where you can buy everything from wet wipes to wedding dresses. It’s the fifth-largest company in the world and made more than $610 billion in revenue over the past 12 months. Their stock is up 33% over the past 12 months.

2) GE Vernova

Otherwise known as General Electric, is an American energy equipment manufacturing and services company. It’s worth about $50 billion and made about $33 billion in revenue over the past 12 months. Their stock is up 40% over the past year.

3) Alphabet

The American tech company, which you know better as Google, is the world’s fourth most valuable company, at $2.76 trillion. They made $328 billion in revenue over the past year and their stock is up about 29% over the same period.

History

On this day…

… in 2004, Google became a public company and was valued at $23 billion at launch.

Music

Banger of the week

Most important thing

Meme? Nah. Art.