__Get'cha head in the game...__ Looks like Zuck got some inspo from High School Musical. In case __[Facebook](https://robinhood.com/stocks/FB)__ didn't already control enough of our social lives, it just [launched](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/facebook-launching-dedicated-gaming-app-to-take-on-twitch-and-youtube.html) a social gaming app to take on Amazon's Twitch and YouTube Gaming. The creatively-named __Facebook Gaming__ app just launched on the Google Play Store:

- __Play & watch:__ Users will be able to watch friends and famous gamers play in real-time, and send their gaming idols "Stars" (digital tokens that cost/can be redeemed for money) for their virtual escapades.
- __Want to game with friends?:__ Challenge any FB friend to a tournament (anybody can create one — not just the pros).
- __"Go Live":__ This feature lets users livestream games directly from their phones/computers to FB (without needing to install 3rd party software), giving it a leg up on competitors like Twitch.

__Couldn't not do it...__ Gaming is thriving in the lockdown era: entertainment + social + virtual = quarantine success story. That's why FB decided to launch its app months earlier than scheduled (the iOS version isn't even ready to roll yet). But this FOMO-driven gaming push goes way back...

- __Messenger Games:__ In May 2017, FB [intro'd](https://www.digitalspy.com/tech/a788495/hidden-facebook-games-how-to-find-play-facebook-messengers-secret-games-basketball-chess/) casual/innocuous games on Messenger — Words with Friends, Angry Birds, and Tetris with your FB pals right through the app.
- __Gaming Tab:__ In May 2019, FB [added](https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/15/18267254/facebook-app-gaming-tab-mobile) a dedicated gaming tab to its mobile app. It even signed deals with famous gamers to stream exclusively on FB — a direct jab at Twitch and YouTube.
- __Gaming App:__ FB has been [testing](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/facebook-launching-dedicated-gaming-app-to-take-on-twitch-and-youtube.html) it in Southeast Asia and Latin America since Fall 2018. Now it's launching worldwide.


_First-time Facebook gamers_

Play

__Facebook isn't a gaming phenom, but it has numbers on its side...__ In the first 3 months of 2020, FB’s game streaming platform racked up [554M](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/facebook-launching-dedicated-gaming-app-to-take-on-twitch-and-youtube.html) hours of views, compared to 1.1B hours for YouTube and 3.1B hours for Twitch.  But...

- __FB has an active user base of [2.5B](https://fortune.com/2020/04/20/facebook-gaming-twitch-youtube-competitor/) people__ (over half of the 4.5B people on earth with internet access). __[700M](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/facebook-launching-dedicated-gaming-app-to-take-on-twitch-and-youtube.html) of those users__ already interact with FB gaming content. Gaming leader Twitch has [140M](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitch-statistics/) users. 
- __Facebook has an existing network__ on a widely adopted platform — friends don't have to switch between services to interact via messaging, gaming, or streaming.


Facebook launches its FOMO-driven gaming app to take on Twitch and YouTube

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__When opposite day is the new reality...__ There is so ridiculously little demand for oil right now that we could theoretically be getting paid to fill up our own tanks. The world's economic engine was switched off almost overnight — planes aren't flying, people aren't driving, factories aren't operating. That means oil demand has taken a massive nosedive. And things just got (literally) even more [negative](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/business/stock-market-live-trading-coronavirus.html) for oil. 

- __In 2008, oil hit a record high of [$140](https://money.cnn.com/2008/06/27/markets/oil/) a barrel__ — it has hovered not too far from an average of $70 ever since. That is, until the corona-conomy came for its head. 
- __Yesterday__, the price of a barrel plunged from about $17 to less than $1. Oil officially gained 99 Cents Store status. Then... things got worse. 
- __Oil plunged below zero__ and went negative for the [first time](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-19/oil-drops-to-18-year-low-on-global-demand-crunch-storage-woes) ever. The price of the futures contract for West Texas Crude fell to *negative* $38 a barrel. 

__A crude awakening....__ We've got so much unused and unwanted oil around that US energy companies have nowhere to store it. Even with the recent OPEC production [cuts](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/energy-environment/opec-saudiarabia-russia-oil-coronavirus.html), it's still way too much (it'll always be too much if no one wants it). That's why sellers are literally *paying buyers* to take their oil inventories off their hands.

"_How much would you pay me to fill my own tank?_"

Pump

__Eye on the futures (contracts)...__ If the price of oil goes up, airlines will lose since they have to pay more for oil — if the price  goes down, oil companies lose, since their product's worth less. Both airlines and oil companies want to protect themselves from price fluctuations, so they can "hedge" their costs/revenues using [futures contracts](https://learn.robinhood.com/articles/uy95VdC54AqPWCRpT0ksn/what-are-futures/), which *hand off the risk (and potential reward) to investors*.

- __Investors agree to buy or sell__ oil in the future *at a set price*. Buyers hope the price will go up because they would get to buy oil for less than it's worth (vice versa with sellers).
- __Right now, oil contract buyers are scrambling__ to sell before they are forced to pay way more than oil is actually worth. 


Oil drops a shocking 200% in 1 day — and prices goes negative for the 1st time ever 

__Extremely Quiet & Incredibly Vague...__ While casually perusing the US General Services Administration [website](https://beta.sam.gov/opp/3357aead065f4f11966a87233077f099/view#attachments-links) (as we often do for fun), we noticed an interesting update: __[Uber](https://robinhood.com/stocks/UBER)__ just got the greenlight to sell its services to the US government, allowing it to compete for $810M  worth of gov spending over the next 5 years. 

- __Back in November,__  Uncle Sam was looking to find the best vendor for its future "*Governmentwide Rideshare/Ride-hail Passenger Services to meet the on-demand passenger transportation needs of Federal employees while carrying out official duties*." TLDR: Expensed rides for gov-employees.
- __Uber responded__ to this Request for Proposal, outlining how it can be the best gov-employee transporting service thanks to its massive fleet, emailed receipts, safety, etc. Must have been convincing, __since Uber won approval__ to serve as a vendor. 

__Pass the red tape...__  Since these projects are funded by taxpayer money, vendors have to jump through hoops for approval. The gov needs to ensure contracts are awarded fairly, to the most deserving company at the best price. No bribery, corruption, or waste. Uber will have to do more red tape dancing if it wants the full $810M to cruise Nancy or Mitch from marble building to marble building.


_"CIA doesn't want Uber X"_

Ride

__This could be a game changer for Uber...__ This almost uni-contract ("unicorn contract") would be a huge boost to Uber's ride-hail biz, which has been [struggling](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/6jMYrs8xXmNhuDOMY3gXEt/articles/40E1C9qy3jrGwR1iAtJ7A0/) during the corona-crisis on near-zero demand. 

- __Spending on Uber rides has dropped over [80%](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/technology/uber-lift-coronavirus.html) in March__ — Uber just yanked its 2020 forecast and wrote down [$2B](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-16/uber-withdraws-forecast-and-will-write-down-about-2-billion?sref=q3KSFp38) in losses for its investments. 
- __If Uber gets the whole $810M__, that would equal 6% of its total annual revenue. The US government has 2.1M full-time employees, meaning lots of steady long-term business. 



Uber's (very) low-key $810M government contract win could be a game-changer

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🎮 Facebook gets its head in the game(ing) 

Facebook launches its FOMO-driven gaming app to take on Twitch and YouTube

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