- __[Antitrusted](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/4XhXFxZ9Jc6bcL9aMggLSr/articles/5DhQrRVBBPnLyHqLLoYa2c/):__ __BMW__ and __Volkswagen__ were fined $1B for colluding to *avoid* building greener car tech. 
- __[Blocked](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/3X5QOUOPZP7r08Bn09G0wM/articles/1bh7VsNPhZAUrYlZdft4vv/):__ __Didi__'s mega IPO party gets cut short, as China blocks app downloads and signups for the ride-hail giant. 
- __[Fitted](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/3X5QOUOPZP7r08Bn09G0wM/articles/2r41d7ctRv7gEv407QapzX/):__ __Torrid__'s hot IPO: how the plus-size retailer is tapping into a major, underserved market. 


ICYMI

Last week's highlights...

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Personal Finance

__Comet me, bro...__ The Space Battle of the Billionaires has moved from the [Twitter](https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1413521627116032001) sphere to the thermosphere. Yesterday, __[Virgin Galactic](https://robinhood.com/stocks/SPCE)__ founder Richard Branson [boarded](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/11/richard-branson-reaches-space-on-virgin-galactic-flight.html) Virgin's VSS Unity, traveling faster than three times the speed of sound to reach the edge of space. Branson just became the first billionaire founder of a space company to go to space on his own spacecraft (meta). Next up is Jeff Bezos, who announced his own trip *before* Branson decided to out-space him. The former Amazon CEO plans to take off on a __Blue Origin__ spaceplane on July 20, along with his brother and a mystery bidder who's dropping [$28M](https://www.npr.org/2021/06/12/1005908618/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-auction-winner-28-million) to join them  — or $2.5M per minute of ride time. 

__Spaghetti Apollo-gnese...__ Apart from fueling billionaires' egos, these trips are major endorsements for NASA-sponsored space tourism (think: restaurant bookings on the ISS). NASA is leaning on private companies to help commercialize space. In May last year, Elon's __SpaceX__ became the first private company to send humans to space. In May, Virgin completed its first human spaceflight, a critical step before it flies space tourists — ETA: early 2022. While $250K tickets to space make headlines, tourism is still a tiny sliver of the space industry.

- __Satellites:__ One of the largest space industry subsectors, providing everything from WiFi, to telecom, to GPS and weather sensing. SpaceX's Starlink project has already [launched](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/09/spacexs-starlink-accepting-99-preorders-as-musk-considers-ipo.html) 1K+ high-speed internet satellites into low earth orbit — and is accepting $99 preorders. 
- __Defense:__ The real-life Space Force. For fiscal year 2022, the Pentagon requested $21B to invest in outer space security. Defense giants  __[Lockheed Martin](https://robinhood.com/stocks/LMT)__ and __[Boeing](https://robinhood.com/stocks/BA)__ both have space divisions. 
- __NASA missions:__ Boeing is [developing](https://www.ndtahq.com/how-a-public-private-partnership-is-expanding-americas-capabilities/) a spacecraft for NASA flights, and Elon's SpaceX won a $2.9B contract to develop a NASA lunar lander, beating out Bezos' Blue Origin (RIP Prime Moon delivery).

_Spotted, UFB: Unidentified Flying Billionaire [Marc Ward/Stocktrek Images via GettyImages]_

Launch

__This isn't sci-fi...__ The space industry is taking off in a real way. Space startups raised $7B in 2020, double what they raised in 2018. Today "space customers" mainly consist of governments and companies paying to launch satellites, cargo, and astronauts into space. In the not-so-distant future, they could be commercial space tourists. In the more distant future, they could be space colonizers on the Moon and even Mars ([see](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/elon-musk-aiming-for-mars-so-humanity-is-not-a-single-planet-species.html): Elon's Martian vision). 

Inside the Space Race: Branson, Bezos, and the future of the space industry 

__Waiting for the drink trolley like...__ __[Delta](https://robinhood.com/stocks/DAL)__ is rolling up with earnings for the quarter ended in June. Compared to 2020's tomato juice numbers, 2021 might look like champagne: TSA traveler volumes are back to [85%](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/delta-air-lines-dal-expected-190007635.html) of pre-pandemic levels, and Delta's expected to report a sales increase from last year (no shocker there). Domestic recreational travel is rebounding — Fourth of July flyers even *surpassed* 2019 levels. But international and business travel, which brings in [75%](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/5gmxJQUqpvzHWE4CeHvylQ/articles/48Z9me8i4MIZs8HeJ2o573/) of airline profits, remains grounded. Bill Gates said that half of biz travel may *never* return. 

__Get DJ D-Sol in here...__ Goldman Sachs' DJ-ing CEO David Solomon (aka: the banker who [drops](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamptons-chainsmokers-party-dj-david-solomon-goldman-sachs-investigation/) bangers) is dropping earnings instead. It's Big Banks earnings week, with __[Chase](https://robinhood.com/stocks/CCF),__ __[Citi](https://robinhood.com/stocks/C)__, __[Goldman](https://robinhood.com/stocks/GS)__, and others unveiling their numbers. In April, Chase and Goldman [revealed](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/2BaDoIcdXsja53tyH93ccQ/articles/5K9cPXQOlSNtntgG0U2X40/) record quarterly profits thanks to the IPO-palooza. Corporate and investment banking made up nearly half of Chase's revenue that quarter, and most of Goldman's. Despite a record first half for M&A activity, analysts [expect](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-09/banks-in-u-s-poised-for-weaker-results-after-pandemic-windfall?sref=q3KSFp38) that trading and loan revenue has slowed from last year. 

Events

Coming up this week...

__Big week for stablecoins...__  Stablecoin = a type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to an asset like the dollar or gold. USD Coin, one of Earth's largest dollar-pegged stablecoins, made headlines last week.  __[Visa](https://robinhood.com/stocks/V)__ [said](https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/cryptocurreny-payments-visa-partnership-clients-spend-convert-digital-currencies-2021-7) it'll allow cardholders to pay with USD Coin at 70M merchants worldwide. Merchants will get paid in fiat (aka: regular) currency. Meanwhile, __Circle__ — the firm that operates USD Coin — is [going public](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/circle-usdc-stablecoin-public-spac-valuation-cryptocurrency-concord-stock-price-2021-7) via SPAC at a  $4.5B valuation. While crypto mainstream-ification is advancing, regulator [scrutiny](https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-draws-more-scrutiny-from-regulators-worried-about-fraud-11625576400?mod=politics_lead_pos3) of the crypto market is also heating up. 

__Feeling the pushback...__ Big business in the US. On Friday, President Biden [signed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-target-railroads-ocean-shipping-in-executive-order-11625736601?mod=business_lead_pos3) an exec order to curb the dominance of companies in industries including shipping, agriculture, healthcare, and tech. The goal: promote competitive markets and limit corporate dominance in everything from railroads to prescription drugs. It's part of a broader effort to confront consolidation and perceived anti-competitive pricing in big industries — and it has big companies on edge.


Last week's highlights...

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