Slack's ticker symbol says it all

Seven years from now, office email will be dead... That's the bold prediction from Slack CEO/founder Stewart Butterfield. His messaging platform for office ~~distraction~~ productivity states its purpose elegantly in its "S-1", the required paperwork for a company to go public: Slack “replaces the use of email inside the organization." And the stock popped 49% Thursday, its first day as a public company.

#fun-facts

• Slack was an accident: Butterfield created an online game called Glitch — He realized the messaging feature in the game had potential, so he focused on what ultimately became Slack.
• It's an acronym: Stands for "Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge."

#interesting-numbers

• Slack boasts 10M daily users and 95K paying accounts.
• Its biggest customers pay $100K+ annually, and Slack's got 93% more of those whales than last year (645 as of April).
• Revenues almost doubled last year to $400M, but the biz generated a loss of $140M.

One big question... Why the "Direct Listing?" Slack didn't IPO to become public as most companies would. Following the path Spotify carved out last year, Slack listed shares directly. That's cheaper (you don't pay banks fees to take you public) because you don't raise new money. It's a rare move that Spotify or Slack can pull off since they don't need new cash, and their brands are strong enough that they don't need a pre-IPO roadshow to get to know investors.

So we’re cutting rates now?... Wednesday, America's central bank set the stage to reduce interest rates nationwide later this summer. It’s a sign those wise government bankers are concerned the trade war could hurt the economy, so they’re saying “we got your back” — Lower rates would support borrowing, potentially offsetting trade war pain. The Fed hasn’t cut interest rates yet, but markets are acting like they have...

• Mortgage rates: A 30-year house loan had a 5% average interest rate in November. Now it’s down to 3.86%, close to record low levels.
• 10-Year US government bonds: The interest the government pays for 10-year loans dropped below 2% yesterday for the first time since 2016.

We're talking supremely unsexy industries... Electric utilities, packaged goods, wireless — lower rates could change that. NextEra Energy, Procter & Gamble, and Verizon don't have the cachet of self-driving meal kits startups these days. But they all boast profitable track records and hook up shareholders with cash dividends every quarter. Most fast-growing companies don't pay dividends at all.

Less chill... Netflix whipped up a new comedy over the weekend featuring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston — Murder Mystery was Netflix's biggest opening weekend original movie yet. Critics didn't love the story, but we loved the numbers Netflix revealed (it rarely shares info like this). Here are the personal records Netflix set:

• 30,869,863 viewers in 3 days.
• That was 10% of all Netflix views.
• Over half were from outside the US (FYI - getting through 70% of the movie counts as a "watch").

Pressure is on... Netflix is showing off its latest win because everyone's jumping on the streaming couch. Amazon, Hulu, Comcast, and AT&T’s HBO — They're all pushing streaming options as you cut the cord. And Disney's pulling its own magical content from Netflix as it launches its own Disney+ in November.

• Aground: Carnival Cruises cuts its profit expectations for the year because travel to Cuba was suddenly banned
• Bigger: Canopy Growth was already the largest publicly traded pot company — Now it has shareholder approval to buy a US cannabis producer (but it's not official until the US legalizes marijuana)
• Team: Adidas bought Reebok in 2005 — Now Shaq wants to acquire the brand he thinks hasn't been treated right
• Over: Google is putting an end to making its own tablets (Pixel Slate is the end of the line)
• Fire: Oil prices popped 5% after Iran shot down a US drone and Middle East tensions rise

• Earnings from CarMax