Hey Snackers,
The US Supreme Court chewed on a not-usually-litigious subject yesterday: squeaky toys. Jack Daniel’s told SCOTUS that its brand is being harmed by a company manufacturing a dog toy parodying its whiskey bottle with the label “Bad Spaniels.” Tradebark infringement?
The three major US stock indexes each lost 1.6% yesterday after the Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points (as expected). Stocks rose initially, but fell after J. Powell suggested a rate cut isn’t in the cards this year.
Bitcoin's recent rally has investors pitching competing narratives about crypto’s role
Started from the bottom… now we’re here? Crypto winter's frost may be starting to melt: bitcoin's price has climbed more than 65% this year, while ethereum's up over 40%. Over the past month alone, BTC's jumped close to 15%. What’s fueling the rally depends on who you ask.
- Flight to safety: BTC boosters say that recent bank failures actually helped crypto prices. When banking concerns grow, the argument goes, crypto becomes an attractive alt.
- Fed up: Some analysts say a cool-down in Fed rate-hike expectations may’ve boosted appetite for crypto investments.
- Shallow pool: Since FTX’s collapse, the bitcoin market has had reduced liquidity (think: fewer buyers/sellers), which can lead to big price swings.
Not fightin' the Fed… We know rate-hike decisions often affect stocks, but they can also affect crypto. When interest rates are expected to rise, safer assets (think: Treasury bonds) become more attractive against riskier investments (think: stocks, crypto). Stocks soared after the Fed knocked rates to near zero early in the pandemic, and plunged as the central bank quickly raised rates to fight inflation. Meanwhile, bitcoin's price declined seemingly in tandem with the techy Nasdaq — throwing cold water on the narrative that crypto is an inflation hedge (think: “digital gold”). Recently, expectations of a less hawkish Fed coincided with bitcoin's gains.
Clean narratives can hide messy truths… Some investors may see crypto as a safe haven after Silicon Valley Bank's implosion and the global banking panic that followed. But ultimately many factors — including rate expectations and liquidity — likely contribute to crypto prices. Now, with the collapse of three crypto-friendly banks, there's yet another factor to consider: the industry’s decreased banking access.
Panera tests Amazon’s pay-with-your-palm tech to make loyalty (and coffee habits) easier
Panera goes palm reading… not the mystical kind. Yesterday the bread-bowl icon announced a partnership with Amazon’s biometric tech ("Amazon One”), which lets customers pay by scanning their hand. Amazon rolled out its pay-with-your-palm tech in 2020, and has expanded into dozens of Whole Foods, Starbucks’ "pick-up" cafés, and even sports stadiums and concert venues. Now Panera’s testing the tech ahead of a potential IPO this year.
- My palm era: Customers link their MyPanera membership (or sign up if they don’t have one) and connect with an Amazon One account. After scanning their palm…
- Hand it to you: Panera workers can see personal info like names, loyalty-points balance, and fave orders (think: Asiago bagel with extra cream cheese).
- Handful: The check-out tech is being tested at two Panera locations (in its hometown of St. Louis) but is set to expand to 10+ locations soon.
“Pick Two” takeover… Panera wants to make broccoli-cheddar-soup habits more seamless for its loyal customers, because easy habits are easily repeatable habits. Panera has one of the largest loyalty programs in the US (over 52M members) and its loyalty-building habits are paying off:
- Sip’d up: 25% of Panera's transactions come from Sip Club members, who pay $12/month for its unlimited-drinks subscription (imagine: endless coffee and tea).
- Paid out: A third of Sip Club customers end up spending more $$ on extra goodies (think: free lemonade, but you pair it with a $5 bagel).
Rewarding a habit strengthens a habit… By making habits easy and rewarding, chains like Panera and Starbucks can drive more sales. Case in point: over half of Panera’s and Starbucks’ US sales come from loyalty members. With the palm-scan tech, Panera hopes your lunch and coffee habits will get even stickier.
What else we’re Snackin’
- FYP: TikTok sent influencers to Washington to persuade lawmakers not to pass a bill that could ban the app. President Biden threatened a Tik ban if the app doesn’t split from its Chinese parent.
- Back: Virgin Orbit shares surged 50% yesterday on word that it’s closing in on a $200M fundraise. Earlier this week the satellite-launching startup plunged on reports it was flirting with bankruptcy.
- Cut: Amazon’s apparent over-hiring (and subsequent layoff spree) was partly due to a lack of staffing oversight, an internal doc seen by Insider suggests. Some departments opened 3X more jobs than headcount targets.
- Foxy: Firefox maker Mozilla is launching a startup for “trustworthy” AI, which it said has been in the works for years. The head of Mozilla.ai suggested recent rapid-fire AI releases lack proper guardrails.
- Pod: Spotify has reportedly spent less than 10% of the $100M fund it created to promote diversity in music and podcasting after the Joe Rogan controversy. Last month the unprofitable streamer cut staff in a pivot to “efficiency.”
Thursday
- New-home sales
- Earnings expected from Accenture and General Mills
Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares: of Amazon and Starbucks
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