đźš• Uber welcomes taxis
![Trying to track down my Uber cab [Daniel Grill/Getty Images]](https://cdn.robinhood.com/static_content/mwphzyq69oso/en-US/assets/files/4F4KIFVuBgsoyjVCVujNaL_2_GettyImages-97765612.jpg)
Hey Snackers,
We’ve seen the revival of early-2000s trends like low-rise jeans, mini purses, and butterfly clips (thanks, Gen Z). Now another Y2K staple is returning — but it’ll be hard for the TikTok generation to get on board: “dumbphones” are back. Bring on the button envy.
The techy Nasdaq index jumped nearly 2% yesterday, while mortgage rates hit a three-year high as the Fed starts bumping interest rates. Meanwhile, President Biden called for Russia to be expelled from the G20 — the forum for the world’s 20 largest economies — and said the US would welcome 100K Ukrainian refugees.
After disrupting the taxi industry, Uber’s listing NYC cabs on its app to fuel growth
Big yellow taxi takes a turn… but Uber’s in the driver’s seat. The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission has agreed to list all its cabs on the Uber app. Uber says taxi riders will see prices up front and pay roughly the same amount for a cab as they would for an UberX. Cabbies will see how much they’d make on a given ride, with the power to accept or deny. Uber says taxi drivers could make more with Uber than from regular street hailing, while Uber and its taxi partners will take a cut of each ride.
“Call a cab”… a phrase never uttered by 20-somethings with smartphones. Uber’s rivalry with taxis could best be compared to Giants vs. Yankees (#tense). Starting from when Uber was UberCab, the disruptive startup clashed with taxi unions and regulators.
- 2010: California transit organizations ordered Uber to cease and desist, and San Francisco threatened Uber execs with 90 days of jail time for every ride offered.
- 2014: The Verge published leaked documents revealing Uber’s cutthroat tactics for poaching Lyft drivers.
- 2018: A wave of suicides among cabbies called attention to record-high medallion prices and the challenges of competing against the modern convenience of ride-hail apps.
- 2021: By last year, the pandemic and ride-hailing apps had pushed two-thirds of NYC yellow cabs off the streets.
If you can’t beat ’em, leverage them… The ride-hailing app that once vowed to disrupt cab commerce now thinks food-delivery services, public-transit partnerships, and traditional taxis will fuel its next growth phase. Plus, Uber is likely getting a great deal: it’s absorbing a massive fleet of drivers in one of its most lucrative markets during a dire driver shortage. For the taxi drivers, the road ahead is less clear.
Wall Street’s most powerful investor says globalization as we know it is ending — and blue-collar workers could benefit
End of an era… According to Wall Street’s $10T man, Larry Fink, three decades of globalization is ending. Refresher: globalization is the movement of products, tech, and jobs across borders through free trade. Yesterday the BlackRock boss told investors he believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will halt globalization and cause countries to “decouple” from the global economy.
- Fink’s words echoed across the business world because BlackRock manages $10T in assets (think: pension funds and retirement accounts). That’s more than the GDP of every country except the US and China.
The big breakup… Many countries cut financial ties with Russia after its invasion: the US halted Russian oil imports, and major corporations stopped doing biz there. Meanwhile, the EU is scrambling to phase out Russian energy by 2027. But Fink says Russia’s aggression will also push countries to reduce dependence on each other and boost domestic production.
- The cons: Fink expects that companies will bring supply chains closer to home, which could drive up prices as businesses rebuild operations and hire domestic workers. “Onshoring” is already happening in the US’s EV industry and in the chip biz.
- The pros: Blue-collar workers in the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Southeast Asia could benefit from more local manufacturing jobs. Green-energy adoption could accelerate as countries invest in renewables to limit reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Globalization is a mixed bag… and deglobalization could have pros and cons too. In the past three decades, globalization helped US companies by driving down production costs and boosting profits. It also benefited American consumers by lowering prices (think: $100 4K flat screens from China). But globalization hurt blue-collar Americans by outsourcing their jobs to cheaper labor markets. Now deglobalization could reverse those effects by shifting production stateside (think: TVs made in the US by American workers — but they cost $600).
What else we’re Snackin’
- Block: Google says Moscow is restricting access to Google News in Russia as part of a broader effort to censor Western internet companies. Russian journalists face 15 years in prison for posting “fake” info.
- Garlic: No light at the end of the breadstick for Olive Garden’s parent company. Darden disappointed on earnings and lowered its yearly outlook, expecting that food and labor costs will keep soaring.
- Hungry: Instacart says it’ll build micro-fulfilment warehouses in partnership with grocery stores like Aldi and Publix as it looks to out-deliver competition from Amazon and newer apps like Gopuff.
- Deny: Toshiba stakeholders are fighting again, this time because shareholders rejected a plan from execs to split the Japanese conglomerate into two parts: one focused on electronics and one on energy.
- Hacky: There’s something ominous in mum’s basement: researchers investigating recent cyberattacks on Microsoft, Nvidia, and Okta arrested seven British teens believed to be connected with the hacker group Lapsus$.
Friday
- Earnings expected from: China Petroleum
Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Uber, Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon
ID: 2095977