Hey Snackers,
The tiny-purse trend is getting extreme: MSCHF dropped a luxury handbag that’s smaller than a grain of sea salt. Despite being neon green, it won’t clash with any outfit… because you need a magnifying glass to see it.
Stocks were mixed yesterday after the Fed agreed to pause rate hikes this month (as expected) but said that July might be a different story. Chair Jay Powell's comment that cuts were "a couple of years" away likely soured some investors.
NASA and Boeing’s jet gets “X-plane” status as airlines feel pressure to go green
We’re soarin’, flyin’... The next gen of single-aisle planes could have super-long and -skinny wings to cut fuel consumption by 30%. That’s the design of the new jet being built by NASA and Boeing, which the US Air Force welcomed to the legendary ranks of “X-planes” this week. X-planes = basically the concept cars of the sky.
X-perimental: They feature ambitious, often wacky designs (picture: an uncrewed stealth fighting aircraft). The US gov’t has been funding companies’ X-plane projects since the 1940s. NASA and Boeing’s jet is the first to focus on the climate.
In-fly-ential: Though most X-planes don’t get commercially produced, elements of Boeing’s X-plane’s CO2-slashing design could be integrated into airliners in the 2030s.
Feeling the “flygskam”… That’s “flight shame” in Swedish. The pressure to go green is rising (with callouts from activists like Greta Thunberg). Planes account for about 4% of all US greenhouse-gas emissions, and the Biden admin says it wants to bring that down to net-zero by 2050. Airlines are making some efforts:
Fuel’s gold: Big carriers like United, American, and JetBlue buy renewable jet fuel. Delta plans to replace a tenth of its fuel with sustainable substitutes by 2030. Airlines also buy carbon credits to offset their emissions.
Discredits: Delta was sued last month for calling itself the “the world’s first carbon-neutral airline” (plaintiffs said its offsets are “junk”). United’s CEO has called offsets “greenwashing.”
Moonshot solutions may be necessary… for goals of astronomical proportions. United is backing a project to build electric air taxis and Airbus plans to fly a hydro-powered triangular plane by 2035. Meanwhile, X-planes have made some of the aviation industry’s biggest dreams a reality ever since the first X-plane broke the sound barrier in ’47. NASA expects its X-plane to “skip a generation” of design, speeding the US toward its ambitious climate goals.
Robot pizza startup closes shop as the “Shark Tank” economy dries up
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie… that’s a startup? After eight years in business, robot pizza startup Zume has pepped its last ’roni and is liquidating assets. A one-time Silicon Valley darling, Zume sought to automate pizza making by having robots quickly assemble pies that were cooked in mobile kitchens en route to customers. The problem: the cheese kept sliding off the pies in transit.
All crust: Pizza tech issues led the company to park its vehicles, and then ultimately shutter its pizza biz. It pivoted to selling compostable food packaging, and then decided to shut down altogether.
Pie in the sky: Zume has become something of a mascot for the exuberant era of venture-capital investing that peaked in 2021. Despite its niche concept, Zume raised nearly half a billion dollars from investors like Softbank and once had a $2.3B valuation.
It’s a startup extinction event… Zume isn’t the only company shutting the ovens down. At least 72 startups have failed so far this year, including fintech Plastiq (which had raised $142M), biotech firm Goldfinch (which had raised $100M+ in 2020), and wine-tech upstart Underground Cellar, which was corked in April. Others are struggling to raise cash: US VC funding in the first quarter was just $37B, down from $95B in the fourth quarter of ’21.
Venturers don’t love rough country… Startups are risky, even during boom times. Now: inflation, high rates, and recession jitters have led VCs to be more scrupulous about where they put their $$. The spigot hasn’t fully turned off. It’s just become more focused — particularly on AI. Nearly a quarter of this year’s new unicorns are AI companies.
What else we’re Snackin’
Class: Starting in October, 43M+ Americans will have to make student-loan payments for the first time since 2020. The White House expects the Supreme Court’s final decision on its loan-forgiveness plan this month.
PopUp: The EU charged Google with using its online ad dominance to undercut competition. Google may be forced to break up its multibillion-dollar ad biz as European regulators crank the heat on Big Tech.
RX: Eli Lilly said that Medicare's plan to negotiate for cheaper drug prices could make it harder to fund new research. Last week rival Merck sued the Biden admin over what it said are “sham” negotiations that could slam profits.
Galaxy: Disney's pushing the release of its coming Avatar, Marvel, and “Star Wars” films far, far away. Numerous studios and streamers have started delaying releases as the writers' strike drags on.
Sale: Nordstrom is closing up its last shops in Canada. The chain expects total sales to fall this year as spending on new outfits sags, though its discount Rack biz did OK last quarter.
Thursday
Jobless claims
US Open Golf Championship begins
Earnings expected from Adobe and Kroger
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Google, Delta, and Disney