🎬 Hollywood strikes back

Rolling up the red carpet… Hollywood’s picket lines could grow longer as more showbiz workers fight for better contracts. In May, the Writers’ Guild of America (repping 11K+ scribes) went on strike to demand higher pay and stronger job protections. Then last week, the unrest intensified with actors in the spotlight: the SAG-AFTRA union, covering 160K entertainers, also failed to get better terms from studios, and extended its contract deadline.

• Oscar status: 1K+ actors (including A-listers like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence) said they’re prepared to strike if a SAG deal isn’t reached by Thursday. It would be Hollywood’s first two-union strike in more than six decades.

• Losing gold: The writers’ strike is said to be costing California $30M/day. If it runs over 100 days, about $81B in direct wages from 800K film and TV jobs could be at risk.

Tiny rooms, big problems… Much of the Hollywood unrest is a result of streaming’s rise, as studios like Netflix and Disney hustle to crank out new content to keep subscribers happy. While OG writers’ rooms (think: “Friends,” “30 Rock”) typically employed 7 to 10 staff writers for several months, “mini rooms” are becoming the norm. The problem: mini rooms hire fewer writers and offer lower pay — and contracts often last only a few weeks. Piling on to streaming woes, AI’s causing unrest as writers and actors worry over how chatbots and deep fakes might replace them (see: “Black Mirror”).

Hip surgery back on the iCal… Health insurers padded their profits during the pandemic as folks hunkered down at home and avoided germy waiting rooms. As Americans postponed non-urgent surgeries, insurance giants got to keep their monthly premiums without having to cover as many doc bills. But last month, UnitedHealth said its costs are rising as older adults finally return for pricey procedures. The US’s biggest healthcare provider posted a strong $5.6B profit in May, but its streak could be losing steam as older people rack up higher insurance bills.

Zero-conversation Ubers… This week, California regulators are expected to approve permits for Waymo and Cruise to run their driverless ride-hail services 24/7 anywhere in San Francisco. Currently, the city has restrictions for when and where driverless rides can happen. Waymo and Cruise both have standalone apps, and Uber plans to start offering Waymo rides later this year. Hilly SF has been a “hey look, it works” city for autonomous-vehicle makers, but officials say the cars create traffic, block fire trucks, and even whiz through crime scenes.

“Good news” = “bad news”?… After ADP’s piping-hot jobs report came in at double expectations (nearly 500K private-sector jobs added), the Dow and the S&P 500 had their worst day since May. A sizzlin’ labor market means the Fed may keep rates higher for longer to cool inflation, and traders upped their bets of a July hike. But then Friday’s official jobs report showed strong but cooling hiring (209K jobs added vs. 240K expected), and the market briefly ticked up. Now investors are waiting on Wednesday’s June consumer inflation data, crossing their fingers for some #goodnews.

Priming the court suit… The FTC could crash Amazon's birthday (Prime Day’s tomorrow) as it gears up to file a sweeping antitrust suit within weeks. It’d be the fourth and largest suit FTC Chair Lina Khan has led against the e-tailer. The core allegation: Amazon boosts sellers who use its “optional” services, like shipping and advertising, over those who don’t. So its algo may put preferred sellers in the one-click “Buy Box” section. Khan could seek a total restructure of the platform. Amazon would almost certainly appeal.

• Threats: Meta launched Threads, a text-focused social network, in 100+ countries — and within two days it was downloaded 70M times. Some are already calling Threads a “Twitter killer” given Meta’s massive reach.

• BAYC: Some Bored Ape NFTs (including Justin Bieber’s) have plunged in value as blue-chip NFT prices slide. Apes biz Yuga Labs has struggled to stay buzzy as its hyped virtual word remains under construction.

• Uturn: New US car sales surged by as much as 14% in the first half of this year. Cox Automotive predicts that car buying will cool in the second half, but still upped its sales estimate to 15M.

• Tampa: Retirees are investing more like young adults: instead of shifting more to bonds, nearly half of Vanguard's active 401(k) investors over age 55 held more than 70% stocks — up from just 38% in 2011.

• TokShop: TikTok is coming for Amazon's ecomm crown: its shopping feature is gaining popularity in Southeast Asia and is projected to hit $20B in gross merchandise value this year (up 4X from last).

• IOU: After SCOTUS struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, retailers are bracing for a hit to discretionary spend. After three years of a pause on payments, loan collections are set to restart.

• Monday: Earnings expected from WD-40

• Tuesday: Earnings expected from América Móvil

• Wednesday: June inflation report release. Earnings expected from MillerKnoll

• Thursday: Earnings expected from Cintas, Conagra, Delta, Pepsi, and Progressive

• Friday: Earnings expected from BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, UnitedHealth, and Wells Fargo

Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Delta, Disney, and Uber