Hey Snackers,
“Waiter, there’s an ant in my sorbet!” may sound like the start of a tired joke, but it’s actually the basis of a very serious and real criminal case in South Korea, where authorities arrested a top chef with two Michelin stars in connection with serving up ant-sprinkled desserts.Â
Despite customers' awareness of the insects in their orders, prosecutors are reportedly seeking a one-year sentence for the chef and a 20 million won (~$14,000) fine for the Seoul restaurant, owing to the fact that ants aren’t one of the 10 insects approved for human consumption in South Korea.
The S&P 500 gained slightly and the Nasdaq 100 fell slightly on Monday as the benefit of lower crude oil prices was offset by chip stocks lighting up red on the back of The Information reporting that China has begun domestic manufacturing of ​deep ultraviolet lithography machines, which could let it challenge ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines in the coming years.Â
Meta just launched a standalone app for Facebook Marketplace sellers as the platform continues to grow
Whether you’re looking to furnish your new apartment with vintage furniture, hunting for an instrument to help finally realize your longstanding musical ambitions, or simply trying to offload the clothes that your kids (or you) have long grown out of, Facebook Marketplace has become one of the go-to platforms for buying and selling pre-loved goods.Â
Now, Meta is making it even easier for the site’s sellers to make listings and manage their offers, announcing the “Seller” app at the end of last week. The new app comes with a dedicated suite of tools such as a built-in inbox, new AI listing capabilities, and listing performance analytics.
Given Marketplace’s growth in recent years — it has ballooned to 430 million monthly listings and now counts 1.1 billion active users — it’s little wonder that Meta is looking to expand on one of the true business bright spots across its sprawling online empire.Â
Per Google Trends data, search interest in Facebook Marketplace has soared far ahead of that for its Messenger platform in the US; it even overtook searches to login to the site overall in early 2023, as more Americans look to Marketplace to buy and sell online.Â
The Takeaway
Even though Marketplace has shone as a jewel in Meta’s internet crown for a while now (traffic was up 15% year-over-year in 2024, compared to a 3.6% decline across the broaderÂ
Facebook.com domain), the carved-out app feels like a notable step up for the platform, expanding its position as an ecommerce behemoth and building on a partnership it announced with legacy industry titan eBay last year.Â
— Tom Jones
Snacks Shots
đź“ş Big Brother: Markets are currently pricing contestant Dee Valladares as the favorite to win “Big Brother” season 28 at an 18% chance of victory.* Other strong contenders include Barrett Pfeiffer (11%), Rick Devens (14%) and Kamu Kirk (10%).Â
🎬 Paramount: The news last week that Paramount agreed to delay its merger with Warner Bros. for “months” has upended markets that had for months been bullish on Paramount’s chances at completing the merger; the probability that nobody buys Warner jumped from 15% to 29% over the weekend.Â
*Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.
Big number:
That’s how many times a single X post linking to a full-length pirated version of “The Odyssey” was reportedly viewed before it was taken down over the weekend.
Although the movie didn’t seem to take too much of a hit from the online leak (it grossed $87 million in North America over the weekend, the best second weekend of director Christopher Nolan’s filmography), Universal said it had “immediately initiated takedown protocols,” and most versions on X have since been removed.Â
What else we’re Snackin’
Memory chipmaker CXMT, whose chips have reportedly been tested by Apple, exploded onto the public market on Monday, soaring over 400% to temporarily become China’s most valuable company.
British pubs poured an extra 30 million pints over the 39-day World Cup period, equating to a sales boost of ~$200 million, according to British Beer & Pubs Association figures.Â
Come fly with me: United reportedly proposed a merger with Delta last year, though the talks between the US’ two most valuable airlines didn’t advance, per WSJ reporting.Â
Snack Fact of the Day
AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini were the first port of call for 8% of US adults looking for health information or advice in the last three months, a new YouGov survey reveals.