Hey Snackers,
America’s favorite city is Nashville, bachelorette party capital of the US. We’ve charted the rankings of the 50 most populous US cities with a breakdown of how opinions diverge between city dwellers vs. people who live in suburban or rural areas. While Nashville was the unanimous favorite for both demographics, a Texas town is non-city dwellers’ next favorite city. Meanwhile, good news Washington, DC! When ranked among states, you’re the least favorite, but when compared to cities, there are eight cities that Americans like even less than the capital.
A trade deal with Japan and reports that a similar agreement with the EU was near the finish line propelled the S&P 500 to fresh all-time and closing highs on Wednesday. The benchmark US stock index closed up 0.8%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 1.5%.
After the bell, tech giant Alphabet reported stellar earnings and that it would boost capex for the year to $85 billion, while Tesla reported a 12% year-over-year sales dip… but at least the low-cost Tesla is still “on track”!
Meet the DORK stocks — the latest obsessions of Reddit’s retail trader army
What do doughnut peddler Krispy Kreme, home buyer Opendoor Technologies, mortgage platform Rocket, and department store Kohl’s have in common? Not much, except each is a new target of a reinvigorated set of retail traders. While far from a comprehensive list, it’s if anything a sign:
In the last 72 hours, the following stocks have seen their trading volumes, mentions on Reddit’s infamous r/WallStreetBets, and stock prices soar: DNUT, OPEN, RKT, KSS.Â
In the last two days, an average of 1.76 million call options have changed hands in OPEN. That’s up 12x from the average of the previous 20 sessions. In RKT, call volumes are up 6x, and they’re up 10x in KSS. In DNUT, call volumes went from close to zero to over 100,000, rising a whopping 33x.
Opendoor traded a bonkers 298% of its market cap on Monday (some $7 billion, more than Meta). One bullish note from hedge fund manager Eric Jackson was enough to spark an options buying frenzy in the beleaguered tech company. As call volumes cracked 2 million on Monday, the resulting gamma squeeze sent the stock soaring.
Now, let’s be realistic: any grouping of meme stocks is a, shall we say, fluid coalition. If anything, DORK may very well be dissolving just as quickly as it formed, as several of the stocks finished yesterday down. But it does show that the most interesting thing about this era of meme stocks and coins is, namely, the speed of it all.
The Takeaway
Since the GameStop era of 2021 — when an army of traders took on hedge fund titans, choosing an ailing video game retailer as their battleground — market participants have tried hard to predict the next meme stock. Most candidates for retail love do share a few common characteristics: often the company has been struggling, heavily shorted by Wall Street, and sometimes comes with a hint of nostalgia about its product or service. But while those features remain, what seems to be changing about the meme stock landscape is the speed at which these moments coalesce and, for what it’s worth, dissipate.
America’s Building the Data Economy. Everyday Investors Can Own a Part of It.
The U.S. is pouring $500B into AI infrastructure, with data centers and power grids to power the new age of tech.
It’s open season for tech giants. But Mode Mobile opens the door for you.
They are contributing to a user-powered data economy that shares the upside, and +50M users have already generated +$325M in earnings.Â
The EarnPhone behind their income-generating model is now sold in Walmart, Best Buy and Target, and their momentum earned them the #1 spot on Deloitte’s 2023 list of fastest growing software companies.1
In the AI age, data is the new oil — and its real value is unlocked only when refined.
Mode Mobile is transforming raw data into earnings, and the opportunity to become a shareholder at the current price is days away from closing.
🚨Last call to become a shareholder at $0.30/share – round 97% full.2
Have corporate bitcoin treasuries reached a tipping point?
One of the most salient crypto phenomena of 2025 is the mind-blowing rise in corporate bitcoin treasuries. Once considered fringe, undergoing a bitcoin pivot has become almost mainstream, whether companies have any affiliation with crypto or not. Coffee chains, gold miners, and a Norwegian deep-sea mining company are some of the seemingly random businesses jumping on the treasury bandwagon.
As of writing, there are 148 public companies with corporate bitcoin treasuries, collectively holding 859,870 bitcoin, worth more than $100 billion. A year ago, public companies held just over 416,000 bitcoin. The biggest and most famous of these is Strategy, which pioneered the idea and, with 607,770 bitcoin, holds the lion’s share of that digital pile. But the more interesting moves come from the companies just below it in our ranking, which includes new entrants like Twenty One and the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, both of which didn’t exist last year and are hoping to leapfrog to the second-place spot.
But just because you can pivot to bitcoin doesn’t mean you should. Case in point: a few of the new entrants who hoped it would help their stock pop include Semler Scientific, a medical technology company; Solarbank, a solar power company; and ECD Automotive Design, a company that restores luxury vehicles. Our charts show pretty plainly how that’s going for each of them.Â
The Takeaway
Not everyone can be Strategy, and there’s no surefire formula that says a quick rebranding or merger + adding bitcoin = success. The companies with the best chance of success go all in and have conviction, transparency, and access to capital markets. If they don’t? As one CEO told us, “There could be blood in the streets for people who lack long-term focus.”
The Best Thing We Read Today
Exclusive: Archer Aviation CEO says defense could become his company’s main business
Air taxis are having quite a year, from big cash raises to executive orders. The promise: to one day soon shuttle passengers short distances (like to the airport), shaving hours off of travel time, for a fraction of what a helicopter trip costs. Sherwood News sat down with the CEO of one of the industry’s major players, who described his “20-year view” of “highways in the sky,” just how huge the company’s foray into the defense side could become, and how soon.
Off The Charts
The Smartphone Breakthrough That Didn’t Come From Silicon Valley
Big tech CEOs are calling out smartphone makers for lacking innovation.Â
Incumbents are pushing thousand-dollar price tags for minor upgrades, while Mode Mobile built a phone that pays you to use it.
With adoption that fueled 32,481% revenue growth between 2019-2022,1 Mode isn’t tweaking smartphones — it’s redefining them.
Yesterday’s Big Daily Movers
GoPro surged on its new meme stock status
Hims & Hers rose amid a spike in bullish options activity
GE Vernova jumped after the energy equipment giant posted better-than-expected Q2 results
Fiserv plummeted despite largely positive Q2 results after the payment tech company trimmed full-year guidanceÂ
Toyota, Honda, and other Japanese automakers rallied after a trade deal slashed their US tariff rate to 15%
Shares of bitcoin miner MARA Holdings tumbled this morning following its announcement that it plans to raise $850 million, in part to buy more bitcoin
Lamb Weston soared after the frozen potato producer topped Q4 expectations and doubled down on its cost-cutting plan
What Else We're Snackin'
The AI boom is devouring US power and raising prices, and the market loves it
Meanwhile, the White House unveiled its “America’s AI Action Plan”
Prone to smashing phone screens and spilling coffee on your laptop? Apple’s new “AppleCare One” covers three of your shiny Apple devicesÂ
In June, Nintendo sold 1.6 million Switch 2s in America, making it the most successful US console launch on record
From Flipping Pokemon Cards to 40 Under 40 in Forbes.4 That’s the story of Dan Novaes, founder of Mode Mobile. The current round of their pre-IPO offering3 is 97% full — last chance to invest at $0.30/share.2
Snack Fact Of The Day
There isn’t a single US newspaper with an average daily circulation exceeding 500,000 copies.
Today's Events
Earnings expected from Intel, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Keurig Dr Pepper, Nasdaq, Nokia, Dow, Honeywell, Union Pacific, Newmont Mining, Valero, and Blackstone
1 The rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period. See Deloitte 2023 Technology Fast 500™rankings for further details under historical rankings.Â
2 A minimum investment of $990.90 is required. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.
DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.Â
3 Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. Any IPO timing is unknown and general steps to be accepted for an IPO have not been undertaken at this point. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.Â
4 Mode’s CEO appeared on the Forbes 40 Under 40 list as #27 for the Forbes Mexico channel. See Forbes article for further details on the list and the ranking.