July 23, 2021 Sign Up

by Overheard on Wall Street

"Any product that needs a manual to work is broken." — Elon Musk

Good morning and Happy Friday! Social media stocks popped in after-hours yesterday, after Twitter (+6%) and Snapchat (+17%) reported blockbuster earnings. In inflation news, if you're looking to buy a house, chances are it just got more expensive. US median home prices hit a record high of $363,000 in June, up a cool 24% a year ago.

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1. Story of the Day: Travel is Roaring 20s

Hot travel summer is in full swing in the US and airlines recovery is gaining momentum. The economic upturn, aggressive cost cutting measures, and huge federal stimulus helped stabilize airlines and now they are beginning to turn profits and brightening their outlook after a pandemic year to forget.

This month consumer spending on airlines exceeded 2019 levels on a weekly basis for the first time since the pandemic began. On Sunday, TSA screened more than 2.2 millions travelers, the most in a day since the pandemic began. People have been sick of sitting inside their homes – they have money and time, and they are using it to travel.

While personal travel has exceeded 2019 levels, business travel is still lagging. Unfortunately for workers desperate to work from home, nearly two-thirds of suspended business travel is expected to come back over the next one to three months.

International travel has also started to recover slowly as more countries, particularly Europe, are opening up to Americans who can provide proof of vaccination. Airlines are also lobbying the Biden administration to loosen restrictions in kind, to allow the recovery to accelerate.

Short Squeez Takeaway: Interestingly, the Delta variant isn't having any sort of impact on bookings at all and airlines expect the recovery to continue. Vast majority of people have received vaccines, which somewhat protects against the variant but looks like people are desperate to travel and nothing is getting in the way of that this summer.

2. Markets Rundown

• US stocks finished slightly higher Thursday, with major indexes rising for a third straight session as investors looked past data showing a rise in first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Domino's ($DPZ) +15% on earnings beat and strong pizza demand in the US.
• (+) Crocs ($CROX) +10% after reporting stellar Q2 earnings and raising full year guidance.
• (–) Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) -8% after flight test director Mark Stucky, who led first spaceflight, departed from the company.

3. Top Reads

4. Book of the Day: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history.

Skip to today and Disney is the largest, most admired media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Its value is nearly five times what it was when Iger took over, and he is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our era.

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership.

5. Daily Visual: Cost of Hosting the Olympics (in Billion USD)

Source: Statista

6.  Daily Acumen: Prioritizing Happiness

You know what it takes to feel happy today. Just look at the source of your unhappiness, and get it out of your life. What causes unhappiness? Here are the top causes:

Overthinking: The biggest cause of unhappiness is our own minds. If we can stop listening to our thoughts and focus on what’s in front of us, we instantly feel better.

Being in bad shape: When you don’t work out and eat a lot of junk food, you feel bad physically. And when your body feels bad by your own doing, you also feel bad mentally. 

Dead-end career: You spend most of your time at work, and if you despise your job, it’s no wonder you don’t feel happy. Don't just accept it. You can invest in yourself, learn new skills, and find another job or career.

Toxic relationships: Some people are just not a good fit. When you try to force a relationship, no one wins. But so many people insist on “making it work” because they are afraid to be alone. So, they are stuck in the middle, which is where unhappiness lives.

Negative friends: Some people are annoying and negative. Being around those people is not good for your state of mind. You’d rather be rid of them than have them in your life.

We have to make some difficult choices to be happy. Which one will you work on first?

Source: Darius Foroux

7. Memes of the Day

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