Aug 26, 2021 Sign Up

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"The real truth is that as much as you want to believe that it’s you being on top of everything, you’re actually relying massively on the people around you." – Christopher Nolan

Good morning! After causing a whole lotta ruckus (& gaining a whole lotta impressions), OnlyFans announced that it will no longer ban porn on its platform, making a full U-turn on its announcement just days ago. This week also marks Tim Cook's 10-year anniversary as Apple's CEO. Under his leadership Apple shares are up more than 10x, while becoming the world's most profitable company and first US company to pass a $2 trillion valuation. Happy Decade Tim Apple!

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1. Story of the Day: Women Keep Boat Boom Afloat

As Americans emerged from their homes after the first Covid wave, they headed straight to their local boat dealers. Pleasure spending on boats shot up to 20% in May 2020 above the pre-pandemic pace. So far this year, boat spending is running nearly 50% higher than before the pandemic.

While boating experiences a renaissance of sorts, it is also making inroads beyond its traditional base. After rising from 45 in the mid-1990s to around 52 for most of the 2010s, the average age of US boat buyers fell to 50 in 2020. At Freedom Boat Club, women now account for 35% of the 67,000 members who pay to use boats without the hassle of storing and maintaining them — much higher than the female share of boat owners.

More-flexible work arrangements for many Americans have also allowed non-retired people to get in on the action with weekday boating on the rise.

Short Squeez Takeaway: As work environments keep getting more flexible (aka remote) in the aftermath of the pandemic, the boat boom might be here to stay. It's become easier for affluent white-collar workers "working" from home to locate themselves within convenient distance of a body of water. At a time when crowded indoor spaces can pose deadly risks, boats are a pretty OK place to be. 

Source: Bloomberg

2. Markets Rundown

• US stocks closed further in record territory Wednesday, as strong second-quarter corporate earnings offset doubts about the pace of economic recovery, even with the delta variant limiting activity in some countries.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Locust Walk Acquisition ($LWAC) +93% on news of shareholders approving a business combination with eFFECTOR Therapeutics.
• (+) Olo ($OLO) +18% on news of partnership with 5&5.
• (–) Cassava Sciences ($SAVA) -31% as allegations are made about its Alzheimer’s disease treatment clinical trial data.
  

3. Top Reads

A Message from Polymarket: Jake Paul Back At It

Jake Paul, the notorious younger brother of Logan Paul, is back in the ring on Sunday. Jake takes on Tyron Woodley, former UFC welterweight champion, who has never boxed professionally. Despite his lack of combat sports experience, Jake remains a solid favorite as Woodley may be out of his element.

Woodley comes into this bout after losing four consecutive MMA fights. Jake is undefeated thus far in his career at 3-0. His most recent win came in April when he knocked out UFC veteran Ben Askren before the two-minute mark. However, Woodley has shown he has the ability to be a striker.

Will Jake Paul or Tyron Woodley win their boxing match?

Polymarket traders are pricing in a 65% probability that The Problem Child remains undefeated. With a TKO record of 7-2, can Woodley pull off what Askren couldn’t?

Use code “OWS” to get reimbursed up to $100 on your first day of trading!

4. Book of the Day: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam

There’s a new invisible force at work in our economic and cultural lives. It affects every advertisement we see and every product we buy, from our morning coffee to a new pair of shoes. “Stakeholder capitalism” makes rosy promises of a better, more diverse, environmentally-friendly world, but in reality this ideology championed by America’s business and political leaders robs us of our money, our voice, and our identity.

The modern woke-industrial complex divides us as a people. By mixing morality with consumerism, America’s elites prey on our innermost insecurities about who we really are. They sell us cheap social causes and skin-deep identities to satisfy our hunger for a cause and our search for meaning, at a moment when we as Americans lack both.

This book not only rips back the curtain on the new corporatist agenda, it offers a better way forward. America’s elites may want to sort us into demographic boxes, but we don’t have to stay there. Woke, Inc. begins as a critique of stakeholder capitalism and ends with an exploration of what it means to be an American in 2021—a journey that begins with cynicism and ends with hope.

5. Daily Visual: The World's Safest Cities
EU Safe Cities Index 2021 (100=safest)

Source: Statista

6.  Daily Acumen: Cumulative Advantage

The Principle of Cumulative Advantage states that once a social agent gains a small advantage over other agents, that advantage will compound over time into an increasingly larger advantage. The effect is well known and is embodied in "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". 

The term was coined by sociologist Robert Merton in a 1968 paper which described how the more eminent scientists in a group tend get the most credit for the group's work, regardless of who did the work.

Social status snowballs in either direction because people like associating with successful people, so doors are opened for them, and avoid associating with unsuccessful people, for whom doors are closed.

Source: Thwink 

7. Memes of the Day

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