TLDR

MARKET RECAP →  📉 The Dow (DIA) plummeted 500 points, marking its fourth consecutive loss and its gloomiest day since March 2023. Thursday's tumultuous trading, spurred by rising oil prices and jitters over the Federal Reserve's potential pause on rate cuts, left investors wary ahead of the March jobs report.

DISNEY’S DEFENSE → 🚀 Disney (DIS) shareholders backed CEO Bob Iger, betting on his strategy to sail the streaming service into profit land, spruce up ESPN's digital play, score cinematic home runs, and anoint a worthy successor, all while navigating through an industry sea change and dodging activist investor icebergs.

PARAMOUNT AND SKYDANCE MERGER TALKS → 🔍 Paramount (PARA) is considering exclusive merger talks with Skydance amidst Apollo's $26 billion bid. The company aims to navigate the streaming-dominated landscape and recover from a significant market value drop.

AWS TRIMS THE FAT → 🛠️ Amid a sales growth slowdown, Amazon's (AMZN) AWS lays off hundreds, focusing on strategic areas and adjusting its retail technology approach, signaling a shift in its cloud and store tech operations.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for free here.

MARKETS

Today’s S&P 500 Heatmap

Notable Earnings This Week

TODAY’S TOP NEWS

Disney’s Defense

🔓 Shareholders overwhelmingly supported Disney's (DIS) current board, expressing faith in CEO Bob Iger's ability to enhance shareholder value and ensure a smooth succession. Iger's immediate challenge is to demonstrate progress in key areas including transforming streaming services to profitability, detailing ESPN’s digital strategy, delivering box office hits, and selecting a successor, all while avoiding the wrath of activist investors next year.

📊 Amid industry-wide shifts from traditional linear models to direct-to-consumer streaming, Disney faces the task of reversing streaming losses while implementing severe cost-cutting measures. The company targets a significant reduction in content spending, aiming to make its streaming segment, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, profitable by the fiscal fourth quarter.

🎬 Disney's box office strategy is under renovation following a slump, with the company appointing a new president for Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios. Efforts to revive its cinematic success involve navigating through "woke" content debates and focusing on entertainment that resonates with a diverse audience, amidst the backdrop of occasional box office disappointments and the challenge of maintaining its storytelling legacy.

TODAY’S TOP NEWS

Paramount and Skydance Merger Talks

🎬 Exclusive Negotiations: Paramount Global's (PARA) board is considering entering exclusive merger discussions with Skydance, following a $26 billion all-cash offer from Apollo Global Management. This move could significantly impact the media landscape, emphasizing streaming's dominance and addressing challenges like Hollywood strikes and a weak advertising market.

💼 Strategic Consolidation: The potential merger between Paramount and Skydance highlights ongoing consolidation efforts within the media industry. These efforts aim to strengthen their positions amidst the shifting entertainment sector. Paramount's rich film library, including iconic franchises, underscores the value at stake in these discussions.

📉 Market Value Decline: Paramount, which reunified with CBS and Viacom in 2019, has seen over $16 billion in value erased due to the global entertainment business's downturn. The company's market capitalization dipped below $10 billion in January, marking a significant decline from its past valuations.

TODAY’S TOP NEWS

AWS Trims the Fat

🔍 Strategic Cuts: Amazon's (AMZN) cloud computing division, AWS, confirmed layoffs within its physical stores technology and sales and marketing units. The company aims to streamline operations and focus on strategic areas expected to deliver maximum impact.

💼 Growth Slowdown: These layoffs come as AWS experiences a deceleration in sales growth, attributed to companies reducing cloud spending amid rising interest rates. Despite this, Amazon hinted at a potential market reacceleration earlier in the year.

🛒 Tech Team Overhaul: The decision to cut jobs in the store technology division follows Amazon's move to eliminate cashierless checkout systems in its U.S. Fresh stores. This move reflects a broader strategic shift in the application of its retail technologies, including Just Walk Out, Dash smart carts, and Amazon One palm-based payment technology.

KEEP READING

Apple reportedly exploring personal home robots (CNBC)

Ripple to launch U.S. dollar stablecoin, taking on a $150 billion market dominated by Tether, Circle (CNBC)

TSMC’s evacuated workers return to some factories after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years (CNBC)

Waymo self-driving cars are delivering Uber Eats orders for first time (CNBC)

Here’s what tenants need to know about Biden’s plan to cap rent hikes for some affordable housing units (CNBC)

Nearly half of Levi’s sales are happening online and in its shops, a shift as department stores fade (CNBC)

Egg prices are rising again. An outbreak of bird flu could make things worse (CNN)

Europe opens competition probes covering Chinese solar panel makers over subsidies (CNN)

Why Managed Accounts Can Be a Great Way to Start Investing (ML)

Quick Earnings: Jobs That Pay the Same Day (ML)

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PARTNER

BULL VS. BEAR

NOTABLE POSTS

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

OUR FAVORITE TOOLS & RESOURCES

• The Market Ear — Live news, analysis and commentary on what moves markets and trading

• Coinmarketcap.com — Crypto market data

• Finviz — Financial visualizations

• Trading Economics — Economic calendar

• CME FedWatch Tool — Market-implied probabilities of future levels of interest rates 

• Dataroma — Track stock picks and portfolios of legendary value investors such as Warren Buffett

• ChatGPT — Large language model-based chatbot powered by generative AI

• Vimcal — Lightning-fast calendar and AI scheduling assistant

• Notion AI — Notion AI is a writing assistant that can help you write, brainstorm, edit, summarize, and more

The Bull vs. Bear Merchandise Promotion is a limited time campaign that begins on December 1, 2023 at 12:00 AM ET and ends on the date that there are no more Rewards. This Promotion is available to any registered MoneyLion user who is a legal resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and who has reached the age of majority in their state as of the beginning of the Promotional Period. See terms and conditions here.

This advertising email was sent to you because you have a MoneyLion account. If you would like to unsubscribe, please do so using this link. We respect your right to privacy. Please do not reply to this email with sensitive information, such as an account number, Social Security number, date of birth, bank account information, PIN, password, or Online ID. The security and confidentiality of your personal information is important to us. If you have any questions or want to read more, please visit our Help Center.

MoneyLion and Pathward do not provide, nor do they guarantee, any third-party product, service, information, or recommendation. The third parties providing these products or services are solely responsible for them, as well as all other content on their websites. MoneyLion is not liable for any third party’s failure with regard to those advertised products, services, and benefits. These advertised products and services may not be FDIC insured or bank-guaranteed, and may be subject to a different privacy policy than MoneyLion’s. You should check individual offers, products, and services to become familiar with any applicable restrictions or conditions that may apply. MoneyLion may receive compensation from third parties for referring you to the third party, their products or to their website.

The influencer, creator and other content provided in the MoneyLion App (“Content”) is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. All Content is intended to be of a general nature, does not address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity, and may not constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed. MoneyLion is not a fiduciary by virtue of any person’s use of or reliance on the Content. You should consult an appropriate professional if you require any legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.