Hello C3 Family!

Weekly Rant - Lots to read

This week I do not have a rant because I think the stories below showcase me ranting plenty. Just keep in mind, that although many of the stories below are bleak, we as Christians have immense reason for Joy. Our Savior lives and our sights are set on building treasure in His Kingdom. 

Editing and Finishing this book is becoming more expensive than I thought!! If you have the ability and conviction, please consider donating. 

Top Stories

• Apple and Amazon beat expectation in their earnings report but the job reports from last week was weaker than expected. Not as many new jobs means that rate hikes may be coming. The S& P 500 is on the best 3 day streak since November.

• Weight-Loss drugs are boosting profits for Drug companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, but the supply is going down due to the high demand. Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk had massive jumps in profit this past quarter. Even though these drugs are expensive many people are still buying and that is making it harder for those with type 2 diabetes to obtain the drug. 42% of US Adults fall into the obese category.

• DuoLingo the popular language learning app that is also publicly traded saw its shares go up by 20%. This is because the app was able to layoff 10% of its contract workers thanks to AI.

• Disney movies are struggling but the parks are killing it. The parks for Disney are doing so well that the House of Mouse is planning a $60 billion park expansion to take place over the next 10 years.

• Planet Fitness has 18.7 million paying customers. The $1.1 billion business relies on those members not working out because if even a slim majority were to show up, the gyms would be completely overwhelmed.

• Olive Oil is the next cocoa bean as a bad harvest has destroyed almost 60% of the crop's yields. 

• Coinbase the leading Crypto platform saw a 115% net revenue increase thanks to the new bitcoin ETFs that have been all the craze on the market. Lean further and further into that abstract speculation trap and we will pay for it in the future.

• Berkshire CEO Warren Buffet held the annual board meeting for the investment giant last week. Two takeaways...1.) AI scares the hell out of Mr. Buffet & 2.) Greg Abel will most likely be Buffet's successor when the time comes.

• Israel has voted to close media outlet Al Jazeera because it is believed to be a "Hamas Mouthpiece." Al Jazeera is known for producing sleek looking content targeted towards young people and it tends to be left leaning in focus. I did my best to be as mild and unbiased as possible in that paragraph.

• The US has put a hold on a US-made ammunition shipment to Israel for the first time since the October 7th attack. The two days of ceasefire talks between the two sides ended with Hamas leadership heading to Qatar to discuss the terms. Hamas ended up changing the terms mediated by Egypt and Quatar and Israel did not accept. Israel says it will push into the city of Rafah in the very near future.

• Hollywood blockbusters have gotten off to their worst summer start since 1995. The latest disappointment was the movie The Fall Guy, probably because if you ever saw a trailer for this movie via a commercial on TV, you were left wondering what it was even about.

• According to the New York Federal Reserve  survey, a record low 40% of renters believe they will ever transition to home ownership. Home prices are predicted to go up 5.1% in the next 12 months.

• Equinox, the luxury fitness company will be charging $40,000/year for individuals to join their "optimize by Equinox" program that will focus on overall health. Everyone wants to live longer and the people who have the money are willing to spend everything they got on looking better for longer. Let me save them the money and give you the secrets to a healthy and content life. Stop drinking soda and lay off the sugar and processed foods, exercise regularly, get some sleep if you can, put the phone away an hour or so before bed, and PRAY!!!