WORD ON THE STREET 

• Checks Run Out By Christmas – JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, whom some want to run for president, recently warned that though many Americans have more in their checking accounts, that money is going to run out by the end of the year. “Consumers have money, they have $1 trillion more in their checking accounts,” he said. “It’s been coming down, and we think sometime around the end of the year that excess money will be spent.” Many American might wonder what this Wall Street banker is raving about – more than 20% of Americans have no emergency savings.

• Threads Already Unraveling – The good news for Meta Platforms is that the “Twitter-killer” Threads managed to gather 100 million signups in only five days since its debut. However, the time users spent on the platform has already declined by 50%. By Tuesday and Wednesday, the number of daily users was already down about 20%.

  

   

• Tim Scott Getting A Second Look – With donors beginning to bail on Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is poised to benefit in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder met with Scott recently as he considers making an investment. Andy Sabin of the Sabin Metal Corporation is also backing Scott

• Iger Ponders Shakeup As Disney Suffers – As Disney continues to disappoint at the box office, CEO Bob Iger is reportedly thinking about selling Big Mouse’s linear TV assets. These would include prize assets like ESPN. Disney is at a crossroads but don’t worry yourself about the CEO – he’s getting about $27 million a year even as he says TV writers’ demands for more pay is “not realistic.”

HOT SPOTS: What’s Going on in Geopolitics

• Singapore Dodges Technical Recession – Singapore posted slightly higher than expected economic growth, up 0.7% year-on-year and 0.3% quarter-on-quarter. It was down 0.4% in the first quarter. However, the Monetary Authority of Singapore warned that the “near-term outlook remains uncertain with downside risks.”
  

• Biden Authorizes Reserves Mobilization – And so it begins. The Pentagon has been authorized to mobilize up to 3,000 military reservists for duty in Europe, with the intent of deterring Russia from further military action. U.S. European Command said the move would “ensure long-term resilience in USEUCOM’s continued heightened level of presence and operations.”

• Germany Rolls Out New China Strategy – “China remains a friend, partner, and systemic rival, but the systemic rival position has gained ground in recent years,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. With that, she unveiled a new strategy for the EU’s economic powerhouse in dealing with Beijing. It offered fierce criticisms of the Chinese government, particularly its policy on Hong Kong, and restricts state export credit guarantees to activities that won’t benefit the Chinese government’s objectives.”

CUTTING EDGE: What‘s Happening In Tech

• FDA Approves Over The Counter Birth Control – The Food and Drug Administration has approved “Opill” (norgestrel), the first time a nonprescription daily oral contraceptive will be available for most people within the United States. The owner is Irish pharmaceutical company Perrigo. CEO Patrick Lockwood-Taylor boasted that it was a “truly momentous day for women’s health worldwide.

• Celsius CEO Arrested – The SEC continues its war against crypto, with federal prosecutors unveiling seven charges against former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and another executive. Celsius has agreed to pay $4.7 billion in a settlement. “Mashinksy misrepresented, among other things, the safety of Celsius’s yield-generating activities, Celsius’s profitability, the long-term sustainability of Celsius’s high reward rates, and the risks associated with depositing crypto assets with Celsius,” alleged prosecutors.

• The Spending Will Continue Until Space Launches Improve – Congress has reccomended increasing the amount of money going to NASA’s Artemis program, which has the goal of returning America to the moon within just a few years. Overall costs for the Space Launch System (SLS) that will take a rocket to lunar orbit have surpassed $24 billion, including a $6 billion cost overrun identified by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General. But that has made little difference in terms of the funding heading to the program – with NASA expecting $25.4 billion in total for the 2023 fiscal year.

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