🍋 Fanatic Valuation

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Good Morning & Happy Friday! The situation in Russia continues to get more dire with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying, "the end of the world has arrived." His pleas are not falling on deaf ears though. Members of the House voted near-unanimously to declare support for Ukraine's sovereignty. The World Bank has stopped their programs in Russia and Belarus, meaning no more loans there. Hollywood is also doing more than just singing songs from their mansions and is boycotting projects in Russia. Speaking of Hollywood, Michael Caines gold Rolex sold at auction for £125,250 ($167,000) or roughly ten times more than expected.

1. Story of the Day: Fanatic Valuation

Online sports memorabilia retailer Fanatics, is having a great season so far. The company was founded in 2011, and just raised $1.5 billion in a new round of funding which now gives them a $27 billion valuation.

This growth is more impressive than Joe Burrow's run to the Super Bowl. Fanatic's valuation is up 4x in just the past 18 months. In August of 2020, they were valued at $6.2 billion. Then in August 2021, $18 billion. At this rate, they're going to have to start collecting memorabilia from random professional sports like egg throwing, just to find new ways to grow.

They have already expanded from traditional merchandise and media into, you guessed it, NFTs. Last June, Fanatics launched an NFT business called Candy Digital, which got a $1.5 billion valuation in October. They also purchased the trading cards and collectibles business from OG Topps in January, for roughly $500 million. To continue with the old school theme, Fanatics teamed up with Jay-Z and other celebs to purchase legendary throwback retailer Mitchell & Ness for $250 million.

Short Squeez Takeaway: In this last round, investors included Blackrock, Fidelity, and MSD Capital. These capital raises, and big backers, plus recent hires like former FanDuel CEO Matt King (to lead Fanatics' sports betting and iGaming division) point to a potential public offering. In a world divided between so many different issues, sports can tend to be a great uniter. You combine that with the fact that Fanatics has a foot in the past and the future, and we don't see why they can't make it into the public company Hall of Fame.

Source: Axios

2. Markets Rundown

Stocks struggled today with tensions remaining high in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Consumer staples and utilities outperformed as is normal in a defensive market. Bitcoin possibly down on realization it's not exactly "digital gold."

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Pure Storage ($PSTG) +13% because the company posted better than expected fiscal Q4 results, despite chip supply issues.

• (+) Albertsons ($ACI) +12% after announcing the board will consider different ways the company could return capital to shareholders.

• (–) Bumble ($BMBL) -16% having fallen 8 of the past 10 trading days, which is not a great sign heading into earnings next week.

3. Top Reads

• A Texas Republican quits race for US House after admitting he had an affair with an "ISIS bride" (Yahoo)

• China's having second thoughts about friendship with Russia (WSJ)

• Game over for oligarchs (Fox)

• Former CIA expert on Russia says Putin is "a different guy" than who he remembered (Yahoo)

• Apple and FBI grilled by lawmakers about spyware (CNBC)

• Invasion is impacting inflation and supply chains all over again (BBG)

• Australia beating developed global peers on profit outlooks (BBG)

• Oil price surge reignites fears of 70s style stagflation (Reuters)

• Germany sends anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, despite Putin's warning (ZH)

A Message from Polymarket: Crude Oil to Keep Mooning?

Crude oil prices have been spiraling out of control due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the time of writing, crude oil was trading at approximately $111 per barrel, up nearly 5x from April 2020 levels.

Russia is the world’s #2 oil producer, and if the country intentionally held back its supply, it would likely send oil prices skyrocketing. JPMorgan has warned that oil would spike to $150 a barrel in the event that Russia's exports are cut in half.

Will the price of a barrel of crude oil be $115 or more on March 15, 2022?*

Polymarket traders are currently pricing a 39% probability that the price of crude oil will be above $115/barrel in ten days time on March 15th. What do y’all think? Follow the odds now on Polymarket!

4. Book of the Day: Ego Is the Enemy

Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. 

Ego Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to his­tory. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by con­quering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well. 

In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”

“Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• LEX allows you to build your own portfolio of single-asset commercial real estate investments. Sign up for free here and get a $50 bonus when you deposit at least $500

• Interview with the author of "Influence Is Your Superpower"

• Here's a profile of Paul Singer from Elliott Management

6. Daily Visual: Global Gender Equality

2022 Gender Equality Index with GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen: Constant Change

“When you are finished changing, you are finished.” — Benjamin Franklin

The only constant in life is change.

Entropy is reality.

It’s the one thing you can always count on—the only constant.

Embrace it—be dynamic, be adaptable.

Source: Sahil Bloom

8. Crypto Corner

• Bitcoin - digital gold, speculative asset, or safe haven?

• OpenSea updates banned countries list. But what about decentralization?

• Ukraine cancels historic airdrop plan, and goes down NFT route instead

• Binance CEO says "not our decision" to freeze Russian crypto accounts

• Brazil picked nine central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects to pave the way

• Dogecoin Foundation registered their name and logos as trademarks in EU

9. Memes of the Day

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