🍋 Forget Houses Let's Buy Chanel Bags

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Good Morning! US stocks rallied after the Fed disclosed its response to high inflation. Fed officials voted to hold rates near zero, but signaled they were ready to raise rates at least 3 times next year. Fast-growing startups are increasingly offering large compensation packages, especially after the success of Tesla triggered a wave of cash in the electric vehicle market. QuantumScape, which went public through a blank-check deal last year, approved a massive $2.3 billion pay package for its CEO. TSA is warning passengers of peak travel days for the holiday szn. Busiest days are expected on Dec 23 and Jan 3. Y'all pls stay safe out there.

1. Story of the Day: Forget Houses Let's Buy Chanel Bags

Y'all thought Gen Z and Millennials in America were the only degenerates out there. Turns out the problem is global.

Young South Koreans feel they'll never be able to afford a down payment on a house so they're YOLO-ing their savings into luxury items such as Chanel bags.

The average price of an apartment in Seoul has more than doubled from 607 million won in 2017 to 1.24 billion won today. The average monthly income for people in their 20s and 30s is less than 3 million won.

South Koreans were never hoarding toilet papers, they instead developed another habit: waiting in line at 5 am outside department stores to buy items like $9,500 Chanel bags.

Chanel Korea lifted prices four times this year but instead of lowering demand people want these bags even more now. 

“The current price tag is going to be the cheapest you’ll ever see, because the brand continues to jack up prices. People seem to desire Chanel even more because even if they can afford it, it’s incredibly difficult to get the exact item you want.” said Cho Eunbit, a 31-year-old shopper from Seoul. 

Short Squeez Takeaway: And just like that a new asset class was born: Chanel Bags (probably still a better store of value than the US dollar). The pandemic has been a boom for new asset classes. Sneakerheads have turned Jordans and Yeezys into prized collectibles. In some ways, the gamification of these assets leads to the allure. People are not just buying something precious/scarce but can always resell it at a massive profit (exactly what is happening in some NFT circles).

Source: Bloomberg

2. Markets Rundown

US stocks booked their best day of gains in a week Wednesday, after the Fed announced a speedier reduction of its monthly asset purchases in the face of not transitory inflation.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Vir Biotechnology ($VIR) +12% after the announcement that data showed its Covid-19 antibody therapy was effective against the omicron variant.

• (+) Eli Lily ($LLY) +10%  after raising its earnings outlook for 2021 and projected a bigger-than-expected jump in earnings for 2022.

• (–) Roku ($ROKU) -8% after Universal Electronics announced the International Trade Commission has sided with it in a case against Roku.

3. Top Reads

• Harley-Davidson’s electric-vehicle division to go public via SPAC merger (WSJ)

• Lucid Motors CEO sees $25,000 electric cars in 4 years (Axios)

• It's awkward being a woman in the metaverse (BB)

• Food52 triples valuation with new investment from TCG (Axios)

• New York Times reconsiders buying the Athletic (FoS)

• Worried about inflation? Here’s what that may reveal about you (NYT)

• The fifth SaaS correction (TT)

• Amazon Web Services suffers another brief outage, back online (Fox)

• Bond traders stare at worst real returns since Volcker era (BB)

A Message from Polymarket: CryptoPunks Floor Price

The CryptoPunks series was one of the first NFTs created during the crypto bull run back in 2017. Larva Labs released 10,000 Punks (for free) with varying attributes all algorithmically generated. No two Punk are alike, and there is a fixed supply of 10,000 Punks. Each Punk has its own attributes, and varies in price depending on the scarcity of its features.

The lowest priced Punk is currently receiving offers for 63 ETH ($256K). For comparison, in April this year, the cheapest Punk was going for $30k. However, NFTs and cryptocurrency as a whole have been in a lull lately with prices coming down from all time highs in early November (floor was above 90 ETH at one point).

Polymarket traders are currently forecasting a 69% probability that CryptoPunks will be above 55 ETH by December 23rd but only a 10% probability of being above 69 ETH. Will the NFT market hold on or are we due for another correction? 

Trade now or follow the odds on Polymarket. Use code “OWS” to get reimbursed up to $100 on your first day of trading!

4. Book of the Day: The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century

Contrary to what you may have heard, the middle class is not dying and robots are not stealing our jobs. In fact, writes Adam Davidson, the twenty-first-century economic paradigm offers new ways of making money, fresh paths toward professional fulfillment, and unprecedented opportunities for curious, ambitious individuals to combine the things they love with their careers. 

Drawing on the stories of average people doing exactly this—an accountant overturning his industry, a sweatshop owner's daughter fighting for better working conditions, an Amish craftsman meeting the technological needs of Amish farmers—as well as the latest academic research, Davidson shows us how the twentieth-century economy of scale has given way in this century to an economy of passion. 

The Passion Economy delineates the ground rules of the new economy, and armed with these, we begin to see how we can succeed in it according to its own terms—intimacy, insight, attention, automation, and, of course, passion. An indispensable road map and a refreshingly optimistic take on our economic future.

“No matter what it is you provide, the greatest value lies in the knowledge, passion, and skill with which you provide it.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• How many times have you told yourself that you’re finally going to learn SQL? Tableau? And it never ends up happening? Us too. Until we heard of Skillful’s immersive programs built + led by operators from places like Netflix, Instacart and DoorDash. Get started.

• Are you saving too much money?

• Check out the newsletter that gives you business and investing insights that are actually helpful: The Daily Upside, the no-BS, big-brain investing newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. 100% free.

• The etiquette of dining out has changed (again). Here’s how It’s done.

6. Daily Visual: Highest Grossing Xmas Movies

Highest grossing Christmas-themed movies internationally (in millions USD)

Source: Statista

7. Daily Acumen: Slow Down

Many people experience the holiday season as a rushed affair, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some ideas to slow things down. 

Simplify celebrations. Reducing the number of holiday celebrations you undertake is a good idea. If you would normally do office Christmas parties and multiple celebrations with friends and family, this might be a good year to scale back. Consider keeping it as simple as possible, so there doesn’t have to be a lot of preparation, travel and stress.

Simplify gift giving. Imagine a time when you didn't need to buy so many gifts for everyone? You'd reduce stress for everyone involved, reduce the amount spent, and reduce the amount of waste. Consider talking to relatives and friends about doing an exchange that reduces the number of gifts.

Reflect in quietude. You might spend some quiet time each day, or each week, reflecting on your life. Reflect on how this year has gone, on your victories and lessons. Reflect on what has been coming up for you lately, and what you might learn from all of it. Reflect on what you want in life, and how you might take responsibility for creating it. Reflect on what you love most, what is most important to you, what you’re grateful for.

8. Crypto Corner

• $33.5 billion worth of ETH ‘trapped’ in largest Ethereum contract

• Sotheby’s netted $100 million from NFT sales in 2021

• Katie Haun to depart a16z, form new fund focused on crypto and Web3

• Dapper Labs partners with Dr. Seuss Enterprises launch themed NFT platform

• Crypto bank Anchorage raises $350 million in new funding from KKR, Goldman Sachs

• What do you buy when you buy an NFT?

9. Memes of the Day

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