šŸ‹ Being Healthy Gettin' Expensive

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"The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, but they have Ph.D.'s in man's ignorance."Ā ā€” Michael Lewis

Good Morning!Ā Elon Musk says SpaceX is hoping to launch the first orbital flight of Starship in May. Starship is a UNIT reusable rocket (400 ft tall) that will carry cargo and groups of people beyond Earth. Match Group, owner of Tinder and OkCupid, is also launching something: a dating app forĀ 20 million single parents in the US. The app will include a 'me time' to help coordinate calendars, which apparently is a big hindrance in dating for single parents. New York City is also trying to rekindle love with its workforce. Workers have yet to return to offices in force, and unemployment is 2x the national average. Behind all those wholesome social media posts, the city is struggling and is yet to bounce back economically.

If you are bullish on the psychedelics industry, today is the last day to invest inĀ Ei.Ventures and their flagship product ā€˜Psillyā€™ā€“a Psilocybin-based formulation with natural properties that have the potential to help those struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, and more.

1. Story of the Day: Being Healthy Gettin' Expensive

If you spent the work from home era munching on snacks all day, that's ok and you are seen. However, if you're trying to get back into shape to look good upon return to office or gettin' that summer beach bod ready, healthy eating will come at a price.

According to Square, the prices of salads are up 11% since last March. The increase in cost for a healthy lunch is coming as a shock to workers, as eating 8x the suggested serving size of Goldfish crackers for lunch at home was much cheaper. Combine high spending on a Caesar with other increased prices caused by inflation, and paychecks aren't stretching like they used to. (Tbh I'm not stretching like I used to either)

For example, Mark Davis, a tech sales rep in Chicago, is back in the office 2-3 days a week. He said he's spending roughly $50 more per day on food and commuting than compared to when he was WFH.

There's obviously the option of bringing lunch from home, but let's be real, ain't nobody got time for that. It's a tough predicament because work lunches are an essential part of company culture, and junior employees are being priced out. Mariah Hagan, a 23-year-old mortgage lender in Boulder, Colorado, said she's had to decline invites to grab sushi or a salad, due to budgetary constraints.

Salad chain Sweetgreen said they raised their menu prices 6% in January, and Potbelly hiked 5.4% for their sandwiches in February. CEO of Potbelly, Bob Wright, said, "Like most businesses, we have had to address the rising costs of our main inputs: food and labor."

Short Squeez Takeaway:Ā Restaurants near offices were decimated by the pandemic and subsequent shift to working from home. The return to office was supposed to be their saving grace. Since that return is moving slowly, and traffic may not reach pre-pandemic levels ever again, businesses will have to continue to get creative. Sweetgreen invested heavily in its mobile app, tried subscriptions and is now relaunching a delivery program for office buildings. The increase in prices doesn't seem to have bothered the midtown vests. Sweetgreen stock is up 37% over the last month (compared to a 3.6% increase for the broader market).

Source: WSJ

2. Markets Rundown

Equities took the day off after their strongest week of performance since 2020, up 6%. Jerome Powell caused some midday pressure with comments referencing "too high" inflation, and saying that the Fed will act aggressively to address it.

Movers & Shakers

  • (+) Cyren ($CYRN)Ā +43% because Joe Biden called for increased cybersecurity in case of attacks from Russia.

  • (+) Hudson Capital ($HUSN)Ā +28% after announcing their subsidiary Freight App's newest tech solution has gained traction with shippers, including a large Mexican food producer.

  • (ā€“) Vallon Pharmaceuticals ($VLON)Ā -69% (not nice) after a study found their drug designed to treat ADHD, while deterring abuse of the medicine, failed to reach primary endpoints.

3. Top Reads

  • Housing inventory is barely off record low (Axios)

  • Ramp has a new $8.1 billion valuation after an almost 10x increase in revenue (TC)

  • Rates markets are losing faith in the Fed's soft-landing scenario (BB)

  • TimeDoc Health gets $49 million in Series B led by Aldrich Capital Partners (Axios)

  • Alibaba increasing stock buyback program to $25 billion (MW)

  • Buffet is back with $11.6 billion purchase of insurance company Alleghany (BB)

  • Boeing could be in trouble again after China Eastern Airlines crash (NYT)

  • Best performing sector of S&P 500 is still the cheapest (MW)

  • ARKK ETF's best week ever still leaves plenty of losses to recoup (BB)

  • SpaceX set to capitalize on Russia's loss of rocket launch business (NYT)

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4. Book of the Day:Ā How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone youā€™ve ever met or anyone youā€™ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert, one of the worldā€™s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the game plan heā€™s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket.

No career guide can offer advice that works for everyone. As Adams explains, your best bet is to study the ways of others who made it big and try to glean some tricks and strategies that make sense for you. Adams pulls back the covers on his own unusual life and shares how he turned one failure after anotherā€”including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurantsā€”into something good and lasting. Thereā€™s a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of entertainment along the way.

Adams hopes you can laugh at his failures while discovering some unique and helpful ideas on your own path to personal victory. As he writes: ā€œThis is a story of one personā€™s unlikely success within the context of scores of embarrassing failures. Was my eventual success primarily a result of talent, luck, hard work, or an accidental just-right balance of each? All I know for sure is that I pursued a conscious strategy of managing my opportunities in a way that would make it easier for luck to find me.ā€

ā€œIf you want success, figure out the price, then pay it. It sounds trivial and obvious, but if you unpack the idea, it has extraordinary power.ā€

5. Short Squeez Picks

6. Daily Visual: Gas Prices Got People Googling

Percent change in page views for EVs from Jan 3 to March 14, 2022, compared to same weeks in 2021

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen:Ā Icarus Paradox

"Icarus crafted wingsā€”but flew too close to the sun, so they melted and he fell to his death.

What makes you successful can lead to your downfall.

An incumbent achieves success with one thing, but overconfidence blinds them to coming disruption.

Beware!"

Source: Sahil Bloom

8. Crypto Corner

  • Ether outperforms Bitcoin as software upgrade excites

  • Pakistan crypto billionaire wants the country to be less reliant on credit

  • Ray Dalio's Bridgewater preparing to back crypto fund for the first time

  • Tennis star Naomi Osaka partners with FTX to get more women in crypto

  • Goldman first major Wall Street bank to make OTC crypto trade

  • Tom Brady is a "big fan" of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin

9. Memes of the Day

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