Disney+ is still a negative on Disney’s books

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a business plan of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Disney+ still [doesn’t make money](. - Time to take away the [White House’s blank check for war](. - Impeachment has [not been entirely fruitless](. - Don’t laugh off [the short-seller bloodbath](. Disney Plus ??? Equals Profit The [Underpants Gnomes]( are not a Walt Disney Co. property, but their money-making formula of “Collect Underpants + ??? = Profit” more or less exemplifies the entertainment giant’s plight right now. A year ago, Disney made bazillions of dollars cramming people into movie theaters, amusement parks and cruise ships. You get zero guesses what happened next. But the home of the Magic Kingdom has magically replaced some of this lost business with Disney+, which has enjoyed five years of growth in one year, thanks to all those people cramming into living rooms instead of movie theaters, amusement parks or cruise ships. One big problem, though: [Disney+ still doesn’t make any money](, writes Tara Lachapelle. Soaring user growth pushed direct-to-consumer revenue up 73% in the latest quarter: But that surge only turned a $1 billion quarterly loss a year ago into a $466 million loss this quarter. Four hundred sixty-six million dollars is still, most experts agree, a lot of money to be setting on fire. And Disney will need to burn more cash to produce content to keep all these new users around. Like, have you seen “[WandaVision](”? That is an expensive show to produce. Now Disney+ just needs, say, 50 more like it. The missing variable in the Disney+ Gnomes equation will probably involve you, the viewer, paying a lot more for “WandaVision.” Paid Post Our Place’s Always Pan replaces eight pieces of cookware — it sautés, boils, steams, braises, strains, and looks so good you’ll want to keep it out. That’s why it sells out every time. But two colors were just restocked. Lucky you! [Get yours now.]( Our Place AUMF Wiedersehen This year the Global War on Terror will turn 20. Next year it will be old enough to drink. And yet it’s still wearing the baby clothes we bought for it when it was just a week old. That was when Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force that gave President George W. Bush carte blanche to send troops all over the world without congressional approval, for freedom. A year later, Congress gave him another special pass to invade Iraq. [Presidents have been using these get-out-of-peace-free cards]( ever since, which Bloomberg's editorial board is pretty sure is unconstitutional. President Joe Biden needs to join other Democrats in ending these AUMFs and restoring balance to our checks and balances.   At the same time, the Afghanistan war we launched way back in 2001 still isn’t quite finished yet, no matter how much we all want it to be. James Stavridis writes that [pulling the last troops out of Afghanistan would undo]( all the sacrifices we’ve made there so far and return the country to dangerous lawlessness. In his estimation, it will still take about 5,000 U.S. troops and 5,000 allied troops to build a lasting peace. Our little GWOT will be living in our basement for a while yet. Trump Acquittal 2: This Time He’s Learned His Lesson, Right? Ex-President Donald Trump’s legal team presented his impeachment defense today, [employing]( the vaunted “I know you are but what am I” gambit. It will probably be enough to convince enough infinitely persuadable Republican senators to acquit him. Despite this, [Trump has already suffered real consequences]( for his actions, writes Jonathan Bernstein. It’s one of three lessons Jonathan says we’ve learned from the trial, even if the former president hasn’t learned any. Some Republicans claim the trial has already [poisoned]( Trump’s chances of winning re-election in 2024. Once you stop laughing, you might want to read Tim O’Brien’s rundown of all the damning evidence against Trump. If the GOP can overlook all this and still acquit him, it will reveal that its true [motivation is the acquisition and defense of power]( at all costs.  Telltale Charts It’s easy to dismiss the GameStop debacle as a curiosity or run-of-the-mill short squeeze, but in fact it’s just one facet of what has been [a short-seller bloodbath for the ages](, writes John Authers. This has troubling implications for markets. Further Reading America’s manufacturers could [help make vaccine doses faster](. — Brooke Sutherland We came this [close to a meat crisis last year]( because our suppliers are too concentrated. — Adam Minter Moncef [Slaoui talks about running Operation Warp Speed]( and fighting the next pandemic. — Joe Nocera With Mario Draghi as prime minister, [Italy is suddenly back at Europe’s big kids’ table](. — Ferdinando Giugliano The [City of London is slowly losing trading business]( to Europe, helping the EU hold the line on regulations. — Lionel Laurent A green activist on the board [won’t be enough to shake up Exxon](. — Liam Denning ICYMI Dogecoin’s founder [doesn’t understand its rise, either](. SPAC king [claims to be the next Warren Buffett](. Common blood thinner [reduces Covid deaths](. Kickers [Gorilla Glue doesn’t come out of hair]( without a fight. (h/t Ellen Kominers) [Stonehenge may have been built in Wales]( and relocated. (Here’s exclusive [footage](.) Here’s more evidence [humans absorbed Neanderthals](. Eight-year-old [shames NPR for lack of dinosaur stories](. Note: You may have noticed getting a strange version of this newsletter earlier today. We accidentally sent Jonathan Bernstein’s newsletter out in the wrong template. Sorry for spamming you. But if you liked what you saw, you can sign up for his newsletter [here](. Please send dinosaur stories and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. 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