AMC just needs a meme to make people go back to the movies

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a cineplex of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Memes alone [won’t save AMC](. - Stop [laughing at meme stocks](. - Big Tech’s [secret to eating anything it wants](. - It’s past time to [save the Arctic](. Look ma, no gloves. Just Another Day of Saving the AMC You might be familiar with TikTok’s [Bee Lady](, Erika Thompson, a human ASMR who soothingly scoops up wads of bees with her bare hands. Now another beekeeper is [calling]( her a dangerous fraud for not wearing protective clothing or shaving her head bald, among other apicultural sins. Bee Lady is no [Milkshake Duck](. She’s hyping the cause of saving the bees, which is good. Nobody’s jamming their hands in beehives just because she does. Still, it’s true that sometimes hype can lead people to take dumb chances. Take AMC, the movie-theater chain. Just like the bees, it needs saving, due not only to the pandemic but also the pre-pandemic trend of people no longer going to the movies. Just like the Bee Lady, AMC turned to hype as a rescue plan. CEO Adam Aron has leaned hard into the company’s meme-stock status, embracing his role as “[Apefather](” and “[Silverback](” of AMC’s Reddit fanbase and showering free [popcorn]( and new stock on the thirsty retail hordes like [Immortan Joe](. One problem with this strategy is that AMC’s towering stock shower is about to run dry, after dumping roughly 460 million new shares in a year. Matt Levine suggests it could now just [sell individual shares for outrageous prices](, and somebody will probably buy them. Shark, [formaldehyde](, et cetera. But the bigger problem with AMC’s strategy is that all this [new capital doesn’t seem to be helping it find a new business model](, writes Tara Lachapelle. Even thirsty apes can’t supply enough money to fill the gaping holes left by these trends: For the retail investors who aren’t just HODLing AMC stock for a laugh — those poor suckers who see a 2,800% return in five months and think they can get off that rocket ship just before it crashes into the sun — the financial risks are considerable. Of course, who cares, right? Survival of the fittest and all that. Except AMC, other meme investments and the flock of doofuses chasing them are all [symptoms of even deeper risks to the whole financial system](, warns Mohamed El-Erian. This is the behavior of a market lulled to complacency by the [smoke]( of endless Fed stimulus. Someday these bees might sting. Further Markets-on-Edge Reading: The Fed is [backing away from corporate bonds](, but the market is forever warped. — Brian Chappatta Big Tech Eats Companies With This One Weird Trick Last week this newsletter [marveled]( at Amazon’s ability to vacuum up acquisitions one after another without so much as a belch from its stock price. Nir Kaissar, who is much smarter than this newsletter, also marveled at this, but then used his brain to take it the next step and figure out an explanation. He suggests [Big Tech avoids the usual curse of corporate empire-building]( because it buys “intangible” assets, such as apps and movie rights. These are cheaper and growthier than the tangible kind, which usually destroy business empires (see Electric, General). Whether any of this is good for customers is a mystery for next week. (Spoiler: no.) While We’re Thinking About the Arctic ... Speaking of Immortan Joe, the Arctic is melting, the latest step on our path to a Mad Max future. We don’t like to think about such things because nah nah nah I can’t hear you. But President Joe Biden made us remember the melting Arctic this week when he un-rang his predecessor’s dinner bell inviting oil companies to drill there. So let’s do this. Let’s think about the Arctic. [Not drilling for oil there is a terrific first step](, but the U.S. can do much more, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. So can the other countries huddled, shivering, in the Arctic Council, which is led this year by Russia. Rather than [shooting]( at each other in its unfrozen seas, we could think about how to keep the Arctic from thawing in the first place. Further Reading Biden’s [remarkably stable approval and disapproval ratings]( don’t tell us much in this polarized age. — Jonathan Bernstein Joe Manchin is right that [the Democratic voting rights bill goes too far](. — Ramesh Ponnuru Israel’s [new governing coalition is fragile](, held together only by dislike of Netanyahu. He could still topple it. — Zev Chafets A top [Brexit supporter now wants to encourage immigration]( from the EU to help fill a labor shortage. — Therese Raphael Both liberals and conservatives on the Supreme Court found [reasons to support police powers]( in a tribal law case. — Noah Feldman To truly boost diversity at colleges, [do away with admissions officers]( and select kids randomly in a lottery. — Cathy O’Neil ICYMI Millennials are [turning 40 without any wealth](. United is [going supersonic](. Building a house has [never been more expensive](. Kominers’s Conundrums Hint Have you tried our [Conundrum]( in honor of Eric Carle yet? There should be a way to turn each image into a pair of letters. — Scott Duke Kominers Kickers Qantas has had it with [these snakes on these planes](. (h/t Mike Smedley) [Invisible sculpture sells for $18,000](. (h/t Ellen Kominers) Area man [returns album to library 48 years late](. Area shark is [not actually a Megalodon](. (h/t Scott Kominers for the past two kickers)  Notes: Please send invisible sculptures 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. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022