Diamonds: Lab-Grown Vs. Natural

Hi, today we explore: (1) Lab-grown diamonds, (2) The Japanese yen’s sharp depreciation and (3) Snapchat’s user base. Good morning! Grizzly bears will finally be reintroduced to Washington’s North Cascades mountain range after decades in exile and years of [debate](. Today we're exploring: - Undermined: Lab-grown diamonds are upending the precious industry. - Yen descends: Japan’s currency is rapidly depreciating. - Global picture: Snapchat is finding success overseas. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! Under pressure There’s not that much you can get done in 2 and a half hours nowadays — you could only make it ~80% of the way into this year’s best picture winner, for example, or about midway through the average American teen’s daily [social media screen time](. Scientists, however, can now reportedly produce diamonds in a tight 150-minute [time frame](... while natural diamonds take anywhere from 1-3 billion years to form. The new method rapidly heats and cools a mix of liquid metals at atmospheric pressure — a fraction of the pressure typically required to make the gems — marking the latest innovation in the world of lab-grown diamonds, which continues to threaten the entrenched diamond industry. Instagems The burgeoning business of growing synthetic stones is poised to upend a centuries-old industry, as the low cost of making rather than mining continues to drive prices down. Indeed, while natural diamond prices surged during the pandemic, the cost of both natural and man-made diamonds have plummeted in recent years, according to data from industry expert Paul Zimnisky [via reporting from Bloomberg](. That’s bad news for jewel giants like De Beers, which is apparently being lined up to be offloaded by Anglo American, its parent company that recently received a $39B takeover bid from rival BHP Group. De Beers has been at the heart of diamond-mining controversy for decades, from reports on its [environmental impacts]( to accusations of unethical [production practices](. For many, the cheaper, less damaging lab-grown alternatives offer a shinier prospect when picking out that special something. [Read this on the web instead]( Yen descend The currency of the world’s fourth largest economy is plummeting, with ¥100 buying just $0.63 on Friday — its lowest rate in over 34 years, just as Japan's Golden Week holiday period kicks off. The weaker yen is a boon for Japanese exporters and foreign visitors, who have been increasingly flocking to the country in recent times. Indeed, last month a record 3.08M foreign travelers [visited]( the island nation, which was slower than others to re-open borders after the pandemic, only relaxing restrictions in October 2022. Pacific exchange The yen's depreciation is a perfect case study for economics teachers around the world. While most major central banks have aggressively hiked rates to combat inflation, Japan's rates remain near zero — fueling a classic “carry trade”, where investors borrow the currency cheaply and sell it to invest in higher-yielding currencies or assets (i.e. not in Japan), driving down the buying power of yen. The US, meanwhile, is at a different stage in its cycle, attracting buyers for its currency as the Federal Reserve signals it might need to maintain higher interest rates for longer amidst lingering inflation. A weaker yen could reshape the Japanese economy, making the country’s exports more competitive and foreign imports more expensive. In the short term, Japanese authorities have appeared publicly sanguine about the devaluation, although a sharp jump in yen this morning has been met with strong [suspicions]( that the government may have moved to support the currency. [Read this on the web instead]( Oh, Snap Sometimes, it helps to see the bigger picture. Shares of Snap Inc., the company behind Snapchat, surged nearly 30% last [week]( after posting better-than-expected results for the most recent quarter — in no small part due to astounding growth outside of North America. Revenue jumped some 21% on the year prior, but Snap also posted a 39M annual increase in global daily active users, over 90% of which came from outside of the US and Canada. Snap’s position in the competitive social media arena has always been somewhat precarious — epitomized by [one infamous tweet]( wiping $1B+ off its value. Lacking the sheer scale of Meta or the virality offered by the endless scrolling TikTok feed, Snap has struggled to become a profit machine, losing money nearly [every quarter]( since going public. A typical North American user was worth $7.44 to Snap in its most recent quarter, way more than the $1.13 that it raked in from its “Rest of World” Snappers, but nowhere near the ~$68 per user average that Facebook made from its US & Canadian active users in the final quarter of 2023. However, Snap has been improving its advertising targeting capabilities, with the number of small and medium advertisers on the app rising 85% in the last year. Filtering through Although its appeal may have peaked in the US — where users haven’t really grown for years — Snap has found success overseas. Early last year, the app reached 200M monthly active users in India, home to an estimated 20% global share of Gen Z, Snapchat’s primary user base. And, with TikTok caught in [Congress’s crosshairs]( Snap could find itself perfectly placed to win a larger share of eyeballs in its most lucrative market. [Read this on the web instead]( More Data • Al pastor policy: Chipotle has now [walked back]( a request for workers to refrain from eating the chain’s chicken in staff meals, as customer demand for the protein soared. • The NFL’s “Mr. Irrelevant” has been crowned, after the 257th and final draft pick was selected in front of record 775,000-strong crowds over [the weekend](. • Tokyo is still the world’s most populous city, with 37.1M residents, according to new figures from the [World Population Review](. • Listen up: Nearly 40% of US AirPods users have lost a pair, but people keep coming back [for more](. Hi-Viz • There were more than 8,000 publicly traded companies in 1996; in 2022 there were 43% fewer, we explore in our latest deep dive: [Where did all the stocks go?]( Off the charts: College endowments have become a flash point in the last week for student protesters. Which university has a fund worth more than $50 billion? [Answer below.] [Answer here](. Thanks for stopping by! 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