💨 Juul gets unbanned

…and the Lone Star State takes on Wall Street with a Tex-change   Outlook’s still hazy (Jessica Christian/Getty Images)   Sponsored by Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 38,886 (+0.20%) S&P 500 5,353 (-0.02%) Nasdaq 17,173 (-0.09%) Bitcoin $70,724 (-0.56%) Dow Jones 38,886 (+0.20%) S&P 500 5,353 (-0.02%) Nasdaq 17,173 (-0.09%) Bitcoin $70,724 (-0.56%) Hey Snackers, Most vending machines are full of aluminum (soda cans, chip bags), but in South Korea, some machines now [sell]( mini gold bars. Hopefully they don’t get stuck. Markets [were meh]( yesterday after Wednesday’s S&P 500 record and Nvidia’s $3T rally. Traders will be taking notes on today’s US jobs report as they look ahead to the Fed’s interest-rate decision next week. 🥤 Soda-pop quiz: Only the first question of this week’s [Snacks Seven]( quiz is about soda. Try it here: - What’s tied with Pepsi as America’s No. 2 soda? ([Check your answer]( CHARGED Regulators walk back their Juul ban as “smoke-free” alternatives surge Puff, puff… take another pass. The FDA said yesterday that it would [reverse]( its 2022 ban on Juul e-cigarettes, which had been on hold pending appeal (hence: why they’re still in stores). While lawmakers had decried the vape biz and accused it of marketing to teens, the FDA’s ban was apparently over a technical issue regarding toxicology data. At the time, news of the ban fueled a wave of bad publicity for Juul, sending it close to bankruptcy. Marlboro maker Altria, which invested nearly $13B in Juul in 2018, [ditched]( its stake last year. Now: - FDA-OK? The reversal has returned Juul’s status to “under review.” FYI: the FDA has approved 23 e-cigs for marketing to consumers. - Puffed up: Juul is the No. 2 vape in the US after British American Tobacco’s Vuse. Gettin’ smoked by smokeless… While Juul’s struggled to find a charge, Big Tobacco is winning with what it calls “smoke-free” products. Picture: vapes, heated tobacco like IQOS, and nicotine pouches like Zyn. Last quarter, Philip Morris International’s “smoke-free” sales were up 21% on the year as its Zyn pouches went viral. And “smoke-free” products made up 37% of the company’s revenue last year. (In 2021, PMI [suggested]( it might eventually stop selling cigarettes altogether.) Last quarter, Altria’s smoke-free sales were up 6% on the year. THE TAKEAWAY Smoke and mirrors can move markets… Critics have accused vapes of being tech-focused gimmickry targeted at young people (think: USB-like shapes, flavors like blue cotton candy). But skyrocketing sales suggest that smoke-free products — which include vapes — may be here to stay. “Smoke-free” is transforming the cigarette market. In Sweden, where oral-nicotine products like Zyn are popular, it’s expected that by this year fewer than 5% of residents will smoke OG cigs, the lowest rate in the EU. [Read this online](. Sponsored by Rocket Mortgage 🏠Right place, right time. An investment for life…Your home is one of the most personal investments you’ll ever make. That means your purchase timeline has to work for you first — and everyone’s right moment looks different. Fueled by experts: Financing your home with [Rocket Mortgage]( gives you strong foundations. Rocket’s team of expert mortgage advisors are there when you need them — and when you don’t, easy in-app tools give you 24/7 access to your loan. Flying start: Right now, Sherwood readers can receive a lender credit of $1,000* with Rocket Mortgage when they [lock in a loan using this link](. If this is your milestone moment, Rocket can show you what’s possible. [Start an application today](. Tex-change Texas is building a stock exchange to take on Wall Street heavyweights Don’t mess with Texstocks… The Lone Star State [wants]( to open its first national stock exchange. Backed by major Wall Street firms like BlackRock and Citadel, the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) has raised $120M and plans to file with the SEC this year and launch in 2026. Regional stock exchanges (ones outside a country’s financial hub) have been around for ages, but the US has only a handful outside NYC (like: Chicago, Philadelphia). Texas has even bigger goals of taking on Wall Street, America’s financial supercenter and home to the Nasdaq and NYSE, the two largest US exchanges. - Clear eyes, full trades: The TXSE, which would be fully electronic and HQ’d in Dallas, hopes to capitalize on the market rebound. Nearly $14B has been raised in US market debuts this year, up 3x from last year. - Big dreams: TXSE hopes to attract listings with “CEO-friendly” standards like lower compliance costs. It said businesses were frustrated with stringent listing rules (it mentioned the Nasdaq’s board-diversity targets). Houston, we have a profit… For years Texas has attracted corporate biggies, thanks largely to its lack of income taxes and more relaxed regulatory environment ([the Tex-conomy is red hot](. After California, Texas is tied with New York as the state hosting the most Fortune 500 companies (Tesla and Oracle are a few with Texas addresses). Last year, Goldman Sachs began construction on an 800K-square-foot Dallas campus that can hold ~5K employees. JPMorgan Chase has also been an advocate of Texas’ business-friendly environment, and now employs 30K workers in the state — more than in its New York hub. THE TAKEAWAY It’s tough being a small fish in a small pond… TXSE execs say their exchange could create more competition in a market dominated by the NYSE and Nasdaq. But attracting new listings could be tough since many companies want to trade on big exchanges with high volumes and liquidity. While regional exchanges often have more niche focuses (think: the CBOE and options), Texas’ goal to take on Wall Street trading is ambitious. [Read this online](. STAMPED The Crypto Catch-Up… ⚖️ Judgy… FTX [agreed]( to pay the IRS $865M, a far cry from the $24B in taxes the IRS had said was owed. The news is a relief for former FTX customers, who could’ve seen their planned repayments eaten up by the multibillion-dollar tax bill. 🤹‍♀️ Quirky… Blockchain biz Galaxy Digital said it [tokenized]( a 313-year-old violin to back a multimillion-dollar loan. The move’s the latest example of a growing push to tokenize physical assets (aka: represent them on the blockchain). 💰 Spendy… Robinhood said it reached a deal to [acquire]( Bitstamp for ~$200M (FYI: Robinhood owns Sherwood Media). The company said the international crypto exchange would help it expand globally as it seeks regulatory clarity and institutional customers worldwide. What else we're Snackin' - [Meow]( GameStop stock popped after Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill scheduled a YouTube livestream for today, his first since the meme mania of 2020. GameStop has surged since Gill resurfaced on social. - [Drive]( Amazon’s self-driving-taxi co, Zoox, plans to start testing in Austin and Miami, expanding its ops to five cities. Zoox and robotaxi rivals Cruise and Waymo are all being investigated by safety regulators. - [Probe]( The FTC and DOJ are setting up to open antitrust probes into AI leaders Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft. FTC Chair Lina Khan has said that her agency wanted to spot AI issues early, rather than years later. - [Vroom]( Lyft stock spiked after the ride-hailer said it expected gross bookings to grow at 15% annually through 2027, in line with Uber’s outlook. Lyft also forecast that its $50M ad biz would grow to $400M. - [Gutting]( Bev brand Poppi is facing a lawsuit alleging that the “prebiotic” soda’s marketing is misleading. The complaint argues that consumers would need to drink more than four Poppis/day to see gut-health benefits. Snack Fact Of the Day “Bond, James Bond” is the most profitable movie quote for merch on Etsy [Read more]( Friday - US jobs report - National Donut Day in US - F1 Canadian Grand Prix weekend revs up Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Robinhood, Tesla, and Uber Advertiser's disclosures: * Clients will receive a lender credit of $1,000 when they lock a loan on or after October 20th, 2023, utilizing the Snacks Newsletter application link. Offer cannot be retroactively applied to previously closed/locked loans. Offer does not apply to new loans submitted through non-retail loan originators, including brokers. Additional restrictions apply. Rocket Mortgage reserves the right to cancel/modify this offer/terms/conditions at any time. Acceptance of this offer constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions. Offer is nontransferable. This is not a commitment to lend. Offer not valid with any additional discounts or promotions. ©2000-2024 Rocket Mortgage, LLC. All rights reserved. Lending services provided by Rocket Mortgage, LLC. NMLS #3030; [www.NMLSConsumerAccess.org](. Equal Housing Lender. Licensed in 50 states. For additional information please visit [rocketmortgage.com/legal/disclosures-licenses](. Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... 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