🛫 Delta’s stuck on CrowdStrike

…and Meta employees can bad-mouth the boss (David L. Ryan/Getty Images) Googling “what is crowdstrike”   Sponsored by Yesterday's market moves Dow Jones 40,358 (-0.14%) S&P 500 5,556 (-0.16%) Nasdaq 17,997 (-0.06%) Bitcoin $65,882 (-2.48%) Dow Jones 40,358 (-0.14%) S&P 500 5,556 (-0.16%) Nasdaq 17,997 (-0.06%) Bitcoin $65,882 (-2.48%) Hey Snackers, When you’re feeling low, remember that even trillion-dollar companies face rejection: cloud biz Wiz [turned down]( Google’s historic [$23B acquisition]( offer. At least Wiz said it was “flattered.” The major US indexes edged down yesterday as investors waited for earnings to roll in, but the Russell 2000 of [small-cap]( stocks rallied. UPS stock had its [worst day]( ever after the shipping staple reported a plunged profit. Meanwhile, home prices hit a record in June, though sales fell to their slowest pace since December.   GROUNDED [Delta’s under investigation as it struggles to recover from the CrowdStrike debacle]( The spinning wheel of death... has got nothing on the [blue screen of disaster](. Airlines canceled thousands of flights after last week’s CrowdStrike-caused software outage, which may be the biggest in IT history. But while most carriers are back to business as usual, Delta’s still stuck on the tarmac. The airline canceled hundreds of flights yesterday, and more than 5.5K since Friday, leaving passengers stranded. Now it’s under federal [investigation](. - The Department of Transportation is investigating Delta over the drawn-out disruption and “reports of concerning customer service failures.” - Delta said it’s cooperating with the agency and “working 24/7” to fix the issue. Rivals including American and United recovered relatively quickly from the incident. Sorting through cyber-rubble… Lawmakers are calling on airlines to fully reimburse canceled flights instead of offering credits — similar to how Southwest had to shell out $600M in refunds after its 2022 holiday meltdown (recall: 17K canceled flights). The CrowdStrike outage affected around 8.5M devices, including ones at gov’t agencies, banks, hospitals, and major hotels like Marriott and Hilton. The fallout could cost more than $1B. Businesses could file cyber-insurance claims for damages climbing into the tens of billions, and affected companies could sue CrowdStrike. The company’s shares have fallen more than 20% since the outage, and US lawmakers want its CEO to testify before Congress. THE TAKEAWAY Cybersecurity is a “house of cards”... While Google searches for “what is crowdstrike” [spiked]( in Friday’s aftermath, it’s the second-largest producer of “endpoint protection” software after Microsoft, serving nearly 30K companies worldwide and dominating nearly a fifth of the ~$13B market. The fallout from its faulty update shows just how much the world depends on a handful of companies to run smoothly. One glitch, and half the world needs a reboot. [Read this online]( Sponsored by Monogram Beyond Nasdaq… Monogram's new investment potential [Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM)](, known for its autonomous robotic surgical systems, completed a crowd funded public listing and NASDAQ listing last year. By the year 2027, 50% of knee replacement surgeries could be robotic. That’s a particularly big deal for Monogram, as they have their sights set on a major new milestone. They plan to file for FDA approval to market their robotic surgery technology this year. And they’ve opened [a new opportunity for investors]( to share in that potential.* MGRM shares closed at $2.72 yesterday. But Monogram’s offering the Snacks community an alternative: convertible preferred stock priced at $2.25/share with an 8% dividend yield (in cash or kind). [This won’t be available for long – learn more on their website](. Sponsored by Monogram Beyond Nasdaq… Monogram's new investment potential [Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM)](, known for its autonomous robotic surgical systems, completed a crowd funded public listing and NASDAQ listing last year. By the year 2027, 50% of knee replacement surgeries could be robotic. That’s a particularly big deal for Monogram, as they have their sights set on a major new milestone. They plan to file for FDA approval to market their robotic surgery technology this year. And they’ve opened [a new opportunity for investors]( to share in that potential.* MGRM shares closed at $2.72 yesterday. But Monogram’s offering the Snacks community an alternative: convertible preferred stock priced at $2.25/share with an 8% dividend yield (in cash or kind). [This won’t be available for long – learn more on their website](.   SEVERANCE [Meta’s non-disparagement clauses get tossed as regulators loosen worker contracts]( The right to bad-mouth Zuck… 7.2K ex-Meta employees can go ahead and post that juicy Glassdoor review now. The National Labor Relations Board last week [ruled]( that thousands of laid-off Meta staffers were pressured to sign unlawful separation agreements to receive better severance pay and other benefits during the company’s 2022 mass layoffs. Meta’s separation packages included confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses: agreements that prohibit ex-employees from saying anything negative about a company (including venting to your pals). - Mum’s the word: Former “Metamates” were also barred from talking about wages, hours, working conditions, and the terms of their separation agreements. - Let ’em vent: Meta was ordered to stop offering similar contracts and to notify anyone who’d signed them that those clauses have been revoked. Safeguarding severances… Non-disparagement clauses have become widespread in the tech industry, leading the labor board to rule last year that they aren’t legal in severance packages. In March, the board filed a complaint against SpaceX for using the agreements. In May, OpenAI apologized after reports found that some departing employees were threatened with the loss of their vested equity if they didn’t sign restrictive exit docs. In Meta’s case, the judge ruled that making public statements about employers is central to workers’ right to unionize. It’s the latest in a series of Biden admin pushes to protect workplace rights. THE TAKEAWAY Cubicle walls are coming down… In similar rulings protecting departing employees, the FTC this year [banned noncompete clauses](, and bills limiting “[stay or pay](” clauses have popped up in states including California and New York. The regulations have coincided with a rise in workplace transparency. Sharing salaries has become less taboo among younger employees, and layoff videos have become their own genre on TikTok. [Read this online](   REDACTED [Off the charts](: Which regional fast-food chain has this footprint for its restaurants? Link to answer below. [Answer here.](   ON SHERWOOD David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images [The only thing Americans can agree on is that they all like Cheez-Its]( Taco Bell collabs, pop-up shops, and lots of nostalgia are keeping the cracker in the minds and mouths of consumers. [Read more.](   What else we're Snackin' - [Query](: Google’s quarterly sales grew 14% from last year, fueled by search and cloud, but its YouTube ad revenue underwhelmed. Google also said it’s [giving up]( on its long-held plan to ditch tracking-cookies in Chrome. - [Teslip](: Tesla’s quarterly revenue from car sales fell 7% on the year while its profit plummeted 45%. Musk’s baby is losing ground to rivals, who in the first half of the year saw a 33% bump in EV sales. - [Bubbly](: Coke boosted its annual sales forecast, citing bubbling demand for its bevs in overseas markets. The soda superstar’s results came as a surprise after Pepsi reported fizzling volumes. - [Green](: Spotify stock spiked after the Swedish streamer said its quarterly profit grew 45% to a record $1.2B. Spotify has been hiking prices, slashing costs, and cutting jobs (especially in its pod biz). - [Take2](: Comcast reported sagging profits, dragged down by its Universal film and theme-park businesses (cable cord cutters didn’t help). But its streamer, Peacock, saw paid subs increase 38% on the year.   Snack Fact of the Day [On Sunday, global temperatures were the highest ever recorded](   Wednesday - US June new-home sales - MLS All-Star Game - Earnings expected from AT&T, Chubb, NextEra Energy, General Dynamics, Boston Scientific, Old Dominion Freight Line, Chipotle, Ford, IBM, Las Vegas Sands, Whirlpool, and O’Reilly Automotive Authors of this Snacks own shares of Alphabet, Microsoft, and Tesla Advertiser's disclosures: * This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Technologies Series D Preferred Stock offering. A prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before making any investment, you are urged to read the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus carefully for a more complete understanding of the issuer and the offering. The securities offered by Monogram are highly speculative. Investing in these securities involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. There is no existing public trading market for the Series D Preferred Stock. Monogram does not intend to apply for listing of the Series D Preferred Stock or the common stock purchase warrants on a national securities exchange or quoted on an over the counter market. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. 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