💉 Enter: Plan Omicron

…and real estate is booming in the metaverse (and IRL) [Disclosures](   It’s always sunny in the metaverse [Plug Pattarin via Getty Images]   Last Week’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 34,580 (-0.91%) S&P 500 4,538 (-1.22%) Nasdaq 15,085 (-2.62%) Bitcoin $53,590 (-0.21%) Dow Jones 34,580 (-0.91%) S&P 500 4,538 (-1.22%) Nasdaq 15,085 (-2.62%) Bitcoin $53,590 (-0.21%) Hey Snackers, If your Spotify Wrapped doesn’t include sea chanteys and playlists for plants, did you even Spotify? The streaming service recently revealed the [weirdest]( music trends of the year, and apparently your ficus loves Frank Ocean. Stocks dropped during a rocky week punctuated by Omicron headlines. Tech stocks dragged down the market, with the techy [Nasdaq]( index dropping sharply for the week. Want to start getting Snacks daily? Or prefer to unsubscribe? Manage your subscription preferences [here](. Cron Plan Omicron: How Biden and vax makers are prepping to tackle the new variant Doesn’t roll off the tongue... “Omicron” is living rent-free in investors' minds. Markets have been on edge since the new Covid variant was identified in South Africa late last month. Omicron has since been [detected]( in 20+ countries, including the US, which reported cases in at least 16 states. Some infected people were fully vaxxed. Experts said it would take weeks to assess Omicron’s severity, but here's what we do know: - Most Omicron cases have been mild so far. The WHO’s chief scientist [said]( existing vaccines were likely to offer some protection. - Omicron is spreading more than twice as quickly as Delta in South Africa, and accounts for the bulk of new cases there. - FYI: Several Covid variants have been identified, but Delta and Omicron are the only “[variants of concern]( so far. Crank out the test tubes... Biden [said]( he doesn’t expect to impose more lockdowns or vax mandates this winter, but he's [working]( with vax makers on plans for Omicron-specific doses in case they're needed. [BioNTech's]( founder said Omicron is unlikely to cause severe illness in vaxxed people, but [Moderna’s]( CEO said it could make shots much less effective. How vax makers are prepping: - [Pfizer]( and BioNTech, Moderna, and [J&J]( have already started working on Omicron-specific shots, in addition to testing the protection of existing ones. Pfizer and Moderna say an Omicron-focused vaccine could be ready in under [100 days](. - Financial boosters: Vaccines can translate into big profits. Moderna made $7.3B in profit on $11.3B in vax sales in the first nine months of this year. Pfizer, which is also selling vaccines at a profit, expects $36B in 2021 Covid vax sales. THE TAKEAWAY Better safe than sorry… Dr. Fauci [said]( existing boosters would likely protect against a wide variety of variants. But there are still a number of unknowns. If Omicron is severe, it could slow economic recovery, depress markets, and exacerbate supply problems — as Delta did. Dozens of countries, including the US, have already imposed Omicron-fueled travel restrictions, while vax makers prep new shots. It’s better to be overly prepared when public health is at stake: US Covid deaths this year recently surpassed 2020's toll. Zoom Out Stories we’re watching... Anchoring your digital yacht… next to your virtual mansion. From virtual Gucci bags to digital plots of land, people have been pouring money into metaverse possessions. A meta-yacht sold for a record $650K last week, while a virtual developer [bought]( a property from gaming company Atari for $4.3M. The market for real estate in digital worlds like Decentraland and Sandbox is growing: Some developers have even built and rented out digital malls. But experts warn the digital real-estate market is far riskier than actual real estate given crypto’s volatility. No coal in the stocking… As if gas prices weren’t enough, coal prices have hit a 10-year high. That could make it hard for some to warm their homes this winter. While natural gas has replaced coal as the US’s main source of energy, demand for coal has held steady this year. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, nuclear energy — which provides 20% of the US’s juice — is gaining traction. A Bill Gates-backed startup, Commonwealth Fusion, just raised $1.8B. And the EU [might]( allow certain nuclear investments to be labeled as “green.” Events Coming up this week… Sports-bra stand-off… Lockdowns may be over, but the leggings life isn’t. [Lululemon’s]( sales soared 63% last quarter as shoppers visited Lulu’s digital and physical stores for stretchy tanks. Lulu’s on track to exceed its 2023 sales goals this year. But it's not all peace and vinyasa: Last week, Lulu sued [Peloton]( over its “copycat” yogawear. And it has a fledgling revenue stream to grow: Lulu bought connected-fitness company Mirror for $500M. We’ll see whether the athleisure life is still revving when it reports on Thursday. Just binged “Selling Sunset”… The housing market is still #thriving, with the median US home price hitting a record [$360K]( last month. The boom has been good for the US’s largest homebuilders, including [Lennar]( Pulte Group, and [Toll Brothers](. US home sales are on track for their [best year]( in more than a decade, and homes for sale [just hit]( a new low. That translated into record income for Toll last quarter. But home building has cooled since peak pandemic, while rising costs for materials like lumber have pushed homebuilders to raise prices. We’ll see if that bruised Toll when it reports earnings tomorrow. ICYMI Last week's highlights... - [Ping]( SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warned employees that the rocket startup could face bankruptcy if it doesn’t ramp up production of its Raptor engines — but his SOS seems mostly to be a move to drive results. - [Namaste]( Jack Dorsey stepped down last week as [Twitter]( CEO to focus on being the full-time CEO of Block (fka: [Square]( letting Twitter join the ranks of tech titans like [Amazon]( and [Google]( that have also ditched their founders to evolve. - [Woolly]( [Allbirds]( saw huge demand for its eucalyptus-pulp-infused sustainable sneakers in its first-ever earnings report — but it needs to grow its customer base if it wants to turn a profit. What else we're Snackin' - [Solo]( Being single in the US is more expensive than being in a relationship, even though more people are single or living solo than ever. Housing, healthcare, taxes, and Social Security all play a role. - [Wrap]( How to shop for holiday gifts without wasting money — because “your order has been delayed” is the catchphrase of 2021. For starters: Shop locally. - [Play]( High demand for hard-to-find video-game consoles has led to brawls at retailers, and a cottage industry of bot-makers, scalpers, and YouTubers. 🍪 Want to start Snacking daily? Sign up [here]( for our daily market newsletter. The Snacks Daily Podcast “What’s in your wallet?” Capital One is ending its overdraft fees, which generate as much as $150M annually for the company — but make life difficult for low-income customers. [Tune in]( to hear why the bank says it wants to “bring humanity to banking.” Snack Fact Of the Day [About a quarter of US workers plan to quit their jobs in the next year. The top reason: They want better working conditions]( This Week - Monday: Earnings expected from: GitLab, MongoDB, and HealthEquity - Tuesday: Earnings expected from: AutoZone and Stitch Fix - Wednesday: Earnings expected from: Toll Brothers, UiPath, GameStop, Restoration Hardware, Campbell Soup Company, Udemy, The Lovesac Company, Rent the Runway, and The Duckhorn Portfolio - Thursday: Weekly jobless claims. Earnings expected from: Oracle, Costco, Broadcom, Lululemon, Chewy, Dave & Buster's, and National Beverage Corp. - Friday: November Consumer Price Index. Earnings expected from: Johnson Outdoors Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, Moderna, Pfizer, Twitter, Square, and Google ID: 1945770 Robinhood Snacks newsletters and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robinhood Financial LLC (Member [SIPC]( and do not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security, digital asset (cryptocurrency, etc) in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve risk including the loss of principal and past performance does not guarantee future results. [Robinhood Terms and Conditions]( • [Disclosure Library]( • [Our Editorial Principles]( • [Contact Us]( • [FAQ]( [Manage Your Subscription Preferences]( To unsubscribe from all commercial emails, click [here](