✈️ Alaska buys aloha

…and bitcoin sees some summer in winter   A noncontiguous merger (Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 36,204 (-0.11%) S&P 500 4,570 (-0.54%) Nasdaq 14,185 (-0.84%) Bitcoin $41,937 (+4.97%) Dow Jones 36,204 (-0.11%) S&P 500 4,570 (-0.54%) Nasdaq 14,185 (-0.84%) Bitcoin $41,937 (+4.97%) Hey Snackers, Oxford University Press has been spending too much time on TikTok: its word of the year is “[rizz]( defined as “style, charm, or attractiveness” (FYI: it’s short for “charisma”). Last year it picked another Gen Z term: “goblin mode.” Goblins with rizz, it’s your era. Stocks had a groggy Monday, slumping after a big rally last week, while gold prices hit a record as traders were bullish on bullion. Investors have eyes on key labor reports coming out this week, including October job openings and quits today. Boarding A major aviation merger takes off as “combine to compete” arguments trend up At merging altitude… The airline of glaciers and wilderness may join with the airline of pineapples and resort beaches. [Alaska Airlines]( said it would [buy]( [Hawaiian Airlines]( for $1.9B, creating a carrier that could service 138 destinations, and further consolidate an already compacted industry. Hawaiian’s stock nearly 3X’d yesterday — but the deal’s expected to encounter a harsh landing. - Ohana means family: This year, Hawaiian sold 22% of all flights into the Aloha State. That would increase to 38% in the merger, double the market share of the next closest competitor, United Airlines. - May not fly: Government agencies haven’t been kind to airline deals lately. The DOJ sued to block JetBlue from buying Spirit (closing arguments will be heard today) and last year stopped an American Airlines-and-JetBlue alliance in the Northeast. - Wingspan: 80% of the domestic airline market is dominated by four carriers (American, Delta, United, Southwest). If the acquisition happens, Alaska’s market share would grow to 8%+. (FYI: Alaska took over Virgin America in 2016.) Get big to go big… Alaska argues that merging will let it compete with the bigger airlines. This combine-to-compete argument can be heard across the M&A landscape. Grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons have said their proposed combo is necessary to challenge Amazon and Walmart. A rumored health-insurance merger between Cigna and Humana would create a $140B powerhouse that could rival leader UnitedHealth. But regulators say that creating more giants hurts labor competition, which leads to wage stagnation. THE TAKEAWAY M&A is searching for a smooth landing… Alaska’s move feels like a test for federal agencies, who’ve ramped up crackdowns. As antitrust enforcement gets tougher, US mergers have fallen 16% this year. There’s even scrutiny around which agency should oversee mergers: a debate over whether the FTC and DOJ should both enforce antitrust laws is heating up. Sponsored by Autonomix A Potential Quantum Leap In Healthcare Autonomix is pioneering [a new frontier in medical treatment](. In the electrophysiology space where they operate, acquisitions have topped $900M+ for some companies. That’s one of the reasons why [investing in Autonomix ahead of their planned Nasdaq listing]( could be an interesting opportunity. Health is Wealth: The startup also joins an all-star list of tech giants investing in ways to bridge technology and the human nervous system to solve various health issues. This disruptive technology platform could help revolutionize medical treatment. First-in-Class Potential: With $100B+ in potential treatment markets worldwide and 100+ patents issued and pending, the company is attempting to take the world by storm. This could be the final opportunity to invest while they’re still private. [See how you can become an Autonomix shareholder today.*]( Coin Bitcoin hits its highest level in over a year as crypto optimism picks up Blockchain reaction… [Bitcoin]( the world’s largest cryptocurrency with a nearly $820B market cap, topped $40K yesterday, hitting its highest level since April 2022. The crypto’s boom has been linked to growing hopes of rate cuts next year and the expected [launch]( of the first-ever US spot bitcoin ETF, which would help investors get direct exposure to the coin without actually owning it. Now good cheer is spreading industry-wide: - Digital gold diggers: Crypto mining biggies like Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and CleanSpark saw their stocks surge yesterday. Shares of Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, rose 5%. - FYI: Bitcoin prices have more than doubled this year, while ethereum (the second-largest crypto by market cap) is up 75%. Crypto’s mea culpa… Bitcoin prices hit multiyear lows last year after several scandals (including FTX’s collapse) rocked the market. But insiders say the industry’s turning the page: last month Binance agreed to pay a record $4.3B in fines and pleaded guilty to breaking anti-money-laundering laws. Now crypto investors are turning their focus to ETFs. The SEC has received several spot bitcoin ETF applications, including from investment titan BlackRock. Last week the regulator met with Grayscale to talk about potentially converting its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF after initially rejecting the proposal. THE TAKEAWAY Delays don’t mean denials… More than a decade after the first spot bitcoin ETF application, investors think approval is finally within reach. While the SEC could still decide to block crypto spot ETFs, experts say the funds could launch as soon as early next year. Amid the optimism, bitcoin’s on track for its best annual performance since 2020. What else we're Snackin' - [S&Pop]( Uber shares jumped after the biz was chosen to join the famous S&P 500 index. Funds that track America’s top 500 companies would include Uber shares, which have popped this year as it started turning a profit. - [Discredit]( President Biden intro’d new regulations cutting subsidies for EVs with battery components from countries like China and Iran. Soon after, Tesla said its cheapest car, the Model 3, will lose half its tax credit. - [Spotty]( Spotify said it’s cutting 17% of its workforce — its third round of layoffs this year. The streamer’s cost-slashing helped it notch a profit last quarter, and revenue grew as it raised sub prices. - [Beyhive]( Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” is the first movie in two decades to make over $20M for a post-Thanksgiving opening weekend. T. Swift’s “Eras Tour” was a box-office hit, too, showing fans’ appetite for concert films. - [GPTok]( TikTok parent ByteDance is said to be making a chatbot-building platform to compete with OpenAI’s teased customizable ChatGPT-powered bots. ByteDance could launch an early version this month. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day Downloads of the Threads app are outpacing those of X [Read more]( Tuesday - October Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report - Earnings expected from AutoZone, JM Smucker, Signet Jewelers, Dave & Buster’s, Nio, Stitch Fix, and Rent the Runway Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares of: Alaska Air, Amazon, Delta, Rent the Runway, Riot Platforms, Uber, Tesla, and Walmart *Advertiser’s disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Autonomix’s Reg A public offering. Additional information concerning [risk factors]( related to the offering can be found in the Form 1-A [offering circular](. 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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