Time's Person of the Year

Taylor Swift has officially been named Person of the Year for 2023. [The Daily Peel... ](=) December 7, 2023 | Peel #601 In this issue of the Peel: - ADP reported yesterday that the U.S. economy added 103k jobs in November. - Campbell Soup and Robinhood had a ripe day, while Box and British American Tobacco suffered share price declines. - Taylor Swift has officially been named Person of the Year for 2023. Market Snapshot Happy Thursday, apes. It’s official—Taylor Swift is officially better than you. Don’t worry. She’s better than me and everyone else in 2023, too, but we’ve all known this for a long time. The artist is officially Person of the Year, which I think makes Travis Kecle the world’s official First Lady… that’s how that works, right? Either way, not much was working at all yesterday, especially in equity markets. Stocks trended lower throughout the session as a combination of year-end movements, positioning, relief from November’s rally, and who knows what else seemed to take hold. All 4 major U.S. indices were slightly lower, with the Nasdaq’s 0.58% loss leading the way. Meanwhile, WSO Alpha still managed to outperform. I think that’s 3-days in a row of outperformance, which is kind of getting close to Warren Buffett numbers if you really think about it. The portfolio fell only 0.23%, and with the size of f*ck ups that the team over there usually brings, this is huge. Congrats, apes. Yields continued their streak of boring us lately as well, moving in mixed manners across maturities. The 10-year moved slightly higher throughout the main day session, falling sharply as the overnight U.S. session came into play. The 2-year rose as well, settling right around 4.6% at the time of writing. Let’s get into it. The Ultimate Program to Land a 6-figure Job in High Finance [image]( With over 17 years of experience, 900k+ members, and an insane network, WSO has cracked the code to making 6 figures right out of undergrad. We’ve helped over 1k students from all backgrounds break into these careers. WSO Academy is a 12-week program (with many lifetime benefits) that puts everything we’ve learned on a silver platter for you—to dramatically improve your odds at landing a high finance offer. The waitlist for WSO Academy just opened again, and we’re only accepting 20 students into the next cohort. So if you’re serious about breaking into high finance, you need to sign up for the waitlist asap because we are opening applications next week (people on the waitlist will be the first to know). [Get on the waitlist -> Applications opening next week and capped at 300]() (so we can review all of them carefully). No reason for you to be sleeping on this. Banana Bits - Wall Street has a [new crush](, and it’s getting her in trouble with her… “friends.” - Speaking of Wall Street, the CEOs of the U.S.’s major banks showed up to Washington yesterday to—shocker—ask Congress [not to regulate them.]() - Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, [Kevin McCarthy,]() is leaving the party (lol) early as he is set to quit Congress when his current term is up. Macro Monkey Say Goldilocks, Is That You? Yup, that’s right, apes, we’re talking labor markets once again. With Mr. Market’s schizophrenic levels of focus in mind, we can safely say that he barely gives a damn about inflation anymore now that all eyes are on one thing: the odds of entering into a recession. Now, that’s not to say inflation doesn’t matter anymore, but just like my ex, the market seems to have moved onto something better. Anyway, we rejoiced yesterday at the lack of fear of getting that text from your parents at 8:31 am on Friday saying, “tHe U.s. AdDeD X nUmBeR oF jObS lAsT mOnTh, DiD yOu GeT One?” But while pops might be leaving you alone, it looks like your boss will soon be up your *ss even more than usual, if they’re not already. The prevailing sentiment out there among economists, investors, and everyone else has been that our ‘roided up labor market here in the U.S. has kept the economy from falling into an environment of low growth, stagflation, or some other nonsense. "... as we saw with the JOLTS report ... that narrative may be forced to change soon." But as we saw with the JOLTS report yesterday and from the homies over at ADP today, that narrative may be forced to change soon. ADP, a giant provider of payroll and other HR services to corporations, reported yesterday that the U.S. economy added 103k jobs in November. Trade, transportation, and utilities were the dominant sectors in terms of job additions, while the trend of leisure and hospitality roles dominating job gains in the post-pandemic period seems to have reached its end. That figure was almost 20% below estimates for 128k and came with a downward revision to October’s ADP payroll additions figure, getting chopped to 106k. So, it’s clear that our labor market has started wearing glasses, getting a bad haircut, or doing something else to become far less hot. But, when weighted against the inflation picture, we can start to see just a little bit why JPow is happy to see us all a little poorer. While knowing the number of job additions is great, seeing how those employees are actually performing probably matters a little bit, too. "... the BLS keeps us updated with its quarterly report on labor costs, output, and productivity ..." Thankfully, the BLS keeps us updated with its quarterly report on labor costs, output, and productivity as well. We got that report yesterday, too, and I gotta say, your coworkers have been doing well lately. Labor productivity rose 5.2% in the third quarter as output spiked 6.1%, with just a 0.9% increase in total hours worked to back it up. Essentially, this means that your coworkers were able to produce 6.1% more in aggregate with only a 0.9% increase in time spent on the job while you, well, you know how hard you worked last quarter… And despite all that “hard work,” unit labor costs dropped 1.2% for the same period. This indicator is calculated via the ratio of hourly wages compared to productivity. Last quarter, we saw a 5.2% jump in productivity with only a 3.9% increase in hourly wages, meaning that we did a whole lot more than we got paid for. Don’t worry, I’m sure the shareholders of your company are happy with that, for one. Taking this all together, we’re seeing the labor market achieve just about exactly what JPow and the rest of the FOMC gang were hoping for. Payroll additions remain strong, but labor costs are decreasing at the same time, taking the fuel out of the fire of the wage-push spiral we’ve been seeing in the post-pandemic environment. While wage growth has been slowing and potentially now even falling into negative territory, fears of a falloff in consumer spending usually only arise when unemployment figures are rising too. And that’s because rather than changing their habits, American consumers tend to just run up a credit card bill and hope they can pay it off later. To get spending to really fall off a cliff, we’ll likely need to see unemployment come off the multi-decade lows that figure is still hanging around. We’ll find out how we’re really doing on that front tomorrow morning. What's Ripe Campbell Soup (CPB) $43.24 (↑ 7.11% ↑) - If you ask Siri to define a “consumer staple” for you, she might just return a picture of a nice, fat can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. And based on last quarter’s numbers, she sure isn’t wrong (for once). - The soup company that kept us all fed when we were sick reported a solid beat on its bottom line, with sales figures coming right in line with expectations. Campbell reported EPS of $0.91/sh, enough to beat out the $0.88/sh priced in, while sales of $2.52bn were smack dab right in line with consensus. - Despite the feared economic slowdown that’s taken root lately, consumers weren’t ready to give up their chicken noodle soup. And I mean, can you blame them? That sh*t is gas, even with a 102° fever. Robinhood (HOOD) $11.27 (↑ 7.03% ↑) - Despite the fact that Robinhood is now infamous for [screwing over its users,](=) apparently, not everyone hates the toddler-oriented trading app as much as you may expect. - Especially analysts at Mizuho. Shares in the trading (not investing) platform surged yesterday as Wall Street found out there still is at least one person who likes the company. Citing strong digital assets performance in November, Mizuho analysts came out with confidence and reiterated their “Buy” rating. - Plus, management is apparently even more bullish than usual in the digital asset space. No one seems to care that you don’t actually own the coins you buy on Robinhood, but I digress—gambling is fun however you choose to do it (as long as you win, of course). What's Rotten Box (BOX) $23.97 (↓ 10.91% ↓) - The most lazily-named company in public markets lived up to that reputation yesterday, with a quarterly report showing a particularly lazy quarter. Bet they wish they could put this one back in the box (bah dum tss). - Apologies for the cringe from that “joke,” but Box did miss on both its top and bottom lines. EPS came in at $0.36/sh on $262mn in sales vs estimates for $0.38/sh on $264mn. Close, but a miss is a big miss in this market. - Guidance was a problem, too, coming in lower than expected across the board. The cloud-based content management firm appears to have become yet another victim of the brutal B2B market right now as companies look to save every penny given macro uncertainty. British American Tobacco (BTI) $28.86 (↓ 8.50% ↓) - We all learned back in middle school from our DARE officers that smoking cigarettes makes you cool as hell. But apparently, paying up for cigs isn’t. - British American Tobacco, the maker of mega-cool brands like Camel, Newport, and Pall Mall, is undergoing one of the biggest write-offs in recent history as they slash $31.5bn in value from their U.S. cigarette business. - When a company writes down an asset, this is most often considered a non-cash charge. So, this will carry a $31.5bn hit to net income (which, on the bright side, reduces their tax burden) while also reducing assets and owner’s equity. - But, the key thing is that it won’t hit cash because [see above] it’s a noncash expense. The American cigarette market has fallen off a cliff in recent decades, and with a looming ban on menthol cigarettes set to hit next year, British American Tobacco effectively sees no future for those “assets.” Thought Banana Person of the Year Cult leaders often end up in their position after years of careful planning, intentional forethought, and decades of personal traumas they haven’t sought the proper therapy for. For others, it’s a complete accident. Take Tom Brady, for example. The guy can’t step foot in 6 U.S. states (if you consider Connecticut a state) without getting swarmed by his followers. Much like Brady, football was a key factor in establishing 2023’s Time Magazine Person of the Year. Jk, settle down, Swifties, credit where credit is due. That’s right, apes, Taylor Swift (a.k.a T-Swizzle) has officially been named Person of the Year for 2023. Apparently, it has nothing to do with her dating one of the greatest tight ends in football history. I know. I was shocked when I found out, too. Officially a billionaire and one of the highest-selling musical artists in the history of humanity, honestly, it’s about damn time Taylor was named Person of the Year. This year, the hyper-popular Eras tour and movie was maybe the only story bigger than JPow and his rate hiking nuclear bombs this year. Seriously, just go ask your non-financial, civilian mom or brother if they have any clue what a “feds fund rate is.” "... it’s about damn time Taylor was named Person of the Year." They don’t, but I guarantee they know every word to “Shake it Off.” Actually, JPow was, in fact, nominated to be [JPerson of the Year,]() but unfortunately, his concerts were limited to your portfolio. Swift’s Eras tour was the biggest thing in… maybe ever? There were countless headlines of how Taylor buoyed local economies across the nation during difficult times, shut down websites when her tickets went on sale, and set the record for the single highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist. Only Elton John has her beat—and he did 5x as many shows over a 5-year period and still only beat Swift by ~$33mn. His shows averaged $2.8mn grossed… Swift is at $13.7mn (the highest average ever). Here are some more facts about how ridiculously popular and successful Taylor Swift is: - She has broken at least 111 Guinness World Records. - At age 14, she became the youngest person in Sony/ATV history to sign a publishing deal. - She is currently estimated to be worth $1.1 billion, with social media taking a liking to calling her “the world’s first ethical billionaire.” - The Eras Tour movie became the highest-grossing concert movie of all time this year, holding the #1 box office spot for 2-weeks straight. We could keep going, but we think you get the point. If not, just simply google the name of her boyfriend—Travis Kelce—who legitimately is one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history and a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer: "Congrats, Taylor, because we know you’re definitely reading this." [image] [Source]() Every single story (except one) mentions Taylor before him—and this is only what I could fit in one screenshot. Jill Biden is fine and all, but I think it’s clear who America’s real First Lady is. Congrats, Taylor, because we know you’re definitely reading this. Banana Brain Teaser Yesterday — A storage bin is one-third full of grain. After 100 kg of grain is poured into the bin, it is half full. How much grain can the storage bin hold? Answer The answer is 600 kg. 100 kg is the difference between 1/2 of the bin and 1/3 of the bin: 1/2 - 1/3 = 3/6 - 2/6 = 1/6. Since 100 kg fills 1/6 of the bin, the bin must hold a total of 600 kg. Today — Mr. and Mrs. Crazy recently had their concert, and they want to know how much their total income was. After calculating that they earned $95, they figured out that 100 people attended their concert. If each child paid 50 cents, each pensioner paid $2.50, and adults paid $10 each, how many children, pensioners, and adults went to the concert? Shoot us your guesses at vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com Wise Investor Says “Most investors want to do today what they should have done yesterday.” — Larry Summers How would you rate today’s Peel? [All the bananas]( [Decent]( [Rotten AF]() Happy Investing, Patrick & The Daily Peel Team Was this email forwarded to you? [Be smart like your friend](. [ADVERTISE](=) // [WSO ALPHA]( // [COURSES]() // [LEGAL]() Don't want The Daily Peel? [Unsubscribe here](). Click to [Unsubscribe]( from ALL WSO content IB Oasis Corp. (aka "Wall Street Oasis") 20705 Saint Charles St Saratoga, California 95070 United States