Good Morning and Happy Friday! The stock market is suddenly freaking out about recession indicators. Elon Musk accepted Venezuelan President's challenge to fight. Venu is going to be the next streamer to drain your wallet, launching pricing at an aggressive $43/month. Meta’s growth is proof AI spending is paying off. Russia freed WSJ's Gershkovich and Intel will cut over 15,000 jobs. Plus what to do when a coworker gives you unsolicited advice and is waking up at 5am the secret to happiness?

For access to the most coveted rolodex on Wall Street, Puck’s Dry Powder is a must read for anybody even loosely connected to the capital markets. Start your free trial today.

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From Glitch to Olympics Glory

In the ongoing streaming wars, catching up to legacy media has been a tough challenge for new platforms. But NBC's Peacock has scored a major win just a week into the Paris Summer Olympics.

The platform garnered an impressive average of 34 million viewers for prime-time coverage, an 80% increase from the Tokyo Games.

This success is surprising for NBC, especially after the struggles of the Tokyo Olympics, which were affected by COVID-19 lockdowns, postponements, and record-low ratings. 

Last Friday's opening ceremony became Peacock's most-streamed entertainment event, with nearly 29 million viewers, and was the most-watched opening ceremony in twelve years. A total of 32 million viewers across NBC's platforms made it the best single-day Olympics viewership since 2016.

Contributing factors include Paris's favorable time zone, the return of fans, and celebrity involvement, like Snoop Dogg. NBCUniversal's $7.65 billion investment to air the Olympics through 2032 emphasizes the critical role of live sports in the streaming landscape.

Takeaway: The Paris Olympics have been a critical test for Peacock, which it has so far passed with flying colors. The platform's success underscores the importance of live sports in driving subscriber growth and engagement. As Peacock continues to strive for profitability and competes with giants like Netflix, it’s clear that every medal counts—especially when you're racing to the top of the streaming podium.

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The Inner Workings of Wall Street Revealed

Do you crave the intersection of money and power or are simply curious what C.E.O.s to the SEC Chair read to know what’s really happening behind closed doors on Wall Street?

Look no further than Puck, built in partnership with an elite team of authors covering the inside story at the nexus of Wall Street, Washington, Hollywood, media, fashion, sports, and art.

Everybody on Wall Street is reading Bill Cohan’s private newsletter Dry Powder, religiously. In his latest edition, Bill digs into the bewildering pre-I.P.O. hype cycle of Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square USA.

You can access it by starting your free trial here.

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Top Reads

• New data highlights emerging cracks in the economy as Fed debates rate cut (YF)

• Why the stock market is suddenly freaking out (CNN)

• Elon Musk accepts Venezuelan President's challenge to fight (Fox)

• Sports streaming venture Venu priced at aggressive $43/month (CNBC)

• Meta advertising growth is proof hefty AI spending is paying off (CNBC)

• How to enable Apple Intelligence on your iPhone (TC)

• How Microsoft’s earnings juiced Nvidia’s earnings (Axios)

• Barclays profit dips in Q2, beats estimates (CNBC)

• HSBC’s growth engine has insufficient horsepower (Reuters)

• Intel to cut 15% of workforce, or 15,000 jobs (AP)

• Inside the secret negotiations to free Gershkovich (WSJ)

• Boeing’s CEO landed the best and worst job in corporate America (CNN)

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Markets Rundown

Stocks tumbled on recession fears.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Shake Shack ($SHAK) +17% after the fast-casual chain posted a spike in profit.

• (+) Carvana ($CVNA) +10% after surprise profit, used car sales accelerating.

• (–) Moderna ($MRNA) -21% after the vaccine maker cut guidance.

Private Dealmaking

• Outbrain bought Teads, an adtech company, for $1 billion

• Spring Health, a mental health startup, raised $100 million

• Regard, a medical tools developer, raised $61 million

• Heals, a biotech company, raised $47 million

• Conduit, an on-chain compute startup, raised $37 million

• Ema, an AI agents startup, raised $36 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

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The Intelligence Trap

Smart people are not only just as prone to making mistakes as everyone else-they may be even more susceptible to them. This is the "intelligence trap," the subject of David Robson's fascinating and provocative debut.

Packed with cutting-edge research, historical case studies, entertaining stories, and practical advice, The Intelligence Trap explores the flaws in our understanding of intelligence and expertise, and reveals the ways that even the brightest minds and talented organizations can backfire - from some of Thomas Edison's worst ideas to failures at NASA, Nokia, and the FBI.

With a knack for explaining complex ideas and featuring timeless lessons from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin to Richard Feynman and the latest behavioral science, Robson shows how to build a cognitive toolkit to avoid mistakes and protect ourselves from misinformation and fake news.

“Essential reading for anyone who wants to think more clearly.”

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23andMe's Slow Descent

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The Fastest Way to Create Models & Pitch Decks

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Created by a former investment banker, Macabacus streamlines your modeling workflow, allowing you to format spreadsheets, audit models, and create pitch decks swiftly and efficiently.

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Start your free trial today and see how Macabacus can save you hours in Excel and PowerPoint (no credit card needed).

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Patience

In an age of instant gratification, patience is a superpower.

Great achievements take time.

Trees don't grow to the sky overnight.

How can you cultivate more patience in your life?

Consider bamboo, which shows no growth for five years while developing an extensive root system, then grows 90 feet in six weeks.

Your dreams may be germinating unseen.

Trust the process.

Embrace delayed gratification.

Remember, patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.

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Short Squeez Picks

• How to sculpt your brain and transform your future

• What to do when a coworker gives you unsolicited advice

• How to live regret-free, according to the author of You Only Die Once

• Is waking up at 5am the secret to health and happiness?

• Supercharging your leadership skills

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Memes of the Day