Themes

Takeaways: Microsoft announces its largest acquisition yet: Activision for $68.7B ($95/share) — in an all cash deal. The sheer size of this transaction underscores the adage that content is king is stronger than ever. Given the significance of gaming in…

Gene and Doug discuss Crypto.com’s $15M hack, Apple’s long-term take rate and recent tech price increases. Takeaways: Even though Crypto.com got hacked, there’s still a lot of value in a centralized exchange. Apple’s App Store is in the news again.…

Gene, Andrew and Doug discuss Bloomberg reporting that Apple’s MR headset debut will be shifted from June to later in 2022. Takeaways: It looks like we’re going to be wrong on our recent prediction that Apple will show its MR…

Takeaways: Another rough day in the market. Second time in a week that we’ve seen a two standard deviation move in the NASDAQ. Fear is controlling the market, and will continue until… who knows. Epic needling Apple with its Fortnite…

Takeaways: As expected, inflation hits 7%. What’s important at Loup is less about what the Fed’s going to do, and everything about finding great companies at good (and fair) value. Coinbase acquires FairX. Another step toward building a full-fledged suite…

This was originally posted on Steve’s blog, Aim Assist. The market is wrong to doubt Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga. On Monday, Take-Two announced a deal to acquire Zynga for $12.7B. This represents a price per share of $9.86 for Zynga,…

Takeaways: Chairman Powell had some encouraging language today suggesting that the Fed is getting ready to step up to the inflation challenge. Will have to wait till the end of the month until details from the Fed meeting. Apple has…

Takeaways: A reported $260B in developer earnings since the advent of the App Store in 2008, with Apple taking a 15-30% cut. Today in EVs: Apple wins Project Titan patents, including a multi-linkage vehicle door hinge; Tesla’s Model 3 sold…

Takeaways: Tesla announces that FSD subscriptions will increase to $12,000 starting Jan. 17th, the company’s intentions for doing so and whether or not FSD will be mandated in the future. Theranos: their ethos, our verdict, and the gray area between…

Gene and Doug discuss news for January 6th: Reports of Facebook nixing development of an MR OS in favor of a VR OS are to be expected. To call the metaverse early is an understatement, and big tech will be…

Gene and Doug discuss the market selloff and Fed roulette; respond to GM’s announcement of the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV, as a contender to Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Tesla’s Cybertruck; review a deal made by Amazon and Stellantis for EV…

Gene and Doug discuss three topics that caught their attention today: Takeaways: Today’s news that Blackberry has terminated its services is a reminder that the company was first on the market to inspire phone addiction. Smartphones leveled up user addiction…