My Two-for-Tuesday morning train reads:
• Revisiting the SpaceX Valuation: A Post-Prospectus Update! If the prospectus is to be believed, SpaceX has the largest TAM of any company in history, with a total TAM of $28 trillion, and AI accounts for $26 trillion of that market estimate. This estimate borders on fantasy, but I will cut the bankers who came up with these numbers some slack for two reasons. (Musings on Markets)
• What if Consumers Hate AI Content? Consumers love using AI, but they hate consuming it. What does that mean for our AI economy? Bakalar on the increasingly real possibility that consumer aversion to AI-generated media becomes a moat for human-made work. The data is starting to support the hypothesis. (Sophie’s Notes) see also Rise Up, People! Make AI Optional! One impressive woman demands Opt-In buttons for AI features. By Google’s own calculations, the AI Overviews are incorrect 28% of the time. David Pogue on the every-app-now-pushing-AI problem and why “let me turn it off” needs to become a baseline UX expectation. Read with the Modded Bear Gmail piece from last week. (David Pogue)
• Why Toyota RAV4s Are Suddenly the Most Coveted Used Cars in America: The fuel-sipping hybrid RAV4 commands a premium in a used-car market shaken by the Iran war. Used Toyota hybrids now trading above new-car sticker as gas prices spike. A classic supply-shock story dressed in suburban driveway. (Bloomberg)
• How AI Could Kill Charles Schwab and the Brokerage Industry’s Cash Cow: Shares of Charles Schwab and other firms have swooned on concerns that AI tools could erode the profit they derive from cash that clients hold in so-called sweep accounts. Barron’s on the existential threat to cash-sweep economics — the moment an AI agent reliably moves your idle balance to a money fund, Schwab’s whole revenue model breaks. Worth re-reading every time you check your sweep yield. (Barron’s)
• The Death of The Midsize Jet: On why the midsize business jet is getting squeezed out from both sides — bigger cabins for the wealthy, light jets and fractional shares for everyone else. The middle dies first, again. Now, this may sound shocking because there are plenty of Lear 60’s and Hawker 800XP’s still flying around today. You’ve likely flown on one in a charter fleet. It’s a provocative headline to get you to open the article so I can explain my reasoning behind this claim… (Private Jet Insider)
• The Montana license plate loophole is a warning: If you can afford a Lamborghini or Bugatti, you can afford to pay the sales tax, you cheap bastards. Stop making the rest of us plebes subsidize your bullshit. (Washington Post)
• Inside the CBS mutiny against Bari Weiss and David Ellison: A saga that started with Trump’s assault on ‘60 Minutes’ has turned into a full-blown crisis. The fallout now extends beyond CBS. As Ellison prepares to bring CBS and CNN under his grip through an $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, executives and advisers are increasingly open to the prospect of CNN chief Mark Thompson remaining in a senior role after the merger closes. Some insiders view Thompson, the British former BBC boss, as a potential stabilising force, according to people familiar with the discussions. (Financial Times free)
• Ukraine Is Not Losing. Russia Is Not Winning. A momentum shift that changes everything. The Atlantic on the quiet momentum shift in Ukraine that Western coverage has barely caught up to. The maps tell a different story than the headlines.(The Atlantic)
• Consciousness Researchers Are Tripping: Commonweal on the new books from Pollan and Wilson on psychedelics and the consciousness debate. A more careful read than the standard mainstream treatment of the same material. (Commonweal)
• ‘The whole of New York is stressed right now’: how Knicks finals fever reached Rikers Island: Inside New York’s notorious jail complex, nearly 2,000 incarcerated people watched Game 1 of the NBA finals, arguing calls, roasting celebrity fans and sharing in a rare citywide moment. The Guardian on Knicks fever reaching Rikers, with photos. The city’s collective nervous system, in playoff form. (The Guardian)
Video of the day: Scott Pelley: What Has Happened to ‘60 Minutes’ Is a Tragedy
Be sure to check out our BONUS Masters in Business with Joe McLean, Managing Partner at MAI Capital Management, where he leads firm’s Sports & Entertainment division, serving 100s of pro athletes/entertainers across NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA + NASCAR. His path to finance runs directly through the locker room as a 4-year NCAA Division 1 player at U of Arizona. Dubbed the athlete’s “Money Whisperer” by the New York Times, he is known for his non-negotiable 60% savings mandate for clients.
Since 1999 — the last time the NY Knicks were in the NBA Finals — the CPI increased 2X, PCE = 1.8X higher, and a beer & hot dog at MSG are up 2.6X
Source: Bruce Mehlman’s Age of Disruption
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