Unusual Whales

Twitter Said Elon Musk is Under Federal Investigation About His Acquisition—Musk's Attorneys Say the Filing was a 'Misdirection'

Per Reuters Twitter said in a court filing that federal authorities were investigating Elon Musk over his conduct regarding the Twitter deal. The social media company previously sued Musk in July to close the deal saying the Tesla CEO's attorneys claimed "investigative privilege" when refusing to

Meta Confirms Segments Shown in Recent Horizon Worlds Video Highlighting Legs were Not Live VR

Per UploadVR and Kotaku Meta confirmed to UploadVR that segments in their recent Horizon Worlds video were "created from motion capture." Company CTO Andrew Bosworth said they are still working on legs to make it look natural to bystanders. So far, Meta has spent $10 billion in 2022

New Home Sales in China Dropped by 37.7% YOY, with Hangzhou Dropping the Most at 80%

Per Reuters In China, sales of new homes by floor area fell by 37.7% year-on-year. Tourist trips over the National holiday were also down 18.2% YOY. Here are the most affected cities in China: * Hangzhou (-80%) * Beijing (-64%) * Shenzhen (-49%) * Shanghai (-47%) Beijing has been ramping up efforts

US Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fell to its Lowest in 4 Decades

Per AA US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) dropped to 416.4 million barrels by the end of September. This is lower than the 417.3 million barrels of July 1984, the lowest reserve in 4 decades. OPEC+ had a meeting last week where

Social Security Administration to Increase Benefits by 8.7% in 2023 Amidst Rising Consumer Prices

Per Axios The Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% benefit increase by 2023 amidst rising consumer prices. This is the biggest benefit jump since 1981, resulting in an additional $140/month. In December, roughly 70 million recipients will receive cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) notices.  The SSA uses a formula involving

Redfin Reports Rent Increase at 9% YOY, Slowing Growth Down Since 18% YOY in March

Per Business Wire Rents rose 9% year-over-year in September, resulting in the slowdown of growth since its 18% YOY report in March. Top 5 areas with the fastest rent increase YOY: * Oklahoma City, OK (24.1%) * Pittsburgh, PA (20%) * Indianapolis, IN (17.9%) * Louisville, KY (17.5%) * Nashville, TN (17%

55% of Workers Say Their Pay Can't Keep Up with Inflation—Product Management Remains the Happiest Career

Per CNBC A survey by Bankrate found that 55% of employees say their incomes have not kept up with the rising prices of expenses amidst high inflation. The survey included almost 2,500 participants and was conducted between Aug 17 and 19. Another LinkedIn survey found the top 5 careers

Investor Expects 'Negative' Returns for the Next 5 Years—Hedge Fund Manager Says Value Investing is Gone

Per Market Watch and Bloomberg Investor Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates says the next five years will bring "negative or poor returns" like in the 19570s. Dalio says opportunities might be found in emerging Asia, including Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Hedge fund manager David Einhorn says he doesn&

JPMorgan Says the US Should Treat the Oil Situation as a 'Matter of War'—Putin Says the West's Solution is to Print More Money

Per CNBC and TASS (Russian News Agency) JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the oil situation "should be treated almost as a matter of war." Europe has been at the forefront of the crisis as 45% of its natural gas needs rely on Russia's supply. Russian

Biden Says a 'Slight Recession' is Possible Despite Thinking It Won't Happen

Per CNN Despite 72% of economists polled by the National Association for Business Economics said they expect a US recession, Biden says, "I don't think there will be a recession." The US President said that should there be a recession, it will be "very slight.

Meta Employees Find Flagship VR Metaverse App too Buggy to Use, Says Exec in Charge

Per The Verge Meta's VP of Metaverse revealed that even the team building the flagship VR metaverse app Horizon Worlds is not using it. Mark Zuckerberg is spending billions per year to build his vision of the metaverse. Since Facebook changed its name to Meta on October 28,

SEC investigates Bored Apes

Per CoinDesk: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, over whether sales of its digital assets violate federal law, according to a report from Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source close to the matter. At issue, the

Twitter Investor Sues Elon Musk for Alleged Stock Manipulation Over Change in Decisions and Public Attacks

Per Bloomberg Twitter investor Giuseppe Pampena said Elon Musk's decision to buy Twitter at the original agreed price showed how he was bluffing about backing out of the deal. The securities class-action complaint alleged that his actions resulted in Twitter stock sinking in price, which hurt investors but

Former FED Chair Ben Bernanke Said He Didn't Know Where Half a Trillion Dollars Went After Lending Them to Other Central Banks

Per C-SPAN Rep Alan Grayson: "... one of the entries on the balance sheet is, under assets, Central Bank liquidity swaps which shows an increase from the end of 2007 from $24 billion to $553 billion and change at the end of 2008. What's that?" Ben Bernanke:

UN Warns that the FED's Plans May Cause a Global Recession—Agency Likens Reliance on Higher Interest Rates to a 'Gamble'

Per Forbes and Reuters The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development warned that the Fed's plans might cause a global recession. The agency said that the belief of central banks that higher interest rates could bring down prices without generating a recession is an "imprudent gamble.

Former Peloton CEO Gets Repeat Margin Called for Collateral Shares Once Worth $300M Now Down to $30M

Per WSJ Ex-CEO John Foley received repeat margin calls from Goldman Sachs for shares used as collateral as stock slumps drastically. The former Peloton CEO initially pledged his 3.5 million shares, once valued at $300 million, a year ago. Now, the shares are only worth around $30 million. Foley&

Elon Musk: Nuclear War Probability is Rising Rapidly—Putin Says They Will Respond Accordingly if Attack Continues

Per Elon Musk and CNBC Elon Musk tweeted "Nuclear war probability is rising rapidly." Vladimir Putin acknowledged that he ordered missile strikes on military, energy, and communications facilities in Ukraine saying should the "attacks continue aginst russia, the response will be harsh." The Russian President is

Six Figure Income Required to Live 'Comfortably' in 71% of NYC neighborhoods

Per Bloomberg Rent surge has caused "comfortable" living in 71% of neighborhoods in New York City to require a six figure income. In 2019, a six-figure income was needed to live comfortably in only 58% of the neighborhoods. 35% of full-time workers in New York had six-figure salaries

Average CEO Pay Rose by 11% in 2021—Now Earning 399x a Typical Worker's Wage

Per Market Watch Economic Policy Institution reported that CEO's average pay rose by 11% from 2020 to 2021. The increase means the average CEO now makes 399x a normal worker's wage. In 1965, CEOs only made 20x what the average worker made. The institution said on

PayPal Retracts $2,500 'Misinformation' Fine After Backlash—Blames 'Error'

Per Yahoo News PayPal has reverted its decision to fine users $2,500 for the spread of "misinformation." The company said the fine "was never intended to be inserted in our policy." David Marcus criticized the company saying he used to love the company so much,

Meta's Flagship Metaverse App is Too Buggy Even for Company's Employees

Per The Verge Internal memos revealed that Meta's flagship metaverse app, Horizon Worlds, is too buggy even for the company's employees. Vishal Shah, VP of Metaverse, said the team would be in a "quality lockdown" for the rest of the year until quality gaps

Amazon Ditches Home Delivery Robot as Sales Growth Slows Down

Per Bloomberg and NYT Amazon is abandoning the testing of its Scout home delivery robot testing. The decision shows signs that the eCommerce giant is winding down its experimental projects as sales growth slows. The 400 people working on the project will be offered new positions within the organization. The

US Unemployment Rate Drops to 3.5% in September as Payroll Employment Increases by 263,000

Per BLS and Reuters The Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment was down to 3.5% in September as nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000. This was a drop from the 3.7% unemployment in August. Job growth reached an average of 420,000/month this year, down from

Report Suggests Average Worker Performance Could Lead to Higher Inflation

Per Business Insider A piece by Business Insider questioned the efficiency of America's workers. "If weak productivity continues, that will lead to higher costs, lower profit margins, and, ultimately, higher inflation." A chart comparing labor age levels with the title "Teens are taking over the

Biden to pardon prior federal offenses of weed possession

Per NYT: President Biden on Thursday pardoned all people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and said his administration would review whether marijuana should still be a Class 1 drug like heroin and LSD. The pardons will clear about 6,500 people who were convicted on federal charges of