Black Panther

Quote of the Day

I created all these pictures and posts, and the Americans believed that it was written by their people.”

Market Snapshot

• The S&P held onto its biggest weekly gain since 2013.
• European markets closed lower after another round of earnings.
• Dow futures fell on Monday.
• Bitcoin climbed back to $11,000.

‘Black Panther’ Climbs to Cultural and Box Office Record

Black Panther—the latest episode in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise—may be set in the fictional nation of Wakanda, but it made very real history over the holiday weekend.

The $200 million superhero blockbuster starring a mostly black cast (Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan), with a black director (Ryan Coogler) and an Afrocentric story line, broke box office records and proved that movies rooted in black culture can translate into enormous international receipts. By Monday, global ticket sales were an estimated $387 million.

When the dust settles on all the records shattered and the milestone cultural shift, Black Panther’s domestic 4-day box office haul will total $218-$225 million, with a highly-coveted A+ CinemaScore. Not too shabby for “the black superhero movie.”

Not to sound like a broken record, but Black Panther broke so many records

It’s easily the best February opening of all time AND the biggest opening of any superhero movie, beating out The Avengers’ $207.4 million.

Just in Thursday preview/midnight screenings alone, the film earned $25.2 million—the second-biggest MCU preview ever, beating out Captain America: Civil War ($25 million in 2016).

It earned another $75.8 million on Friday, the eighth-biggest day of all time.

Black Panther instantly became the top-grossing film in history by a black director. Coogler’s previous films are the critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Creed (95%).

In the age of pre-sale tickets, it now ranks No. 4—in a top-five list that includes three Star Wars and a Hunger Games. It can thank activists, churches, and schools for that.

Playing in 4,020 theaters, the movie drew a historically diverse audience, according to comScore. The breakdown: African-American (37%), Caucasian (35%), and Hispanics (18%). For comparison, African-Americans usually make up only 15% of the audience for superhero movies.

Black Panther may have started the weekend as an exception—but with numbers like these, it could be the new rule.

How Russian Trolls Used Social Media to Divide Americans

Last Friday, special counsel Bob Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three organizations for interfering in the U.S. political process, with a special focus on the 2016 presidential election. Not included in the charges but guilty all the same? Facebook and Instagram, which were the most effective weapons used by Russia to amplify divisions in our country.

Mueller’s 37-page indictment reads like a spy novel fit for 2018

Characters: A Russian company called the Internet Research Agency (aka a “troll farm”), founded in 2013 with the explicit mission of using social media to sow mistrust among Americans.

Setting: St. Petersburg, Russia. Cyberspace.

Plot: Beginning in 2014, the Internet Research Agency executed its covert operation by…

1) Stealing Americans’ identities

2) Creating Facebook groups and buying ads to spread misinformation on controversial topics like immigration

3) Organizing actual in-person political rallies

Here’s one example of a fake post meant to spark division (check out the massive engagement):

Conflict: Americans interacted with these Russian accounts and groups, believing they were real. In total, Russian propaganda on Facebook and Instagram reached around 150 million Americans (close to half the population).

Resolution: There isn’t one yet. Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged Facebook’s role in this attack, though he initially didn’t take it seriously. Moving forward, Facebook is doubling its security staff to 20,000 and is working with the FBI to prevent future interference.

Get ready for the sequel: Given the huge success of their previous effort, bad Russian actors will be back at it again for the 2018 midterms. In fact, right now Russian trolls are busy trying to meddle in our politics. According to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, “the United States is under attack.”

Is Facebook ready to separate real from fake? More importantly, are we ready?

Department of Commerce Lays Out Options for Steel And Aluminum Tariffs

You hear that? That low, ominous rumbling? It could only mean one thing….

Trade war!

Okay, to be fair…there’s no trade war. BUT with the Department of Commerce’s latest recommendation to apply tariffs and quotas to steel and aluminum imports, don’t count one out. Just consider the options on the table:

Aluminum

* Option 1: All imports from foreign countries receive a 7.7% tariff
* Option 2: All imports from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam receive a 23.6% tariff. Other countries can’t exceed their 2017 total U.S. exports
* Option 3: No tariffs, but each country is capped to 87% of their 2017 total U.S. exports

Steel

* Option 1: A 24% tariff on all steel imports from foreign countries
* Option 2: A 53% tariff on all steel imports from China, Brazil, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and seven others. The rest of the world can’t exceed their 2017 total U.S. exports
* Option 3: No tariffs, but each country is capped to 63% of their 2017 total U.S. exports

And if President Trump green-lights any of these options, China and the EU (among others) said they would fight back.

So why push forward? American jobs.

President Trump, making good on his protectionist campaign promises—including withdrawing from TPP and renegotiating NAFTA—is re-popping the blue collar.

The idea is to raise import prices enough to boost manufacturing jobs stateside. If you tariff it, they will come.

But critics point out that raising tariffs could equally hurt American companies that rely on cheap imports…meaning net job growth could be negligible.

Tell your friends: China alone accounts for 49.7% of world steel production, and lowers prices to undercut the market through state-backed subsidies. Something has to be done to help American steel and aluminum manufacturers, but this might not be the answer.

What Else Is Happening…

• People are walking into the glass walls at Apple’s new campus.
• A Belgian court is banning Facebook from tracking web users’ data without their consent.
• Uber is looking to sell its Southeast Asia business to Grab in return for a stake in the company.
• Qualcomm turned down Broadcom’s latest offer, although a deal isn’t entirely out of the picture.
• Deutsche Bank is making up to 500 investment banking jobs “redundant.”

Economic Calendar

• Friday (Feb. 16th)       Earnings: Allianz (-), Kraft Heinz (-)

                 Economic Events: Consumer Sentiment (+)

• Monday     Earnings: No Events

                    Economic Events: No Events

• Tuesday    Earnings: Domino’s, Home Depot, HSBC Holdings

                  Economic Events: No Events

• Wednesday    Earnings: Pandora, Roku

                        Economic Events: PMI, Existing Home Sales

• Thursday   Earnings: Barclays, HPE, HP, Intuit, Wayfair

                   Economic Events: Jobless Claims

• Friday       Earnings: No Events

                 Economic Events: No Events

Venture This: Would You Rent an RV from Outdoorsy?

Outdoorsy is an Airbnb-like platform for RV owners to rent out their vehicles (an “RVnv,” if you will). Founded in 2015, the company now boasts 256,000 users and recently raised a $25 million Series B.

What we like

On the surface, there seems to be a market for this. Of the 35 million Americans looking to rent an RV, 38% are millennials—90% of which are just looking to hitch a ride to Burning Man. RVs seem like a natural lodging choice (besides hotels and home-shares) for under-40s looking to spend money on “experiences.”

And Outdoorsy sure seems like a good option for RV owners, whose expensive toys mainly just take up space on the driveway. The company estimates there are 17 million idle RVs around the world.

But…

This seems to be a crowded space. TechCrunch found more than 10 other RV rental companies competing with Outdoorsy, like Campanda and Mighway. Meanwhile, it also has Airbnb’s RV rentals to compete with.

So, we’re not convinced Outdoorsy can achieve the critical mass and “network effects” that make platforms like these work.

But this is not about us…this is about YOU. Are you riding shotgun with Outdoorsy on the way to Bonnaroo? Are you IN or OUT?

The Breakroom

Question of the Day

John noticed that he could arrange the five odd digits (1,3,5,7,9) into a five-digit number, such that the first two digits (as a 2-digit number) times the last two digits (as a 2-digit number) minus the center digit results in a number composed of repetitions of one digit.

John noted there were two possible answers. What are they?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Box Office Trivia

Without adjusting for inflation, which movie owns the title for highest grossing domestic box office weekend of all time, generating $2.8 billion?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Stat of the Day

$142,000—The average tech salary in Silicon Valley.

Breakroom Answers

Question of the Day: 39157 and 57139 (Explannation)

Box Office Trivia: Avatar