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Robinhood & AppLovin S&P 500 Eligibility: Why Paramount Merger Could Trigger Entry | Index Inclusion Criteria, Market Cap Analysis & Stock Impact Key Takeaways Paramount’s Precarious Position : The Skydance merger could trigger S&P 500 removal due to its $9.5B market cap falling below the $22.7B new-entrant threshold . Robinhood & AppLovin’s Eligibility : Both meet market cap ($93B and $123B) and profitability requirements but face repeated exclusion despite speculation . S&P’s Sector Balancing Act : Financials (Robinhood) and tech (AppLovin) are underrepresented, yet S&P may prefer less volatile mid-cap promotions like Interactive Brokers . Political Wildcard : FCC’s ideologically driven approval of Paramount’s sale, mandating “diverse viewpoints” and ending DEI programs, adds uncertainty to its index retention . The Paramount Shake-Up Paramount Global claws at its S&P 500 slot by a technicality. Its $9.5 billion market cap languishes below the $22.7 bi...

Trump's 50% Copper Tariff Impact: Price Plunge, Global Supply Chain Shifts & US Manufacturing Costs 2025 Key Takeaways Selective Squeeze : Trump’s 50% tariff targets semi-finished copper products (pipes, wiring) but exempts raw materials like cathodes and scrap . Price Plunge : U.S. copper prices crashed ~17-19% immediately after the announcement, reversing weeks of speculative stockpiling . Chile & Peru Win : Major copper exporters benefit from exemptions on raw materials, cementing their dominance in U.S. supply chains . Mining Blues : U.S. miners like  Freeport-McMoRan  see minimal upside. New projects face decade-long timelines to fill the import gap . Policy Theater : The move sidelines core industry demands (permitting reform) while dangling future tariffs (15% in 2027) . The Announcement: Less Bark, More Whiskey Trump dropped the tariff bomb on July 30th. A 50% hammer on copper imports. The market braced for apocalypse. Then details leaked. The tariff only hits...

MTA Fare Hike 2026: $3 Subway Fares & 4.4% LIRR Metro-North Increases Hit NYC Commuters in January | Cost Impact Key Takeaways Subway/bus fares hit $3 : Base fare increases to $3.00 starting January 2026, with weekly OMNY caps rising to $36 . MetroCard eliminated : Sales end December 2025; 30-day unlimited passes discontinued entirely . Commuter rail spikes : LIRR/Metro-North tickets rise 4.4%; Connecticut riders face two 5% hikes by July 2026 . Tolls climb 7.5% : Major bridges/tunnels increase E-ZPass rates; congestion pricing unchanged . Fair Fares criticized : Advocates demand automatic enrollment as hikes outpace wage growth . The $3 Swipe New York City subway riders dig deeper starting January 4, 2026. Ten more cents. Tap OMNY or swipe MetroCard, $3.00 buys the same delays, the same flickering lights. Jessie Lazarus from the MTA calls it a bargain. Says inflation should’ve pushed fares to $3.50 by now. Says the old “pizza principle” died with dollar slices and artisanal crusts...

Celsius Energy Drink Recall Alert: Accidental Alcohol in Silver-Top Blue Razz Cans – FDA Warning for FL, NY, OH, VA, WI, SC Key Takeaways Alcohol in Energy Drinks : Select Celsius Astro Vibe cans contain vodka seltzer due to a packaging error . Identification : Affected cans have silver lids (not black) and specific lot codes laser-etched on the bottom . States Impacted : Products shipped to Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin . No Reported Harm : Zero illnesses or injuries confirmed as of July 31, 2025 . Refunds Available : Contact  [email protected]  for reimbursement . The Assembly Line Shuffle Machines hum. Conveyor belts rattle. A packaging supplier shipped empty  Celsius  cans to High Noon’s facility. Vodka seltzer flowed into those cans. Labels stayed put. No one noticed. The factory kept moving . States in the Crosshairs Twelve-packs landed in eight states. Distributors in Florida, Michigan, New Y...

Mark Zuckerberg's Personal AI Superintelligence Vision for Meta | Empowering Creativity Over Productivity | Future of AI Smart Glasses & Human Growth Key Takeaways Zuckerberg’s “personal superintelligence” vision prioritizes individual empowerment over centralized automation . Meta bets on AI-integrated hardware like smart glasses as primary computing devices . The company invested $14.3B in Scale AI and recruited rivals’ talent to accelerate development . Zuckerberg frames this decade as decisive for choosing between human agency or societal replacement via AI . The Bar Stool Manifesto Mark Zuckerberg dropped another letter. This one talks about “personal superintelligence.” He scribbled it on Meta’s blog, then tossed links across Facebook and Instagram like bar napkins. Wall Street eyed it before Meta’s earnings call. Investors remember the metaverse. Sixty billion dollars burned in Reality Labs. Now he’s talking superintelligence . Meta’s AI Ray-Bans already track your eyeba...

ADP Jobs Preview: 104K Private Payroll Gain in July 2025 Signals Labor Market Resilience Before BLS Report Key Takeaways Private payrolls surged by 104,000 in July, reversing June’s 23,000 loss . Leisure/hospitality (+46K) and financial activities (+28K) led gains; education/health services bled 38,000 jobs . Western states dominated hiring (+75K); the Northeast shed 18,000 positions . Wages held steady: job-stayers earned 4.4% more year-over-year; job-changers saw 7% bumps . The Fed faces pressure to delay rate cuts amid sticky wage growth and resilient labor demand . The Numbers Came In The ADP Research Institute dropped its July report. 104,000 private jobs materialized. Economists expected 76,000. June’s loss got revised too, only 23,000 jobs vanished, not 33,000 . The optimists grinned. The doomsayers shuffled their feet. Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, called it a “healthy economy.” Employers believe consumers will keep spending . The six-month moving average? 67,000. The...

AI Data Center in Wyoming to Use 5x More Electricity Than Residents - Crusoe Tallgrass 10-Gigawatt Project Energy Demand vs State Grid Capacity Key Takeaways A proposed AI data center near Cheyenne, Wyoming, will start at  1.8 gigawatts  of power, five times  the electricity used by all homes in the state . At full scale (10 gigawatts), the facility would consume  double  Wyoming’s current total electricity generation . The project, a partnership between  Tallgrass Energy  and  Crusoe Energy , will use dedicated gas and renewable power, avoiding the public grid . Wyoming typically exports 60% of its generated electricity but will pivot to hosting a massive local consumer . Speculation links the project to  OpenAI ’s "Stargate" infrastructure, though no tenant has been confirmed . The Numbers Are Nuts Mayor Patrick Collins calls it a game changer. He’s not wrong. This data center starts at  1.8 gigawatts . That’s more electricity than eve...

CBS News Ombudsman Crisis: Skydance Merger Imposes ‘Hall Monitor’ on Journalism, Ends DEI & Sparks Bias Fears After Trump Settlement Key Takeaways Skydance eliminated Paramount’s DEI initiatives immediately post-merger, replacing them with merit-based hiring An ombudsman role, dubbed a “hall monitor” by CBS staff, will investigate bias complaints, reporting directly to Skydance CEO David Ellison CBS faces internal backlash over historical DEI programs like BIPOC writer quotas and gender-specific hiring The network’s controversial Trump coverage, including a $16M lawsuit settlement, fueled Skydance’s push for oversight The $8 Billion Handshake Paramount and Skydance sealed their deal. Just like that. Eight billion dollars traded hands. Papers signed. David Ellison owns the circus now. CBS News employees sipped stale coffee. They read the press release. Nobody cheered. The new boss scrapped DEI initiatives on day one. Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance’s legal spear, wrote the FCC. “...

Vinay Prasad Exits FDA: Abrupt Resignation of CBER Director & Chief Medical Officer After 3 Months | Sarepta Gene Therapy Controversy, Political Pressure & Regulatory Impact Key Takeaways Abrupt Exit : Vinay Prasad resigned as FDA’s biologics chief after less than three months amid political pressure and drug approval controversies . Sarepta Controversy : His scrutiny of  Elevidys , a Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy, led to shipment halts after a patient death, reversed days before his departure . Political Targeting : Right-wing activist  Laura Loomer  spearheaded a smear campaign, branding Prasad a “progressive saboteur” for past critiques of Trump and COVID policies . Scientific Clash : Prasad overruled FDA scientists on COVID vaccines, limiting boosters to high-risk groups, drawing ire from public health experts . The Resignation Heard ‘Round the Beltway Vinay Prasad quit on a Tuesday. The FDA’s biologics chief walked out after 89 days, a blip in bureaucra...