?'Big short’ Burry signals epic crash

STOCKS & STARTUPS

‘Big short’ Michael Burry's hedge fund added one stock and dumped all the rest...?after warning an epic market crash is coming

The hedge fund exited positions including Alphabet Inc. and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., while adding private-prison operator Geo Group Inc., which was their only long stock holding as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Burry's Scion Asset Management disclosed just over 500,000 shares of Geo Group, worth $3.3 million. Geo invests in private prisons and mental-health facilities and commands a market capitalisation of less than $900 million.?Read more.

So what:?Burry, who rose to prominence after a winning wager against mortgages in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, has become a cult figure on social media in recent months, with ominous predictions of a looming downturn. In a May tweet, he raised the spectre of a crash similar to the one 14 years ago. He's also known for betting against Elon Musk's Tesla and for investing in GameStop before it became a meme stock. Close followers of Burry are likely to interpret his decision to effectively liquidate his portfolio as a bad omen.

He declined to comment on the filing.

Oil prices have tumbled sharply as China stoked fears of a global economic slowdown

Oil prices settled lower on Monday after disappointing Chinese economic data renewed concerns of a global recession that would be expected to reduce fuel demand. A barrel of Brent crude fell by about 5% to below $94 (￡78) on Monday, hitting the joint lowest levels since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.?Read more.

So what:?It comes after China’s central bank unexpectedly slashed key interest rates as a raft of data showed weakness in the world’s second-largest economy amid ongoing Covid restrictions and a property crisis.

In turn, that fuelled concerns of falling demand from China - the world’s biggest oil consumer.

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TECH & WEB3

Paris Hilton builds her own virtual Malibu Mansion in the Sandbox. Is she the OG Crypto Queen?

Paris Hilton has debuted her virtual Malibu mansion on?Sandbox,?a decentralised gaming virtual world. This comes as Hilton continues to beef up her web presence. Having been an early adopter of Web3 she produced a line of digital wearables way back in 2015 with Animoca (Sandbox’s parent company) and she also instigated the building of Paris World in Roblox.?Read more.

So what:?The Sandbox has 2M users, 40M+ instals and 300 partnerships with big names like Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, Gucci, and Adidas. These deals could help celebs and brands profit from new forms of entertainment that meld the physical and digital: think a Snoop meta-concert or Paris digital-DJ set. Watch this space.

Peloton to cut 800 jobs, hike prices and shut stores in sweeping overhaul

Peloton Interactive Inc (PTON) will embark on a sweeping overhaul that includes cutting nearly 800 jobs, raising prices for its Bike+ and Tread machines, and outsourcing functions such as equipment deliveries and customer service to outside companies.

New CEO Barry McCarthy is also considering letting Peloton app subscribers view workouts on third-party machines and that he may tweak the app’s subscription strategy toward a “freemium” model where some features aren’t locked behind a paywall.

McCarthy told?Bloomberg?he hopes Peloton’s long-awaited rower might debut sometime this holiday season. He also confirmed the company hasn’t fully given up on the Tread Plus.?Read more.

So what:?All of this tracks with comments McCarthy made in May during the company’s Q3 2022 earnings in a bid to turn round the company's future. At the time, he also floated the idea of changing hardware designs so that in the future Peloton equipment would be designed to arrive at a customer’s home in one piece, rather than be assembled at home by a white glove delivery service.

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COMMS & CULTURE

New Instagram feature allows users to remove weight loss and weight control ads from their feeds

Users can now filter out weight loss related ads on their news feeds. The update widens the feature that Instagram introduced last summer by allowing users to filter content on more than just their Explore page.?Read more.

So what:?It’s unclear if Instagram was following TikTok’s lead or made its changes as a result of a petition created by body neutral influencer, Katie Budenberg. Other social media apps have made similar decisions in recent years. TikTok banned fasting app ads and restricted advertisements from promoting ‘negative body image’ way back?in 2020. While it's a positive social step forward, is Instagram too late to the party again?

Lyft creates a media division to cash in on in-car ads and gain an edge on Uber

Lyft has created a new business unit to beef up its digital advertising business across its tablets, mobile app, rooftops and bicycles, producing the potential to add billions of dollars to its bottom line. The announcement comes days after Lyft and its biggest competitor, Uber, announced robust second-quarter financial results.?Read more.

So what:?Both face increasing competition for location-based advertising. Uber, which entered the ad business in 2019 via its UberEats app before rolling out ads across its rooftops and ride-hailing app, said its advertising business could reach $1 billion in revenue by 2024. Looks like the competition is about to heat up.

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Fact of the week

In a nice little throwback, new app?Later Cam?turns your phone into an old-school disposable camera. You can shoot up to 27 photos without previewing or editing your shots. The photos are then mailed to your doorstep as glossy 4x6 prints. What’s old is new again (again!).

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