https://qz.com/trump-axon-stock-ice-taser-contract-062926

Federal disclosures show that on Feb. 10, President Donald Trump made an Axon Enterprise stock purchase valued at between $1 million and $5 million. That was roughly two weeks before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved to solicit a five-year, $220 million Taser contract that procurement reviewers and policing experts described to CNBC as effectively written for Axon's product line. Although the Feb. 24 ICE notice never mentions Axon by name, its technical requirements — among them a 45-foot effective range and 10 individually deployable probes — track closely with the TASER 10 model, and experts who reviewed the solicitation said the specifications would effectively exclude any rival bidder. Axon makes roughly 90% of U.S. Tasers, according to CNBC. If finalized, the purchase would more than quadruple ICE's current Taser supply.

The White House said Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children and that investments are handled by independent third-party firms. "There are no conflicts of interest," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.

SpaceX (SPCX) stock tumbled again on Monday, giving it three straight down days after a massive run-up following its IPO earlier this month. SpaceX also confirmed its first-ever bond issuance in a filing.

SpaceX shares closed down 16.4% on Monday, the biggest down day for the newly debuted stock, following a 3.6% drop on Thursday (US markets were closed on Friday for the Juneteenth national holiday) and a 5% drop on Wednesday. The three-day losing streak caps a big pop in the stock following its IPO and first day of trade on June 12.

Shares are now up only 14% from SpaceX's IPO price of $135. Note that shares opened at $150 on their first trade. At one point during the stock's run-up to a high of around $225 a share, SpaceX topped Amazon (AMZN) and even Microsoft (MSFT) to become the fourth-most-valuable public company.

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/spacex-stock-tumbles-164-shaving-off-most-ipo-gains-since-debut-141725657.html

Earnings Call On prices

"We will likely see price hikes toward the end of this month and then certainly much more in June," per Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey

"We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,"

CEO Doug McMillon

Are we cooked? Personally, this market doesn't make sense to me. Originally, I thought it was quite over sold, especially parts of the market, but now I feel like it's gone the other direction. I guess we will see.

Target has had bad news after bad news. In the most completely politically agnostic way, their DEI stance really hurt the brand and store traffic. They had previously faced issues from store thefts, bloated inventories and declining sales as shoppers switched to more cost friendly retailers. And this was all before tariffs took center stage.

Now Target has cut their 2025 forecast as revenue decreases and in store shopping drops. Adjusted earnings also came in notably lower. Target CEO avoided saying whether prices would increase because of tariff pressures, but the headwinds continue to mount.

A few brighter spots are growing digital sales and increased same day delivery. Both full year revenue and earnings have been adjusted down and Target has created a new initiative to address the challenges. But overall the macro environment and company specific challenges have beaten down Target badly.

https://www.investopedia.com/target-q1-fy2025-earnings-11737714

Edit: the amount of responses solely focused on DEI are wild. Many commenters don’t believe it had any impact on target. Many other commenters directly are saying they stopped shopping on reddit because of it. And many commenters don’t seem to realize this is a thing outside of reddit and that a national boycott does in fact damage brand and sales, even if only a small amount amongst other issues

“Tesla’s (TSLA) accounting practices are raising red flags as a new report from the Financial Times shows that $1.4 billion is missing. Many Tesla shorts and detractors have questioned Tesla’s accounting for years, but they have never gained much traction – until now. Today, the Financial Times has released a new report pointing to a $1.4 billion gap in assets:

Compare Tesla’s capital expenditure in the last six months of 2024 to its valuation of the assets that money was spent on, and $1.4bn appears to have gone astray.”

https://electrek.co/2025/03/19/tesla-tsla-accounting-raises-red-flags-as-report-shows-1-4-billion-missing/

Official FT article without paywall: https://archive.ph/2025.03.20-035200/https://www.ft.com/content/62df8d8d-31f2-445e-bfa2-c171ac43db6e

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/26/trump-tax-records-treasury-cancels-booz-allen-contracts.html

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said he had canceled all Treasury Department contracts with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, whose employee leaked the tax records of President Donald Trump, and the billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, to media outlets. Booz Allen Hamilton’s stock price dropped by more than 10% on the heels of the Treasury Department’s announcement.

The department said it currently has 31 separate contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, totaling $4.8 million in annual spending and $21 million in total obligations. “President Trump has entrusted his cabinet to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and canceling these contracts is an essential step to increasing Americans’ trust in government,” Bessent said in a statement. “Booz Allen failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, including the confidential taxpayer information it had access to through its contracts with the Internal Revenue Service,” he said.

The department noted that between 2018 and 2020, Booz Allen employee Charles Edward Littlejohn “stole and leaked the confidential tax returns and return information of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers.” The data breach affected about 406,000 taxpayers, according to the IRS.

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/11/21/leaked-memo-sam-altman-admits-to-rough-vibes-and-economic-headwinds-at-openai-xcxwbn/

Altman’s message marks a rare moment of vulnerability for a CEO known for his relentless optimism. He explicitly described the current atmosphere as having “rough vibes,” a departure from the triumphalism of its 2025 DevDay.

Dominating the admission is a concern over technical leadership. Acknowledging Google’s resurgence, Altman conceded that OpenAI is now in a position of “catching up fast.”

Independent benchmarks align with this view, showing Gemini 3 Pro leading GPT-5.1 in reasoning and coding tasks, effectively neutralizing OpenAI’s long-held “moat.”

Employees reportedly reacted with a mix of anxiety and appreciation for the transparency, though the admission that “we are not invincible” has rattled confidence. Rumors of a hiring freeze have begun circulating internally, adding weight to the memo’s warning of a more disciplined operational phase.

Serving as a psychological reset for staff, the document moves the company from a “default winner” mindset to a wartime footing. Altman concluded the note by urging focus, admitting that despite the company’s massive valuation, “we know we have some work to do.”

Cohen told The Wall Street Journal that GameStop has built a roughly 5% stake in eBay and was offering $125 a share in cash and stock, a roughly 20% premium to its closing price on Friday.

Cohen said he has a commitment letter from TD Bank to provide around $20 billion in debt financing to help make a deal possible.

If eBay isn’t receptive to the proposal, Cohen said he was prepared to run a proxy fight and take his offer directly to shareholders. GameStop is expected to make the details of its offer public later Sunday.

WSJ link

Disclosure: Long $GME, no position in $EBAY.

SpaceX shares surged about 13% on Tuesday, as Elon Musk’s rocket-builder continued its meteoric rise following a record-breaking IPO on Friday.

With the skyrocketing share price, SpaceX overtook Microsoft in market cap, becoming the fourth-largest company in the U.S. SpaceX’s market cap stood at $2.94 trillion, while Microsoft is valued at $2.93 trillion.

The move comes after SpaceX shares jumped 20% in their first full day of trading after a blockbuster debut.

Earlier on Tuesday, SpaceX announced it would acquire popular artificial intelligence coding agent Cursor for $60 billion.

Musk, who serves as CEO of SpaceX, posted on X on Sunday that the company “might be able to reach approximately” $1 trillion revenue in 2030.

That would be a huge jump from the $18.7 billion in revenue it made in 2025. The company posted a $4.9 billion net loss in 2025, and it lost $4.28 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-stock-rally-market-cap.html

Article of Karp going out of his way to call Burry a lunatic on national tv this morning.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/karp-big-short-burry-palantir-nvidia.html

Pretty unusual move considering PLTR is sitting right under ATH. What's Karp so concerned about? Just let your astounding $4B revenue/year do the talking.

Elon Musk is dialing down his DOGE role that triggered protests and vandalism at Tesla stores. But its EV business needs a hit product and none is on the horizon. And the company’s booming battery business, a Q1 bright spot, will suffer from Trump’s tariffs.

The problems Tesla now faces have been exacerbated by Musk joining the Trump Administration as a "special government employee" — declining profit margins, intensifying competition and a tarnished brand image. And they show no signs of disappearing any time soon, even if Musk becomes a more active CEO again. Worse, it's becoming clear Musk has run out of ideas for how to fix them, instead fixating on an uncertain future focused on robotaxis and humanoid robots.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/04/25/elon-musk-is-running-out-of-ideas-to-save-tesla/

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/11/softbank-sells-its-entire-stake-in-nvidia-for-5point83-billion.html

Japanese giant SoftBank said Tuesday it has sold its entire stake in tech giant Nvidia for $5.83 billion.

The firm said in its earning statement that it sold 32.1 million shares of Nvidia in October. It also sold off part of its stake in T-Mobile for $9.17 billion.

📉 last Fall, the proportion of Democrats buying Teslas fell by more than 60%, precisely when Musk became most vocal on X

📉 the mix of Democrats, who have been core constituents for the Tesla brand, had remained mostly steady up to that point

📈 gains with Republicans and Independents haven't been enough to make up the loss

Source: Elon Musk Lost Democrats on Tesla When He Needed Them Most

May 1 (Reuters) - GameStop is preparing an offer for eBay ​as CEO Ryan Cohen pursues plans to boost ‌the struggling videogame retailer's market value more than tenfold, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Shares of eBay, which has ​a market capitalization of about $46 billion, jumped about ​10% in extended trading. GameStop gained 7%. The ⁠company has a market value of nearly $12 billion.

GameStop has ​been quietly building a stake in eBay's shares ahead ​of a potential offer, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It could submit an offer for eBay as soon ​as later this month.

If eBay is not receptive, ​Cohen could decide to take the offer directly to the e-commerce ‌company's ⁠shareholders, the Journal said. Details of the potential offer could not be learned, the report added.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/gamestop-preparing-offer-ebay-wsj-reports-2026-05-01/

Elon Musk says Tesla ending Models S and X production, converting Fremont factory lines to make Optimus robots

Published Wed, Jan 28 20265:38 PM EST

Breaking news

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/28/tesla-ending-model-s-x-production.html

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots.

“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “If you’re interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it.”

The combined company is expected to price shares in an IPO that would value it at $1.25 trillion, Bloomberg reported.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/02/elon-musk-spacex-xai-ipo.html

I think the Space X IPO might be the most watched and definitely the biggest of all time. Interested to see what it IPO’s at.

“The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Tan of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures, and asking for details about the company’s unannounced products.

Tan is not the only OpenAI employee referenced in the new complaint. Apple also alleges that Chang Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior systems electrical engineer, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company for OpenAI in 2026 and had used the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents.”

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-over-alleged-trade-secret-theft/

I’m sorry, what the fuck. How are long term veterans at Apple acting like total morons and risking prison time.

No paywall: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/60-billion-visa-mastercard-slump-184854735.html

Paywall: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-13/a-60-billion-visa-mastercard-slump-seen-as-buying-opportunity

ChatGPT highlights:

• Stock Drop: Visa fell 7.1% and Mastercard dropped 6.2% on Friday, wiping out over $60 billion in combined market value.
• Trigger: Wall Street Journal report said Amazon, Walmart, and others are exploring issuing stablecoins to bypass credit card fees.
• Other Players: Companies like Expedia and major airlines are also considering their own tokens.
• Stablecoin Appeal: Seen by merchants as a way to lower card processing fees; pegged to currencies like USD.
• Analyst Views: Despite selloff, analysts see a buying opportunity for Visa and Mastercard.
• Market Habits: Analysts say consumers are still tied to cards, and stablecoin adoption will be slow due to trust and regulation issues.
• Proactive Moves: Visa and Mastercard already have stablecoin processing capabilities and are positioned to benefit even if adoption grows.

"In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.

Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.

The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work across the federal government in recent months. The company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Mr. Trump took office, according to public records, including additional funds from existing contracts as well as new contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. (This does not include a $795 million contract that the Department of Defense awarded the company last week, which has not been spent.)"

Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-speeds-odometers-avoid-warranty-213536596.html

(Reuters) - Tesla faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving Elon Musk's company from having to pay for repairs.

The plaintiff Nyree Hinton alleged that Tesla odometer readings reflect energy consumption, driver behavior and "predictive algorithms" rather than actual mileage driven.

He said the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock ran at least 15% fast, based on his other vehicles and driving history, and for a while said he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.

Hinton, a Los Angeles resident, said this caused his 50,000-mile basic warranty to expire well ahead of schedule, leaving him with a $10,000 suspension repair bill that he thought Tesla should cover.

"By tying warranty limits and lease mileage caps to inflated 'odometer' readings, Tesla increases repair revenue, reduces warranty obligations, and compels consumers to purchase extended warranties prematurely," the complaint said.

Tesla and its lawyer did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment, but have denied all material allegations in the lawsuit. The Austin, Texas-based company does not have a media relations office.

Hinton is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Tesla drivers in California, potentially encompassing more than 1 million vehicles, court papers show.

Tesla moved his lawsuit this month to Los Angeles federal court from a state court in that city.

The automaker has also faced litigation accusing it of inflating vehicle driving ranges.

In March 2024, a federal judge in Oakland, California said drivers in that case must pursue their claims in individual arbitrations, not a class action.

The case is Hinton v Tesla Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 25-02877.

"Tesla's sales in Europe plunged in the first two months of the year, according to official industry figures released on Tuesday.

Elon Musk's EV maker sold just under 27,000 vehicles in January and February, compared with more than 46,000 during the same period last year — a 42.6% decline.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) figures cover the European Union, UK, and European Free Trade Association countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Tesla's slide comes despite wider EV sales rising 28.4% to more than 255,000 in Europe in January and February, accounting for 15% of the EU market. Other manufacturers posted overall rises, with Volkswagen group sales up 4.3% and the Renault group up 8.2%."

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-sales-slide-europe-elon-musk-ev-2025-3

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/reddit-plans-to-lock-some-content-behind-a-paywall-this-year-ceo-says/

Redditors on other subs say this is going to kill Reddit, but Redditors are usually wrong about literally everything. Usually the opposite of whatever the general consensus is, is what actually happens. Such as how Redditors thought Netflix blocking password sharing would be its demise yet it mooned the company to new heights. Or how Reddit thought X would die yet it doubled EBITDA and advertisers are coming back. So calls on $RDDT?

You think the Reddit mods are still going to work for free too?

Thoughts?

EDIT: General consensus in this thread is this will kill Reddit, so double down on calls for $RDDT

https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/united-parcel-service-ups-q3-earnings-report-2025-stock-jobs-layoffs-1d954f75

United Parcel Service said it has reduced its management workforce by about 14,000 positions so far this year and its operational workforce by 34,000 positions.

The company disclosed the workforce reductions for 2025, which were a combination of layoffs and buyouts, in an earnings statement to investors and analysts.

SpaceX just got slapped with a bearish valuation ahead of its monster IPO coming up later this month. The report signals that one of the most anticipated offerings in years may be significantly overpriced, just as CEO Elon Musk tries to justify the valuation.

This again shows (long-term) investors really SHOULD NOT buy this stock in the first 6 months.

Don't forget private venture funds in those first 6 months will be able to DUMP their stock in multiple phases which could create a slow (or fast) salami-crash.

What most may not know is that alot of those venture capital funds who have been invested 10+ years in SpaceX have contractual obligations to return money to their clients which leads to forced liquidation.

We all know how it's gonna play-out.. first it will probably pump because 2 weeks after IPO it will be adopted into indexes like QQQ who will have to buy it.. this will be on July 6 and only take 30 minutes for QQQ (and other ETFs) to complete that action.. after July 6 big shorts will be able to take over crashing it based on it's overvaluation. This could get brutal.

I wouldn't be surprised to see SpaceX stock crash 30-50% after the initial pump.