Hello, Friday-N2K’ers!

Can you believe we made it to Friday and that the stock market is on the verge of an all-time record? Me neither, frankly, but still. Cheers. 🥂 Also I don’t think I introduced myself?

—My name is Davis. Matt Davis. Need2Know Chedditor.

News You Need2Know

• ‘Dune’ director moving to James Bond franchise

• Is the heat off? Looking into key inflation data

• Why WhatsApp won’t be ad-free for much longer

• Trump smartphone drops 'Made in the USA'

• Monster and CareerBuilder are ‘open to work’

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$AMZN ( ▲ 0.99% )  $META ( ▲ 0.67% )  $DJT ( ▼ 0.84% )  $IEED ( 0.0% )  $LNKD ( 0.0% )  

‘Dune’ director moving to James Bond franchise

Obviously this is the most important story of the day. Never mind the Fed chair, inflation, or war in the Middle East: Amazon MGM Studios $AMZN ( ▲ 0.99% ) has just handed the reins of the James Bond franchise to Dune visionary Denis Villeneuve.

Exciting? Maybe. Important? Certainly. But let’s face it — the Bond franchise has been on life support compared to what it once was, ever since Sean Connery hung up his tux. No director, not even Mr. Villeneuve with all his grunty sound effects can truly resuscitate what Connery perfected and everyone else dragged along for the ride.

I loved Sicario, and Bladerunner 2024, by the way. That reboot was almost watchable-ish, so: I’m no Denis Villeneuve hater! It’s just my job to defend the castle Connery against all interlopers, Canadian or otherwise.

Mine too, Denis. So: Don’t you ‘eff this up. Hear? I have seen “Dr. No,” conservatively, 800 times. Villeneuve says he’ll “honor the tradition,” of the franchise, but unless he can clone Mr. Connery I’ll be surprised if the new movie is worth watching.

Amazon snapped up control of the franchise after nearly 60 years of Broccoli family stewardship. The good news? We’ll always have the classics. So, grab your Martini and relive the glory days. They’re all now streaming on (checks notes) Amazon, would you believe!

P.S. I would like to add that Timothy Dalton’s performance in “The Living Daylights,” (1987) was also quite good. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

Song of the day: Dum didee ding ding, dum dum dum dum didee ding ding…

The "James Bond Theme" is instantly recognizable and forever tied to 007’s swagger. Debuting in “Dr. No” (1962), this E-minor masterpiece was composed by Monty Norman and arranged by John Barry. It’s been Bond’s auditory calling card since. The theme's origin, however, reads like a classic spy dispute: Courts ruled Norman was the composer, bagging £600,000 in royalties before his 1999 death. Yet Barry insisted he penned the tune, sparking the legal scuffle. Norman in fact won two libel suits against publishers who backed Barry. Regardless of the drama the “James Bond Theme” continues to make your morning commute feel like a chase scene when you get that stuff going in your airpods. Yesh, indeed it doesh. 🎶

Is the heat off? Looking into key inflation data

Is the inflation heat truly off? Sadly…not.

"Economy's okay, growing. Job creation is still there. Inflation is running hotter. How do you see a rate cut? At least in July?” Chris Versace, CIO at Tematica Research, said while joining us at the New York Stock Exchange this week.

Looking ahead, Versace emphasizes the importance of data coming in June, July, and August, all before the Fed's next meeting. He is particularly focused on next week's hard July data, including manufacturing and services, new orders, and employment figures. If these confirm worrying inflation signals, it could "wipe that [July rate cut] off the table." The question then shifts to whether there will be two rate cuts in 2025.

So the heat, it seems, may not be off just yet.

Today on the ‘gram: Italians and their wit

Post of the day: ‘Thank you Bloomberg’

Quote of the Day

Why WhatsApp won’t be ad-free for much longer

Get ready for a new look on your WhatsApp. Meta $META ( ▲ 0.67% ) is finally bringing advertisements to the platform in a big change from its long-standing ad-free philosophy. The move is all about making more money from WhatsApp's massive 3 billion monthly users, and funding Meta's huge investments in AI.

For ten years after acquiring WhatsApp in 2014, Meta kept it blissfully ad-free, sticking to its original promise. But now, with "tens of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence" being spent, Andrew Nusca, Editorial Director at Fortune told us, "it's finally uncovering that rock." 

The plan is to place ads in the "updates" section of the app — not your private chats with friends. Of course, the big question on everyone's mind is how targeted ads will work without peeking into our encrypted conversations.

Nusca cleared this up, emphasizing that Meta doesn't need to snoop on your chats. "Meta knows plenty about you. It does not need to read your direct chats in WhatsApp to know what you've been doing on Facebook, what you're been looking at on Instagram, what you have been doing in other sites," he explained. So, relax, your private messages are still private! Meta's got enough snooping data from its other platforms.

Nusca said it was "inevitable that Meta would turn on the spigot eventually," but he also wondered "just how much advertising it can get away with without getting in the way of the user experience of the app." 

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

It’s almost back where it was in February!

Trump smartphone drops 'Made in the USA'

The Trump Organization $DJT ( ▼ 0.84% ) recently unveiled its shiny new flagship: the gold-hued T1 smartphone. With a $499 price tag and bold claims to be "Made in the USA," the phone was supposed to be the MAGA manifesto in your pocket.

Except, well. The website’s once-prominent banner boasting "Made in the USA" has mysteriously vanished, replaced by more slippery phrasing like "American-Proud Design" and "brought to life right here in the USA."

So... is it made in America or not? It's unclear, but the new slogan feels closer to food labeling legalese than an actual manufacturing promise.

Experts point out an awkward truth: the U.S. doesn’t have the supply chain to fully produce a smartphone, and many key components would inevitably come from overseas. This raises suspicions the T1 might be less Minneapolis and more Shenzhen.

Monster and CareerBuilder are ‘open to work’

Once the undisputed kings of job hunting during the dot-com era, Monster and CareerBuilder now find themselves facing a decidedly less glamorous (heh, heh) career path: Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The two iconic platforms, which merged last year under the banner Monster + CareerBuilder, announced that they’re selling off key parts of their business as part of a court-supervised process. At their peak, these companies were household names — Monster even splurged on flashy Super Bowl commercials to cement its dominance. However, as job seekers moved on to slicker rivals like Indeed $IEED ( 0.0% ) , Glassdoor, and LinkedIn $LNKD ( 0.0% ) , the once-glorious brands faded into obscurity.

CEO Jeff Furman blamed a “challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment” in his statement. Right, Jeff.

Poll of the Day: Thish should be a “shoo-in…”

Poll Results: And they say ‘journalists’ focus too much on WOMEN leaders’ fashion choices…

We asked: “Jensen Huang's leather jacket?” (The $NVDA ( ▲ 1.56% ) CEO).

You answered:

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Y 🔥 (101)

 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 N 🚫 (248)

Doing our bit for hater diversity. Also: ANNA WINTOUR QUIT VOGUE. Which means the job is open. I’m sorry guys but I’m BUSY, so… call off the hounds.

349 Votes via @beehiiv polls