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Now, news!

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

Table of Contents

• Tech Pushes Markets Back Into September Positive

• Paramount Settles Suit, Clearing Path for WB Deal

• TV Networks Turn Off White House Cameras

• Broad Optimism Greets U.S./China Summit

• How AI Helps Gambling Firms Target Addicts, Losers

• Poll of the Day: Pool Queue

What’s the Stock Market Up To, Eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 1.49% )  $DJI ( ▲ 0.71% )  $NDX ( ▲ 1.59% )  

Companies Mentioned in Today’s Newsletter

$AMD ( ▲ 9.95% )  $META ( ▲ 11.43% )  $SMCI ( ▲ 5.4% )  $COIN ( ▲ 3.5% )  $APP ( ▲ 7.18% )  $GLW ( ▲ 5.9% )  $PSKY ( ▼ 2.94% )  $WBD ( ▲ 10.79% )  $FOX ( ▲ 0.28% ) $VSNT ( ▼ 1.36% )  $PSKY ( ▼ 2.94% )  $CMCSA ( ▲ 0.84% )  $JPM ( ▲ 0.68% )  $DKNG ( ▲ 1.01% )  

Tech Pushes Markets Back Into September Positive

Stocks started the week on a rare recent positive, thanks to falling oil prices and optimism about this week’s talks between the U.S. and China. Oil prices are down more than 3% to trade at around $100 a barrel, on track for a fourth straight day of losses, which also sent bond yields down below 5%. Chip stocks and shares of firms tied to cryptocurrencies all rallied strongly. The biggest gainers included AMD $AMD ( ▲ 9.95% ) , Meta $META ( ▲ 11.43% ) , Super Micro Computer $SMCI ( ▲ 5.4% ) , Coinbase Global $COIN ( ▲ 3.5% ) , AppLovin $APP ( ▲ 7.18% ) , and Corning $GLW ( ▲ 5.9% ) . Combined, those stocks brought the S&P 500 index back into positive territory for the month, at last — even if it did take 21 days to rise 0.5%. Still, that’s better than falling almost 2% as it had by the middle of last week, eh? And stocks are still a way off their August 13 highs. But I believe they can do it. Come on, stocks!

Quote of the Day

Paramount Settles Suit, Clearing Path for WB Deal

David Ellison’s Paramount $PSKY ( ▼ 2.94% ) has settled a multi-state antitrust lawsuit, clearing the runway for its colossal $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery $WBD ( ▲ 10.79% ) .

The legal drama preceding the settlement was worthy of a soon-to-be-canceled-because-it-was-too-expensive-and-nobody-actually-watched-it HBO miniseries. A dozen (all of them Democrats, funnily enough, given Ellison’s outspoken pro-Republican politics) state attorneys general initially sued to block the merger, while Paramount threatened to pack its bags for Tennessee if California didn't play ball.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called Paramount's relocation threat an "attempt to blackmail the regulators who are daring to enforce the law.” Yet it seems to have worked. Actor Mark “Show Me a Cause I Won’t Sign Up For” Ruffalo and fellow deal opponents rallied online, "urging Bonta to hold the line." The Writers Guild of America also weighed in with a scathing lawsuit, warning that combining these legacy media titans "would kill jobs and career opportunities for Hollywood screenwriters at a time when the film and television production economy is already under pressure." An open letter signed by movie stars similarly argued the deal "would further imperil an already diminished media and entertainment industry.”

I love it when actors try to get political. It’s like when Matt Damon gets involved in the movie Team America, World Police!

Speaking of politics, intense pressure from California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who were scared Paramount might move to Tennesse, after all, pushed both sides to compromise, especially with Paramount facing costly "ticking fees" if the deal didn't close by October 1.

And none of us like ticking fees, do we? Huh? They’re almost as bad as ticking bombs!

TV Networks Turn Off White House Cameras

Major television networks including Fox $FOX ( ▲ 0.28% ) suspended their shared broadcast pool coverage of the White House yesterday after the Trump administration revoked press credentials for CNN $WBD ( ▲ 10.79% ), MS NOW $VSNT ( ▼ 1.36% ), and Politico. In response, the banished trio sued, declaring in a joint statement that the administration acted "without notice or process" because it "objected to our reporting." They warned that "left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference."

Instead of letting the White House divide and conquer, the major networks hit the pause button on presidential pool footage entirely. Bryan Boughton, Fox News’s Washington bureau chief, alerted pool members in an email that "effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President." Fox, ABC, CBS $PSKY ( ▼ 2.94% ) , CNN, and NBC $CMCSA ( ▲ 0.84% ) issued a unified defense: "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government," adding: "No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting."

Trump took to Truth Social to offer his own calm, nuanced media commentary: "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America."

The president’s approval rating hit 32% in a poll published Monday.

Let us know what you think in today’s poll. 👇🏻

Song of the Day: Anderson Paak, ‘A Good Day’

A warm, vibrant, and nostalgic traditionalist hip-hop track with irresistible, feel-good chemistry? It’s just like this newsletter!

Broad Optimism Greets U.S./China Summit

Before President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sit down for a White House state dinner on Thursday, their top negotiators are attempting to discuss how to share an AI playbook.

In preliminary meetings at JPMorgan’s $JPM ( ▲ 0.68% ) headquarters in New York, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the creation of an official “AI dialogue mechanism.” Addressing fears over rogue algorithms, cyber threats, and biological weapons, Bessent noted that "the most important thing is just to start talking" to manage risks from the rapidly developing technology.

Pitching a notification mechanism for national security incidents, Bessent added that moving "from opaque to more transparency between the number one and number two AI powers in the world is very important." Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official observed that while Washington worries about runaway AI agents, Beijing is "more concerned about control.” Of its populous.

Yet beneath the high-tech diplomatic veneer lies a messy economic reality. Negotiators are also wrestling over extending a fragile trade war truce while accusing each other of covert retaliation on things like rare earth minerals and tech blacklists.

Bessent previously described the bilateral relationship as a "water polo match" where leaders hit the ball above water while Chinese negotiators do "a lot of kicking" underneath. Brookings Institution expert Ryan Haas concurred, telling the New York Times there remains plenty of "room for shin-kicking under the table.”

Free Yourself From Advertising Forever!

How AI Helps Gambling Firms Target Addicts, Losers

A New York Times investigation revealed this weekend that sports-betting titan DraftKings $DKNG ( ▲ 1.01% ) used machine-learning models to calculate customer "elasticity," a polite corporate term for “how much more money will this person lose if we dangle a promo code?”

Former DraftKings data analyst Jayden Butts explained the core formula with startling candor: "Is this person going to give us more than we’re giving them? And if the answer is yes, open the floodgates."

Another former analyst put it even more bluntly: "It is as predatory as it sounds. If you lose more, we give you more, so you keep playing more." Former data scientist Jacob Shulkin noted that bonus bets work by exploiting user psychology: "I feel I’m getting free money, but really it’s dragging me back in."

And what about using that exact same predictive technology to spot addiction and protect vulnerable players? Well, DraftKings sidelined those internal safety models, according to the reporting. When asked about promotional risks, Lori Kalani, DraftKings’s chief “responsible gaming officer,” shrugged it off by comparing betting apps to retail therapy: "Shopping can be problematic for people." 

For gamblers like Bryan Biehl, who lost nearly $70,000, those promotional emails felt like an inescapable trap: "I would get flooded with bonuses and deposits. If you are in addiction, you are not going to say no,” he told the Times.

It’s all rather charming, isn’t it? I must say I’m a bit disappointed in Kevin Hart and Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and Nick Jonas and Ludacris and LeBron James and David Ortiz and Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Hawk for promoting this company, now. Then again, one could argue that it’s ubiquitous at this point, so why fight it?

Should You Check Your 401(k) Today?

👍️ 

Yes.

Poll of the Day: Pool Queue

Poll of the Day: Outr-AI-geous!

We asked: How angry does it make you that AI companies knowingly stole journalists' work to train their AI models, even though they were morally conflicted about doing so.

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I don't get angry about anything these days, mate. I'm zen, like a monk. So, it doesn't anger me at all. (30)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ It upsets me a tad. But let's be honest, when a technology company wants to behave badly in America, nobody is going to stop them. And then we have these wonderful chatbots that help me totally check out at work and do everything with much less attention. (82)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 It's outrageous. These firms have acted like they were above the law and morality and deserve to be made to pay for their behavior, and worse. (305)
417 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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