Happy Friday, !

Pick a winner in this week’s world-famous news haiku competition™ in today’s poll. And enjoy the news you Need2Know…

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Why on earth is influencer MrBeast getting into fi …

• A judge orders the government to refund $130 billi …

• Anthropic chief back in talks with Pentagon about …

• Cracker Barrel works to repair its business

• Stocks slump again as oil prices go up further

• Poll of the day: It’s World Famous 575™ Time

• Bonus Poll of the day: Sunday, Bloody Sunday

• Poll of the day: MacBook Neo, anyone?

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.56% ) $DJI ( ▼ 1.61% ) $NDX ( ▼ 0.26% )  

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$GOOGL ( ▼ 0.74% )  $AMZN ( ▲ 0.98% )  $COST ( ▼ 2.4% )  $FDX ( ▼ 2.8% )  $ANTHROPIC ( ▲ 10.12% )  $PLTR ( ▼ 0.34% )  $CBRL ( ▲ 1.47% )  $AEO ( ▼ 13.9% )  $AAL ( ▼ 5.38% )  $UAL ( ▼ 5.03% )  $DAL ( ▼ 3.95% )  $BRCM ( 0.0% )  

Why on earth is influencer MrBeast getting into financial services?

TL;DR: For the money, and also to help young people figure out their financial futures. I.e., for the money.

Jimmy Donaldson, the 27-year-old YouTube $GOOGL ( ▼ 0.74% ) megastar known as MrBeast, has built his empire on outlandish stunts — he once attempted to eat 100,000 calories in a single day, for example — and giving away massive piles of cash (but not to me). Now he's asking his followers to trust him with their money. Through his company Beast Industries, Donaldson has acquired Step, a financial services app targeting teenagers and young adults that boasts over 7 million users.

With this move, MrBeast has "essentially become a banker, too," according to The New York Times. The acquisition marks a significant expansion beyond his current ventures, which include a reality show on Amazon $AMZN ( ▲ 0.98% ) Prime Video, chocolate bars, burgers, a mobile phone service, and even a thriller co-written with novelist James Patterson.

Jeffrey “Two Fonts” Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, has called Donaldson "the most popular guy in the world," briefly mistaking the YouTuber for yours truly. (The irrefutable proof: 79 people confessed to having a crush on me in a recent N2K poll run for Valentine’s Day.) Meanwhile, a mere 1.4 billion people have watched MrBeast’s content in the past three months alone. His 469 million YouTube subscribers outnumber the entire U.S. population — and many haven't yet finished high school.

So why financial services? Donaldson has said he wants to provide young people with "the financial basics he lacked when he was younger." The Step app offers spending, savings, and investment accounts, plus a secured card that can help teens build credit.

Of course the best financial advice I can give most teens is probably to start a YouTube account and try to eat 100,000 calories but that is #NotFinancialAdvice.

A judge orders the government to refund $130 billion in tariffs

A federal trade-court judge has ordered the Trump administration to begin refunding more than $130 billion collected from tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down last month.

Judge Richard “Mess“ Eaton of the Court of International Trade issued the directive Wednesday following a hearing involving a filtration company's refund request. The order requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to recalculate duties paid by importers, excluding the voided tariffs. Over 2,000 lawsuits from companies including Costco $COST ( ▼ 2.4% ) , FedEx $FDX ( ▼ 2.8% ) , and Pandora Jewelry are now seeking to recoup their money.

Trade attorney Larry Friedman called the decision historic. "This is the order I hoped for, but never expected to see," he told the Wall Street Journal, noting it means the government must refund everyone who paid the tariffs.

When Justice Department lawyer Claudia “Do I have to?” Burke argued that refunds would require manually reviewing millions of import entries, Judge Eaton was unmoved. "We live in the age of computers," he said. "It must be possible for Customs Service to program its computers so it doesn't need a manual review."

However, customs broker Nunzio “No nickname is better than my real name” De Filippis urged patience: "My message to the trade community is to chill out. There's still a whole process to figure out."

Would you believe the administration is expected to appeal?

Quote of the Day

Anthropic chief back in talks with Pentagon about AI deal

Anthropic $ANTHROPIC ( ▲ 10.12% ) chief executive Dario “Jeff Bezos“ Amodei is fighting to salvage his company's relationship with the U.S. military after tense negotiations collapsed last week, leaving the AI startup at risk of being blacklisted from the Pentagon's supply chain.

Amodei has re-engaged in discussions with Emil Michael, under-secretary of defense for research and engineering, hoping to reach a compromise on contract language governing military use of Anthropic's AI technology. The stakes are high — defence secretary Pete Hegseth threatened Friday to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk, which would force military contractors to sever ties with the company.

The breakdown centers on Anthropic's firm stance against AI being used for mass domestic surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons. In a memo to staff, Amodei revealed the Pentagon's last-minute demands raised alarm bells.

"Near the end of the negotiation the [department] offered to accept our current terms if we deleted a specific phrase about 'analysis of bulk acquired data' which was the single line in the contract that exactly matched this scenario we were most worried about. We found that very suspicious," Amodei wrote.

The CEO didn't mince words about competitors, writing that messaging from the Pentagon and OpenAI "just straight up lies about these issues or tries to confuse them." He suggested Anthropic faced retaliation because "we haven't given dictator-style praise to Trump."

Anthropic was previously awarded a $200 million defence contract and became the first AI model used in classified settings. The company’s Claude chatbot has been central, along with Palantir $PLTR ( ▼ 0.34% ) technology, in the war in Iran, sources say.

Cracker Barrel works to repair its business

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store $CBRL ( ▲ 1.47% ) (it’s prounounced “crckrbrrrrrrl,” down here in the South) is working to regain its footing after a turbulent period marked by a controversial logo change and customer backlash over menu modifications.

The Tennessee-based chain reported a 94% drop in quarterly profit to $1.3 million, with revenue falling 7.9% to $874.8 million, in its recent set of results. However, the results exceeded analyst expectations (can you imagine how bad the analysts’ expectations must have been?), and adjusted full-year guidance sent shares climbing nearly 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

Chief executive Julie Felss Masino, who is, I think, very lucky indeed to still have her job, expressed optimism about the turnaround efforts. "We are at our best more than we have been in a while," she told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

The company's troubles reflect broader challenges facing casual-dining chains as budget-conscious consumers cut back on eating out. But Cracker Barrel also created self-inflicted wounds with its failed rebranding attempt, which replaced its iconic logo featuring an old man in overalls leaning against a barrel.

After significant customer pushback, the company reversed course and suspended plans to modernize stores with decluttered, white-walled interiors.

Menu changes also sparked complaints. The chain had shifted to making its signature biscuits in batches and chilling them rather than rolling dough fresh. Cracker Barrel has since returned to hand-rolling and baking biscuits on demand. Thank you, Jesus.

New offerings include a breakfast burger topped with hash brown casserole, and smoky southern salmon. Don’t worry, those are two separate dishes. The company also noted its average Google rating reached 4.28 stars — its highest quarterly score since 2020.

Song of the Day: U2, ‘Song of the Future’

This is a standout, emotional track from U2's surprise February EP, “Days of Ash.” It is as a cohesive, energetic, yet somber tribute to Iranian teenager Sarina Esmailzadeh, featuring "Achtung Baby"–esque production techniques, a nod to Bob Dylan in its rhythm, and a powerful, poignant chorus. Esmailzadeh was a 16-year-old Iranian vlogger and high school student who became a symbol of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement in Iran after she was beaten to death by Iranian security forces in 2022. I really want to be cynical about this track because U2 once uploaded an entire album to my iPhone without permission, but I love it. There’s some life in the old dogs, yet!

Free yourself from advertising forever!

Stocks slump again as oil prices go up further

Wall Street took another hit Thursday, having climbed out of the doldrums the day before, as escalating conflict with Iran pushed oil prices sharply higher.

Brent crude $BZG23 ( 0.0% ) jumped 3.8% to $84.52 per barrel, up dramatically from around $81 the day before. The spike follows Iran's latest wave of attacks against Israel, American bases, and neighboring countries, raising concerns about prolonged disruptions to oil and gas production in the region.

American consumers are already feeling the pain at the pump. The average gallon of gas now costs $3.25, up 9% from $2.98 just a week ago, according to AAA.

Retailers suffered some of the market's steepest declines as higher fuel costs threaten to squeeze consumer budgets. American Eagle Outfitters $AEO ( ▼ 13.9% ) dropped 11.8% despite beating earnings expectations. Airlines also plunged, with American Airlines $AAL ( ▼ 5.38% ) falling 5.2%, United Airlines $UAL ( ▼ 5.03% ) losing 6%, and Delta Air Lines $DAL ( ▼ 3.95% ) sinking 5.5%.

However, some analysts urge calm. "While further escalation remains a risk, we think the more likely outcome is an increase in market risk aversion that likely lasts only a short time until investors can see a winding down of hostilities," said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Broadcom $BRCM ( 0.0% ) provided a bright spot, rising 5.5% after reporting strong quarterly results, with CEO Hock Tan citing a 74% jump in AI chip revenue. Apparently that stands for something called “artificial intelligence,” in case you were wondering.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👎️ 

No.

Poll of the day: It’s World Famous 575™ Time

Bonus Poll of the day: Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Poll of the day: MacBook Neo, anyone?

We asked: “Do you want a Macbook Neo?”

You answered:

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'll take an Indigo one. (66)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'll take a Citrus one. (37)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'll take a Blush one. (39)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'll take a Silver one. (21)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ There are no other choices. I must buy a Macbook Neo. Gah! (11)
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ This poll is a pathetic attempt to generate revenue via affiliate commerce, and I refuse to participate! (155)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I'm a PC. (164)
493 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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