Business

Elon, Mr. Beast, Who Will Save TikTok?

In all likelihood, this is just going to end up in court.

We wrote earlier this week about the impending ban of TikTok, which, if upheld, will commence at the end of this week. However, one way that would stop this would be a sale of the app.

Many politicians worry about the popular social media app, because of its Chinese ownership. So, what if that is no longer the case? Does that remove all concern? 

The company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, prefers to just fight this potential ban. And President-elect Donald Trump has previously asked for a delay of the ban, until he is in office, to attempt to find a resolution. The ban is scheduled to begin the day before Inauguration Day. 

However, another option would be a sale. And Chinese officials are reportedly evaluating an option where Elon Musk (who already bought another popular social media app, X, which was called Twitter at the time) would acquire the U.S. operations of TikTok. 

This seems to be the preferred last ditch effort for the company, only considered if all else fails. As the company called this report “pure fiction.” 

In the meantime, ByteDance is contesting the ban with an appeal to the Supreme Court, citing first amendment rights. However, to this point, the justices have signaled that they are likely to uphold the ban, which was backed by outgoing president Joe Biden.

Another potential buyer might be millionaire online personality Mr. Beast. The YouTube star has stated he would be “eager” to buy the app to stop it from being banned. 170 million Americans use the site/app.

Trump May Be Good For Small Business

Not only billionaires are excited for the regime change.

President-elect Donald Trump’s administration might not just be good for the 1%, but also small business owners. Small business optimism has reached a six-year high in the lead up to inauguration day. 

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) latest Small Business Operations Index jumped 3.4 points to 105.1 in December, the highest reading since October 2018. 

This is the second consecutive reading above the 50-year average, after the November index broke a 2.5-year streak the same month as Trump’s win. 

At the same time, the NFIB’s Uncertainty Index plunged 12 points, falling to 86.

“Small business owners feel more certain and hopeful about the economic agenda of the new administration,” explained NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Expectations for economic growth, lower inflation, and positive business conditions have increased in anticipation of pro-business policies and legislation in the new year.”

Trump has vowed to slash regulations, much like he did during his first term, and to make his signature tax cuts permanent when he returns to the White House next week. 

In NFIB’s survey, the net percent of owners expecting the economy to improve rose 16 points from November to a seasonally adjusted 52%, the highest since the fourth quarter of 1983.

The percent of small business owners believing it is a good time to expand their business also climbed, rising six points to a seasonally-adjusted 20%, which is the highest reading since February 2020. 

The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose eight points to a new 22%, which is the highest reading since January 2020.

Inflation remained small business owners’ single most important problem in operating their business, according to the survey, with 20% of respondents listing it as their biggest concern. Finding quality labor was second, at 19%.

Around the Water Cooler:

❌ What happens if TikTok is banned?

👏 Marco Rubio on a smooth path to Senate confirmation as next secretary of state.

Tech

Meta Going Performance Based

When they said they were done with DEI they meant it. 

Another newsletter, and another Meta story… as the company keeps finding itself in the news. This time for an internal memo that was sent out. 

On Tuesday, one of Meta’s human resource executives detailed for the company’s managers how its performance-based job cuts will work in the coming weeks in a memo. Managers were instructed to categorize employees into performance tiers based on their contributions over the past year - like straight out of The Office, where Michael and Jim are using beans to determine how much of a raise each employee earned.

The memo detailed how Meta aims to reach 10% “non-regrettable attrition” by the end of this performance cycle, combining last year’s 5% with an additional 5% this year. The employees were described as those that wouldn’t be considered a loss if they were to leave the company.

The memo made mention of Meta’s effort to ramp up pressure on underperformers and to make quicker decisions on who stays and who goes. 

“We have really ambitious goals, so we need to manage our workforce in a way that ensures we have the strongest talent working here and can move faster in managing our low performers so that we can bring new people in,” Hillary Champion, Meta’s director of people development growth programs, detailed in the memo.

Meta had already told employees that it is planning to cut about 5% of its lowest-performing staffers in an attempt to “raise the bar.” The company also said it intends to backfill these roles in 2025. 

What’s New:

🏢 Microsoft ends support for Office apps on Windows 10 in October.

🚀 SpaceX pushes Starship test flight back one day due to weather.

Economy

JP Morgan Loves Alt-coin ETFs

The bank projects a huge windfall of cash.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts estimate that a proposed batch of exchange-traded funds holding alternative cryptocurrencies may attract inflows of as much as $14 billion… should they get approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Analysts predict the suite of proposed Solana ETFs will take anywhere from $3 billion to $6 billion within 6-12 months. Meanwhile, the cohort of XRP funds is expected to gather $4-8 billion in that same time period.

JPMorgan looked at the so-called adoption rate of existing spot-cryptocurrency ETFs. Bitcoin funds held some $108 billion in assets at the time of the analysis, comprising roughly 6% of the token’s market capitalization. The funds were introduced to the market exactly a year ago. Ether ETFs gathered $12 billion since their launch six months ago, a penetration rate of 3% of the coin’s market value.

Bitcoin, which is already the world’s largest digital asset, is expected to continue to be the favored crypto of choice for investors. However, the analysts say that Solana and XPR could generate significant interest too. Though there are still questions about exactly how much. 

JPMorgan acknowledged that progress on ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ether could be slow, due to the change of administration. Especially given the lack of regularity clarity. Still, they expect other ETP applications to be submitted, and perhaps approved, in 2025.

More Money:

🐕 Capital One sued by US watchdog alleging bank cheated customers out of $2 billion.

💰 Citi cuts return targets to spend more on regulatory fixes, plans $20 billion in buybacks.

World News

Peace in the Middle East

Talks of a Cease-Fire in Gaza.

A Gaza ceasefire is reportedly “closer than ever.” Negotiators were trying to clinch an agreement on Tuesday of the final details for a ceasefire, but couldn’t reach that resolution just yet - even after eight hours of talks. However, mediators also acknowledged that they are, in fact, closer than ever.

One of the holdups appears to be Hamas waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza. According to an anonymous official, Hamas is waiting for this information before they can respond to the plan of ceasefire.

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration has been taking part in the matter, said that a deal was close. Hamas said that talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal, after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

“The deal … would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started,” Biden said on Monday.

Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the Hamas attack way back on October 7th, 2023 that ignited the war. In return, Palestinian detainees would be freed, as well.

Around the World:

🇺🇦 Ukraine fires US, British missiles into Russia, launches one of largest drone attacks so far.

🇰🇷 Impeached South Korean president detained weeks after martial law chaos.

Politics

Elizabeth Warren, What Changed?

Says, she’s ready to work with Trump.

Add senator Elizabeth Warren to the growing list of people and companies performing a 180 on president-elect Donald Trump, as he is set to re-enter the White House. Warren wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal, where she said she is “ready to work with” Trump.

The two are evidently bonded by the same goal. “If Trump wants to unrig the economy, I'm in,” Warren stated. 

The senator explained that the mission of the Democrats is “to deliver what Americans have asked for in election after election: unrigging the economy to make life more affordable for working families.”

Warren said she is ready to work with Trump, Chairman Tim Scott, and business leaders whenever “they support policies that rebuild the middle class, advance our economic and national security, and fight the corruption of those who seek to use government to enrich themselves.” Things we should all be able to get behind.

She even mentioned that they have “at least four specific tasks ahead.” Which begins with lowering costs and improving access to financial services. Housing costs reached their highest level in decades. Warren explained that "Conservatives who believe this is a supply problem are right. Liberals who believe price fixing and corporate landlords are culprits are also right. Congress has been asleep at the switch on both fronts.”

As they say, when you can see their actions, you don’t have to listen to their words. We’ll see what transpires over the next four years..

From The Hill:

🎯 Pam Bondi claims justice department ‘targeted’ Trump but says she won’t pursue ‘political’ prosecutions.

🔴 Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, part of deal to free prisoners.