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Today's big stories

Europe’s regulators said Amazon has breached anti-competition rules
There's a lot of evidence to suggest your oil stocks might not be worth anything in the long run – Read Now
Beyond Meat’s earnings came in below analysts’ expectations

1/3

Slim Pickings

What’s Going On Here?

If you like European regulators, you might also like... their announcement on Tuesday that Amazon is in breach of anti-competition rules.

What Does This Mean?

The European Commission – a branch of the European Union that manages the bloc’s day-to-day business – started investigating Amazon’s anticompetitive behavior last year. And now it’s come to the “preliminary conclusion” that, yep, the tech giant has broken the rules by using independent sellers’ data for its own benefit. Put simply, Amazon can tell which third-party products are selling the best on its platform and stock the same things itself. The European Commission isn’t stopping there, either: it’s launching a new investigation into whether the company has been giving its own retail business preferential treatment over independent sellers.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Who, li’l old us?
Amazon responded with a butter-wouldn’t-melt routine, arguing that it actually represents less than 1% of the global retail market – a figure that likely leans on a catalog of “ifs”. We’ll know if that argument flies with the regulator next year, when it’s expected to make a final decision on whether the company broke competition rules. If it did, Amazon could be forced to change its business practices in the region, as well as pay a fine of 10% of its annual global revenue – a hefty $28 billion, by last year’s numbers (tweet this).

The bigger picture: Big fines for Big Tech.
Big Tech hasn’t been very popular with regulators for the last few years: Europe’s have fined Google more than $9 billion across three lawsuits, while the Irish government has ordered Apple to pay back more than $15 billion in taxes. Chinese regulators are getting in on the action too: they published rules on Tuesday that should prevent the country’s own internet platforms – like ecommerce giant Alibaba – from abusing their market-leading positions.

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2/3 Premium

Oil Stocks Aren’t Worth Squat

What’s Going On Here?

There are some analysts who think now’s a great time to invest in oil stocks, and it’s true that they might look cheap.

The value of the oil-and-gas-dominated energy sector, after all, is currently at its lowest level relative to the S&P 500 index since 1931.

But US oil exploration and production companies actually have a seriously flawed business model.

Here’s why: they’re spending more on producing oil than the prospects for oil’s price justifies. And that’s going to come back to bite them and their investors.

We dig into all the evidence in more detail in today’s Premium Insight: head here to find out why oil companies might not be worth anything in the long run.

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3/3

Pain In The Grass

What’s Going On Here?

Let’s not beat about the bush: Beyond Meat – the plant-based meat company – reported significantly worse-than-expected quarterly earnings earlier this week.

What Does This Mean?

Now that the mad dash to stockpile fridge-freezers has died down, Beyond Meat – which analysts expected to report a profit last quarter – ended up posting a loss. And while sales from US grocery stores jumped by 40% compared to the same time last year, that was a long way off the almost-200% growth the company managed in the first six months of 2020. Worse still, sales in its food service segment – which includes pandemic-hit restaurants and bars – are still on the decline. That led investors to put the company out to pasture: its shares dropped massively, probably because notoriously stable food companies aren’t as appealing when they’re not quite so stable after all.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: Will they, won’t they?
Plant-based menus are all the rage these days: even McDonald’s just announced it’d be launching one of its own. No one knows who its supplier will be, but the food giant did work with Beyond Meat last year to trial run a meatless burger. Beyond Meat, for its part, has been pretty vague on the issue, but if it does end up stuffing McDonald’s buns, the deal could help drive sales in its pandemic-battered food service segment. And at least Pizza Hut isn’t playing games: it’s just said it definitely will add Beyond Meat’s meat-free sausage to its menu.

Zooming out: Weed the people...
Some plants are clearly more popular than others right now: weed stocks have had a pretty staggering run in the last week after Americans voted to legalize marijuana in five states, as well as for a president who might be open to making it country-wide. Let’s just hope Aurora Cannabis – the industry heavyweight that announced lackluster results on Monday – will look at that rally and chill out, man.

Take action: How you can invest in meatless to save the planet.

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💬 Quote of the day

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”

– Abraham Lincoln (an American statesman, lawyer, and the 16th US president)

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Grayscale’s family of investment products offers you access to digital currencies in much the same way you access other investment products. That way, you get secure crypto exposure without the challenges of buying, storing, or safekeeping cryptocurrencies directly.

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📚 What we're reading

The most controversial phone company you’ve never heard of (Vice)
Postwoman? Try post-babushka (Mother Nature Network)
Why facts don’t change our minds (The Beautiful Truth)

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Finimize - 😬 Europe takes down Amazon

Today's big stories

Slim Pickings

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Oil Stocks Aren’t Worth Squat

⚡️ Go digital with Grayscale

Pain In The Grass

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

💸 Invest in digital currencies with Grayscale

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