FOOD

Cyber Drama at the Meat Market

Over the weekend, hackers hit the only piece of American infrastructure more critical than the Colonial Pipeline: the burger supply. 

JBS, the world's largest meat processor, had to shut down North American and Australian operations Monday following a coordinated ransomware attack. The company told the White House that it believes a criminal organization based in Russia is behind the hack.

In the US, which accounts for half of JBS revenues, nearly 20% of beef production was impacted by temporary plant shutdowns. 

It does appear to be temporary, though. JBS said that the "vast majority" of its facilities would be operational today due to progress it made in resolving the attack. 

If operations had remain paused for days or weeks, the hiccup could've turned into a real headache for JBS customers like supermarkets and fast-food chains that require a continuous supply of meat. 

Extra bad timing

While wholesale meat prices remained mostly stable yesterday, extended disruption from the cyberattack threatened to send meat prices—already on the rise—soaring even higher. 

Compared to 2020, April's pork and beef prices were up 4.8% and 3.3%, respectively, due to labor shortages, restaurant reopenings, rising grain and transportation costs, and high demand for meat exports. And Memorial Day weekend just kicked off the summer grilling season, which means even more demand for meat in the US.

Zoom out: As a greater proportion of corporate operations are tied to IT systems, hackers are presented with more opportunities to prey on links in critical supply chains. The JBS incident comes just weeks after hackers forced the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline and disrupted gas supplies up the East Coast. 

ENTERTAINMENT

AMC Plans for Worldwide Domination

Propelled by Reddit traders, AMC has landed on the moon and discovered it's made of movie theater nacho cheese. Following a remarkable 1,100% gain in share price this year, the chain raised more than $230 million to acquire other theaters, such as the former Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres.

Did AMC find a $230 million bill in the laundry or…?

AMC issued 8.5 million shares to investment firm Mudrick Capital to raise the sum. According to Bloomberg, Mudrick immediately sold off all of its freshly purchased shares after deeming the stock overvalued (wait until they hear about movie theater popcorn).

• Mudrick bought its shares at $27.12 and, if it had sold them when the stock hit a high of $33.53 yesterday, it could have raked in around $40 million.

Quote du jour: AMC CEO Adam Aron said, "With our increased liquidity, an increasingly vaccinated population, and the imminent release of blockbuster new movie titles, it is time for AMC to go on the offense again."

IPO

Homer Simpson Approves of This IPO

Krispy Kreme filed to go public yesterday under the ticker symbol DNUT, a much better choice than KRPY but less creative than GLZD.

Consider this a comeback tour, because when the 83-year-old chain first went public in 2000, it filed for bankruptcy just five years later—when carbs became public enemy No. 1.

But after being battered and fried, Krispy Kreme was picked up by European investment firm JAB Holdings and glazed back to glory. Some notable stats from Krispy Kreme's SEC filing…

• US sales grew 17% in its last fiscal year, and net revenue jumped 23% in Q1 2021 year over year.
• The chain expanded its footprint from 6,040 Krispy Kreme-selling locations in 2019 to 8,275 last year. 
• Did you know: Krispy Kreme owns Insomnia Cookies, which conducts over half of its sales via e-commerce. 
• 64% of all Krispy Kreme donuts sold are the glazed kind, because that's the best flavor.

Zoom out: JAB Holdings recently sent another chain it owned, JDE Peets (which runs Peet's Coffee, Stumptown, and more), into the public markets and has been prepping a similar fate for Panera.

SPONSORED BY ETORO

Buy Crypto, Get Money

Do a thing, get some dollars. It’s like if someone offered you money to eat a grilled cheese or go hang gliding. 

Right now, eToro will throw you $50 just for getting into crypto. Their platform offers over a dozen different cryptocurrencies, so whether you’re a BTC baddie or an ETH enthusiast, when you buy $1,000 in crypto, 50 bucks will be headed your way. 

Not enough perk for ya? Here are a few more to perk you up: On eToro, you can experiment with a virtual portfolio of $100K in “play money” and copy the moves of top-performing traders automatically. 

If you’re curious about crypto but feel like you need to learn more about the space, eToro’s got you covered. You can learn all about the industry with their market guides and a weekly newsletter. 

Get money just for doing a thing on eToro here. 

ENERGY

Down 28–3, Oil Stages a Comeback

Yesterday, oil prices hit their highest levels since the pandemic began. The international benchmark, Brent crude, closed above $70/barrel for the first time since May 2019. 

What happened: The powerful oil cartel OPEC and its allies agreed to gradually increase oil production. That announcement, signaling more demand for fuel in the coming months, only added to the positive vibes around the price of oil, which has shot up more than 30% this year.

The backstory: In spring 2020, demand for fuel collapsed when the pandemic halted travel. Oil producers instituted historic supply cuts because, hey, why make fuel when no one's going anywhere? At one point the price of oil plunged into negative territory—meaning someone would pay you to take possession of their oil barrel. 

The fast and furious economic recovery has changed the narrative in the oil industry from totally gutted to cautiously optimistic. But the big wild card is Iran: If the country rejoins the nuclear deal with the US, which is under consideration, it will play a significant role in global oil production.

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stats: Three stats that illustrate the travel industry's rebound.

1. American Airlines expects 47 of its top 50 corporate accounts to start traveling again this year in a promising sign for business travel, per the WSJ.
2. TSA screened nearly 2 million passengers at US airports on Friday, the most since the pandemic began.
3. Hilton's CEO said that Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend was the busiest its hotels have been in the Covid era. 93% of rooms were occupied.  

Quote: “For much too long, the history of what took place here was told in silence.”

President Biden was in Tulsa, OK, yesterday to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacre that left 300 people dead and destroyed the neighborhood known as Black Wall Street. He also unveiled new initiatives aimed at narrowing the racial wealth gap.  

Read: A profile of the Pied Piper of SPACs, Chamath Palihapitiya. (New Yorker)

ARCHITECTURE

A New Way to Measure Your Risk Appetite

Finally, something to freak out people who are afraid of heights and depths. Suspended 115 ft. above the ground in London, the infamous Sky Pool opened for business this week.*

*If you're a resident of the luxury Embassy Gardens' apartment buildings, where apartments start at $850k. 

The 82' see-through pool offers a bird's-eye view of the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and some very confused pedestrians. Windy out? Don't worry, it also has technology that "allows it to move in high winds."

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Warner Bros. Discovery: AT&T dug deep to name the new media company being created from its merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery.
• President Biden is suspending all oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a signature policy of former President Trump.
• The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Johnson & Johnson over a $2 billion verdict that ruled in favor of women who said they developed ovarian cancer from the company's talc products.
• How the world ran out of everything.

BREW'S BETS

This electric mower’s a portfolio grower. Graze—the world’s first fully autonomous, 100% electric lawn mower—was born to disrupt the $100 billion commercial landscaping industry. Now it has the potential to grow your portfolio. Invest in Graze today—this round closes June 30.*

The primo vinos of your dream-os. Firstleaf believes discovering great wine should be easy, so they deliver award-winning wines that are personalized to you with 98% accuracy. Their proprietary tech matches your taste profile to wines you’ll love—no commitment necessary. Start sippin’ here.*

Get outside: No one's going to tell you, but after 15 months of working out indoors your living room smells like a gym. Start exercising outside with this 12-minute HIIT set. 

Fresh flavors: Here are 45 easy summer dinner ideas. Then, for a little adventure, check out the wonders of black vinegar. 

GAMES

Guess the Skyline

Before we get to today's trivia question...we should let you know we had several #fails in yesterday's Nutritional Facts section. First of all, we said that Cheerios was a Nestlé product, when of course it's made by General Mills. To make things worse, we gave the ingredients to Honey Nut Cheerios but said the answer was the OG Cheerios. Overall, a disaster. 

Let's mercifully move on to today's prompt: Which major US city is depicted here? 

Getty Images

ANSWER

Houston

✢ A Note From eToro

eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal.