July 26, 2023

The Appetizer

“Conventional wisdom in Hollywood has been that you cannot release two big blockbusters on the same weekend, maybe that’s not as true as people believe.”

• Michael O’Leary, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, on the “Barbenheimer” craze.

Now, on to the numbers. Drum roll, please …

• 750%: How much college tuition has increased since 1963 after adjusting for inflation.
• 128° Fahrenheit: How high the temperature reached in California’s Death Valley recently.
• 7.1 million square feet: The amount of floor space in the new largest office building in the world, the Surat Diamond Bourse in India.
• 2.4%: Atlanta Federal Reserve (Fed)’s GDPNow gauge for the second quarter.
• $72 billion: The amount of frozen food sales in the U.S. in 2022.
• 15: The number of Wimbledon tournaments that an American Harris hawk named Rufus has been used at to scare pigeons away.

Dig In
Summer Intern Survey

This summer, Stifel welcomed more than 125 interns into our offices and, if you can remember, some of them hijacked a recent Bits … and did a great job! Now we’re turning the spotlight on the 2023 intern class to get a better handle on Gen Z’s preferences and consumer habits. Here are some highlights from our intern survey.

First, we learned that Gen Z values in-person experiences. For example, 54% expressed little interest in attending a virtual Broadway show or concert (don’t blame them!), a work from home option is “not at all important” to 46% of the interns (just give it time …), and half preferred the brick-and-mortar option when shopping for apparel, electronics, and groceries.

Next, don’t give them cash for the team coffee run: 70% “rarely” or “never” use cash for purchases. Instead, 90% used Venmo and 51% used Apple Pay in the past month to exchange money with family and friends.

Additionally, we learned Instagram might be winning the cage match for their social media attention: 44% use Instagram, while only 8% use Twitter.

Thank you, interns, for all of your hard work. Check out the rest the survey highlights!

Weekly Specials

Taylor just can’t stay out of the headlines … and out of Bits! Swift became the first woman to have four albums on the Billboard Top 10 list at the same time. Her new album, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” became her twelfth No. 1 album, also a new record for a female performer.

This is a new one – flights were cancelled because the first officer refused a promotion. As the pilot shortage continues, more than 7,000 first officers have turned down opportunities to become airline captains.

Phoenix set a heat record last week when it recorded its nineteenth straight day with temperatures above 110 degrees. It’s not just Arizona feeling the heat. In Texas, kids in summer camp usually get to spend at least two hours outside, but with temps over 100, they’re getting just 15 minutes in the morning.

Your favorite restaurant might be closing earlier than it used to because Americans are becoming early birds. According to Uber, rides to restaurants during the 4 p.m. hour are up 10% compared to 2019 and down 9% after 8 p.m., leading some establishments to shift their hours. And check your Broadway tickets: shows may start an hour earlier than they used to.

The Women’s World Cup kicked off over the weekend as the U.S. Women’s National Team looks for its third straight win. It’s not going to be easy following a global surge of investment in the women’s game, with countries such as Spain, Germany, England, and France set to provide strong opposition.

Corporate Lunch

Tesla has begun production of the Cybertruck almost four years after its announcement in November 2019. How do you guys feel about its steel exterior?

Barbie and Oppenheimer (aka Barbenheimer) collected a combined $235.5 million in the U.S. and Canada this past weekend, setting a new post-pandemic box office record.

Apple Maps is winning the race against Google Maps as the preferred navigation app for some.

Oh boy, AT&T and Verizon have seen share prices fall after a report said some of their decades old cables are covered in lead.

Norway imposed a “temporary ban” on Meta who now faces a $100,000 daily fine if they do not comply with restrictions on users’ data.

Google is restricting internet access to some employees to reduce cyberattack risk. The new program has employees working on internet-free desktop PCs.

Babies R Us is officially back with their new flagship store in the American Dream mall. Look at the little stroller test track.

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Past performance is not indicative of future results.