🐤 A high-flying adventure

🏦 Markets: The three major stock indexes ticked up by a fraction of a percent on Tuesday in anticipation of the latest inflation-related economic reports set to emerge over the next few days.

One of the biggest individual stock gains came from Activision Blizzard, which received a favorable ruling in its planned acquisition by Microsoft (more on that later in the newsletter). The video game company’s shares rose by about 10%.

News of price increases helped Salesforce increase the value of its stock by roughly 3%.

🎮 Getting the go-ahead: Microsoft has faced significant backlash in its plan to acquire video game company Activision Blizzard, with critics claiming that it would monopolize the industry. But a judge in California ruled in Microsoft’s favor after a five-day trial concluded this week. The FTC wanted a preliminary injunction, but the judge determined that Microsoft had made a sufficient commitment to preserve competition and denied the agency’s motion.

🌄 Prehistoric America: Researchers at the University of Oregon recently announced their findings that the state was likely the first in all of the Americas to be inhabited by humans. According to discoveries including animal proteins found on tools used by the prehistoric residents, archaeologists believe that such settlements date back roughly 18,000 years, which is more than 1,000 years before the next-oldest culture is believed to have emerged.

💳 Making bank: Years after Wells Fargo was found to have engaged in similarly shady practices, federal regulators this week are pointing a finger at Bank of America. Allegations indicate that the nation’s second-largest bank created fraudulent accounts, charged customers too much in fees, and withheld rewards all in pursuit of padding its revenue. The institution has been ordered to pay $100 million to customers and a total of $150 million in fines and penalties.

🤝 Talking Turkey: Sweden continues to make its case that it deserves a spot in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and one of the biggest critics of that proposal has now dropped its opposition. According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached an agreement with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson just a day before the intergovernmental organization was set to hold its annual summit in Lithuania.

The Concorde took passengers on supersonic flights until it was decommissioned about 20 years ago, but now a new company is hoping to make ultra-fast commercial flights a profitable and accessible option once again.

Introducing the Stargazer

The co-founders of Venus Aerospace say they’re working on a Mach 9 jet called the Stargazer that will theoretically be able to take as many as a dozen passengers on a 5,000-mile flight in just one hour.

It’s not the only company currently working to develop a hypersonic mode of air travel, but executives Sassie and Andrew Duggleby are setting the bar considerably higher. The Concorde flew at Mach 2 (or two times the speed of sound) and others currently in development are planning speeds of as much as Mach 5.

But with a max of nine times the speed of sound, the Stargazer is clearly the fastest of the bunch.

What would passengers experience?

Naturally, the thought of traveling at an eye-popping 5,000 mph sounds bizarre — and it might be more than a little frightening. But the Dugglebys say there’s been a lot of thought and preparation put into their plan.

There are still plenty of regulatory, logistical, and financial hurdles to clear, but here’s what a typical flight would consist of if the Stargazer ever gets off the ground:

• It takes off with power provided by traditional jet engines.
• Once in the sky, it shifts to rocket engine power.
• Cruising altitude would reach an astonishing 170,000 feet.

Most flights top out at about 40,000 feet and flying more than four times that altitude will have some interesting characteristics. Not only does the thinner air mean less heat for the plane, but it would give passengers a unique view of where Earth’s atmosphere and space meet.

We’ve seen memes revolutionize the stock market, but now it appears that playful social media posts could be poised to revive the sagging cinematic industry.

With two high-profile films set to premiere on the same day later this month, there’s been a deluge of posts combining them in some funny, strange, and wonderful ways.

Make way for “Barbieheimer”

As you might have guessed from the name of this trend, the two films we’re talking about are “Barbie,” the live-action adventure based on Mattel’s iconic line of dolls, and “Oppenheimer,” a Christopher Nolan-directed film chronicling the backstory of the father of the atomic bomb.

On the surface, the only thing these two movies seem to have in common is that they’ll be debuting in theaters on the same day: July 21.

But that hasn’t stopped folks from mashing them together to create images that are spreading awareness about both releases at once.

There are more than a few tongue-in-cheek references, ironic jokes, and even some commentary about the battle of the sexes in the juxtaposition of these two main characters. But the real story here seems to be that the Barbieheimer movement as a whole is so much more impactful than the sum of its parts.

Even the stars are joining in

Since this trend is funneling the public’s attention toward both of the upcoming premieres, it might not be surprising to learn that the forces behind each movie are leaning into the guerrilla marketing tactic.

“Barbie” director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie have publicly displayed their tickets to see the rival film and actor Cillian Murphy, who stars in “Oppenheimer” is also said to be an active supporter of the campaign.

Tom Cruise, who’s promoting “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” isn’t fully on board, though.

It’s already the biggest online retailer on the planet, but as Amazon Prime Day deals come and go this year, the behemoth brand is focusing on ways to increase its e-commerce influence even more.

And a big part of that plan involves expansion into other markets around the world.

Check your calendar

If you’re in the United States, Prime Day bargains began yesterday (as they did in a total of two dozen countries). But elsewhere around the globe, there are different deals and specific dates designed to entice shoppers.

In India, for example, Prime Day will take place over the weekend.

Amazon’s ultimate goal

Sure, the company clearly wants you to log on and place some orders, but it doesn’t stop there. The real goal of this outreach campaign is to increase the number of people signed up for Amazon’s Prime program.

Internal research indicates that Prime members shell out about $2,000 per year on the platform, which is roughly four times more than non-members spend.

Propping up the industry

Even though shopping online has become the norm for many people around the world in recent years and received an even bigger boost during the pandemic, there’s plenty of evidence that the market has hit somewhat of a plateau.

That’s another reason that Prime memberships are so important for Amazon. While the company might not be making as much from individual purchases, the fees associated with the Prime program provide reliable income.

The global perspective

Although Prime boasts more than 200 million members across more than two dozen countries, researchers estimate that nearly three-fourths of those members live in the U.S.

For that reason, it’s in Amazon’s best interest to start looking at other countries if it really wants to boost its numbers.