Monday Morning -- Holy Mackerel: When BLM Basketball Used To Report 17 Million+ Viewers, Finals Fifth Game Coming In Under 7 Million -- July 19, 2021

Ten-year treasury: 1.190%. Inexplicable. No one seems to understand this. 

Chips: chip shortage reaches smartphone makers. Link to The WSJ. 

Shipments are slowing and customers are seeing their first significant price increases in years. Some companies have had to scale back production and delay new releases. All this has halted what had been a strong start to the year.

Smartphone makers, for much of the year, avoided the parts disruptions faced in the auto, personal computer and home-appliance industries. Phone manufacturers purchase key parts roughly a half a year in advance, but now those stockpiles have shrunk.

The chip supply struggles aren’t distributed evenly across the smartphone industry. Apple Inc., which accounts for about a sixth of the 1.3 billion smartphones sold annually, has stayed out of trouble given its supply-chain clout, according to industry analysts, as have most of Samsung’s premium devices. But that still leaves more than 80% of the smartphone industry reeling for parts.

Headline: US Olympic female gymnast tests positive.

• doesn't mention: the affected gymnast was an alternate
• asymptomatic
• in Athletes Village in Tokyo

Citi's Prestige card: link here --

• Citi has stopped taking applications for its $495-a-year Prestige card;
• will not cut off / close current Prestige accounts
• will encourage alternate products including the no-annual-fee Citi Custom Cash Card
• many banks have tried to match the success of AmEx in the world of premium credit cards, which take years to become profitable for a bank. While it’s the world’s largest credit-card issuer, Citigroup isn’t known for its premium products, posing another challenge in attracting customers and persuading them to spend hundreds of dollars in annual fees year after year
• Citigroup’s move comes as banks ramp up efforts to lure affluent customers to their cards as they travel and dine out again with the Covid-19 pandemic easing.
• earlier this month, AmEx revamped its popular Platinum card, adding new perks tied to private jet access and hotel stays and upping the annual fee to $695.

Market:

• DISH / ATT: enter into 10-year deal;
  
• Pepsico: on a day the market is down 500+ points; down 2%; Pepsico is up $1.38. up 0.93%; trading at $157.34
  
• Moderna: up $13.08; up 4.38%; trading at $298.97;
  
• Amgen: up $1.59; up 0.64%; trading at $249.83

Covid lockdowns: "single biggest public health mistake, possibly of all history." -- US News, June 25, 2021. Link here. 

Anas: I have mixed thoughts about Anas Alhajji. Can't quite figure him out. Seems insecure. He regularly needs to point out how prescient his tweets have been. Link to his tweet today.

• energy demand will continue to increase
• we need all sources of energy
• peak oil demand or not, oil will play a significant role for centuries to come;
• do not fool yourself: there is nothing sustainable. All solar and wind projects have a maximum of 25 - 30 year life span.

Olympics: is it just me or does it seem that there's not a lot of pre-Olympic marketing. One wonders how many folks in the US actually realize the "Opening Ceremonies" are scheduled for later this week? Harmed by:

• all that anticipatory excitement delayed for over a year;
• no one sure if it was even going to "happen" this year
• the "Lebron James" effect: professional athletes' comments hurting "amateurs";
• superspreaders in Athletes' Village

BLM Finals: "The Bucks beating the Suns in game five of the NBA Finals does not get great TV ratings."
link here (warning: there are more ads on this page than there is reporting; pitiful):

The Milwaukee Bucks beating the Phoenix Suns in game five of the NBA Finals didn’t put up monster TV ratings.

According to TVSeriesFinale.com, the Bucks beating the Suns and taking a 3-2 lead in the series averaged 6.35 million viewers on ABC in the early data.

Due to it being a live sporting event, the final number for the game will rise once more data rolls in, but it’s still not great.

As I’ve said many times, the NBA used to get huge ratings in the NBA Finals. Just a few years ago, the numbers were north of 17 million viewers without any issue.

From the BLM Finals link above: