Zuckerberg Plugs Instagram NFTs

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Zuckerberg Plugs Instagram NFTs

Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: FB) is working on bringing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the social media platform Instagram, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said at the South by Southwest Festival on Tuesday.

Timing: NFTs could arrive in the “near term” but Zuckerberg said the company was not ready to announce anything, according to a tweet from Engadget senior editor Karissa Bell. The company will “hopefully” launch the ability for users to mint NFTs in the coming months, according to another tweet from Platformer’s Casey Newton.

More Details: Zuckerberg also said that NFTs could play into the company’s long-term metaverse goals, which may include the ability to mint avatar clothing as an NFT.

Background: An NFT is basically a unit of data on the blockchain that can be traded and sold. Meta, which used to be called Facebook, has previously expressed interest in incorporating NFTs into its platforms.

Numbers: Shares of Meta jumped up 2.89% on Tuesday.

Final Thoughts: Meta’s stock has lost nearly half of its value in the last six months. Hopefully, the NFT hype can help the stock recover a bit.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Lennar (NYSE: LEN), Telos (Nasdaq: TLS), RumbleON (Nasdaq: RMBL), Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), Jabil (NYSE: JBL), Pagerduty (NYSE: PD), Williams Industrial Services Group (NYSEAmerican: WLMS), Lands' End (LE), Endeavor Group Holdings (NYSE: EDR), Black Rifle Coffee Company (NYSE: BRCC), Ring Energy (NYSEAmerican: REI), Brilliant Earth Group (Nasdaq: BRLT), Bioline RX (Nasdaq: BLRX), Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE: ARCO), Avino Silver & Gold Mines (NYSEAmerican: ASM), Eton Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ETON), Guess? (NYSE: GES), Hon Hai Precision Industry (OTCMKTS: HNHPF), Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE: NGS), Newage (Nasdaq: NBEV), Semtech (Nasdaq: SMTC), Shoe Carnival (Nasdaq: SCVL), ZTO Express (NYSE: ZTO).

Notable IPOs Today: Blue World Acquisition Corporation Class A Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: BWAQ).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Shaman Productions (Fundanna), Cadi (StartEngine), SleepSpace (Wefunder), Exovolar Industries (StartEngine), We Are The New Farmers (Republic).

Notable Economic Events Today: Retail sales (8:30 a.m. ET), Import/Export price index (8:30 a.m. ET), Business/Retail inventories (10:30 a.m. ET), Crude oil inventories (10:30 a.m. ET), FOMC Decision on Interest Rates (2:00 p.m. ET).

AMC Goes for the Gold

Photo by Jingming Pan / Unsplash

AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) bought a 22% stake in Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: HYMC) for under $28 million on Tuesday.

Numbers: Shares of AMC jumped 6.78% on Tuesday, while Hycroft went up 9.35%.

The Good: AMC has a ton of cash to spend and this helps diversify its holdings.

The Bad: AMC still has a ton of debt and could have used this cash to pay off the debt.

Final Thoughts: AMC has made a lot of bold business ventures as of late, such as going into the retail popcorn business and accepting cryptocurrency as payment.

How the SPAC Craze Died Out

Between 2020 and 2021, there was a record number of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) that went public.

Background: A SPAC is essentially a shell company that goes public to raise money in the hopes of buying a private company and taking it public.

Pulled: In the first 11 months of 2021, there were only three SPACs that pulled their registrations. Between December 2021 and January 2022, at least 10 companies did so, according to PYMNTs.

Challenges: SPACs have been hurt by declining stock prices and other controversies.

Final Thoughts: Despite the setback, there are still SPAC stocks, but investors may want to think twice before investing in one.

Trends to Watch

Better Latte Than Never: Starbucks is planning to phase out its iconic cups (CNN)

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