It's Time to Use Your Vacation Days

Good morning! Stay safe out there — the [“heat dome”](, which saw 100M people across 27 states under extreme temperature alerts on Sunday, is moving West. Today we’re exploring: - U-haul: Uranium prices are soaring. - Apple vs. EU: The App Store is in the EU’s crosshairs. - Vacays: How America’s vacation days compare. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! TOGETHER WITH [Sponsor Logo](   Biting Back Apple and the EU continue to go head-to-head. Last week, the tech giant announced that it would withhold a number of features from European users — including Apple Intelligence and iPhone mirroring — because it claims the Digital Markets Act could create privacy or security risks. And, just this morning, Apple has been [charged]( by the EU for failing to comply with that very same law, accusing the company of stifling competition on its App Store by preventing "app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content." If found non-compliant, Apple could face a fine of up to 10% of its global revenue, which, as our colleague Rani Molla [points out](, would be some $38 billion based on the company’s 2023 results. The crux of the complaint is the App Store, which sits under “Services” — a wide division that spans advertising, subscriptions like Apple TV+ and iCloud, and virtually all other non-physical Apple products. That division has become increasingly important for Apple’s bottom line (there are, after all, only so many people you can sell a $1,000+ iPhone to). In the last quarter, Services accounted for ~25% of Apple’s total revenue, but over 40% of its gross profit, notching an impressive gross margin of 75% — roughly double that of its Products division. And it’s not just the EU that has put Apple’s Services cash cow in the spotlight: the US Justice Department also highlighted payments received by Apple for making Google the default search engine on Safari — which amounted to $20 billion in [2022]( — as core evidence in its antitrust case against Google. [Read this on the web instead](   Gone Fission After a decade of underinvestment, global superpowers such as China and India are doubling down on nuclear output. That appears to be setting off a chain reaction that’s boosted the price of uranium and incentivized major suppliers to join forces in a bid to meet soaring demand, as Australian uranium giant Paladin Energy [announced today its acquisition]( of Canada’s Fission Uranium in a deal worth some $833M. The combined company would position itself as a leader in the nuclear fuel space — an industry that, in remote parts of frozen Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia, is booming. In fact, per [Bloomberg](, the soaring price of uranium (+233% in the last 5 years) has surpassed the increases seen for silver (+99%), gold (+75%), copper (+66%), and the all-important battery-powering lithium (+17%) in the same period. As a vital component of the power-generating fission reactions harnessed by nuclear plants, the price of uranium gives some indication of the incremental demand for nuclear projects — and right now, it’s signaling a serious resurgence. The recent market reaction echoes the 2004 - 2007 period: a 3-year stretch when prices rose more than 650%. That previous bubble was in part due to the flooding of major mines restricting supply, but it was also generally a more “nuclear-optimistic” time, before the high-profile Fukushima disaster of 2011 tempered public appetite for nuclear energy. Recently, though, prices have boomed as an atomic-gold-rush has spurred a surge in reactor infrastructure, driven by new projects in China and India. Indeed, Bloomberg reports that, globally, 61 new plants are currently under construction, 90+ are in planning, and an additional 300+ are being proposed. Related chart: [America’s nuclear output](. [Read this on the web instead](   [Sponsored by Percent]( On the cards: private credit There’s an alternative to high-yield bonds turning the heads of investors. Per an analysis from T.Rowe1, adding 10% private credit to a traditional 60/40 portfolio from 2004 to 2023 would have historically reduced volatility and improved risk-adjusted returns.2 Institutional investors are taking note — and thanks to Percent, individual accredited investors are too. [Percent’s innovative marketplace]( connects investors with corporate borrowers, simplifying investment and portfolio management. Percent has funded 580+ deals, with a current weighted average APY of 18.27%.3 Percent investors also benefit from shorter deal durations (avg. 9 months), low minimums (from $500) and monthly interest payments available from most deals on the platform. Discover more about diversifying your portfolio with private credit [on Percent](. [Open a Percent account and get up to $5004 with your first investment5](   Workaholics anonymous Gerri Kellman, General Counsel and erstwhile CEO at Waystar Royco in Succession, once characterized employees at top European rivals as “[soft… sick on vacation mania](” — compared to American workers, she might have been onto something. According to the 24th installment of the annual [Vacation Deprivation Report](, carried out by Harris Research Partners and commissioned by Expedia (yes, the travel company), US employees are allotted 12 vacation days each year on average… and only take 11 of them. Of the countries surveyed, America comes last on the average number of vacation days allotted and the average number of vacation days taken, and, for the most part, it’s not even close. Aside from Mexico, where workers clock more hours than any other [OECD nation](, and Japan, where employees didn’t use 7 of their 19 allotted days, most other countries make the US look like a nation of workaholics. Per the report, workers in Hong Kong were happiest to get stuck into their PTO pot, typically not leaving any of their average 26 vacation days unused. Meanwhile, Europeans were doing their utmost to prove Kellman’s maxim, with France, Germany, and the UK all granted at least 27 days of vacation. [Read this on the web instead](   More Data - Steak out: Argentina’s eating less beef per person than ever before, as inflation and a recession combine to see consumption drop 16% [year-on-year](. - A Florida family whose house was hit by [space debris]( in March is seeking $80K+ in damages [from NASA](. - An 8-year-old Pekingese named “Wild Thang” was just crowned ugliest dog of [the year](. - Anything you can Dune… Inside Out 2 has just overtaken Dune 2 to become the biggest movie of 2024, with a whopping ~$286M domestic tally after a very strong [Weekend 2](. A recent Bloomberg Pulse Survey6 showed that investors are anticipating private credit to perform best in credit (43%), ahead of high-yield bonds (31%). [Percent is the platform]( that extends private credit deals to individual investors — [discover the offerings here](.5 Ad   Hi-Viz - A striking piece from Our World in Data on the slow progress of LGBT+ rights [around the world](. - Ratings and significance of presidential debates [through history](. Off the charts: Technology is the best-performing sector in the US stock market’s flagship index this year — what is the worst-performing? [Answer here.](   Thanks for stopping by! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi, I like the newsletters, but I had a thought for you...) or want to [sponsor this newsletter](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com?subject=I’m interested in advertising with Sherwood Media)?   Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. [Subscribe](   Advertiser’s disclosures: 1T.Rowe, September 2023 {[(}. See the Hypothetical Portfolio Risk/Reward Analysis chart for September 2004–June 2023 on page 4. 2This is not investment advice. Please consult with an investment professional or tax professional. 3Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Hypothetical/modeled performance is not actual performance achieved by an investor. Hypothetical analysis should be considered carefully. See Disclosure 1 above. 4The up to $500 cash bonus offer is open to first-time investors who make a minimum investment of at least $1,000 in a single offering. See website for further details: [( 5Alternative investments are speculative and possess a high level of risk. No assurance can be given that investors will receive a return of their capital. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Investments in private placements are highly illiquid and those investors who cannot hold an investment for an indefinite term should not invest. This website is only available to certain qualified investors. Please review the Private Placement Memorandum for each offering carefully before investing. 6Bloomberg, March 2024 {[   [X]( [Instagram]( [Chartr Logo]( Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... [See more]( [Sherwood Terms and Conditions]( [Our Editorial Standards]( [Contact Us](mailto:daily@chartr.co?body=Hi%2C%0A%0AI%20like%20the%20newsletters%2C%20but%20I%20had%20a%20thought%20for%20you...&subject=Feedback) [Advertise With Us](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com?body=I%E2%80%99m%20interested%20in%20advertising%20with%20Sherwood%20Media) [Unsubscribe](newsletter=chartr) [Privacy Policy](