💳 Visa’s swipe suit

…and Meta’s AI Ray-Bans Chartr/Sherwood   Presented by Hey Snackers, Erewhon, the upscale LA grocer known for $40 sea-moss gel and $20 smoothies, has drink collabs with the likes of Katy Perry, Hailey Bieber, and… General Motors? Chevy’s blue Erewhon “[Electric Juice](” is a new promo for its EVs. Stocks fell yesterday from Tuesday’s [record highs](. September is historically a weaker month for the market, but the Fed’s rate cut and China’s new stimulus measures have helped the S&P 500 buck that trend.   SWIPED [The DOJ accuses Visa of running an illegal debit monopoly that costs consumers and merchants billions]( Swiper no swiping… The Department of Justice sued Visa this week, saying that the world’s largest payments network maintained an [illegal monopoly]( over debit-card swipes. Visa stock has dropped over 6% since the department accused it of smothering the competition. FYI: Visa makes $$ on every swipe of its cards by charging banks and merchants for using its payments network. The DOJ said that Visa’s practices have led to consumers and merchants paying billions in extra swipe fees. - Key quote: “Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing — but the price of nearly everything.” - Visa called the suit “meritless,” saying that the debit space is growing with plenty of competition, including rivals who are “thriving” (possibly: Mastercard, Discover). The DOJ says that over 60% of US debit transactions happen on Visa’s network. Keep your friends close… and your financial-services enemies closer. For the Justice Department, the problem isn’t necessarily Visa’s dominance; it’s how it thinks Visa has kept that dominance. The DOJ [alleges]( that Visa has made agreements with other financial-services companies that prevent them from threatening its position. Visa has deals with Apple, PayPal, and Square, which the department says turns them from potential rivals into partners (Apple agreed not to directly compete with Visa’s network). Visa also tried to snatch up fintech co Plaid (now Block), but the DOJ sued to stop that in 2020. THE TAKEAWAY There’s no such thing as a free swipe… Consumers don’t often think of the invisible fee network behind each noncash purchase they make. But the charges cost US merchants [$72B]( last year, and those can be passed to shoppers. Most of those fees go to the bank that issued your card, but it adds up to billions for networks like Visa that move your payments. [Read this online](   Presented by EnergyX General Motors Invested in This Unlisted Lithium Stock For General Motors to successfully meet its EV target by 2035, they’ll need 414,469 tons of lithium per year. That’s why the automaking behemoth led a $50M investment round for [lithium extraction startup EnergyX](. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods. Plus, where modern methods take 12+ months, [EnergyX needs just two days](. Now, EnergyX has acquired 100,000+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land and a $5M DOE grant toward a recently announced US lithium plant. The energy storage market could reach $546B by 20351 — and it’s powered by lithium. EnergyX’s plan to produce 65,000 tons per year will help them lead the charge. [However, EnergyX is only accepting shareholders until October 3](.2 Presented by EnergyX General Motors Invested in This Unlisted Lithium Stock For General Motors to successfully meet its EV target by 2035, they’ll need 414,469 tons of lithium per year. That’s why the automaking behemoth led a $50M investment round for [lithium extraction startup EnergyX](. Their patented tech extracts lithium 300% more efficiently than conventional methods. Plus, where modern methods take 12+ months, [EnergyX needs just two days](. Now, EnergyX has acquired 100,000+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land and a $5M DOE grant toward a recently announced US lithium plant. The energy storage market could reach $546B by 20351 — and it’s powered by lithium. EnergyX’s plan to produce 65,000 tons per year will help them lead the charge. [However, EnergyX is only accepting shareholders until October 3](.2   THICK-FRAMES [Meta rolls out new AI-infused glasses as Zuck doubles down on his metaverse dreams]( “Hell yeah”... Mark Zuckerberg cheered during yesterday’s Connect developer conference, where the Meta boss [unveiled]( mixed-reality headsets, AI-infused specs, and other tech. The next gen of Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses appears to use the social co’s AI chatbot to analyze what users see and act as a virtual assistant. (Picture: looking at a bowl of fruit and asking what kind of smoothie to make.) Zuck also debuted Meta’s $300 Quest 3S headset. The mixed-reality base model costs $200 less than last year’s Quest 3 and appears to offer similar experiences like gaming and virtual concerts. - Smart sight: Face-worn tech hasn’t really taken off, but Meta’s hoping its style-forward smart glasses (which look like regular Ray-Bans) can cast a wider net. - AR you ready: Zuckerberg showed off a prototype of “full holographic” augmented-reality glasses that he called “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.” Rose-colored headset… Meta’s road to the metaverse has been bumpy. Since changing its name from Facebook in 2021 to signal its expansion beyond social media, the company has spent tens of billions on its virtual ambitions. Meta estimates its capital expenses will hit a record of up to $40B this year as its metaverse division (which includes VR and AR tech) loses about $16B annually. Meta’s ad revenue, which grew 22% in its last reported quarter, is propping up investments on those big bets. THE TAKEAWAY The vision’s unclear… Meta’s new hardware could give investors hope that its massive investments might pay off. But only if folks want to buy it. So far consumers have shown underwhelming interest in face gadgets. Snap Spectacles and Google Glass flopped, and Apple’s $3.5K Vision Pro headset has failed to appeal to a wide audience. It’s unclear whether Meta’s Quest headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses will make it into the mainstream. [Read this online](   ON SHERWOOD Luis von Ahn, the CEO of Duolingo, has fostered company revenues that Sherwood's Matt Phillips called "the platonic ideal of a sales chart" and a 30% surge in the stock price just this month. But there's a new number von Ahn wants to own: "the score by which people say how much they know a language." Read what that means in [Sherwood's Final Boss interview](.   What else we're Snackin' - Boeing’s 33K striking workers are overwhelmingly [against]( the company’s “best and final” offer of a 30% pay hike. - China [slashed]( interest rates as it tries to revive its sluggish economy and said it’ll give one-time cash handouts to people in extreme poverty. - At least 26 US states have passed or are weighing laws to [rein in]( the use of genAI in election material. - Mortgage refinancing in the US nearly [tripled]( from a year ago as the average 30-year rate fell below 6%. - Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s iris-scanning project, was reportedly [targeted]( by hustlers for nearly $700K.   Snack Fact of the Day [The average NBA player makes more than 100x the salary of the average WNBA player](   Thursday - Weekly jobless claims - Pending home sales - Earnings expected from CarMax, Jabil, Accenture, Costco, BlackBerry, Scholastic, and Vail Resorts Authors of this Snacks own shares of Alphabet, Apple, and Snap Advertiser's disclosures: 1 [“Global battery energy storage market could grow to $546B, says analyst,](” Renewable Energy World, 2020. 2 Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX’s Regulation A+ Offering. 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