⚖️ Amazon’s FTC suit

…and monster-size batteries are a-boomin’   Lina Khan vs. Amazon (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)   [Sponsored by]( Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 33,619 (-1.14%) S&P 500 4,274 (-1.47%) Nasdaq 13,064 (-1.57%) Bitcoin $26,153 (-0.54%) Dow Jones 33,619 (-1.14%) S&P 500 4,274 (-1.47%) Nasdaq 13,064 (-1.57%) Bitcoin $26,153 (-0.54%) Hey Snackers, It was a big weekend for the NFL, and not because of football: Travis Kelce jersey sales nearly 5X’d after Taylor Swift was [seen]( hangin’ in the Chiefs player’s suite (not in the bleachers), cheering beside his mom. The national Swifties league (#NSL) is eager for more sightings. Stocks sank and the Dow had its worst day since March as new data stoked worries about the US economy. Consumer confidence hit a four-month low, and August new-home sales plunged to a five-month low as well. And last night Senate leaders reached a deal aiming to avoid a government shutdown. PrimeTime The FTC sued Amazon in a sweeping antitrust case that targets its core biz The GoT season finale… of Big Tech litigation. The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed a long-expected [antitrust lawsuit]( against [Amazon]( yesterday, and the ecomm giant responded ASAP that the suit is “wrong on the facts and the law.” If successful, it could force Amazon to rework the fundamentals of its “everything store” in ways the FTC said would “pry loose Amazon’s monopolistic control.” The commission accused the online retailer of: - Punishing sellers who offer their products at lower prices on other sites by, for instance, pushing them down Amazon search results and biasing search toward Amazon products. - Coercing sellers into using Amazon’s fulfillment services to ship products (it’s a prereq to be Prime), and charging them steep fees that are passed down to shoppers. Lina Khan’s crackdown… is in full swing. A longtime Amazon critic (in law school she wrote an antitrust paper on Amazon that went viral), Khan has scrutinized Big Tech since she became FTC chair in 2021. The agency filed a suit against Amazon in June accusing it of deceiving customers into getting a Prime sub. The company settled for millions with the FTC earlier this year in two suits concerning its Ring and Alexa products, and the agency probed its acquisitions of [iRobot]( and [MGM](. - Not just Amazon: The FTC tried to block [Microsoft]( acquisition of [Activision]( and has an ongoing antitrust suit against [Meta](. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is in the middle of an antitrust battle against [Google](. THE TAKEAWAY Legal actions can succeed even when they fail… The FTC doesn’t have to win each case to pressure Big Tech. Amazon’s already made some changes that may head off antitrust concerns, including nixing most of its private-label brands and planning to reopen a program that lets sellers who fulfill their own deliveries get the coveted Prime status. The spotlight alone can spark change, and Big Tech’s almost drawing as much attention as Swift-Kelce. Sponsored by RYSE Invest in the next AI innovation to make smart homes even smarter ➡️ Big Tech acquired startups in the smart doorbells and smart thermostats category for billions. If you missed out on these spectacular early investments in the Smart Home space, here’s your chance to grab hold of the next one. 😎 RYSE is the tech firm that’s poised to dominate the Smart Shades market (growing at an astonishing 55% annually), and their public [$1.25/share offering is opening for a limited time!]( 🌿 Going Green… Leveraging advanced sensors and AI, [RYSE]( converts manual shades into automated shades to maximize energy savings — up to 24% on cooling and lighting in commercial buildings. They’ve just secured their first retail distribution deal, and you can invest in their company before their product stocks the shelves of over 100 Best Buy stores this year. [Learn more about how you can own a piece of RYSE for just $1.25/share.*]( SPARK The mega-battery biz booms as extreme weather pushes the power grid to its limits Not exactly AA’s… Shipping-container-sized batteries are increasingly [charging]( up power grids across the US. Companies like Enel North America, [Tesla]( and Jupiter Power are selling energy storage as a product, letting businesses and grid operators load up on power during off-peak hours, then turn around and sell it at a profit when demand jumps. Now 29 states are planning record #s of installations. Partly driving the surge: - IRAAAs: Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act provided tax credits for investing in stand-alone battery-storage systems (no solar or wind required) — a first. - Charged: Last week the Energy Department announced $325M in funding for long-term energy-storage projects tied to renewables in 17 states. Batteries not included… As power grids in the US are repeatedly taxed by extreme weather — exacerbated by the climate crisis — massive batteries have started to fill the energy gaps. When sweltering heat roasted Texas last summer, big batteries helped the Lone Star State dodge at least one night of rolling blackouts. As of July, Texas had 3.5K megawatts of battery power installed. By the end of next year, it plans to have tripled that. (FYI: 1.5K megawatts of battery storage will power ~600K homes during peak hours.) THE TAKEAWAY Patchwork problems need patchwork solutions… Natural disasters affect energy grids in all kinds of ways — it’s not just power-hungry AC units [blasting]( nonstop. Last year, 2.6M Florida homes and businesses lost power when Hurricane Ian hit. And last month California fires cut power to an entire county. A variety of responses, including solar, wind, and big-battery storage, will likely be needed in the coming years. What else we're Snackin' - [Checkup]( [Costco]( members will soon be able to book virtual doc visits for as low as $29. Retailers including [Walmart]( Amazon, and [Dollar General]( have ramped up affordable healthcare options as insurance costs rise. - [Skip]( YouTube subscribers will have to pay more for ad-free viewing after it kills its $7/month "premium lite" tier next month. It’s just the latest streamer to hike ad-free-plan prices. [Cycle]( Fast-fashion biggies like Shein and H&M are getting into resale as part of an eco-friendly push. But a new study says the effort will reduce their carbon footprint by less than 1%. - [Aux’d]( Despite removing songs by AI replicas of Drake and the Weeknd earlier this year, [Spotify]( said it wouldn’t ban all AI-generated content going forward. Uses like Auto-Tune are acceptable, CEO Daniel Ek said. - [StrikeForceOne]( In a first for a modern US president, Joe Biden joined picketing UAW workers in Michigan yesterday, urging members to “stick with it” as their strike against [GM]( [Ford]( and [Stellantis]( hit day 12. 🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up [here](. Snack Fact Of the Day A record 73% of Americans are expected to take part in Halloween activities this year [Read more]( Wednesday - Earnings expected from Paychex, Duckhorn Portfolio, and Micron Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Amazon, GM, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Walmart *Advertiser's disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for RYSE’s Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the [offering circular]( at invest.helloryse.com and [risks]( prior to investing. 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... 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