🎸 Concert chaos

…and the IRS’s taxing makeover (Gladys Vega/Getty Images) Pass the mic to the DOJ   Sponsored by Yesterday's market moves Dow Jones 37,799 (+0.17%) S&P 500 5,051 (-0.21%) Nasdaq 15,865 (-0.12%) Bitcoin $64,046 (+0.83%) Dow Jones 37,799 (+0.17%) S&P 500 5,051 (-0.21%) Nasdaq 15,865 (-0.12%) Bitcoin $64,046 (+0.83%) Hey Snackers, Do Neopets dream of electric sheep? After a decade of languishing in Web 1.0’s attic — and some NFT backlash — the virtual-pet game’s monthly user #s have [tripled]( in the past six months. Stocks ended mixed yesterday after Jerome Powell tempered expectations around interest-rate cuts, with traders now looking at September or later. The Fed chair said, “It’s appropriate to allow restrictive policy further time to work.”   ANTIHERO [The Justice Department is set to sue Live Nation after Ticketmaster’s bad blood]( Not rooting for the antihero… Taylor Swift fans have [beef]( with Ticketmaster owner [Live Nation](, and the US government does too. The Justice Department is [reportedly]( getting ready to slap America's largest concert promoter with an antitrust lawsuit as soon as next month. While the deets of the suit are unknown, lawmakers and regulators have accused Live Nation of outrageous ticket prices, iffy customer service, and anticompetitive practices. Live Nation snatched up Ticketmaster in 2010, and critics of the merger say it should be undone. - Live domination? Ticketmaster controls over 80% of the market for primary ticket sales in America’s largest venues, and has exclusive deals with numerous arenas and stadiums. - Ticketmaster said it has “more competition today than it has ever had,” and denied allegations from lawmakers like [AOC]( that it’s a monopoly. From “Bad Blood” to Bad Bunny… Live Nation’s biz model has caught mainstream attention after high-profile issues with concert-ticket sales for stars including Swift and Bad Bunny. The DOJ launched an investigation into the concert colossus in 2022, and the probe heated up in November of that year when Ticketmaster crashed after millions of Swifties tried to snap up Eras Tour tickets. Presale tix were going for $50 to $500 on Ticketmaster, but resellers quickly began listing seats for as much as $21K+ on sites like StubHub. - Baddest bunny: Shortly after the Swift fiasco, fans who’d purchased tickets through Ticketmaster for a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico had their tix rejected as fakes because of glitchy scanning machines, leaving the sold-out stadium half-empty. THE TAKEAWAY The spotlight isn’t always kind… Live Nation has been crushing it since pandemic restrictions were lifted and folks started splurging on revenge experiences like concerts. Its revenue surged 36% as ticket sales and attendance hit record levels. But the company’s role in concert flops led to scrutiny from lawmakers and consumers. Now, a DOJ suit could force a big reckoning. Sponsored by Rocket Mortgage Start with the foundations Thinking of buying a new home? [Rocket Mortgage®](has the resources to make it a reality — whether you’re still on the fence, headed down the path, or right at the door. [Rocket Mortgage fuels you with confidence]( throughout the home-buying process, with 24-hour access to your loan on the Rocket Mortgage app and Home Loan Experts available 7 days a week. That’s earned them a 90% client approval rating as the mortgage partner you can rely on*. Wherever you’re at on your home buying journey, Rocket Mortgage brings the next step within reach. Take it with Rocket Mortgage — and with an exclusive offer for Snacks readers, [you can save $1000 on closing costs.](** Sponsored by Rocket Mortgage Start with the foundations Thinking of buying a new home? [Rocket Mortgage®](has the resources to make it a reality — whether you’re still on the fence, headed down the path, or right at the door. [Rocket Mortgage fuels you with confidence]( throughout the home-buying process, with 24-hour access to your loan on the Rocket Mortgage app and Home Loan Experts available 7 days a week. That’s earned them a 90% client approval rating as the mortgage partner you can rely on*. Wherever you’re at on your home buying journey, Rocket Mortgage brings the next step within reach. Take it with Rocket Mortgage — and with an exclusive offer for Snacks readers, [you can save $1000 on closing costs.](**   INCOMING [Biden’s fund infusion to the IRS appears to be paying off this tax season]( Filed in style… Tax Day was Monday, and the IRS is giving itself a lot of [credit](. The agency said it had reduced customer-service wait times to an average of three minutes — down from four minutes last year and 28 minutes in 2022. That’s despite receiving nearly 1M more calls this year and helping 88% of callers (in 2022 it answered just 15% of calls). What changed: - Billions: In 2022, the Biden admin approved $80B in fresh funding to modernize the IRS, an amount later reduced to $60B by budget-conscious GOP members. - Money talks: “This shows that when it has the resources it needs, it will provide taxpayers the service they deserve,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Fresh discresh… After receiving its new allowance, the IRS hired 5K staff to help digitize its tax archives, ramped up audits, and said it collected $500M from delinquent millionaires. Still, The Wall Street Journal reported that over half of new audits last summer were directed at folks making less than $200K. The IRS also rolled out its Direct File program, which lets taxpayers with simple returns file directly online at no charge. It’s bad news for third-party tax-prep services like [Intuit](’s TurboTax and [H&R Block](. Direct File’s been introduced in 12 states so far, but the IRS said it met its goal of getting 100K people to use the service this year. THE TAKEAWAY The IRS has lifestyle creep… The Internal Revenue Service has taken big steps toward modernizing with new funding, but the agency said it’ll need more budget to keep up the momentum and ramp up audits of Big Biz. It’s why the IRS is touting its achievements now to show legislators that you get what you pay for — in this case, more tax $$ to fund the government.   SACK'D Sports betting is thriving — but it’s also putting pro players on the bench Sports betting is more popular than ever. Last year, Americans bet $119B+ on sports, up 27.5% from 2022. Pro-sports leagues have benefited from lucrative ad deals with sportsbooks like [DraftKings](. One problem: players aren’t allowed to bet on their own sports, but some have done it anyway. In 2023 alone, 10 NFL players were suspended for sports betting — more than in all other years since 1963 combined. [Read more at Sherwood](.   What else we're Snackin' - [Compute](: The AI chip market’s getting crowded: [AMD]( debuted two powerful chips for “AI PCs,” which chipmakers like [Nvidia]( and [Intel]( have marketed as the next big thing (also: “AI phones”). - [De-luxe](: Louis Vuitton owner LVMH saw Q1 sales dip 2%, missing analysts’ estimates. While its Sephora chain had “remarkable growth,” shoppers splurged less on designer bags, jewelry, and high-end liquors. - [Grounded](: US consumers filed a suit to stop [Alaska Airlines](’ $1.9B [purchase]( of [Hawaiian Airlines](, arguing that the combined jumbo carrier would lead to layoffs, higher ticket prices, and fewer flights. - [Bluelight](: Mark Zuckerberg isn’t liable for any part that FB and Insta may’ve played in kids’ social-media addictions, a judge ruled. Social-media cos are facing scrutiny amid a teen mental-health crisis. - [Poke](: [UnitedHealth]( shares spiked after the healthcare giant topped earnings estimates, with medical costs dropping in Q1 from last year. It’s expecting up to a $1.6B loss from a cyberattack in February.   Snack Fact of the Day d[Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson has been the world’s busiest airport every year (except 2020) since 1998](   Wednesday - Earnings expected from Discover, US Bancorp, Equifax, Citizens Financial, Abbott, Las Vegas Sands, ASML, Travelers Companies, and Alcoa Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alaska Airlines and Nvidia Advertiser's disclosures: *Based on a Rocket Mortgage market research questionnaire of clients whose loans closed in 2022. **Offer Details: Clients will receive a lender credit of $1,000 when they lock a loan on or after October 20th, 2023, utilizing the Snacks Newsletter application link. Offer cannot be retroactively applied to previously closed/locked loans or second lien products of any kind. Offer does not apply to new loans submitted through non-retail loan originators, including brokers. Additional restrictions apply. Rocket Mortgage reserves the right to cancel/modify this offer/terms/conditions at any time. Acceptance of this offer constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions. Offer is non transferable. This is not a commitment to lend. Offer not valid with any additional discounts or promotions. ©2000-2024 Rocket Mortgage, LLC. All rights reserved. Lending services provided by Rocket Mortgage, LLC. NMLS #3030; [www.NMLSConsumerAccess.org](. Equal Housing Lender. Licensed in 50 states. 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