Disney's Dazzling Comeback: Stock Skyrockets

Magic is real! At least that's what it seems like on Wall Street as Disney shares surged more than 7% to top $90; the company's best day in a year.

The surge was due to an earnings report that took everyone by surprise, dividends will be paid for the first time since 2019 by year-end.

Thanks to a surge in visitors at the Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks and an impressive increase in streaming subscribers, Disney seems unstoppable.

Disney is reportedly on track to secure a whopping $7.5 billion in annual savings, putting the entertainment titan in a prime position.

On the streaming front, Disney+ alone added nearly 7 million subscribers in the last quarter, contributing to a total of over 150 million subscribers, all thanks to popular content, including gems like "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "Star Wars: Ahsoka."

While Disney shares are still underperforming compared to the S&P 500's 17% gain, CEO Bob Iger is not the one to give up.

Focusing on profitability rather than subscriber growth, Iger keeps holding onto the majority stake in ESPN, causing rumors that sports leagues might just buy the minority equity stakes.

The House of Mouse has set out a cheese trail that Wall Street can't resist.

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BlackRock Sends Ether to the Moon

The crypto world was sent into a frenzy as Ether prices skyrocketed, courtesy of Wall Street titan BlackRock Inc.'s whispers of a potential exchange-traded fund (ETF) centered around the second-largest cryptocurrency.

BlackRock seems to be playing crypto-bingo, already having put its fingers into the Bitcoin pie with a spot fund application in June. This move not only brought on a Bitcoin rally but also enticed other issuers into the crypto race.

One of the industry’s biggest players, BlackRock, has put its foot on the gas again, registering documents in Delaware for an iShares Ethereum Trust.

It’s like watching puppet masters at work, their every move shifting the market and sending Ether prices into orbit.

Ethereum's price shot up a whopping 7% to above $2,000 while Bitcoin grinned with a 2.4% rise. Around a dozen ETF providers are eagerly filing for their share of the pie, riding the Bitcoin ETF rally wave.

BlackRock sure knows how to put on a crypto show. The million-dollar question is - to trust or not to trust this Ether Trust?

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Billionaire Ex-Google CEO Makes A Hot Mess of Charity Efforts

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and billionaire, has been facing a rather disheveled period in his philanthropic endeavors with Schmidt Futures.

The private foundation he started with his wife, Wendy, following his departure from Google, is currently sunsetting a dozen of its programs, including high-profile collaborations with the White House and Oxford University's Rhodes Trust.

All these changes have reportedly resulted in layoffs.

In fact, a prestigious Crisis Response Initiative, designed to direct corporate funding towards humanitarian disasters, was cancelled by Schmidt Futures before it even took off.

This was despite heavy advertising featuring Schmidt's presence in United Nations promotional materials.

Schmidt Futures' troubles are just the tip of the iceberg.

In August, their founding CEO, Eric Braverman, mysteriously left the organization following an investigation by the Schmidt family office.

The reasons behind this exit remain unclear. Although publicly thanked by the Schmidts and promised funding for a new charity, Braverman's farewell was reportedly abrupt and followed by the resignation of several employees.

Meanwhile, the credibility of several cornerstone initiatives originated by Braverman hangs in the balance.

The Quad Fellowship, a grant-providing partnership with the White House, and Rise, an international talent program in collaboration with the Rhodes Trust, are among those facing potential sunset.

While the Schmidts maintain this as a restructuring and expansion process, their staff report a sense of job insecurity and a fear that they are subject to the founders' whims.

As our dear billionaire philanthropist couple treads on shaky ground, one might say, the Schmidt has indeed hit the fan!

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Fed's Powell Uncertain if Inflation War has Ended

Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted that the Fed's grip on the inflation beast may still be shaky.

Despite a series of aggressive interest rate hikes, Powell cast doubts on the certainty that the Fed's policy is sufficiently restrictive.

The Fed has been wrestling with inflation, desperately trying to tame it to a 2% target- but Powell's latest comments suggest everything is up in the air.

The policy to handcuff inflation has been relatively pain-free, but Powell warns that the honeymoon period won't last forever.

The Fed is considering further action to quell inflation, which could mean the economy grinding a gear slower.

In the battle against inflation, Powell's comments suggest it's not going to be a clean, painless victory - tighten your belts, folks!

It seems the end of the inflation war might still be somewhere over the rainbow.

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