| |  | TOGETHER WITH |  | | | Good morning.
In March, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal e-mailed staff to tell them they could work remotely “forever.”
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk — in the middle of a $44 billion proposed takeover of Twitter — e-mailed executives with a different message: “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla.”
Have to give him credit, squeezing a loaded message like that into less than 280 characters. | | | • | | Casinos have made a strong recovery, depending on what corner of the world you’re in. | | • | | Over half of millennials making $250,000 a year say they have no money at the end of the month. | | • | | Two top twenty golfers have defected to a Saudi-backed league rivaling the PGA. | | | | |  | Gambling | Success Returns at Different Speeds in Las Vegas, Macau | | As any veteran gambler knows, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. For the two biggest gambling capitals in the world — Las Vegas and Macau — the odds appear to be no different.
While Lady Luck has looked fortunately on casino owners in the shimmering strip in the Mojave Desert, she has given their counterparts on the neon-blazed island city off the coast of China the cold shoulder. | Fear and Loathing in Macau, Cheers and Gloating in Vegas | | While Macau operates as a “special administrative region” apart from China, it's still largely dependent on tourism from the mainland. Unfortunately for the city’s six licensed casino operators (three of which are American-owned), China’s ongoing Covid crackdown includes strict limits on outbound travel. Baccarat and Pai Gow sadly don’t qualify for an exemption.
Fortunately for MGM, Wynn, and Sands, which have all relied on Macau as a key pillar of growth, business in Vegas is much stronger. Covid-era capacity limits in casinos were mostly lifted in March last year, and travel to the city is restricted only by soaring airfares. Now Vegas is on a heater, while Macau casinos can barely afford to play the penny slots: | • | | In May, Macau’s gaming industry saw revenues drop 68% year-over-year, and are down about 87% from pre-pandemic 2019. In the first quarter, the six major casino operators burned an average of $12 million per day, according to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs estimates. A worst-case scenario could see a few of the operators folding within two years. | | • | | April marked Nevada’s fourteenth consecutive month with over $1 billion in gambling revenue, of which casinos on the strip contributed a record $593 million (figures from May have not been released, but we’d bet a few chips on the streak continuing). | | | | Don’t Double Down: Will the Vegas hot streak continue? Fitch Ratings has a rosy outlook, despite saying the city is still two years away from a full recovery. “While the current period of inflation may increase the city's labor cost pressures and limit discretionary spending on travel and entertainment, current trends show ongoing improvement,” the agency said in a recent report. | | | | | | Wealth | More Than a Third of 250k Earners Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck | | According to the Census Bureau, only 5% of Americans make over $250,000.
But, according to a new survey by Pymnts.com and LendingClub, 36% of that well-to-do group — while earning four times the median US salary — are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Someone should tell them there’s nothing wrong with having a Dollar Tree vase in a $1.7 million home. | Blame Millenials For Real This Time | | Living paycheck-to-paycheck, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean wealthy earners are struggling or deserve a pity party. Only one in ten said they struggled to pay their household expenses in April, and of course there’s always another hefty paycheck on the way.
The surprising statistic may well be blamed on a disproportionate number of free-spenders in a generation often stereotyped for its love of avocado toast: Millennials. Turns out, even the highest-earning members of the age group struggle to stuff their savings accounts, with roughly 55% of millennials earning over $250,000 saying they have little money left at the end of the month. Unsurprisingly, for all generations, the biggest culprit of high spending is likely housing expenses, which often account for a bigger slice of wealthier budgets and exploded during the pandemic: | • | | According to Bloomberg, a mortgage on a top-tier $1.7 million home with a 20% down payment — a realistic target price for high-earners — would cost $100,000 per year. That’s 40% of a $250,000 pretax income. | | • | | The rich do have the advantage of being better positioned to borrow and pay off credit — consumer debt levels for March 2022 rose by $52.4 billion, a 14% annual increase, seasonally adjusted. | | | | A Tinge of Optimism: In the Fed’s most recent annual survey of household well-being, 78% of Americans reported they were doing okay or comfortably in their finances, the most since the survey began in 2013. But 11% said they had no way of covering a $400 emergency expense. Still, among all income groups, 61% of people said they lived paycheck-to-paycheck in April, up 9% from a year earlier. No wonder Klarna has grown so popular. | | | | | | Sponsored by Future Cardia | How “Connected Implants” Are Disrupting A $5B Market | | If you’ve ever wondered how serious of a toll heart failure takes on our country, just check the numbers: | | | • | | 1.1 million of those people require hospitalization | | • | | These emergencies cost over $21 billion per year | | | You’d think we’d have a solution for such a huge issue, right? Wrong. There are almost no remote heart failure monitoring solutions – and that’s exactly why Future Cardia is such an exciting development. In just 2 minutes, their teeny-tiny remote cardiac monitor can be inserted into patients. This new connected implant allows cardiologists to monitor from afar, watching for early signs of heart failure and keeping patients safer than ever. A smart, simple solution for a massive (we’re talking $5B total addressable market) problem? Sounds like a solid investment to us. Invest in Future Cardia’s latest round on StartEngine right here. | | | | Sports | Major Champion Dustin Johnson Joins Controversial Saudi-Backed Golf League | | No ifs, ands, or putts. That’s what the PGA Golf Tour told its members when it barred them from participating in LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed rival league, last month.
On Tuesday, Dustin Johnson, the winner of two major PGA championships who spent much of the last two years as the world's top-ranked golfer, was announced as a high-profile defector. Only weeks ago, Johnson said he wasn't interested in LIV but, according to The Telegraph, a $125 million offer to join the new tour magically changed his mind. The business of golf may never be the same. | Caddy Issues | | The fight over the new LIV Golf series stems from a juicy clash of money, power, and celebrity. Greg Norman, a former world number one turned entrepreneur nicknamed "The Shark,” was tapped to lead the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV in an all-out blitz on America’s famous PGA Tour. LIV is courting players with the allure of smaller fields, fewer holes, fewer events, and more prize money. Its first tournament takes place in London from June 9 to 11.
The PGA, which made $1.1 billion in revenues last year and projects $1.5 billion this year, is of course teed off and fighting viciously to defend its turf. In May, the Tour said any who defied its order to stay out of LIV could be slapped with fines, suspensions, or bans. The threat kept most pros in line, but the economic might behind LIV is posing a challenge: | • | | The winner of LIV's London event will take home a $4 million prize, more than the $2.7 million at this year’s PGA Championship. The $25 million purse for the London event, divided among competitors, is more than has ever been offered for a PGA Tour event — LIV plans to spend $200 million on eight tournaments this year, chump change for its chief backer, the $500 billion Saudi Public Investment Fund. | | • | | PGA Tour players have to make it past a cut in every tournament to win prize money but, on the LIV tour, even the last place golfer will go home with $120,000. That could appeal to those late in their career with a shorter earnings window — Johnson, currently ranked 13th in the world, is 37 and world number 20 Louis Oosthuizen, another high profile defector, is 39. | | | | You’re in Troubleshot: While Phil Mickelson has said he’s joining the LIV tour, his name was absent from the list. And after his announcement, multiple sponsors, including Callaway, Workday, KPMG, and Heineken paused their relationships with him. At least one sponsor, the Royal Bank of Canada, dropped Johnson Tuesday. “We wish him well,” the sponsor said in a press release. With his new paycheck, we think he’ll be just fine. | | | | | | Extra Upside | • | | Ticked off: Beginning June 9th, Facebook parent Meta will finally trade under the stock ticker META. | | | | • | | REITs are all the rage – and these 5 are turning heads. After being beaten down during the pandemic, Real Estate Investment Trusts are a hot commodity right now because, guess what: high-quality real estate isn’t going anywhere. The Motley Fool has identified these 5 REITs under $49 as potentially killer investment opportunities for you – check ‘em out right here. *Partner | | | | | | |  | Just For Fun | | | | | Written by Sean Craig and Brian Boyle. | Disclaimer | | | You should read the Offering Circular and Risks related to this offering before investing. This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between The Daily Upside’s in-house sponsored content team. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. The Daily Upside may receive monetary compensation from the issuer, or its agency, for publicizing the offering of the issuer’s securities. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. This is a paid ad. Please see 17b disclosure linked in the campaign page for more information. | | | | | No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe here. Copyright © 2022 The Daily Upside, LLC., All rights reserved. 1230 York Avenue, Box 154, New York, NY 10065 | | | | |
