EIEIO...America The Beautiful
Go Navy! Go Army! Go USA!
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EIEIO…Fast Facts
Entrepreneurship: 3 out of 5 – Of the world's largest companies received Series A funding from Sequoia. (Patrick Collison)
Innovation: #1 – Palantir’s ranking by market cap among defense companies, ahead of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing (and more than General Dynamics + Northrup Grumman combined) (Katherine Boyle)
Education: +1,700% – The percentage change since 2002 in the portion of U.S. high school seniors taking the ACT who received perfect scores (Harper’s)
Impact: 21x greater – The risk of developing schizophrenia after an emergency department visit for hallucinogen use, compared to those without such visits. (JAMA)
Opportunity: ~4.5 million – The number of deaths caused by water-related diseases this year (StatsPanda)
“The Army and the Navy are the best of friends in the World for 364 1/2 days a year, but on one Saturday afternoon, we’re the worst of enemies.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on the other days, upon other fields, will bear the fruit of victory.” – General Douglas MacArthur
“Army was the underdog in 1776.” – College Game Day Sign
“Army vs. Navy is the only game where everyone playing is willing to die for everyone watching.” – Anonymous
Since 1890, Army has played Navy in what is called “America’s Game.”
The rivalry started when Army Cadet Dennis Michie accepted the challenge of a group of midshipmen to a pickup football game between Navy and the newly formed West Point team. That first year, 1,000 people showed up to watch at West Point with the Cadets pitching in for half of Navy’s travel cost.
I had the privilege to attend my first Army-Navy game this weekend, and while the actual contest was action-packed with Navy upsetting the Black Knights 31-13, what made it truly special was the celebration of America, the tradition of excellence and reverence for our military.
The level of patriotism was extraordinary. While there were good-natured signs everywhere rooting for your team and heckling the other, there was the common denominator that when all is said and done, we are all for the greatest team…the United States of America.
Three hours before the game, the entirety of the Army Cadets came on the field to do what’s called the “March-on-Parade.” Following that, the entire Navy Midshipmen regiment did their version of the same thing. It’s a powerful symbol of the discipline, respect, and unity of the respective groups. The stadium was already full to watch all the pageantry and was jubilant with appreciation.
Forty-five minutes in front of the kickoff, a dozen parachuters from Army and Navy floated into the stadium to land on midfield showing remarkable skill, especially with the strong winds present. Then it was a fleet of military helicopters to welcome the crowd followed by the always awe-inspiring flyover by the supersonic jets.
When President Trump was shown on the big screen in his box with Senator Vance, Speaker of the House Johnson and others, a roar erupted in the stadium that was inspiring no matter who you may have voted for. After all of the issues over the past five years – Covid, wars, cultural division – you could just feel the sense that America was getting its mojo back.
Following the game in what is an awesome tradition, players from both teams sing each other’s Alma maters. First, the winning team (Navy) joins the losing team (Army) in facing the losing team’s students and singing that school’s song. Then, they do the same thing with both teams singing the winning team’s Alma mater to the students of the winning team.
Football is a tremendous sport as it’s both fun to watch and play, but also is an amazing teacher for life and leadership. The Army-Navy game is the best of all worlds with a rivalry that is in a league of its own but also, as a reminder of why we live in the greatest nation on Earth.
Market Performance
Market Commentary
Stocks were mixed last week but continued to have bad breadth. While NASDAQ eeked out a slight .3% increase for the week, the S&P 500 was off .6% and the Dow was down 1.8%. More notably, for 10 trading sessions in a row, there were stock decliners than advancers.
The formula for the healthy environment for equities included solid economic growth, rising corporate profits, inflation coming under control and a Fed that was in a lowering of rates mindset. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in last week at the expected 2.7% but many market participants were hoping for a decrease. European banks cut rates to try to boost sagging economies. China has had six consecutive quarters of declining prices.
SpaceX officially became the most valuable private company in the World at a $350 billion valuation, surpassing ByteDance’s (TikTok) previous lead at $300 billion. Corresponding with that, Elon Musk personal wealth topped $400 billion, making him richer than Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates combined.
Taylor Swift ended her record-breaking Eras tour having sold 10 million tickets for 149 shows with revenues topping $2.1 billion.
As a strong 2024 is wrapping up, we continue to have an optimistic outlook for the Market and the Year Ahead. More to come in our Year in Review EIEIO around January 1st.
Need to Know
WATCH: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe Accepts 2024 Campbell Trophy | NFF
READ: Input Coffee, Output Code: How AI Will Turn Capital into Labor | a16z
WATCH: Meet Willow, our state-of-the-art quantum chip | Google Quantum AI
LISTEN: YouTube ft. Steve Chen - 18 Months That Changed The Internet | Crucible Moments
LISTEN: Marc Andreessen on AI, Tech, Censorship and Dining With Trump | Honestly
GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment
GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.
#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs
#2: IPO Market
#3: Interest Rates
#4: Inflation
Charts of the Week
Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap
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Chuckles of the Week
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Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…
Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.
One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!
Make Your Dash Count!
-MM