📈 Markets📈 Markets

The biggest tech companies got even bigger

Tech companies entered the $4 trillion market cap club — $5 trillion in Nvidia’s case — and exited. Currently, Nvidia and Apple are the only companies to have retained the vaunted membership

🎬 Entertainment and culture🎬 Entertainment and culture

Just how many ads are there on ad-supported streaming apps, really?

Way back at the beginning of this year, we plopped down on a couch to find out just how many ads you see for select episodes of top shows. We saved you the pain of having to go through hours of episodes on Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Hulu to count them. Now it’s likely much higher, as companies like Netflix build out their ad tech and woo advertisers over to streaming.

💵 Economy / government Rd💵 Economy / government Rd

All that glitters

While we have been following the rising price of gold, we’ve also been keeping an eye on the increasing amounts of gold leaf appearing in the Oval Office. Over the course of this year, President Trump’s obsession with all things gilded resulted in a week-by-week increase in the number of chalices, medallions, and cartouches, which look like they were bought in bulk. We documented the golden doodads and made a handy visual to show just how much of the office is now covered in gold.

✈️ Transportation✈️ Transportation

Airline margins are going down

Airlines’ move to upsell customers on perks like premium seats belie their downward trend in profits. An analysis of company reports and data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that between 2021 and 2024, the big four US airlines earned approximately $5.51 in profit per passenger — down sharply from the four years leading into the pandemic (2016 to 2019), when the companies’ profit per passenger averaged $19.26.

🤖 AI and technology🤖 AI and technology

AI valuations head into the stratosphere

Each new AI funding round has sent AI startup valuations dramatically higher, with several now worth more than $100 billion. Reports have said that OpenAI, valued at $500 billion in its latest round, could IPO next year at an eye-watering $1 trillion valuation.

📦 Tariffs📦 Tariffs

Eli Lilly may have found a tariff work-around

Desperate times called for desperate measures. A number of companies, including Apple, sought ways to get ahead of the tariffs. By May of this year, Eli Lilly imported 3x as many of its GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs than it had in years prior — a measure presumably meant to avoid looming tariffs