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London (CNN Business)Even as the Reddit-fueled meme stock frenzy faded this week, euphoric financial markets showed no signs of cooling off.
What’s happening: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished Thursday at new record highs. Bitcoin prices hit an all-time high of $48,975, while more tech founders and athletes are looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars via special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.More traditional fundraising methods also continue to generate huge interest from investors looking for places to park their money. Dating app Bumble, which started trading on Thursday, priced shares at $43 apiece, above its expected range. Its stock surged immediately upon opening and closed at $70.31, a 64% increase.
In a piece just published, I report on how Wall Street, flush with cash, is piling into an even more obscure corner of markets: sports trading cards.Industry insiders told me that the price of popular cards is soaring as sophisticated investors as well as small traders transform the world of sports collectibles from a fusty hobby into a major investment market. Read MoreOne example: Earlier this month, a Michael Jordan rookie basketball card in pristine condition sold for a record $738,000 at an auction. It went for nearly $215,000 just weeks before.”There’s never been a time like this in the history of the business,” Ken Goldin, whose company ran the auction, told CNN Business. “I would bet that for every person who wanted a Michael Jordan rookie card in 2019, there’s 100 [now].”Professionals like Goldin β who’s fielding calls from interested hedge funds β acknowledge that factors such as rock-bottom interest rates, which have encouraged investors to hunt for returns in creative places, are benefiting their business. But they think the enthusiasm will hold.”This is now part of our culture,” Goldin said. “I wouldn’t go anywhere near the word bubble.”Watch this space: It’s not just big money getting into the game. Fractional trading has also reshaped the trading card industry, allowing everyday buyers to purchase a small stake in a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes card that would have otherwise been too costly.”We realized the potential fractional ownership could have to break down a massive barrier to entry,” said Ezra Levine, the CEO of Collectable, which buys sports cards and converts them into tradable assets registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Other hobbyists are gathering on social media as they rip open new packs of cards, hoping they’ll contain younger talent that can later be sold for a huge profit on eBay. Some are making even bigger bets and bragging about their gains on TikTok. Read the full story here.
Disney is still getting hammered by the pandemic
The pandemic continues to slam Disney’s theme parks and movie business. But its streaming service, Disney+, is shining.
Disney is still getting hammered by the pandemic, but Disney+ remains a starThe latest: Disney’s revenue came in at $16.2 billion during its most recent quarter, down 22% compared to the previous year, the company said Thursday. Yet Disney+ is growing, and Wall Street is still loving it.The streaming service now has nearly 95 million subscribers, up from the 86 million it had in December. The news sent shares up 1% in premarket trading. They closed Thursday at a record high, despite the massive hit from Covid-19.Disney (DIS) is banking that huge investments in content like its Marvel “WandaVision” series will pay off in an increasingly crowded space, as it faces off against competitors including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and CNN parent WarnerMedia’s HBO Max.Still, CEO Bob Chapek made clear on a call with analysts that Disney doesn’t plan to abandon movie theaters altogether, my CNN Business colleague Frank Pallotta reports.The company faces questions about what it will do with “Black Widow,” its latest Marvel film due to open in theaters on May 7. Could Disney put a film from the biggest blockbuster brand in the industry on Disney+, as it did with “Mulan” last year?Doesn’t look like it. At least, not yet, per Chapek.”We are still intending it to be a theatrical release,” he said Thursday.
Bumble’s IPO is a milestone for female founders
Bumble’s Wall Street debut isn’t just a win for its investors. It’s also a milestone for female founders.See here: At 31, Bumble chief Whitney Wolfe Herd has become one of the youngest female CEOs in tech to take her company public, my CNN Business colleague Sara Ashley O’Brien reports.”You don’t have to be one type of person to find success in the business world or in the tech industry,” Wolfe Herd told CNN Business in an interview Thursday. “I’ve truly just always tried to build what I wish existed, what I wish could help make lives better for the women I care about and the people I love, and I think it doesn’t always have to follow the same path.”Wolfe Herd, who is based in Austin, Texas, started her career at another dating service, Tinder. She initially set out to create a women-focused social network before landing on the concept of a female-focused dating app. Bumble requires women searching for heterosexual matches to make the first move, a feature meant to boost women’s empowerment.Sarah Kunst, managing director of early-stage venture capital firm Cleo Capital and a former senior adviser to Bumble, told CNN Business that Wolfe Herd’s IPO sets a meaningful example to other founders who don’t fit the mold of what a “tech entrepreneur” typically looks like.Wolfe Herd’s success story bucks the notion that “you can only start a company credibly if you have multiple prestigious degrees [and] all the right experience,” Kunst said. “She played this game on her own terms.”
Up next
MSG Entertainment (MSG) and Newell Brands (NWL) report results before US markets open. The University of Michigan releases its consumer sentiment survey for February at 10 a.m. ET. Coming next week: The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on the GameStop (GME) frenzy. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is expected to testify.
Source: edition.cnn.com
