🏆🤖Friday the 13th

THE PROFITS💸

Good morning Opportunists. As we navigate through Friday the 13th, we unravel the origins of this superstitious date and its spine-chilling lore. Meanwhile, Boeing’s union troubles persist, casting a shadow over the aerospace giant’s future. And in the political arena, is President Joe Biden playing a double game with the Democratic Party? First time reader? Join over 5,000 Opportunists searching for what the Elitists, Politicians, and Billionaires money is doing so you know what happens next. Don’t be left in the dark, Sign up here.

Read Time: 6 mins

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th

September has arrived, ushering in Halloween preparations and a double dose of Friday the 13th superstitions this year in both September and December.

The unlucky day combines two ancient taboos: the number 13, linked to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, and the fact that Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

The superstition gained traction about 1,000 years after the events of the Last Supper and is now seen as an example of "magical thinking," where unrelated events are believed to have a causal relationship.

Meanwhile, tattoo shops turn Friday the 13th into a promotional bonanza, with steep discounts on tattoos, a tradition popularized by Oliver Peck in the '90s, who turned the day into a tattooing spectacle.

Boeing

The Boeing Union Woes Continue…

Boeing workers in Washington state kicked off a strike early Friday, with a staggering 96% of machinists rejecting a new deal despite its pay increases and enhanced benefits.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751's overwhelming vote signals a major upheaval for Boeing, already reeling from past crises and facing potentially $1 billion in weekly losses.

Amid chants of "strike, strike, strike," union members expressed frustration over what they call inadequate compensation and corporate greed, setting the stage for a disruption that could shake Boeing’s recovery efforts.

Boeing is scrambling to get back to negotiations, hoping to mend relations and avoid further damage to its beleaguered operations.

President Joe Biden

Is Biden Double Crossing the Democratic Party

President Joe Biden had a rare moment of bipartisan camaraderie on Wednesday when he playfully donned a Trump hat at the Shanksville Firehouse, marking the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

As Biden mixed with the crowd, he shared laughs with a Trump supporter and even joked about his age, signing a presidential hat and refusing the supporter’s offer to autograph his Trump cap.

Despite initial reluctance, Biden eventually wore the Trump hat over his firehouse cap, much to the crowd's delight.

This light-hearted interaction contrasted with the usual high-stakes political climate and even prompted Trump’s campaign to thank Biden on social media.

Sports, Entertainment & Culture

Flappy Bird Gets a Revival: Flappy Bird is making a comeback in 2025 after a decade-long break. The game, yanked from app stores in 2014 due to its overwhelming popularity and Nguyen's concerns about its addictiveness, is now being revived by the Flappy Bird Foundation. The Flappy Bird Foundation teases fans with a trailer, promising a “fresh experience” that aims to recapture the game's original charm and add a new twist.

Grey’s Anatomy is Back for Season 21: "Grey's Anatomy" is gearing up for its 21st season, continuing its reign as ABC's longest-running medical drama. This season will dive into the fallout from Meredith Grey's departure, Richard Webber's retirement, and Jo Wilson's pregnancy, all while navigating the chaos left behind by the recently-ended "Station 19." Fans can catch the new episodes on ABC or stream them on Hulu, with the first 20 seasons available on Netflix and Hulu.

Dangerously High Levels of Lead: A recent report from Consumer Reports has uncovered dangerously high levels of lead in cinnamon powders and multi-spice blends from 12 brands, including Paras and EGN, with lead levels reaching up to 3.52 parts per million. Even a small amount of these tainted products can exceed safe daily lead limits, prompting warnings to avoid and discard them. While some brands, like Paras and EGN, have pledged to pull their products, others like McCormick and Trader Joe’s have been cleared for their lower lead content and rigorous safety standards.

Science and Technology

A New Space Record Has Been Set: Today’s launch of three new crew members to the International Space Station has set a new record, with 19 people now orbiting Earth. The Soyuz MS-26 mission, carrying Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner alongside NASA’s Don Pettit, will boost the ISS crew to 12, joining the nine already onboard. Meanwhile, China’s Tiangong-3 hosts three taikonauts, and the Polaris Dawn private mission, currently at its peak altitude, aims to break further records with its upcoming commercial spacewalk. This unprecedented orbital population underscores the bustling activity in space, with 19 humans circling the planet simultaneously.

OpenAI Releases GPT-o1: OpenAI has unveiled its latest large language models, o1-preview and o1-mini, boasting impressive performance with an 89th percentile ranking in programming contests and 83 percent accuracy on math Olympiad questions. However, while these models showcase advanced reasoning capabilities, they sometimes "hallucinate" or provide incorrect answers, especially when generating sources or handling ambiguous queries. CEO Sam Altman acknowledges that although the new models are a leap forward, they still have flaws and are more impressive initially than after extended use.

India is Trying to Ban Amazon and FlipKart: An Indian lawmaker and a major retailers' group are pushing for a suspension of Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart over alleged antitrust violations, claiming the companies favored select sellers and listings, harming competition. The call for action comes after leaked antitrust reports revealed that these practices have been ongoing, with discussions planned between the government and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Business & Markets

Adobe Shares: Adobe's shares took a nosedive after hours on Thursday, despite a solid fiscal third-quarter performance, thanks to a gloomy outlook for the current quarter. While the stock has rallied 28% over the last three months, it's still struggling for the year due to cautious spending by enterprise customers amid economic uncertainty.

Policy Meeting and Rate Cuts: Wall Street now seems to have settled on what the Federal Reserve will do at its upcoming policy meeting, and a surprise 50-bps rate cut might not be as thrilling as it sounds. Recent inflation data and cooling labor market conditions have dampened expectations for a large cut, making a 50-bps decrease seem increasingly unlikely and potentially shocking.