Happy Friday Zingernation! You would have made a lot of money if you predicted the AI boom 5 years ago and loaded up on Nvidia and AMD. But if you had simply asked the TikTok kids what products they’ve been buying 5 years ago, you would be up even more.

The makeup girlies on the ‘Tok’ would have told you about $ELF products (up more than 2,000% over the last 5 years). The workout bros would have told you about a new energy drink called Celsius (up more than 6,000% in the last 5 years). So you guys can keep your analyst reports and “fundamentals.” I’m gonna be on the Tok looking for my next stock.

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MARKET SNAPSHOT

Yesterday: Cooler PCE data helped drive the market to near-all-time highs. $NVDA, $MSFT, $AMZN, and other mega-cap tech stocks led the charge.

On Our Radar: Lots of Fed speakers littered throughout the day as well as construction spending data at 10 am ET.

TOP STORY

New York Community Bancorp Stock Nosedives After It Identifies Internal Weakness

Briefly: $NYCB shares tumbled in after-hours trading on Thursday. The company identified a material weakness in its internal controls. It also announced a leadership transition.

Zooming In: In a new regulatory filing, New York Community Bancorp said management identified internal material weaknesses related to internal loan review. It attributed the weaknesses to ineffective oversight, risk assessment, and monitoring activities.

Shake Up: Separately, New York Community Bancorp said it appointed executive chairman Alessandro (Sandro) DiNello as president and CEO, effective immediately. Former CEO Thomas Cangemi will remain a member of the board.

Quoted: “It is my mandate as president and CEO, alongside our Board, to continue our transformation into a larger, more diversified commercial bank,” DiNello said.

Learn More: Check out the full story here.  

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FIVE ZINGERS

Hop On The Bandwagon: Everybody’s onboard! Well, almost everyone. Merrill and Wells Fargo are the latest to offer Bitcoin ETFs to customers.

One Way To Do It: More like the worst way to do it. Here’s what happened when a TikTok user tried to pay off his student debt with sports betting.

Bonkers: A meme coin called Bonk has been going wild, growing its market cap to more than $1.5 billion.

Scaling Out: Some investors scaled out of Zscaler yesterday after the IT company reported disappointing earnings.

Worst Investment Ever: Well my plan to retire on trading Wendy’s double stacks isn’t looking too hot. The burger joint clarified that its new pricing model will not increase the price of burgers, only lower them during slow times. 

ONE FOR THE ROAD

Dave Ramsey Says If You Have A Car Payment, 'You Will Be Broke Your Whole Life'

Basically: I was feeling good about keeping up with my monthly car payments and getting closer to paying it off. But then Dave Ramsey told me I’d be broke my entire life with this approach.

Lesson Learned: Ramsey said it’s unwise to have a monthly car payment, and pointed out that most millionaires drive cars that are years old and paid off. He asserts that you could be investing your monthly car payment funds.

Quoted: “I guarantee you’ll be broke your whole life as long as you stay in car payments because it’s the most expensive thing you buy that goes down in value,” Ramsey said.

The Alternative: Ramsey proposes buying a quality used car as a financially sound alternative to a car payment. Except for individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 million. Then the depreciation of a new car would pose a lesser impact.

What Next: Check out all of Ramsey’s tips on cars here.

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