BSaturday afternoon, not a lot of market action, but there's always a story.
AAnd today, the story is pretty wild. Getty Images just filed for Chapter 11.
BGetty? The photo company?
AOne point four six billion dollars in debt. The Shutterstock merger fell apart.
BSo now it's just a very expensive library of stock photos nobody needs.
AThat's exactly it. AI-generated images are eating the stock photo business alive.
BYou know what I remember? Getty was THE place for photos. Sports, news, everything.
ANow companies type a prompt and get a picture for pennies. No watermark, no license fee.
BSo they're restructuring with five hundred thirty-three million in new money. But the core problem doesn't go away.
ARight. AI isn't going back in the box, and some argue the model itself is the broken part.
BLet's switch gears to something equally shady but in a different way—a marriage fraud ring in Massachusetts.
AProsecutors say it charged illegal immigrants up to forty thousand dollars for a fake marriage. For a green card.
BForty grand! That's more than I spent on my actual wedding.
AAnd one reply said it best: prosecutors should follow the money, not just the couples.
BThat's the thing. This wasn't love, it was a business. Six people charged.
AThe Justice Department confirmed the charges.
BThat tells you how much people will pay for legal status. Real money, real fraud.
AAnd finally, one people are already arguing about. Kobeissi Letter says US manufacturing just hit a three-year high.
BA PMI of fifty-six? That's a strong number if it's real.
AI can't independently confirm the data yet. But if it's accurate, job growth drove it.
BThen I want to see the next report. One month of strong manufacturing isn't a trend.
AAgreed. But it would be a nice surprise for the economy hawks.
BIf the number holds, we'll talk about what it means for rates and the dollar.