The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop at 3:44PM ET on Friday, halting takeoffs across the US while allowing planes already in the air to land. The stop was lifted just after 5PM ET.
The FAA attributed the ground stop to a temporary telecommunications outage affecting systems needed for safe departures.
Volaren, founded by two ex-Goldman Sachs employees, raised $1 million from Y Combinator and Afore Capital. The startup says it connects to brokerage accounts to explain portfolio moves, suggest next steps, and place trades with user approval.
Volaren is a Y Combinator-backed startup that raised $1 million and offers an AI investing agent that connects to brokerage accounts. The claim that it works like a personal hedge fund team is promotional framing, but the underlying facts are accurate.
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop at 3:44PM ET on Friday due to a temporary telecommunications outage, halting takeoffs while allowing planes in the air to land. The FAA lifted the stop just after 5PM ET.
Amazon reportedly plans to build a "World Product Graph" — a data vault covering products sold anywhere online, including those Amazon doesn't sell — and make it available on its site, according to Reuters via The Verge.
GTA VI launches next Friday, November 19th. The Verge reports a workaround to save on the digital copy via discounted PlayStation and Xbox gift cards.
Nothing's CMF Speaker S, a milk carton-shaped Bluetooth speaker, is on sale for $39 during an early Black Friday promo — a $20 discount and the lowest price seen, according to The Verge.
CTwo ex-Goldman guys just raised a million bucks to build an AI that trades for you.
MAn AI that trades for you. What could possibly go wrong.
CIt's called Volaren. Y Combinator and Afore Capital put in the money.
MSo it plugs into your brokerage account, explains why your portfolio moved, suggests what to do, and then makes the trades.
CWith your approval. That's the key part. It's not going rogue at three in the morning.
MYet. Every one of these starts with 'with your approval' and ends with a class action.
COh, come on. You use autopilot in your car, but you won't let software rebalance your index fund?
MRebalancing is not the same as an AI deciding to dump your retirement into a meme stock because it read a tweet!
CThat's not what this is. It's two guys from Goldman who know risk. They're not building a casino bot.
MThey're building a product that makes money when you trade more. That's the business model.
COr it's a product that makes money when you don't panic-sell at the bottom. Which is what most retail investors do.
MLook, the pitch is 'your own personal hedge fund team.' That's marketing. A million dollars in seed funding doesn't make it a hedge fund.
CNo, but it's a real team with real credentials. And the idea of explaining why your portfolio moved is genuinely useful.
MSo is a newsletter. And it doesn't have access to my bank account.
CFair. But you're the one who always says retail investors get eaten alive by Wall Street. This is a tool to level that field.
MIt's a tool to make you feel like you're leveling the field while the AI makes the same mistakes faster.
CSo your answer is: nobody should ever try anything new in finance. Just keep paying the advisor one percent.
MMy answer is: don't hand your life savings to a chatbot that raised a million dollars last week.
COkay, that's... that's a fair point. A million dollars is a seed round, not a track record.
MI'm not saying it can't work. I'm saying the hype is way ahead of the proof.
CAnd I'm saying the hype is the only reason anyone's paying attention. That's how startups work.
MAnd how they die.
CLet's move on to something with a happier ending.
MAmazon wants to index every product sold anywhere on the internet. Even stuff it doesn't sell.
CThat's... actually smart. They're calling it the World Product Graph.
MReuters reported it. The idea is you search for something on Amazon, and it shows you products from other sites too.
CSo instead of leaving Amazon to check Walmart or Best Buy, you just... stay. And Amazon gets the data.
MAnd the ad revenue. And the purchase intent. And your soul, probably.
CYou're so cynical. This is just good product design.
MIt's a moat. They're building a moat so deep you'll never need to leave their site.
CAnd that's bad? One place to compare prices, read reviews, and buy? That's what consumers want.
MIt's what consumers get until Amazon decides which products to show first. And you can bet that's not neutral.
CSo you'd rather have ten tabs open and no idea who's trustworthy? That's the old internet.
MI'd rather have competition. Two or three big players, not one giant that knows everything.
COkay, that's a real concern. But the convenience is undeniable.
MSo is a casino. Doesn't mean you should live there.
CYou're on fire tonight.
MIt's late. I get cranky.
CNoted. One more quick one—GTA Six launches next Friday, November nineteenth.
MThat snuck up. The Verge says you can save a few bucks by buying discounted PlayStation or Xbox gift cards first.
CA workaround to save twenty bucks on a seventy-dollar game. That's a lot of effort.
MFor some people, that's the whole game. The pre-order optimization meta.
CTrue. And honestly, after a decade of waiting, what's another twenty bucks?
MSpoken like someone who's never had to explain a gaming budget to a spouse.
CI plead the fifth.