🎙️ Bitcoin's Gravitational Pull

On this day in 1959, a pillar of American pop culture was born: Barbie.

By 2006, its maker, the toy company Mattel, claimed to have sold over a billion Barbie dolls, equating to roughly three dolls every second.

That’s a lot of Barbie, and last summer’s hit Barbie movie, which grossed almost $1.5 billion at the box office, certainly reinvigorated demand.

Despite Barbie’s success, Mattel’s stock has been a laggard, rising about 9% over the last year versus roughly 27% for the S&P 500. And going back four decades, Mattel is up just 686% versus the S&P 500’s more than 3,200% return.

💭 More fun insights below in 2 minutes to read.

— Matthew and Shawn

Quote of the Day

“A bull market is when you check the prices of your stocks every day to see how much money you’ve made. A bear market is when you don’t bother to look anymore.”

— John Hammerslough

Cool Charts

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Tune In

🎧 Investing in fear: Profiting from max pessimism with Lauren Templeton

🎥 Why widespread tech layoffs keep happening in a strong economy

🎥 The worst year for banks since 2008

🎧 The financial freedom formula with your friend Andy

What We’re Reading

📖 Books: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

📰 Long-form articles: Are GMOs safe? Breaking down the science of science-ified foods

🗞️ Advice: The value in doing nothing to get in touch with what matters

Trivia

Tweet of the Week

Final Thoughts

🔢 One Big Number: 307%. That’s Super Micro Computer's year-to-date return, which is now up over 1,000% over the past 12 months. It’s in rare company as one of the few stocks to outperform Nvidia during that span.

🧹 Housekeeping note: Look for another preview edition of our new premium newsletter, We Study Markets Pro, to arrive in your inbox later today. We officially launch the product on Wednesday, March 13, and all WSM readers are welcome to a 14-day free trial.

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See you next time!

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