Hi! Gold run: Looking to boost business in the warmer months, a Finnish ski resort is launching a summer treasure hunt, where tourists can search for a gold bar worth ~$23,000 hidden along local trails. Today we’re exploring:

While we’re on the subjects… You may have received a newsletter with a “Chartr Opt Out” subject line on Monday — that was an error. Apologies and thank you, as ever, for remaining opted in to the newsletter!

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McDonald’s has a new strategy: Make its stores “easier to run”

On Monday, McDonald’s unveiled its new global growth strategy, with a renewed focus on improving customer service, making better-tasting food and drinks, redesigning restaurants, and letting consumers lead innovation.

Having successfully pivoted to value offerings of late, the novel approach, dubbed “McDonald’s > NEXT,” aims to make its restaurants “easier to run and more enjoyable to visit” and is built around “improving quality and consistency at scale,” the company’s chief restaurant experience officer wrote in an emailed statement.

It makes sense for the burger chain to put customers and franchisees at the center of the strategy, given that its previous push for cheaper eats created tensions with some of its independent store operators — a group that accounted for over 95% of the chain’s global footprint in 2025.

McDonald’s... the real estate company?

When Ray Kroc first started franchising McDonald’s branches back in 1955, he initially found that the turnover from the revenue-sharing model was mostly absorbed by his own McD’s expansion efforts. So, Kroc effectively turned McDonald’s franchise arm into a real estate business, first buying the land and buildings for potential new restaurant locations, then leasing them to franchisees.

That dual-income model continues today, though things have obviously changed a little. Franchisees are expected to initially invest some $1.5 million to $2.8 million (depending on the location of the store), plus royalties and marketing fees that amount to at least 8% of sales for a typical McDonald’s restaurant, as the company outlined in its Franchise Disclosure Document. 

Since it owns much of the land its restaurants sit on, McDonald’s benefits from another reliable source of revenue: rent. Franchisees typically pay 6-23% of their gross sales as rent and, if applicable, a monthly fee to reimburse land purchase and development fees to the Golden Arches.

Read the full story on the web

Major movie franchise sequels might not be the safe bet they once were

It’s been a huge week at the global box office... but perhaps not in the way Disney had hoped, as low-budget movies about liminal spaces and limerence outshone the first “Star Wars” film without lightsabers.

In its opening weekend, “Backrooms” took $118 million worldwide, making the horror film, based on internet lore and directed by 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons, the largest debut ever for A24, despite its ~$10 million budget. Another indie horror made by a Gen Z social media star, Curry Barker’s “Obsession,” scooped $26.4 million in its third weekend, bringing its global total to $148 million — nearly 200x its $750,000 budget.

“The Mandalorian and Grogu,” meanwhile, the 12th live-action movie installment to come from the “Star Wars” universe, plunged ~70% from what was already the lowest-grossing debut for a Disney-era Jedi flick, accruing just $24.4 million in its second weekend. Per The Numbers, this puts its worldwide box office earnings to date at ~$249 million, versus its $165 million price tag.

Not even accounting for the film’s rumored ~$300 million marketing budget that’s seen everything from fast food to TV cartoons furnished with Baby Yodas, ticket sales for “The Mandalorian” are so far failing to stack up against its predecessors.

Wait a second...

The unprecedented success of two small-budget horrors, alongside the tepid reaction to a major Disney-owned franchise, has seen pundits sound alarm bells that the gap in box office takings could indicate a “tectonic” industry shift.

That said, the horror genre has proved it can fill cinema seats in recent years, capturing a record-slashing market share of the US box office throughout 2025 thanks to hits like “Sinners” and “Weapons,” while indie movies have also long been met with overwhelmingly positive audience and critical receptions. 

So, what exactly has got Hollywood spooked?

Read the full story and see if we’ve reached “peak sequel” here

The Benchmark of the 21st Century

The Nasdaq-100 Index^® (NDX^®) has come a long way since its 1985 debut: the index has matured into a $1.4 trillion global ecosystem, serving as a primary benchmark for the 21st century economy. 

Today, the ecosystem offers a vast range of investment vehicles, including ETFs, options, and futures, providing retail investors with more choices for access to the world's leading non-financial companies. 

With exposure to the world’s largest, most liquid, and most innovative companies, the NDX remains a cornerstone that supports diverse strategies and products for every type of investor. 

A New York bar is using Kalshi to offer patrons free drinks during the first Knicks Finals game

Though the cheapest resale tickets to go and see the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden in their first NBA Finals since 1999 are now floating around the ~$4,000 mark, one NYC bar is offering to sweeten the deal for fans who choose to watch the first playoff game in their venue… but only if the Knicks win.

Patrons at The Jeffrey bar in Manhattan who show up before the game starts will have their checks covered if the Knicks win, up to the value of $100 per guest, according to the bar’s post on social media. But how, in the middle of a pronounced slump in the US beer industry, can it afford such a promotion? A wealthy Knicks-loving benefactor? A (maybe misplaced) sense of optimism about the coming World Cup’s impact on business? No, it’s down to prediction markets, of course!

Play the percentage

Andrew Freedman — the owner of the bar, the man behind the offer, and, in the daytime, a hedge fund adviser — told Semafor that he used Kalshi to put $5,000 on the Knicks to win on Wednesday, which would pay out ~$8,000, covering around half of the expected outlay from picking up his patrons’ tabs.

Perhaps the most interesting part about the setup at The Jeffrey is that it was Kalshi’s idea, a fact Freedman relayed to Semafor and that a company spokesperson has since confirmed. The prediction market platform reached out to Freedman after a similarly generous offer around an Eastern Conference game set him back $3,700, suggesting that he should hedge his promotion this time around.

Just to recap: Knicks fans drinking at The Jeffrey might get a game day bonus; Freedman likely gets more customers through the door and gets to potentially offset the costs of doing so; and Kalshi, which already saw a whopping $11.5 billion of sports market volumes in April, cements itself as a hub to monetarily express your views on The Big Game.

Read this on the web instead

The Nasdaq-100 has grown from a specialized index into a $1.4 trillion global ecosystem. Discover how this benchmark provides diverse investment vehicles to help retail investors track innovation across multiple sectors.

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Off the charts: Which tech giant just announced an $80 billion equity raise, as massive AI data-center spending is expected to eat into its once-huge free cash flow? [Answer below]. 

Answer here.