March 23rd, 2026: The Shoptalk Edition

Rick Watson breaks down four stories worth your attention before Shoptalk.

OpenAI's internal "code red" and what a pivot to enterprise and coding revenue actually signals ahead of a potential IPO; Dollar General and Dollar Tree earnings — both beating expectations, but with very different stories underneath the numbers; Apollo's credit chief calling private equity valuations "literally fiction," and why that matters for tech-focused PE portfolios still carrying COVID-era marks; and the three questions Rick is bringing to his Agentic Debate at Shoptalk this week — including whether brands are being sold snake oil on AI.

Plus the Investor Minute: Agent Mail, Rhoda AI, Cart.com, Ernesta, and Quince.

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