Stocks are off to a strong start this week as everyone’s eyes turn to Wyoming, where Jerome Powell’s about to don his cowboy hat and deliver the financial gospel at the Fed’s Jackson Hole stage. 

The Dow added 237 points, closing just under 41,000, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq continued their winning streaks, both logging their eighth consecutive day of gains.

Analysts across Wall Street think he might tease us with the idea of a 50-basis-point move, but just like any old western movie takes an unexpected turn, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it just yet.

Retail traders are also betting that "J-Pow" will sprinkle some magic rate-cut dust, with a 72% chance of a 0.25% reduction and a 28% chance of a 0.50% cut.

Oh, and keep an eye on retailers like Target, Macy’s, and BJ’s Wholesale Club, as they’re set to report their earnings this week. Given how retailers have been getting dumped lately, they’re probably more desperate than anyone for Powell to say the magic words.

Tesla’s Hiring “Human Roombas” for $48 an Hour to Reach $25 Trillion Market Cap

Elon Musk might still be mad at Jerome Powell and the Fed for not lowering rates to save Tesla’s earnings announcement, but that’s not slowing him down with the development of his humanoid robots. 

Yep, Musk is charging ahead with his Optimus project, and Tesla’s literally hiring people to take the steps, one foot in front of the other, to bring these AI-powered bots to life. And for up to $48 an hour, you could be the one wearing a motion-capture suit, teaching Optimus how to automate factory work.

Tesla’s job listings are plastered all over every job board out there, shouting out for "Data Collection Operators." The gig? Basically, you’ll be walking around like a human Roomba, collecting movement data and offering feedback on the robot’s progress. It sounds like a breeze, right? Well, there’s a catch. You need to be between 5'7" and 5'11" (sorry short kings, I don’t make the rules) to even fit into the suit, and you’ve got to be ready to walk for seven hours straight. But hey, the pay isn’t bad—anywhere from $25.25 to $48 an hour, depending on how well you can imitate a robot.

If you’re lucky enough to be hired, you’ll be wearing a VR headset and doing the same repetitive tasks over and over while Optimus mimics your every move. Tesla even released a video showcasing the operation, with workers moving in a slow, deliberate rhythm while the robots beside them try to keep up without stumbling. This is Musk's take on the future—robots taking on all the tedious, brain-numbing work that humans are tired of doing.

Tesla announced the Optimus project in 2021, aiming for these robots to take over factory jobs. Despite initial disappointments, Tesla has made impressive progress. The latest version of Optimus is already performing autonomous tasks like handling batteries at Tesla facilities. Now, in true Musk fashion, he’s dropped a classic overpromise, hinting that these robots could be rolling off Tesla’s own production lines by 2024 and even up for grabs by other companies by 2026. But let’s be real—Elon’s timelines are like that one friend who’s always "five minutes away," so you might want to take that with a grain of salt.

These are the same robots that Elon claims will drive Tesla to a $25 trillion valuation. With 8 billion people on the planet, he believes there will be significant demand to sell these robots to companies all around the world.

However, Tesla faces stiff competition. Companies like Figure, backed by heavyweights like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, are also in the race. Figure recently secured $675 million in funding, boosting its valuation to $2.6 billion. It’s clear the stakes are sky-high as everyone scrambles to be the first to build our future robot overlords.

Experts like Animesh Garg from Nvidia Research aren’t pulling any punches when it comes to the challenges Tesla’s facing. The amount of data these robots need to learn how to, well, not walk into walls is downright staggering—we’re talking hundreds of thousands to millions of hours. Garg figures this could run Tesla a half a billion dollars, and even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll stick the landing. But hey, Tesla’s charging ahead anyway, because in Elon’s world, $48 an hour is just the cost of turning those sci-fi dreams into reality.

Stock.News has positions in Tesla.