Morning Brew - ☕ Sinking city

Why the Preakness favorite has so many owners...
May 20, 2023 View Online | Sign Up | Shop 10% Off

Morning Brew

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Good morning. Want to start drama this weekend? Tell your friends the Dave Matthews Band released a new album yesterday, and then take a strong position on the band one way or the other.

Molly Liebergall, Sam Klebanov, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein

MARKETS

Nasdaq

12,657.90

S&P

4,191.98

Dow

33,426.63

10-Year

3.683%

Bitcoin

$26,890.05

Foot Locker

$30.21

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Markets: Stocks took a dive yesterday even though Jerome Powell said that interest rates may not have to rise as much as expected to quash inflation. What could loom even larger than JPow? A hiccup in negotiations over the debt ceiling raised fears about the possibility of the US defaulting.
  • Stock spotlight: Investors were about as interested in Foot Locker as they’d be in an old stinky sneaker after a slowdown in sales prompted the retailer to slash its outlook for the year.
 

AUTO

Why potentially exploding airbags are still on the road

ARC Automotive parts have been linked to nine airbag explosions since 2009. Getty Images

Safety regulators say airbags in more than 33 million cars on the road today could be at risk of exploding, so they should be recalled for immediate replacement. But ARC Automotive, which manufactures the airbag component involved, says no <3.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked for a recall after an eight-year investigation, but it’s just the NHTSA’s initial evaluation, so it’s not binding. ARC is refusing the recall, claiming past incidents involving its airbag inflaters were mere “one-off” anomalies.

But the agency plans to proceed with an official demand and pursue legal action if the company continues to ignore its findings.

What’s got safety officials so worried?

The NHTSA investigation linked nine cases of exploded airbags to malfunctioning ARC-made inflaters, which are metal pieces that are supposed to fill the bags with compressed air on impact. Since 2009, two people have died, and seven have been injured on rare occasions when ARC inflaters malfunctioned during collisions, in some cases blasting shrapnel into riders’ heads.

But ARC says it’s on carmakers to conduct recalls.

  • General Motors appears to have the highest number of potentially affected vehicles. It has already recalled some and announced plans to recall 1 million more.
  • The other brands with ARC inflaters that could issue their own recalls if they want to are Chevrolet, Buick, Ford, Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai, and Kia, according to PBS.

A complete list of affected models has not been released yet, and it’s hard for vehicle owners to know if they have ARC inflaters, since the part is embedded in other manufacturers’ airbags. But using public info, the Wall Street Journal identified 50 of the cars at risk of hurting their riders.

Déjà airbag…the Japanese manufacturer Takata holds the record for largest auto safety recall for its own exploding airbags. Takata recalls are still going on after about ten years, costing automakers billions. Shocker: Takata ultimately went bankrupt trying to recall all 67 million potentially defective airbags…the same number of inflaters that ARC is now being asked to replace.—ML

     

TOGETHER WITH ONEKIND

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

Capitol Building divided blue red with dollars in background Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

Debt ceiling talks get testy. Negotiations aimed at raising the nation’s debt limit resumed briefly last night after being halted for six hours during the day when Republicans broke off talks saying the White House was being unreasonable. A major sticking point was said to be the overall amount of government spending for next year as the deadline to get a deal in place to prevent an economically crippling default on June 1 draws near. Although no breakthrough came from the evening’s talks, further discussions are reportedly scheduled for today.

Zuck is coming for the bird app. Instagram is planning to throw its square-shaped hat in the ring to become the next Twitter with a text-based app it’s secretly been testing out with celebrities, influencers, and creators, Bloomberg reports. Meta reportedly plans to release the competitor to Elon Musk’s app this summer and may eventually allow it to sync up with other contenders for Twitter’s crown, like Mastodon.

Judge orders JetBlue and American Airlines to divorce. A federal judge ordered the airlines to dissolve their alliance, which has allowed them to sell tickets for each other’s flights in the Northeast, agreeing with the Justice Department that the arrangement drove up prices for passengers. The judge gave the companies 30 days to end the partnership. It’s a victory for the Biden administration, which has been aggressive on antitrust enforcement, but a potential headache for travelers who have already bought tickets for the blockbuster summer travel season. The airlines are expected to appeal.

SPORTS

A horse owned by hundreds is favored to win the Preakness

Mage winning Kentucky Derby. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

If the pony favored to win today’s Preakness Stakes does in fact stand in the winner’s circle, he’s bringing a huge crowd with him. That’s because Mage, the frontrunner and Kentucky Derby champion, is partly owned by the sports investment startup Commonwealth, which offers its users the chance to own an even smaller piece of the thoroughbred.

How it works: Commonwealth is an app that lets anyone with at least $50 buy shares that back racehorses and golfers. Users get payouts from race purses and tournament earnings. According to Front Office Sports, the app bought 25% of Mage for an initial investment of $170,000. The value of that stake ballooned to over $5 million post-Derby, giving the 390 people who bought shares in Mage via Commonwealth before the Derby a 30x return.

It’s been a weird racing season. Anything could happen, but Mage is the only Kentucky Derby participant that will be competing in Baltimore today, and he has the potential to win the Triple Crown. If he clinches that, Commonwealth’s stake will be worth $25 million, per FOS.

Big picture: Commonwealth is one of several startups and apps that have popped up in the last few years offering fractional shares in everything from real estate to fine art, enabling retail traders to get a small piece of asset types usually reserved for big spenders.—MM

     

FROM THE CREW

The Crew

Improving internal morale: When Valimail Chief People Officer Elaine Mak saw employee engagement was down, she partnered with CFO Ryan McQueeney to align their talent needs and financial goals with the larger organizational strategy. Read more from CFO Brew on how finance leaders can implement this approach to improve employee retention.

SCIENCE

New York City is going down

New York sinking under water Alyssa Nassner

New York is sinking under its own weight, sliding deeper into the Earth’s crust at an average rate of 1–2 millimeters a year, according to the latest research.

Gotham’s most iconic features are partly to blame: The massive skyscrapers and densely clustered buildings (collectively weighing 1.7 trillion tons) apply too much pressure to the ground. Ironically, many of those heavy skyscrapers are merely sitting empty, as remote work pushed office vacancy rates to a record 22.7% this year, per Bloomberg.

The researchers’ weighty findings signal danger for the coastal metropolis.

  • Four of its five boroughs are mostly located on islands, and New York’s descent puts some neighborhoods at increased risk of flooding as sea levels rise.
  • Flooding and damage from two major hurricanes since 2012 have already cost billions of dollars to repair.

But it’s too early to start calling the Big Apple the Big Atlantis... engineering hacks can prevent sinking cities from becoming neighbors of Bikini Bottom even as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of storms. New York is rebuilding a park on Manhattan’s East Side to make the city more flood-proof, and last year it changed building codes to improve drainage.—SK

     

GRAB BAG

Key performance indicators

A Louise Bourgeois Spider sculpture Sotheby’s

Stat: Fast talkers with hammers have been crushing it lately: Auction records are getting shattered all over the place. Yesterday, Sotheby’s announced that a 10-foot-high spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois sold for $32.8 million—the most ever for a sculpture made by a woman artist. Meanwhile, Christie’s sale of the late Austrian philanthropist Heidi Horten’s jewelry raked in $202 million, taking the crown for biggest jewelry auction from the $137 million sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s bling. The sale succeeded despite controversy: Horten’s husband partly built his fortune by taking over Jewish-owned businesses during the Nazis’ rise.

Quote: “I’ve been blessed with this body. Thanks for noticing.”

At the Cannes Film Festival, Harrison Ford took a moment away from saying an emotional farewell to the roguish archeologist character he first played four decades ago following the debut of the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to whip out an answer to a reporter’s question about how he still looks so good at age 80. Like Indy, Ford didn’t waste time on modesty, but the actor did mention that he does a lot of cycling.

Read: No more bad guys: Where have Disney’s villains gone? (Vox)

NEWS

What else is brewing

  • Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said he plans to step down within the next year and move to an executive chair role. He’s led the investment bank since 2009 and is credited with growing its wealth management business.
  • Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s entry into the billionaire space company derby, won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to develop a spacecraft that can land astronauts on the moon after previously losing out on a similar deal to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
  • Cava, the Mediterranean restaurant chain that makes a pretty good desk salad, has filed for an IPO.
  • Jim Brown, an NFL Hall of Famer and social activist, has died at age 87.
  • Disney is pulling dozens of series and specials from Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, so you’ll have to finish your Willow binge before then.

RECS

Saturday To-Do List graphic

A fine line between fun and frustration: This game challenges you to fill out a poorly designed form. It’ll make you appreciate the UI pros.

Still good? Experts weigh in on when you can ignore food expiration dates.

Homer’s enduring wisdom: Lessons for the art world from The Simpsons.

Not exactly roughing it: The hottest glamping spots in the US.

No one is born a great leader: Learn to lead effortlessly and effectively by spending eight weeks learning from industry experts, modern examples, and real-life scenarios. Apply to our Leadership Accelerator today.

Earn $200 after spending $500: These cards offer unlimited cash rewards and great intro APR deals. Start racking up huge rewards.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

GAMES

The puzzle section

Brew crossword: The bots are taking over everything—even today’s crossword. Prove you’re a human by completing it here.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that believes Portland, Oregon, is overrated. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Maine home with vines and plants lining living room.Zillow

Today’s home/greenhouse is in Falmouth, Maine, less than five miles from Portland, Maine. The gorgeous 4,532-square-foot house was built in 1725, and none of its updates make you want to pull your hair out. Amenities include:

  • 4 beds, 3 baths
  • Stained glass window in the bathroom
  • Fenced-in pool (to keep out all the lobsters)

How much to live amongst the lighthouses?

AROUND THE BREW

Dreading H2 planning?

Dreading H planning?

Budgets don’t have to be the bane of your existence. Our one-week course, Financial Forecasting, begins on June 5. Reserve your spot now.

Learn about how leading companies leverage technology to transform their businesses with Tech Brew—it’s free.

Optimize your hiring practices by downloading HR Brew’s guide to automated interviews.

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ANSWER

$1.99 million

         

Written by Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Sam Klebanov, and Abigail Rubenstein

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