Morning Brew - ☕ Fear the Sphere

The government stays open for now...
October 02, 2023 View Online | Sign Up | Shop 10% Off

Morning Brew

Facet

Good morning. Former President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday yesterday, which is something of a miracle considering he wasn’t expected to live more than a week after entering hospice in February—seven months ago.

The Washington Post says Carter spends his days sitting with his wife, Rosalynn; keeping up to date on the news (probs Morning Brew); watching his Atlanta Braves dominate the league; and bingeing Law and Order. As a Navy man, always figured he’d be an NCIS guy.

Dave Lozo, Neal Freyman

MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE

Nasdaq

13,219.32

S&P

4,288.05

Dow

33,507.50

10-Year

4.579%

Bitcoin

$27,078.40

Meta

$300.21

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 1:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Markets: The fourth quarter offers a fresh start for investors bruised up during the rough third quarter. But much of the excitement that infused markets in the first half of the year has evaporated: The “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks have been tapped out of the AI hype and the Fed does not appear to be cutting interest rates any time soon.
 

GOVERNMENT

The government stays open...for now

Meme about government shutdown being a temporary measure ImgFlip

Defying everything the American people expect from their government, Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise Saturday night to avoid a shutdown that would have disrupted the lives of millions and damaged the economy with each passing day.

An eleventh-hour spending deal means federal workers will continue to be paid, and Fat Bear Week can proceed as usual, but it’s just a temporary solution. The 45-day funding bill will expire as you begin brining your Thanksgiving turkey in mid-November.

  • The spending package does not include any more aid to Ukraine, prompting President Biden to reassure Kyiv that he still has its back.

The compromise was engineered by GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who now faces blowback for working with Democrats on a bill that doesn’t reduce spending to levels conservatives wanted. GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday he will file a motion to remove McCarthy from his speakership this week.

In a bizarre twist before the vote, Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm. Bowman said it was an accident, thinking the alarm would open a door, but Republicans are calling for an investigation.

The economy is still in a fragile spot

Economists were concerned that a government shutdown, combined with the ending of two other Covid-era government programs this weekend, would deal a “triple whammy” to American wallets. Now, it’s just a double whammy.

  • Childcare: On Saturday, $24 billion in funding to support the childcare system during the pandemic expired. Going over the “childcare cliff” could threaten women’s historic gains in the workforce during the past several years.
  • Student loan repayments: A three-year moratorium on federal student loan repayments ended the same day, requiring 43 million borrowers to start paying back their IOUs to the government. As a result, up to $100 billion in consumer spending could be wiped out of the economy over the next year.
     

PRESENTED BY FACET

Pop the cork

Facet

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Fortunately, Facet can be your guide to life’s most important milestones. Their memberships provide personalized, affordable financial advice for everything your money touches—from family and career to investments and retirement, all for a flat-fee membership.

The best part? Facet memberships can offer more than your average financial advisor.

Whether you’re considering putting a down payment on a house in the school district you love, setting up a savings plan for your child’s college tuition, or understanding your equity comp after landing your dream job, Facet will be alongside you for every moment.

Toast to life’s moments with Facet.

WORLD

Tour de headlines

Iphone 15 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

🧊 Apple will fix overheating iPhones. You early adopters aren’t imagining it: Apple said its newest iPhones are getting hot to the touch in their first few days out of the packaging, confirming customer complaints. Apple said the overheating resulted from the iPhone 15 working overtime to download user data and a bug in its new iOS17 software. The company said it was also working on fixing bugs with app developers, including Uber and Instagram.

The NFL was the Taylor Swift Show…again. The pop star was at MetLife Stadium to watch her beau Travis Kelce play for the Chiefs against the Jets, towing along an A-list entourage that included Sophie Turner, Blake Lively, and Ryan Reynolds. The NFL and its partners are trying to squeeze as much juice as possible out of football’s most famous fan: NBC promoted the matchup using Swift’s “Welcome to New York,” sportsbooks offered Swift-themed “Prop Stars” bets, and Mike Tirico did his best to restrain himself from mentioning her name after every play. In other news, the Eagles are 4–0.

Late-night TV returns: With the Hollywood writers strike over, late-night television is finally getting its hosts back. Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmies Kimmel and Fallon will return to their respective late-night desks on Monday for their first shows in nearly five months. However, the shows might not be back to normal, as striking actors can appear on the programs but can’t promote their work. Their union, SAG-AFTRA, returns to the negotiating table today.

ENTERTAINMENT

Sphere and globing in Las Vegas

U2 performing at the sphere Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation

The Vegas Sphere—the Death Star if the Empire’s priority was having fun—officially opened its doors on Friday with a mind-boggling U2 performance that foreshadowed the future of live entertainment.

Your parents’ favorite band christened the arena and used the building’s 160,000-square-foot screen to incorporate stunning visuals into a two-hour performance enjoyed by 18,000+ attendees and countless more on social media. Using technology only $2.3 billion can buy, the band’s artificial surroundings included a desert landscape, thousands of electronic letters and numbers, and an homage to Elvis Presley.

A rare win for Dolan: Sphere began as a crude sketch by James Dolan—the billionaire sports and real estate tycoon whose Knicks and Rangers haven’t won a championship in decades. After experimenting with shapes, including a muffin, Dolan eventually drew a circle with a stick figure in it, inspiring the hottest new Vegas attraction.

Sphere won’t just be used as a music venue. On Friday, director Darren Aronofsky will debut Postcard from Earth, an immersive film that will use the Sphere’s wraparound screens to take moviegoers on an immersive journey to all seven continents.

Your move, Epcot Center golf ball.

     

FROM THE CREW

The Crew

The financial podcast you need. We’ve all heard the traditional financial advice, but is it applicable anymore? For money tips and tricks that go beyond the 401(k) and IRA—and focus on optimizing for happiness—check out The Money with Katie Show podcast.

CALENDAR

The week ahead

Sam Bankman-Fried under arrest Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

SBF trial begins. The criminal trial that will determine whether former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried committed massive fraud while building his now-collapsed $32 billion crypto empire will begin tomorrow in New York. The charges, to which SBF has pled not guilty, carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison. Also tomorrow, author Michael Lewis will release his new book, Going Infinite, about SBF.

SCOTUS back in session: The Supreme Court gets back to work today in a session that could cudgel the federal government’s regulatory powers. Also on the docket: a First Amendment dispute involving social media content moderation, and a case about whether Purdue Pharma’s $6 billion settlement of opioid lawsuits can move forward after SCOTUS blocked it in August.

Trump’s business on trial. Former President Trump could be on the hook for $250 million in penalties as part of a business fraud trial that begins today. The judge presiding over the trial ruled last week that Trump inflated his net worth to secure favorable loan deals and insurance rates, a major blow to his real estate empire.

Everything else…

  • The Powerball jackpot has risen to more than $1 billion ahead of tonight’s drawing.
  • MLB playoffs begin this week with Wild Card Series games.
  • Stop trying to make Mean Girls Day happen. It’s already happening on October 3 (that’s Tuesday).
  • Drake will let For All The Dogs out Friday.

GRAB BAG

Key performance indicators

A United airline jet Picture Alliance/Getty Images

Stat: Will airlines replace free pretzels with free Ozempic? It’s something they might consider after a report by Jefferies estimated United Airlines could save $80 million a year in fuel costs if the average passenger’s weight fell by 10 pounds. Fuel is one of the top costs for airlines, and the lighter the planes, the less fuel they need to burn. That’s why they’ve been ditching magazines and switching to lighter utensils and beverage carts in the past few years, according to Bloomberg.

Quote: “No one is safe.”

That is not a threat from a comic book movie villain; it’s Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire warning the city’s residents about its widespread bedbug problem (although unleashing bedbugs on a city does sound like something a comic book villain would do). Officials have said they want to “reassure and protect” the public after a deluge of social media videos showed bedbugs in places like movie theaters and metro stations. Gregoire said the government needs to put together an “action plan,” and quickly—Paris is less than a year away from hosting the Olympics.

Listen: The super always rings twice. (This American Life)

NEWS

What else is brewing

  • American golfers could not dig themselves out of an early hole and lost on European soil once again at a drama-soaked Ryder Cup.
  • Beyoncé is in advanced talks to bring a film of her Renaissance World Tour to AMC Theaters in December, Variety reports. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie hits theaters in less than two weeks.
  • Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer extraordinaire for the Red Sox, died at 57.
  • A three-day strike by 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers could begin Wednesday as union representatives say a new deal before then is unlikely.
  • Scientists are releasing a horde of crabs to save Florida’s coral reef. Fun fact: A group of crabs is called a “cast.”

RECS

Monday to-do list image

Watch: Dive into the uncanny valley for a Metaverse interview with Mark Zuckerberg.

Browse: A hundred lesser-known but useful websites.

Visit: America’s 50 most exciting restaurants right now. 

Get animated: The NFL aired an entire game using Toy Story animation.

Pro status: Get premium access to exclusive stock picks and analyst calls, plus CNBC’s LIVE global streams and exclusive articles. Watch, read, and learn from any device. Subscribe now and try Pro free for 7 days.*

*A message from our sponsor.

GAMES

The puzzle section

Turntable: A, B, C, D, and E are all in today’s Turntable jumble. How many words can you create with them? Find out here.

Food label trivia

Today’s trivia is dedicated to Burkey Belser, the designer of the iconic Nutrition Facts label, who died last week.

Here’s the question: There are only four vitamins and minerals that are required to be on a food label in the US. Can you name them?

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ANSWER

Vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: deluge, meaning “a severe flood.” Thanks to Mia in Milwaukee for the suggestion: Submit another Word of the Day here.

✢ A Note From Facet

Facet Wealth, Inc. (“Facet”) is an SEC registered investment adviser headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. This is not an offer to sell securities. This is not investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

         
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