Morning Brew - ☕ Spotlight on Arkansas

Americans are getting more work done...
October 23, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop

Morning Brew

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Good morning. Here’s a tech tip: You can name your group chats on iMessage. You might be thinking, “Yeah, Brew, we know,” but…Tim Cook didn’t. In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Apple CEO appeared confused by the idea that you could name group chats. Upon finding out about this feature offered by his own product, Cook proudly revealed he named his group chat with his college roommates “Roommates.”

Just in case, someone should also remind him he can turn off his read receipts.

Sam Klebanov, Cassandra Cassidy, Matty Merritt, Holly Van Leuven, Neal Freyman

MARKETS

Nasdaq

18,573.13

S&P

5,851.20

Dow

42,924.89

10-Year

4.204%

Bitcoin

$67,683.81

Philip Morris

$131.41

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Markets: Stocks finished Tuesday in the green, but a steep rise in the 10-year Treasury yield telegraphed investors’ uncertainty about the Fed’s next move and the election outcome.
  • Stock spotlight: Shares of Philip Morris, which owns Swedish Match—the maker of Zyn—soared yesterday after it revealed higher shipments of the trendy nicotine pouches. It was the biggest one-day gain for the company since March 2020.
 

Markets Sponsored by Infinity Fuel

Tap into a $19b market: Time’s running out to invest in the hydrogen fuel cell pioneer contracted with NASA, the Navy, and more. Invest in Infinity Fuel by Oct. 25.

ECONOMY

Why the US economy is leading its peers

An illustration of the United States using moneybags Anna Kim

While Italians scoff at Americano slop and Japanese people cringe at stateside 7-Eleven hot dogs, Americans are having the last laugh when it comes to economic prosperity.

The US economy is doing better than that of any other member of the rich countries club (aka the Group of Seven), the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. The global economy watcher upgraded its prediction for US GDP growth to 2.8% this year, compared to the 0.9% average for all G7 countries.

Economists attribute the strength of the US economy to rising inflation-adjusted wages and strong consumer spending, all fueled by longtime investment. Experts say it boils down to Americans being more efficient workers.

Americans get more done

US workers are more productive than their counterparts in Europe and Japan, but probably not because they take shorter vacations or drink less wine at lunch. US companies have more money to invest in innovation due to lower energy prices and strong government support.

Workers benefit from updated machinery and software to operate more efficiently. According to The Economist:

  • The average US worker will churn out $171,000 of goods and services this year, compared to $120,000 for a European employee and $96,000 for one in Japan.
  • Americans’ hourly productivity has risen 70% since 1990, compared to just 29% in Europe and 25% in Japan, according to Conference Board data analyzed by The Economist.

The US owes its economic powerhouse status to a robust business environment, in which workers switch jobs often and new companies pop up, according to The Economist. These conditions give rise to its dominant tech sector and other lucrative industries that create economic value.

But…productivity growth is declining worldwide, including in the US, which is bad news for global economic growth. AI might reverse this trend. Some economists are optimistic that it will boost productivity and turbocharge economies, but the IMF cites experts who say that governments need to do more to promote a competitive environment and support smaller businesses.—SK

   

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

three stacks of empty mcdonald's sandwich boxes for food prep Picture Alliance/Getty Images

E. Coli outbreak is linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. The CDC said it has received reports of 49 cases across 10 states between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11, with most located in Colorado and Nebraska. The outbreak has led to 10 hospitalizations and one death. In a statement yesterday, McDonald’s suggested the issue may stem from “slivered onions,” which it has removed from restaurants and has stopped distributing in the impacted area. The message also said Quarter Pounders will be temporarily removed from menus in Wyoming, Kansas, Utah, and Colorado, as well as some parts of Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company said it is “committed to providing timely updates as we restore our full menu.”

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO arrested for sex trafficking. Mike Jeffries was arrested yesterday in West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of a federal investigation. Jeffries, his partner, and a third man are accused of building and running an international sex trafficking ring and prostitution business between 2008 and 2015 that relied heavily on their vast financial resources and Jeffries’s clout as the CEO of A&F. Each of the accused faces 15 counts of interstate prostitution connected to 15 alleged victims, who were all young men at the time, and one count of sex trafficking.

Kamala Harris is said to have the tacit support of Jamie Dimon, Bill Gates. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wants Vice President Harris to win the election and would even consider joining her administration, according to the New York Times—but he will allegedly keep his preference private since he fears retaliation if former President Trump returns to office. In response, a JPMorgan spokesperson told the NYT that Dimon “has never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate.” Later in the day, the Times reported that Bill Gates, who also has not publicly endorsed a candidate, privately told people he donated $50 million to a nonprofit supporting Harris’s run. Gates responded to the Times with a statement that did not address the specific claim but said in part, “I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different.”—HVL

ENERGY

Lithium discovery puts Arkansas in the limelight

A person holding a lithium rich rock Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images

People are talking about Arkansas, and it has nothing to do with the “America, explain” vine. A new study estimates that the state has enough lithium to meet projected global demand for the metal, a crucial component of electric vehicle batteries, in a potential boon for the US amid government efforts to encourage EV adoption.

The study, completed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) using predictive modeling and AI, found between 5 million and 19 million tons of lithium in the limestone Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas—enough to supply nine times the amount of lithium needed to meet the 2030 expected world demand for EV batteries.

Domestic production, here we gooo: Finding this source in the US is good for “employment, manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience,” according to the USGS, as most lithium comes from Australia or South America and is processed in China. The Arkansas discovery changes that equation. Five companies have already set up shop, including Exxon Mobil, which aims to start lithium extraction in 2027.

Look out for new technology, too. ExxonMobil is one of many companies exploring DLE, or direct lithium extraction, a method that is faster, safer, and less energy intensive than existing alternatives.—CC

   

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AVIATION

FAA nixes relic of in-flight smoking

No smoking sign on airplane Robert Alexander/Getty Images

Horrible news for any 1960s businessman hoping to call a flight attendant “toots,” but a new rule went into effect yesterday allowing “No Smoking” signs on airplanes to stay on permanently. The change comes after nearly 30 years of smoke-free flights.

An outdated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rule required aircraft to have No Smoking signs that could be turned on and off by flight crew. The rule stayed on the books for decades, occasionally causing problems for airlines. In February, United was forced to temporarily ground five Airbus A321neo planes because their software automatically kept the signs on.

Big picture: The statute was one of the last remaining relics of the tobacco industry’s grasp on the airline industry. Cigarette-makers globbed onto the rise of air travel in the 1950s, making deals with airlines to hand out products on board. It was a group of flight attendants who filed what is believed to be the first official class action suit against tobacco giants in 1991, according to the New York Times.—MM

   

STAT

Prime number: $6 million in “unwitting” donations

the hand of a senior citizen holding a cell phone fotostorm/Getty Images

A CNN special investigation found that some of the largest grassroots political donors in the country may not even be aware of their status. Reporters at the outlet analyzed complaints filed with consumer advocacy groups and campaign finance data and reached out to the most frequent elderly contributors and their family members. CNN said many seniors, including some with cognitive impairment, unknowingly donated away their retirement savings, sometimes $5 and $10 at a time:

  • The contributions of 50 “unwitting elderly donors” amounted to $6 million over the last five years.
  • An 80-year-old in Texas, who believed he was “communicating with key Republican leaders” based on fundraising text messages written to sound like they were coming from candidates and allies, made over 15,000 donations in a year, totaling $440,000.

As of June 2024, the man’s son was able to help him reclaim $151,006 of that money in refunds from WinRed, the fundraising platform used by the RNC. Between January 2022 and June 2024, the Federal Trade Commission received 803 complaints against WinRed and 120 against the DNC’s equivalent, ActBlue.—HVL

NEWS

What else is brewing

  • Juul’s $300 million class action lawsuit is getting paid out, and some class members reportedly received thousands of dollars each.
  • Instagram and Threads banned accounts used to track celebrity jets across its platforms, including those of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, citing the risk of “physical harm.”
  • Ray-Ban parent company ​​EssilorLuxottica said its Meta smart glasses are the top seller at 60% of stores in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
  • Alexei Navalny’s posthumous memoir, featuring his writings from prison, was released in the US.
  • One in five cancer patients in the US may be getting the wrong treatment, according to the president of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

RECS

Wednesday to-do list

Don’t hold back: This site lets you scream your troubles into the void.

Compare: The price of a beer at every NBA stadium.

Learn to read music: These free exercises will help you.

Wash your new utensils: They may have finishing chemicals on them.

Shop: Try the Air Dry Styling Cream, perfect for those tired of battling frizz, limp curls, or heat styling.*

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GAMES

The puzzle section

Word Search: If you like sports, and you don’t care who knows, play today’s Word Search.

Father-son trivia

In the Los Angeles Lakers season opener last night, LeBron James and his son Bronny made NBA history as the first father-son duo to share the court as teammates.

In attendance were the first father and son to play together in Major League Baseball, back in 1990. Who are they?

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ANSWER

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: tacit, meaning “implied or indicated by an act but not actually expressed.” Thanks to Andy from North Carolina and others for the clearly good suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

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