SOCIAL JUSTICE

2020’s Racial Reckoning Continues

When the summer of 2020 began, protests against racial injustice were erupting across the U.S. following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Corporate America reacted with promises to strengthen commitments to racial equality. 

Now as the leaves change, the legal system weighed in on punishment for the police officers involved in one of those catalytic deaths. A grand jury yesterday indicted Brett Hankison, a former Louisville police officer, with “wanton endangerment” for recklessly firing shots into the homes of Taylor’s neighbors; no charges filed were related to her killing.

And the business world is still working out how to follow through on its promises. It was a busy day: 

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf apologized for a June memo, reported on Tuesday by Reuters, in which Scharf said a “very limited” talent pool was the reason for the lack of Black employees at the bank. 4.1% of Wells Fargo’s senior workforce was Black in 2018, down from 8% in 2015. 

• Scharf’s comment echoed past justifications for the financial industry’s abysmal track record with diversity, but critics argue it’s a cover-up for insufficient recruiting efforts. 

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Citi made a hefty pledge. It earmarked over $1 billion for initiatives that help close the U.S.’ racial wealth gap and provide economic resources for people of color. That means investments in Black-owned businesses, boosting credit access in communities of color, and helping increase Black homeownership. 

Cisco made a pledge of its own. The networking equipment company vowed to increase the number of Black employees in entry-level to manager positions by 25% in the next three years. Cisco has no Black people on its executive leadership team. 

And Mars dropped its offensive Uncle Ben’s brand. The food giant will rename the rice product Ben’s Original, which will retain the aspects of the brand not linked to racist stereotypes.

HEALTHCARE

Investors Give GoodRx Clean Bill of Health

Yesterday, prescription drug pricing app GoodRx went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker GDRX. It opened at $46/share, well above its $33 IPO price, and closed the day up 53% for a market cap of $19.4 billion. 

The backstory: You know how medications sometimes cost $6 but other times cost $7,439? GoodRx wants to help by offering coupons for prescription drugs and helping you comparison-shop. 

• Because here’s the thing about medicine...it makes pain/sickness/eczema go away. So most people don’t hesitate to pay the amount they’re charged and often don’t know they have options. 

Business-wise, GoodRx is in decent shape. It’s been consistently profitable since 2016, earning revenue by collecting fees from the pharmacy benefit managers it works with. It made almost $55 million in profit in H1 of 2020, up 75% from the same period last year...but by the cofounders’ own admission, healthcare reform would wipe it off the map.

AUTO

California Throws Gasoline on the EV Market

Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that calls for a ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035.  

An announcement like this a few years ago might have resulted in legacy automakers shaking their treads, but in 2020’s red-hot electric vehicle market, they’re honking their approval.

• Ford released a statement saying it’s “proud to stand with California,” noting it’s in the process of trying to “electrify our most iconic nameplates like the F-150 and the Mustang Mach E."
• Also yesterday, Volkswagen unveiled its new all-electric SUV for the U.S. market. The ID 4 (pictured above) costs just under $40,000, has a not-quite-Tesla range of 250 miles, and hopes to further cleanse consumers’ palates of the Dieselgate emission scandal of 2015. 

Bottom line: Gov. Newsom’s order, combined with the 15 countries that have adopted similar goals, shows that government regulation and automakers’ heavy EV investments are finally aligning. 

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE

Our Parents Gave Us The Talk

No, not that one. (How old do you think we are?) 

The one about what to do with our money now that we’ve got a real job. Their recommendation to us? E*TRADE.

Turns out E*TRADE does way more than just trading. They have a full suite of offerings across investing, retirement, banking, and of course, trading. 

Now when we have money-related questions, we turn to E*TRADE’s easy-to-use tools to help us set smart financial goals and make the most of our money. 

TBH, not texting our parents for finance tips has been great. Plus, E*TRADE never asks why we aren’t married yet.

Take control of your investments online and put your money to work with E*TRADE.

Learn how E*TRADE can help you make smarter financial decisions.

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FITNESS

A Stationary Bike Release With Lots of Moving Parts

On Tuesday, Echelon Fitness released a $500 workout bike “in collaboration with Amazon” called the EX-Prime Bike. Those quotation marks are sarcastic air quotes as much as they reflect Echelon’s actual language because... 

There was no collaboration 

On Tuesday evening, Amazon disavowed any connection to the bike. “Echelon does not have a formal partnership with Amazon,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg. “This bike is not an Amazon product or related to Amazon Prime.” 

• Tell that to Peloton, whose stock fell as much as 7% when news broke that Amazon was supposedly peddling into living rooms. 

Bottom line: Even though Amazon has nothing to do with the bike, the episode once again highlighted concerns around Peloton’s luxury prices. Its forthcoming cheaper treadmill costs $2,495 and its cheapest bike will set you back $1,895, potentially leaving it vulnerable to lower-cost alternatives like the one Amazon just unintentionally pump faked.

CANNABIS

"Please Stop Growing So Much Weed"

—MKM Partners analyst Bill Kirk to Aurora Cannabis. 

Shares of the Canadian marijuana producer fell 29% yesterday after reporting quarterly results that were less dank than expectations. 

• Shares hit a four-year low. Remember, four years ago...weed wasn’t even legal in Canada (that happened in 2018).  

What’s going on? Aurora misjudged the market for legal cannabis in Canada, focusing on premium products instead of more popular budget items, reports MarketWatch. 

• And that’s what Kirk was getting at. “Aurora grows more stuff that people don’t want than they grow stuff people want,” he said.

Looking ahead...Miguel Martin, Aurora’s third CEO this year alone, admitted the company “slipped from its top position in Canadian consumer,” and his focus is to get back to the top “immediately.” 

GUIDES

Finance Resources for People Who Don't Work on Wall Street

Whether you say it “FYE-nance” or “fih-NAHNCE,” “finance” can be a daunting word. That’s partly because it refers to several different overlapping universes—there’s corporate finance, personal finance, government finance, and...finance finance, aka what it is all those well-dressed folks in lower Manhattan get up to all day. 

That’s where we come in. The expert curators at Morning Brew have tapped industry pros, sifted through years of blog posts, and read every shareholder letter Warren Buffett's ever sent to bring you a 10-step guide to the best resources in finance. 

• What you won’t find: Fluffy websites that tell you what you already know, like "the stock market doesn't equal the economy."   
• What you will find: Insightful case studies, podcasts, articles, and more that will give you a 101-level understanding of finance without putting you to sleep.

Check it out.

This article is part of Morning Brew's Syllabus Series. Read last week's edition on Marketing 101 here.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Johnson & Johnson has started Phase 3 trials of its single-dose coronavirus vaccine. It’s the fourth company to begin the final stage of the testing process in the U.S.
• JPMorgan is close to settling allegations of manipulating metal and Treasuries markets (a tactic known as “spoofing) for almost $1 billion, per multiple reports.
• Disney delayed the release of more movies, including Marvel’s Black Widow and Spielberg’s West Side Story.
• The Metropolitan Opera in NYC canceled its entire 2020–2021 season.

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BREW'S BETS

Will you ever wear slacks again? We don't know, but we're friends with a few retail experts who might. So we invited them to a Retail Brew event next Monday to discuss the uncertain future of the apparel industry. Learn more here.

Unwind Wednesday:

1. Play a game: Test your hand at being the Avatar by interacting with the elements, or think of a character and see if Akinator can guess the right answer.
2. Get into deep breathing. 

Free images: Working on a PowerPoint? Writing a blog? These sites might help...

• Pexels and Unsplash are full of stock pics.
• If all you need is a face, refresh this site for AI-generated punims.
• Studio Ghibli just released 400 free-to-use movie stills.

BREW'S BOOKSHELF

Every other Thursday, Brew’s Bookshelf brings you a few of our favorite business-related reads. This week, we're sharing a trio of books in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

• Barrio America by A.K. Sandoval-Strausz traces how Latino immigrants rehabilitated struggling U.S. cities in the late 20th century. 
• Translation Nation by Héctor Tobar tells the stories of Hispanic Americans across the country redefining ideas of what it means to be American.
• The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio explores the physical and psychological toll of being undocumented in America, including her own story.

For all our book recs from the past few months, check out the Brew's Bookshelf home page. 

FOR THE GRAM

To celebrate National Punctuation Day, how about a throwback to our grammar quizzes? See if you spot the punctuation errors in these sentences from the WSJ editors. 

1. He invited Mr. Mulally to visit him and his wife Lisa at their home in Ann Arbor, Mich. 
2. Mr. Crowley showed up at the reception area, upbeat and smiling. "Hello Lindsey, how are you?" he asked cheerfully. 
3. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected next month.
4. Need a flow chart to follow “Game of Thrones?”

FOR THE GRAM ANSWERS

1. This sentence implies Mr. Mulally has multiple wives. Assuming (and we will) he only has one, you should set off Lisa’s name with commas: “...his wife, Lisa, at their home…” 
2. This one’s a common mistake: A comma should precede Lindsey’s name as well: “Hello, Lindsey, how are you?”  
3. If there is only one person with a certain title or standing that you are writing about, the WSJ uses commas to separate their name as an apposition: “Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is…”
4. Because the question mark is not part of the Game of Thrones title, it should go outside the quotation marks.