Good morning. After taking a pass at this newsletter, our copyeditor Holly commented, "Today is a lot." Yeah, it definitely is. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt | | | READ THIS TO REMAIN A SUBSCRIBER Want to keep receiving Morning Brew? Clicking on newsletter links is the only way for us to know you are reading (and enjoying) Morning Brew. If you don't click by next month, you will stop receiving this newsletter. Click here to let us know that you're still an active subscriber. Thanks! | | | |  | Nasdaq | 15,235.84 | | |  | S&P | 4,551.68 | | | | | Dow | 35,490.69 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.549% | | | | | Bitcoin | $58,796.87 | | | | | Alphabet | $2,924.35 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The Nasdaq was the only major index in the green as Microsoft and Alphabet, both of which reported terrific earnings Tuesday, powered it to an intraday record. Now, Alphabet is staring down a $2 trillion market cap.
- Economy: Democrats are in a standoff about that billionaire's tax we wrote about yesterday, with one powerful congressman saying it was dead while the champion of the tax, Sen. Ron Wyden, insisted it was still on the table. Dems are looking for a way to raise revenue to fund their $1.75 trillion spending bill.
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In our latest episode of Fresh Invest, we discuss how to invest in real estate through tools like REITs, which give you exposure to real estate without the hassle of ownership. Listen now. | | | Francis Scialabba In the doge-eat-doge world of meme coins, there's a new alpha. Thanks to a parabolic rally over the past few weeks, shiba inu coin has leapfrogged dogecoin to become the ninth-most valuable crypto in the world. It's gained nearly 1,000% in the last month and soared more than 900,000,000% in the past year. The origin story: While it comes from the same litter, shiba inu wants you to know it's definitely not like dogecoin. Founded in 2020 as an "experiment in decentralized spontaneous community building," it's actually been promoted as the "dogecoin killer." - Shiba inu has some semblance of a community. It's sold NFTs (called "shiboshis"), and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin sent 50 trillion of the coins to aid Covid relief in India earlier this year.
This all may seem ridiculous—and it certainly is—but for some companies, meme coins are serious business. Companies like Robinhood On Tuesday, the investing platform reported quarterly revenue that came in wayyy below estimates due primarily to a slowdown in crypto trading—an activity that has played an increasingly outsized role in the company's sales. - Crypto accounted for more than 50% of Robinhood's transaction-based revenue in Q2, and dogecoin made up 62% of all crypto revenue.
But as dogecoin was put on a leash last quarter (it's down 67% from its peak in May), Robinhood's crypto revenue followed suit—plunging 78%. Will Robinhood embrace dogecoin's better-trained sibling? Not imminently. While CEO Vlad Tenev acknowledged that "our customers want new coins," he said "we're going to be very careful" about adding new tokens given heightened scrutiny from regulators. The company offers seven coins for trading, compared to Coinbase's 50+. Bottom line: Robinhood wants to be deliberate, but investors are getting antsy. The company's stock fell 10% yesterday to close below its IPO price. PS: Is this the best individual trade of all time?—NF | | Cigarette sales rose last year for the first time in two decades, according to the Federal Trade Commission. 8 million more cigarettes were sold in 2020 compared to 2019, a 0.4% bump. Smoking rates have steadily fallen since 2000, which experts attribute to tobacco taxes, antismoking legislation, and programs that help users quit. But none of those were a match for the stress, anxiety, and boredom of the pandemic's first calendar year. Plus, as Marlboro owner Altria noted early last year, users had more disposable income available—from not commuting or having a social life outside of Discord—and were using it to make bulk "pantry-loading" purchases. - Sales of smokeless tobacco and alcohol also increased last year, showing that all the vices were more popular in 2020.
Looking ahead...like dalgona coffee, cigarettes' comeback could just be a pandemic blip. In the four weeks leading up to Oct. 9, cigarette sales were down 9.4% relative to the same period last year, according to Nielsen.—JW | | | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Rent the Runway, the clothing service that lets you rent outfits from designer brands, went public yesterday. Despite the fact that its entire business model hinges on the worst part of online shopping—returning everything—it nabbed a valuation of more than $1.7 billion. RTR's stock closed 8% lower on the day, and it's not entirely surprising that its public markets debut was wobbly: The company reported $85 million in net losses on $80 million in revenue in the six months ended July 31. - Growth was a challenge during the pandemic, as lockdowns kept everyone in their PJs. From 2019 to 2020, RTR's active subscribers fell hard from 133,000 to roughly 55,000 (but that's rebounded to 112,000 as of September.)
Bottom line: Rent the Runway is a leader in a $40 billion used-clothes industry that's growing more than 15% each year. But while the service might be a smart option for those looking to bypass spending $250 on an Anthro cocktail dress for a wedding they don't even want to go to, RTR still has lots to prove.—MM | | | | Property ownership can be exciting: It can be a powerful source of passive income and a fantastic way to add diversification to your portfolio. But for some investors, real estate can also be scary—who knows what lurks behind those doors? It would be great to know you're investing in a project set up for success. Fundrise happens to agree. The platform that's reimagining real estate investing adds properties from all over the country to investors' portfolios, and there's no mystery to any of them. A team of in-house experts meticulously evaluates each project based on potential risk and overall success beforehand, so you can be confident in what you're investing in. They'll even keep you up to date on each project, so you'll never be left in the dark. Join Fundrise today. You'll be among over 170,000 investors building a strong portfolio of high-quality real estate—absolutely none of them haunted.* *Probably | | Stat: Despite having the highest poverty rates in the country, Louisiana and Mississippi also have the lowest rates of homelessness. It shows that the "primary factor" contributing to homelessness is housing costs, according to Aaron Carr, the executive director of the nonprofit Housing Rights Initiative. Quote: "I don't know if it's quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it's very close to that." General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a Bloomberg interview that China's launch of an advanced hypersonic weapon this summer was a very significant technological event that "has all of our attention." Read: Are we on the verge of chatting with whales? Thanks to AI, maybe. (Hakai Magazine) | | | A&W Are you smarter than a second grader? A&W found out in the '80s that most folks weren't, when it launched a 1/3-pound burger to one-up McDonald's Quarter Pounder at the same price point. What happened? People didn't realize 1/3 > 1/4, and the burger didn't sell well enough to stay on the menu. 40 years later, the fast-food chain is fixing one of the most famous marketing goofs of all time with the debut of a "3/9 Burger," betting that bigger numbers will lead to better sales and won't invite the wrath of math teachers everywhere. Why now? Liz Bazner, A&W's director of marketing, explained that the 1/3 Burger has been haunting the brand for years, a ghost story that gets retold on social media every few months. Most recently, a "biggest marketing fails" Instagram video about A&W's darkest chapter went viral. Bottom line: All press is good press and, in this case, A&W is getting a social media boost from this juicy story.—JW | | | Mickey McDougall, Home Depot, Getty Images/selamiozalp, Getty Images/Creative Thinking When it became clear that the pandemic would be ruining Halloween 2020, he arrived to save us with his sparkling blue eyes and bare femurs. Home Depot's 12-foot-tall skeleton, known to friends as Skelly, went viral last year and sold out before October even started. This year, Skelly's back...well, not really—he sold out again. We talked to Lance Allen, the decorative holiday merchant director for Home Depot, aka Skelly's dad, about the big bone man's journey from a whiteboard in a conference room to the ultimate Twitter himbo. Read the full interview here | | - The NCAA spends more on men's sports than on women's sports, a law firm hired to investigate gender disparities in college athletics found.
- The US State Department issued its first passport with an "X" gender marker in a move to recognize people who identify as nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming.
- Hertz, fresh off its purchase of 100,000 Teslas, will offer 50,000 of those electric vehicles as rentals to Uber drivers.
- Holiday sales in the US could boom as much as 10.5% over last year, according to a forecast by the National Retail Federation.
| | You're not too sexy to refinance. Especially when mortgage interest rates are sitting at multi-decade lows, and there's no guarantee they will stay that way (read: time is of the essence). See how much you could save today.*  BACK IN STOCK The sirens say it all: Sakara's super powder that eliminates bloat and boosts metabolism is finally back in stock. But as you'd expect from a tasty powder that can break your sugar habit, supplies are already low  . Get 20% off with code OCTBREW.*
Don't invest in crypto blindly: Wharton launched a blockchain and digital assets program to help you learn the fundamentals of crypto valuation. You'll get that sweet executive education certificate and, best of all, you can learn at your own pace. Use MORNINGBREW for 10% off today. Some good TV clips: People looking not very smart Part 1 and Part 2. *This is sponsored advertising content | | Brew Mini: Round out this dog-themed newsletter by playing today's Mini, called "Canine Command." Solve it here. Three headlines and a lie Three of these news headlines are real and one is faker than anyone who said Dune was boring. Can you guess the odd one out? - Hiker lost for 24 hours ignored calls from rescuers because of unknown number
- A man spent most of his Covid business loan on one item, prosecutors say: A $57,789 Pokémon card
- Sweetgreen will launch a new podcast it describes as "recipe blog meets TMZ"
- Kellogg's customer files $5 million lawsuit alleging Pop-Tarts don't have enough strawberries
| | | If you haven't referred five people to the Brew so far this week, we humbly suggest knocking those out today. Why? Because you could win free stuff. The first 1,000 readers to refer 5 friends to the newsletter will receive a limited edition pair of Morning Brew headphones, no questions asked. And as a bonus, one reader who hits 5 referrals will be randomly selected to win a 5-night stay at any Hilton Hotel & Resort in the world. We know you're craving to get away. Share to Win*See terms and conditions here | | | Sweetgreen isn't launching a podcast...yet. | | HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER? | | | ✢ A Note From Fundrise (Here's all the legal jargon we know you love reading.) ✤ A Note From Fidelity Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917 | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, and Matty Merritt Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → Tips for smarter living → - Money Scoop: your personal finance upgrade
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