Good morning. Playoff baseball is heating up, Succession is coming back tomorrow, and a cold Dr. Pepper is waiting for us in the fridge. It's a fine day for a newsletter. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt | | | |  | Nasdaq | 14,897.34 | | | | | S&P | 4,471.37 | | | | | Dow | 35,294.76 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.577% | | | | | Bitcoin | $62,414.38 | | |  | SPCE | $20.01 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The Dow had its best week since the steamy days of June after banks opened earnings season with a rousing overture. Things did not go as well for Virgin Galactic, whose stock plunged after it delayed its first commercial flight to Q4 2022.
- Covid: One day after it recommended a Moderna booster shot for certain people, an FDA advisory panel did the same for J&J. Next, the FDA will weigh in with official decisions (it often follows the recs of this panel).
| | | Francis Scialabba The country's six largest banks—JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs—all reported their earnings for the summer quarter this week. As Larry David would say, the results were prettay, prettay good. Just three quarters through 2021, Goldman Sachs has already notched its best year ever in terms of revenue. The hero last quarter was its investment banking unit, which rode a dealmaking spree to an 88% sales bump. What else did we learn from banks? Covid didn't wreck the economy as feared. In those unprecedented days last spring, banks stashed away money in a rainy day fund to prepare for a wave of loan defaults—but those never came. JPMorgan said this week it was releasing $2.1 billion from the cash pile under its mattress. Spending is up. Wells Fargo said that debit card spending was higher every single week last quarter when compared to 2019. And at Citi, credit card spending is "well above 2019 levels." The trading boom is mostly going strong. Concerts and socializing are back, but many people are still trading stocks as if we were in lockdown: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman all reported higher sales from trading last quarter. In all, five US banks made an additional $51 billion in trading revenue over the last seven quarters compared to the same period pre-Covid. CEOs see inflation sticking around: Most bank executives agreed that inflation wasn't as transitory as once predicted, and Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman went so far as to urge the Fed to hike rates by Q1 of next year, months before the Fed has planned on it. "You've got to prick this bubble a little bit," Gorman said. But the best times could be ahead As the Fed prepares to wind down the stimulus measures that supported markets, investors will need to reshuffle their portfolios to adapt—potentially leading to even more $$$ for banks. And their skyrocketing share prices reflect that optimism: The KBW Bank index has doubled the S&P 500 this year, and Goldman is the Dow's top stock, up 51% since Jan. 1.—NF | | Starting Nov. 8, vaccinated international travelers will be allowed to enter the US by air—meaning families can reunite for the holidays and ask you in-person why you don't have kids yet. Nonessential land border travel from Mexico and Canada will also reopen next month. Together the twin announcements, both issued by the White House this week, reverse historic restrictions that barred most foreigners, including those from the EU, the UK, and China, from entering the US for the last 21 months—if time still means anything to you. - Everyone, US citizens and noncitizens alike, will still have to present a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days of arrival.
Following the news yesterday afternoon, hotel and airline stocks ticked up. Zoom out: The travel industry really needs this tourism boost. The US Transportation Department released new stats Friday revealing that international air traffic was down 43% in August and 21% overall compared to before the pandemic.—JW | | | Francis Scialabba It's going mainstream. The world's largest cryptocurrency topped $60,000 yesterday in anticipation of the SEC's reported decision to approve the first bitcoin futures ETFs next week. ETF? An exchange-traded fund is a security that tracks anything from a collection of stocks to a group of commodities—a securities soup, if you will. You can buy an ETF as you would a regular stock. Crypto traders have been bugging the SEC to approve a bitcoin-based ETF since 2013, but regulators have pushed back, citing the coin's volatility and the crypto industry's lack of transparency. So getting these ETFs approved—there are four that could begin trading this month—would be a win for those trying to put crypto in front of institutional investors. Important note: These ETFs aren't bitcoin ETFs—they're bitcoin futures ETFs. That means investors in these ETFs won't actually own any bitcoin, and instead will be buying futures contracts that allow them to bet on the direction of bitcoin's price. Zoom out: Bitcoin has gained almost 90% in the past three months and is close enough to taste its all-time high of $64,869.—MM | | | | We're about to spill the beans on how you can shop for others this holiday season while giving yourself the best gift of all—incredible cash-back rewards. With this card, you can avoid interest charges into 2023. You can secure up to 5% cash back on categories you'll actually use. There's no annual fee. Just apply and get a decision in under two minutes. So whether you're buying stocking stuffers for your cousin or diamonds for your significant other, you'll be earning cashback for yourself. But don't drink all the cashback cocoa yet because it gets even better. You also get 0% intro APR for balance transfers and purchases. So remember, if you're looking to have a holly jolly holiday, stick to the card that has some of the highest cashback potential we've seen. Let the holiday shopping spree begin. Apply right here. | | | Giphy Stat: With a net worth of $230 billion, Elon Musk is now about as wealthy as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Quote: "Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn't drag my name into your mess." Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby ripped into Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos in an Instagram post for including her name in his defense of airing Dave Chappelle's standup special, The Closer, which has been criticized for Chappelle's anti-trans comments. And the controversy keeps boiling: Netflix fired the organizer of an upcoming Oct. 20 walkout for allegedly leaking internal metrics to the press. Read: Small business owners have mixed emotions about Biden's vaccine mandate. (Morning Brew)
| | - Pilots, rusty from time off during Covid, have made numerous errors in recent months, according to Bloomberg.
- Italy implemented one of the strictest Covid workplace requirements in Europe, leading to widespread protests.
- China launched a three-person crew to space for six months, flexing its young but rapidly growing space program.
- Tether, the No. 1 issuer of stablecoins, is paying $41 million to settle allegations that it misled the public when saying that its tokens were fully backed by US dollars.
| | | | Good morning marketers, let's talk texting. The majority of marketers say SMS marketing outperforms their other channels, while a whopping 95% of marketers say they've experienced revenue and customer-facing benefits from SMS. Attentive collected best-in-class text messaging examples from leading brands, so that you can get inspired. Start maximizing revenue by peeking at Attentive's guide. | | | Investing in crypto is a lot like ordering from a menu at a New Jersey diner—where to even start? And should you even be there in the first place? To help, we've launched a Crash Course on Crypto to give you the context, tools, and resources to help you figure out where crypto fits in your investment portfolio. Because it's a lot more complicated than scraping Elon's tweets for mentions of his dog. Give it a read here. | | Great news: Experts explain why you don't need to rake your leaves this fall. We expect that dads are still gonna dad. Weekend conversation starters: | | | | The Brew Crossword is like that big Saturday breakfast you prepare after a week of oatmeal. Get your fill here. | | HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER? | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt, Max Knoblauch, and Jamie Wilde Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - Emerging Tech Brew: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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