| 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 | 15,498.39 | | | | | S&P | 4,605.38 | | | | | Dow | 35,819.56 | | |  | 10-Year | 1.560% | | | | | Bitcoin | $62,197.62 | | | | | Microsoft | $331.62 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 7:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: More like Stocktober, amirite? The major indexes closed at record highs to round out their best month so far this year. Microsoft also overtook Apple to become the most valuable publicly listed company in the world.
- Covid: The FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in kids ages 5–11. The CDC will weigh in next week and kids could begin receiving the first of two shots immediately after.
| | | Giphy Checks out. Wages and salaries got their biggest bump in at least 20 years last quarter, the Labor Department said. Pay surged 1.5% in Q3 and benefits grew 0.9%, both much higher than the pace in Q2. What that's telling us: Companies are writing bigger checks to attract workers in this topsy-turvy labor market. With 10.4 million open jobs as of August, America's workers have rarely been in a better position to command higher salaries. Who is seeing a pay increase? Many of the wage gains have been captured by lower-income workers in sectors like retail. - This week, Costco said it was raising its minimum wage to $17 an hour and Starbucks said it was raising its starting rate to $15/hour.
- Walmart, the largest private employer in the US, now pays its workers an average hourly wage of $16.40.
Perhaps there's no better example of companies spending more on workers than Amazon. The company said Thursday that additional pay added $1 billion to its costs last quarter, when it hiked wages up to $22.50 an hour in some locations and dangled bonuses of $3,000. There is a downside to higher pay: inflation. When companies have to pay more for workers, they tend to pass on those extra costs to customers in the form of higher prices. And when companies have to pay more for higher-wage workers, which is increasingly happening, the chance of passing this on to customers rises even more. The inflation measure most closely watched by the Fed rose at the fastest pace in 30 years in September. US economic officials maintain that inflation will recede, but pressure is growing on the central bank to raise rates to cool off prices.—NF | | | Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images About 25,000 officials from 120 different countries will arrive in rainy Glasgow, Scotland, this weekend for COP26, the UN's three-decade-old annual climate summit. Government officials including President Biden, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a whole bunch of climate activists will kick off two weeks of negotiations in what's being billed as the most pivotal climate talks...maybe ever. What's on the agenda? Discussions will focus on chipping away at national targets for greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in global temperatures stays below 1.5 degrees Celsius, per the framework introduced by the Paris Agreement. - Scientists say that for temps to stay under that number, the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% before 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
- However, a new UN-backed climate report said countries' plans to keep producing fossil fuels means they're "dangerously out of sync" with the Paris target.
Zoom out: Organizers got a little rusty after so many Zoom events and didn't prep enough accommodations for everyone attending. Some Airbnbs near the conference are priced around $10k for two weeks, making the conference inaccessible for anyone without a hefty travel budget.—MM | | | Munger Hall mock-up (UCSB) Respected architect Dennis McFadden recently resigned from his post at the University of California, Santa Barbara, because the new dorm UCSB is constructing is "unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being." What McFadden calls a "social and psychological experiment" is the brainchild of 97-year-old billionaire Charlie Munger. The Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman and Warren Buffett's BFF donated $200 million for the dorm...with the stipulation that his blueprints be followed exactly. But those blueprints are wacky: - Housing 4,500 students in 1.68 million square feet, the building would be the world's most populous dorm and the eighth-densest neighborhood globally.
- But it would have just two exits, and 94% of students wouldn't have windows.
Wth, why? Munger—who is not a trained architect but has designed other university and residential buildings for funzies—envisions Munger Hall, as he named it, creating a "close-knit" living experience for undergrads. "Everybody loves light and everybody prefers natural light. But it's a game of tradeoffs," he told Bloomberg. Zoom out: UCSB is scrambling to resolve a student housing shortage that's led to campus protests. It's a problem many universities across the US are facing, as undergrads log off Zoom and head to in-person class.—JW | | | | How do you build a healthcare industry that works for a world that's never needed it more? Well, there are a bunch of smart people working on that exact question as we speak. In our upcoming second Twitter Spaces event with our partners at GE, we'll be speaking to experts in the healthcare space. Hosted by our executive chairman, Alex Lieberman, the discussion will cover how data and tech are creating precision healthcare, helping healthcare professionals and health systems operate more efficiently, addressing inequities in care, and much more. To be in the virtual audience, simply keep an eye on our Twitter. You'll get all the details on how to sign up and hear this, ahem, healthy discussion on all things healthcare. In the meantime, make sure to sign up for the GE Brief, your one-stop-shop on the incredible things GE is working on. Sign up here. | | Stat: More than 3 million baby boomers were pushed into early retirement due to the pandemic, according to new research from the St. Louis Fed. More shuffleboard and 4:45pm dinners mean fewer workers available for companies desperate to hire. Quote: "I keep it on my desk as a reminder of what motivates me—keep going, keep working. One day, I'll be able to upgrade to a larger-size cube." A handful of folks in the online crypto community, like blockchain lawyer Drew Morris, have recently been buying up cubes made of tungsten, which is 1.7x as dense as lead and has prodigious tensile strength, the WSJ reports. Sure, why not. Read: We talked with Hertz's interim CEO Mark Fields about why the company bought 100,000 EVs from Tesla. (Morning Brew) | | - Amazon said it owns 20% of electric vehicle startup Rivian.
- Volvo Cars shares gained 22% in its IPO. It was Sweden's second-biggest listing ever.
- NYC municipal workers were required to get at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine by yesterday at 5pm or lose their job.
- ExxonMobil and Chevron both posted higher profits thanks to the run-up in oil prices.
| | Just dropped. It's not a mixtape, but it's still got heat—The Motley Fool's latest "Double Down" picks. These recs highlight potentially huge picks investors might have missed or want to add to. One previous "Double Down" pick? None other than Apple. Find 'em here.* Calling all winewolves and vinepires. Empathy Wines is a DTC wine brand that simplifies the wine buying experience. By offering only red, white, and rosé and removing the middleman, they deliver high quality vino at lower prices. Use code WELCOME for 20% off + free shipping on your first order.* Halloween picks: 1) Spiders are actually pretty smart 2) a good Halloween book list 3) has Halloween been overcommercialized? 4) work horror stories 5) introducing: Skeloton and 6) elephants smashing pumpkins. More bets: If you like the recommendations in this section, why not get a whole newsletter full of 'em? Check out Sidekick, the twice-weekly newsletter helping you live smarter. Weekend conversation starters: *This is sponsored advertising content | | | If you're interested in dipping a toe into crypto but haven't yet checked out our Crypto Crash Course, you definitely should. Here's just a sampling of the content: - Everything you need to know about crypto wallets
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Because it's a littttle more complicated than dumping your money into the latest dog meme coin. Learn all about crypto investing here. | | | | Go bobbing for words in today's Halloween-themed puzzle. Play it here. | | | 1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. Rosemary's Baby
3. The Birds
4. House of Wax
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