Good morning. Are you more interested in reading about finance or the environment? Do you watch TikToks or prefer a leisurely Sunday morning with the print New York Times? Frankly, we don't know—haven't perfected the art of mind-reading yet. So we've whipped up a quick survey to learn a little bit more about you, with the goal of producing more content that matches your interests and background. By completing it, you'll be entered into a raffle to win one of 10 Amex gift cards worth $100. Fill out the survey here. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Max Knoblauch | | | 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 | 15,973.86 | | | | | S&P | 4,700.90 | | | | | Dow | 36,142.22 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.640% | | |  | Bitcoin | $60,830.65 | | | | | Home Depot | $392.33 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The major stock indexes ticked higher after solid earnings beats by retailers and signs that US consumer morale hasn't been tamped down by inflation.
- Covid: Pfizer had a busy day. It submitted its Covid-19 antiviral pill, which experts say is crucial for ending the pandemic, for FDA authorization. It also inked a deal to allow other manufacturers to make the pill for use in 95 lower-income countries.
| | | Mickey McDougall; Rivian There's a new silent killer on Wall Street: electric vehicle stocks not named Tesla. Since going public last week, Rivian has more than doubled in value after gaining another 15% yesterday. With a $146.7 billion market cap, it's now the third-most valuable automaker in the world behind Tesla and Toyota, since it zoomed by Volkswagen yesterday. Quick stat check: - Rivian has no material revenue and delivered a total of 156 of its electric pickup trucks by the end of October.
- Volkswagen delivers 10 million vehicles per year, generating annual revenues of around $300 billion.
But let's not pick on VW—Rivian is also more valuable than nearly 90% of S&P 500 companies, including Starbucks, Boeing, and Goldman Sachs. And then there's Lucid Motors. This EV startup, which is run by a former Tesla exec, surged nearly 24% yesterday after the company reported its first quarterly earnings since SPAC-ing in July. What's Lucid's deal? - Its first model, the Lucid Air, just won MotorTrend's 2022 Car of the Year award. The Air has a range of 520 miles—the industry's best.
- Compared to Rivian, Lucid is a revenue-generating machine, bringing in $232,000 in sales in Q3. With a market cap of $89.9 billion, it's worth more than Ford.
Does any of this make sense? Some analysts warn this surge of EV stocks with minuscule revenue is a sign of "froth" in the market. These companies are very popular with individual traders: Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid were at the top of Fidelity's list of most bought assets yesterday, Bloomberg reports. Thing is, no one wants to miss out on the next Tesla. Musk's EV company soared to a market cap of $1 trillion last month as enthusiasm over the auto industry's electric pivot reached new heights. It could go even higher. The new infrastructure bill devotes $7.5 billion to building a nationwide EV charging network, and a new BloombergNEF report showed that drivers will buy 5.6 million electric cars globally this year, double the number bought last year and representing almost 8% of all vehicles sold.—NF | | | Giphy US retail sales rose by a more-than-expected 1.7% in October from the previous month, showing that shoppers are burying any inflation worries under a pile of electronics, groceries, and new cars. - Online retailers saw a huge 4% uptick in sales, which perhaps is evidence that shoppers are frontloading holiday gifts to get ahead of potential shipping delays (that's so considerate of you, mom).
Meanwhile, earnings reports from major retailers also presented a rosy view of the shopping landscape. - Walmart said more customers are shopping in its stores, and that its size has allowed it to blunt price increases. ("Fighting inflation is in our DNA," CEO Doug McMillon boasted.) The company shelves should be stocked for the holiday shopping season, with inventory growing 11.5% last quarter.
- Home Depot also cruised past expectations. It seems the home improvement boom is chugging along as if we were all still in lockdown.
Bottom line: All this bullish retail news arrives as consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in a decade this month. Maybe perception isn't reality. + For more retail news...yep, we have a newsletter for that. Sign up for Retail Brew here.—NF | | Regulators are bearing down on teens' favorite e-cigarette brand: Puff Bar. It's about to be investigated by North Carolina's attorney general, per the WSJ, its second probe after a House oversight committee announced its own last week. Here's what you need to know about the brand that's usurped Juul as the vape of choice in high-school bathrooms: - Like old school Juuls, Puff Bars come in candy-esque flavors such as Blue Razz and Peach Ice. But unlike Juul, Puff Bar uses synthetic nicotine...which isn't derived from tobacco. Because of that, its products don't fall under the FDA's jurisdiction.
- That's very intentional. Puff Bar paused sales last July after regulators started snooping around. And after an internal shake-up that resulted in 27-year-olds Patrick Beltran and Nick Minas becoming co-CEOs, reformulated its e-cigs to be tobacco-free before relaunching this year.
By selling synthetic nicotine devices, Puff Bar has so far escaped the rules that forced Juul and other e-cigarette brands to nix the fruity flavors that made them popular. Now the FDA is looking into whether it can bring synthetic nicotine under its regulatory umbrella, too. Zoom out: Vaping among middle- and high-schoolers dropped ~40% from last year, which itself was a big drop from 2019. But the FDA still considers youth vaping an "epidemic," and usage could bounce back now that teens are out of Zoom school and back to regular school.—JW | | TOGETHER WITH ATHLETIC GREENS | | Being a human takes work. You have to sleep, eat, not stare directly at the sun, and like a million other things. Which is why it's always fab when a product like AG1 from Athletic Greens comes around. It's the all-in-one nutritional powder that makes getting your nutrients easier and more delicious than ever before. AG1 is made with 75 premium ingredients combining eight essential products—a daily multivitamin, superfood complex, probiotics, adaptogens, and more—to give you the power to take control of your health. So instead of needing a medicine cabinet full of products that are too expensive, too gross, or not actually helpful, you can have one single scoop of AG1 every day and start living the Essentialist Nutrition lifestyle. It's time to make it easy on yourself, try the holistic beverage for foundational health: AG1 by Athletic Greens. Try AG1 today and get a year's supply of Vitamin D and five travel packs for free. | | | Netflix Stat: Netflix subscribers spent nearly 149 million hours watching its new flick, Red Notice, last week, making it the most popular piece of English-language content on the platform...by far. We only know this thanks to a new tracking website the company rolled out in an attempt to be more transparent about its data. Quote: "We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO." ABK Workers Alliance, a group of Activision Blizzard employees trying to unionize, staged a walkout in their efforts to oust the video game company's boss. Activision Blizzard has come under scrutiny this year over its "frat boy culture" and alleged sexual harassment against female employees. Yesterday, the WSJ released a report saying Kotick himself shielded abusers and harassed an assistant. Read: Warehouse workers explain why they joined the Great Resignation. (Morning Brew) | | | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be an NFL owner just because you "aren't extraordinarily wealthy" or "don't have a relative who already owns an NFL team." You can. The Green Bay Packers started offering up shares of "ownership" in the team for the first time in 10 years—and the sixth time in team history—on Tuesday. Through Feb. 25, the franchise will sell 300,000 of the shares for $300 apiece. Unlike big, serious stocks such as Amazon or GameStop, Packers stock comes with a few caveats. These shares have no financial value, they don't appreciate or pay dividends, and they cannot be transferred (except by gift to family members or through inheritance). But: You do get a certificate, an invitation to the annual shareholders' meeting, and the ability to tweet any thoughts you have about the receiving corps to coach Matt LaFleur (not exclusive to shareholders). The Packers are the league's sole publicly owned team and previously offered team stock in 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, and 2011—amassing 361,362 shareholders in the process. The $67.4 million raised in 2011 contributed to a new entrance tower and viewing platform, which added about 6,600 seats to Lambeau Field.—MK | | - A Google Cloud outage took down sites like Spotify, Discord, and Snapchat for less than an hour, forcing people to actually do work.
- A German regulator suspended approval for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bring gas from Russia to Germany. The news sent gas prices spiking.
- Hope you don't have Friday night plans: Yesterday, President Biden said he'd make his decision on whether to reappoint Jerome Powell as Fed chair in about four days.
- New York City will allow fully vaccinated people to gather in Times Square for New Year's Eve just like old times. Tempting, but no.
| | *Two days* left to invest in data security's future. Your chance to get in on the ground floor of the $9.4B digital identity verification market ends 11/19/21, when Trust Stamp's investment opportunity closes. Limited shares available. Get in on the potential here.* Expense reports are ruining your turkey time—and you have better things to do this holiday. Namely; stuffing your face with, well, stuffing. Divvy gets that. That's why their free expense management software streamlines the process, saving time and eliminating headaches. Get a demo here.* Fun with IMDb: This very cool site shows a heat map of average IMDb ratings for episodes of any TV show you want. Three videos: 1) Jurassic Park, but with a cat 2) the Spider-Man trailer and 3) real-life GTA *This is sponsored advertising content | | | It's never too early to start holiday shopping. Whether you're treating yourself or the Morning Brew superfan in your life, our gift guide has something for everyone. Shop now | | Word Search: How well do you know your birthstones? Play this gem of a puzzle to find out. More Fun With IMDb Here's the heat map of average IMDb ratings for a particular Netflix original TV series. Can you name the show?  | | HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER? | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, and Max Knoblauch Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - HR Brew: analysis of the employee-employer relationship
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