☕ TikTok on blast

The app could be banned in the US within a year... April 22, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [SmartAsset]( Good morning, and Happy Earth Day. A lot had to go right for us to be living here. - Earth happens to be located in a remote corner of the Milky Way, a location that presents fewer threats, like a huge star devouring us with its gravity. The star we do have nearby, the sun, is stable and the perfect distance away to sustain liquid water (important!). - When the sun does send deadly flares our way, they’re not calamitous because the Earth’s core produces a magnetic field that deflects radiation. - The Earth also contains critical elements like oxygen and carbon, its atmosphere traps heat (but not too much), it has a shield in Jupiter that deflects asteroids and comets from smashing into it, its moon stabilizes the climate, and its active plate tectonic system produces volcanoes, whose eruptions may have led to the first instances of life. Plus, it’s the only planet in the solar system that has Dolly Parton. —Neal Freyman, Dave Lozo MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE Nasdaq 15,282.01 +3.50% S&P 4,967.23 +4.73% Dow 37,986.40 +0.72% 10-Year 4.615% +66.9 bps Bitcoin $64,589.52 +52.82% Nvidia $762.00 +58.20% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 10:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Your stock portfolio is waking up this Monday morning in worse shape than the guys in The Hangover. The S&P 500 just had its worst week in more than a year, and the Nasdaq is on a four-week losing streak. Blame skepticism that AI will meaningfully boost profits: Since the Nasdaq peaked last month, the largest US tech companies have lost [more than $930 billion]( in market value. Nvidia alone lost $212 billion in value on Friday, its biggest plunge since March 2020. - Sign of the times: Exxon Mobil is worth more than Tesla for the first time in more than a year.  TECH [The TikTok ‘ban’ just got very real]( [Illustration of TikTok as a candle with Congress putting it out]( Scialabba After years of raising concerns about the mega-popular, Chinese-owned app, the US took its biggest step yet to banish TikTok from American phones. The House passed a bill on Saturday [requiring a forced sale or ban]( of TikTok in the US within a year. The bill is expected to get through the Senate as soon as this week and will almost certainly be signed into law by President Biden. Why go after TikTok? Lawmakers in both parties consider the app a threat to US national security. - Since TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, officials fear that the data of TikTok’s 170 million US users could wind up in the hands of the Chinese government. - There’s also concern that Beijing could put its thumb on TikTok’s algorithm to promote its interests and influence American public opinion. TikTok maintains it has never sent US user data to the Chinese government and wouldn’t do so if it was requested. The app said the bill “would trample the free speech rights” of its users, and Elon Musk [agrees](. How this bill gained more support It has at least two things going for it: - It is attached to a [$95 billion foreign aid package]( that will send funds to Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel, and Gaza, making it highly likely to be passed by the Senate. - A previous incarnation called for ByteDance to find a buyer within six months. This version extends the deadline to nine months, with room for making it a full year if a sale appears close. But a sale won’t be simple. TikTok’s price could be in the range of, oh, several hundred billion dollars, and American tech companies with that kind of money (Meta, Alphabet, etc.) would probably be prevented from buying it over antitrust concerns. Individuals including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and ex-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick have reportedly been rallying a team of investors to explore bids. Plus, TikTok is China’s most successful app globally, and it’s [not going to give it up]( easily. Beijing has signaled it’s not going to allow a sale by ByteDance, adding further uncertainty to TikTok’s fate in the months ahead.—DL PRESENTED BY SMARTASSET [Kick back + retire]( [SmartAsset]( This Princeton grad’s startup raised $161m to [help people plan for retirement](. If you’re one of the whopping 110m Americans over age 50—or a wise millennial planning ahead—SmartAsset’s no-cost tool makes it easy to find vetted financial advisors who serve your area. Research suggests that people who work with a financial advisor could end up with 15% more money to spend in retirement.¹ Kick-start your retirement plans today. [Try SmartAsset’s free quiz]( to get matched with up to three vetted financial advisors serving your area, each legally bound to work in your best interest. It’s never too late to work toward financial freedom. [Get your financial advisor matches](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Elon Musk]Chesnot/Getty Images Tesla spent the weekend cutting prices. Late Friday, the electric automaker cut prices in the US on its Model Y, Model X, and Model S vehicles by $2,000, and it [slashed prices]( by nearly the same amount across all of its models in China. On Saturday, it also trimmed the cost of its Full Self-Driving driver assist software in the US from $12,000 to $8,000. The price cuts capped a tumultuous week for Tesla, in which it cut its global workforce by 10%, made moves to restore Elon Musk’s gargantuan pay package, and recalled nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks. The company’s stock has fallen ~40% this year over concerns demand has fallen off a cliff. Biggest homelessness case before SCOTUS in decades begins. The Supreme Court will hear [arguments]( today in a hugely consequential case that will decide whether municipalities can punish people for living outside on public property. Should the court overturn the decision of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which found ticketing and arresting people experiencing homelessness to be unconstitutional, it would make it easier for communities to remove tent encampments, even if that community doesn’t offer shelter. More than 650,000 people in the US are experiencing homelessness, the most since tracking began in 2007. US considering imposing sanctions on IDF unit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to [announce sanctions]( on an Israel Defense Forces battalion in what would be the first instance ever of the US sanctioning an IDF unit, Axios reported. The battalion in question, which was formed as a special unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, has been under investigation by the State Dept. since 2022 for alleged human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israeli leaders [condemned]( the proposed sanctions; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the reports the “height of absurdity and a moral low.” AUTO [UAW hopes the dominos start to fall across the South]( [An aerial view of VW's plant in Chattanooga ]( Nouvelage/Getty Images The United Auto Workers went to the land of Waffle House and smothered and covered its way to a [historic victory](. Now, it’s eying a bigger foothold in the South, a region typically unfriendly to organized labor. On Friday, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN, overwhelmingly voted to join the union, marking the first time a nonunion auto plant in the South has linked up with the UAW. While two previous union votes at the same factory failed, the UAW was able to drum up more support this time, in large part because of the [major pay gains]( it secured last year from Detroit’s Big Three automakers. The union hopes to take that pitch to employees at 13 car manufacturers across the US, including the South, where many foreign automakers produce cars. It’ll be an [uphill battle]( - The union membership rate is 2.3% in South Carolina, 4.6% in Georgia, and 6% in Tennessee, compared to 10% nationally, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. - Southern GOP leaders say their nonunion factories are a big reason why their region is thriving economically. “The model down here is working,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said last week. Looking ahead…the UAW’s next test is a union vote at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama next month.—NF TOGETHER WITH MASTERWORKS [Masterworks]( Buy the “art dip.” Contemporary art prices dropped almost 20% as the largest correction in nearly 30 years. After 2009’s dip, they shot up 132% over the next five years. Now, 64,502 insiders are already [buying shares]( with Masterworks, the top-rated art investment platform. You can [use this link to get VIP access]( to new offerings. CALENDAR [The week ahead](#) [Trump on trial]Pool/Getty Images Opening arguments start in Donald Trump’s criminal trial: After a tumultuous first week of jury selection, the final jurors [were seated]( on Friday, and opening statements in Trump’s criminal hush money trial will begin today. Prosecutors will try to prove that this year’s presumptive Republican presidential nominee paid to keep stories about a sexual relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels out of the media during his 2016 run for the White House. Trump has pleaded not guilty. Busy earnings week will focus on the Magnificent Seven: Big Tech is leading the stock-market rout, but in the coming days, it has the opportunity to turn things around. Magnificent Seven members Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla are among the 178 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report their earnings this jam-packed week. Other blue-chip stocks [reporting]( include GM, Boeing, IBM, and PepsiCo. Passover begins this evening: The Jewish holiday starts amid heightened concerns over antisemitism around Columbia University, which has been the site of large pro-Palestinian protests this past week. The White House issued a statement yesterday [condemning]( “calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students.” Everything else… - In sports, the first rounds of the NBA and NHL playoffs roll on. The NFL Draft is on Thursday. - Shakespeare Day takes place on Tuesday, the anniversary of his death. If you’d like to talk like Shakespeare, you can translate your words into Shakespearean [here](. - Challengers, the well-reviewed “[uproariously sexy]( love triangle movie starring Zendaya, is out Friday. GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [The intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street with an American flag in the background.]Juanmonino/Getty Images Stat: After more than 150 years, JPMorgan no longer has a physical presence on Wall Street. According to the WSJ, the largest US bank [closed its branch]( at 45 Wall St. on Friday, severing its ties to the famed street where J. Pierpont Morgan grew his empire in the 19th century. These days, Wall Street is more of a symbolic term than an actual financial district since most banks have already decamped to other parts of Manhattan. In 2000, banks occupied 5 million square feet on Wall Street; now, that’s shrunk to a couple hundred thousand square feet, per Cushman & Wakefield. Quote: “We care more about the safety of our staff than a name attached to an article.” In its panning of Taylor Swift’s new album (3.6/10 rating), Paste Magazine [chose]( to put “Paste Staff” as the piece’s author instead of the individual who wrote it. That’s because following Paste’s negative review of Swift’s Lover album in 2019, the reviewer received threats of violence from fans who disagreed. As for its [critique]( of The Tortured Poets Department, Paste Staff said its “mid-ness” was the result of “when the artist making it no longer feels challenged, where she strikes out looking.” Read: Boeing and the Dark Age of American manufacturing. ([The Atlantic]( NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky]( thanked the US House for passing a long-awaited $61 billion military assistance package and said it would save thousands of lives as Ukraine tries to repel Russia from its territory. - [The share of US voters]( who say they are highly interested in the upcoming presidential election hit a 20-year low at this point in the election calendar, per an NBC News poll. - [Spotify]( said Taylor Swift’s new album was the first to have over 300 million streams in a single day on Friday. - [Nikola Jokic]( arrived for the Denver Nuggets playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers looking like Gru—it was part of a [marketing]( campaign for Despicable Me 4. RECS [Monday to-do list image] The wide world of fruit: Expand your fruit universe with this [Instagram account](. Life advice: [101 pieces of advice]( from all-around smart dude Kevin Kelly. Different nights call for different foods: Choose from [47 different Passover recipes](. But of course, you can’t go wrong with matzah pizza. Productivity tip: Learn the [five-hour rule]( to make any day successful. Last chance for free Excel session: This is your last chance to sign up for tomorrow’s live Excel class on pivot tables and data visualization, so [reserve your spot now](. Join 3k+ investors: Eli Electric Vehicles has sold hundreds of their [award-winning micro-EVs]( in Europe. Now they’re expanding to the booming US market. [Invest in Eli today]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Turntable: If Saturday belongs to cartoons and Sunday to NFL football, then Monday belongs to the Brew’s word game, Turntable. [Play it here](. Earth Day trivia To celebrate Earth Day, here’s a question about the Earth. Below is a [choropleth map]( of the countries/regions of the world. Each country is shaded in proportion to a particular statistic, and the darker shades of red represent more of that statistic. What statistic is being shown? [Cloropeth map of the world for trivia]Weekly Maps SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( ANSWER The average elevation of each country. Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: decamped, meaning “to break up a camp.” Thanks to Reuben Tomlinson from Calgary, Alberta, for the word. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✳︎ A Note From Masterworks Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Trends change over time. Investing involves risk. See important disclosures at [www.masterworks.com/cd](. ✤ A Note From Eli Electric Vehicles This is a paid advertisement for Eli Electric Vehicles’ Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at [invest.eli.world](. Written by [Neal Freyman]( and Dave Lozo Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Get smarter in just 5 minutes - Money & Career: [Money With Katie](  [Bossy]( Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011