☕️ Delicate ecosystem

Trump and Harris court the business sector... September 06, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( Good morning. It’s coming home. Later today, Boeing’s Starliner capsule plans to undock from the International Space Station and land in New Mexico—but without the humans it was supposed to ferry back to Earth. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who traveled to the ISS in June on Starliner, will remain at the space station until February because of mechanical problems with the spacecraft. This all means Starliner will embark on a six-hour solo road trip, which comes with its advantages and disadvantages. - Pros: You can listen to your audiobook in peace; no one asking you to pull over so they can pee. - Cons: No one to remind you that you’re spacing out and missing that exit; no one to say “hey look, cows” when you see cows. —Molly Liebergall, Dave Lozo, Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 17,127.66 +0.25% S&P 5,503.41 -0.30% Dow 40,755.75 -0.54% 10-Year 3.731% -4.0 bps Bitcoin $56,093.52 -3.29% Frontier $35.00 -9.51% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks were [mixed]( yesterday as investors hid under the covers with the lights off, anticipating an appearance by the Babadook today’s pivotal jobs report. Expect a bigger swing today as investors parse what the latest figures mean for this month’s expected interest rate cut. Elsewhere, Frontier’s stock dropped after traders were apparently unimpressed with Verizon’s $9.6 billion offer to buy the telco company.  2024 ELECTION [They’re trying to out-“pro-business” each other]( [Graphic of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris]( Francis Scialabba, Photos: Bill Pugliano, Saul Loeb/Getty Images With their first presidential debate next week, the Oval Office hopefuls are holding megaphones to their promises to deliver the same rosy economic outcomes through [opposing]( methods. And one plan intimately involves Elon Musk. Addressing corporate leaders in New York yesterday, former President Trump [pledged]( to create a government efficiency commission—suggested and helmed by Musk—that would audit federal spending and recommend “drastic reforms.” Trump also said he will: - Cut the corporate tax rate to 15% from 21% for companies that keep their production in America. The current rate expires after next year and has been in place since Trump slashed it from 35% as part of his 2017 tax plan. - Impose tariffs on all $3 trillion worth of goods imported to the US each year—60% on products from China and 10% for every other country—which Trump suggested could create a sovereign wealth fund. - Declare a national emergency on energy to fast-track more oil and gas projects and lower fuel costs. Across the aisle…Vice President Kamala Harris wants to rival Trump’s business-friendly image without annoying her Democratic base. She made her first [policy break]( from President Biden this week when she said she’d raise the capital gains tax from 20% to 28% for Americans who make $1+ million—a far cry from Biden’s proposed 39.6% rate. Harris has also [pitched]( - Raising the corporate tax rate to 28%. - Offering small businesses and startups a $50,000 tax break (10x the current deduction) and giving first-time homebuyers up to $25,000 in down-payment support. - Capping out-of-pocket medication costs at $2,000/year and insulin prices at $35/month. What economists think: Goldman Sachs [projected]( that the economy would shrink under Trump and grow under Harris. Harris’s plans could also cost ~$2 trillion less than Trump’s, according to the latest analysis from the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Model, which came before Harris’s policy announcements this week.—ML TOGETHER WITH BETTERMENT [Make your money a multitasker]( [Betterment]( With expert-built ETF portfolios from Betterment, you can be [automatically diversified]( across thousands of stocks and bonds. Betterment’s [financial experts and automated investing tech]( work behind the scenes to make your money hustle (so you don’t have to). WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Snapchat logo under a bright light]Francis Scialabba Snap sued for allegedly being a “breeding ground” for predators. The attorney general of New Mexico [filed a lawsuit]( against Snap yesterday, alleging that the social media giant facilitates sexual abuse and fails to protect minors from predation. The suit claims that Snap’s signature features—disappearing photos and messages—make it uniquely vulnerable to bad actors. New Mexico said it created an AI decoy profile posing as a 14-year-old girl that was flooded with prompts to connect with accounts wanting to trade sexual content. The state filed a similar lawsuit against Meta last year. 🚙 Tesla plans to launch self-driving cars in Europe and China next year. More drivers are going to know what it feels like to be in the passenger seat with Jeff Gordon at the wheel. Tesla announced it wants to launch its [Full Self-Driving]( (FSD) product in Europe and Asia early next year, pending regulatory approval. But Tesla is like Stanley in That’s So Raven—it says a lot of things. The company and its gregarious founder, Elon Musk, have promised fully autonomous self-driving technology for eight years and have so far failed to deliver, even as competitors like Waymo and Pony.ai successfully operate robotaxis. Investors seem optimistic: Tesla stock was up almost 5% yesterday on the news. China ended its international adoption program. People from other countries will no longer be allowed to adopt Chinese children unless they’re relatives, the country announced yesterday. [The program]( hatched at the height of China’s overpopulation, was the source of tens of thousands of adoptions around the world since the 1990s: US families alone adopted 82,000 children from China between 1999 and 2023, according to the State Department. But China is now dealing with declining birth rates, while much of the rest of the world also tightens restrictions on international adoptions. SOCIAL MEDIA [X no longer marks the spot for Brazil stan accounts]( [X ban in Brazil]( Sa/Getty Images When X went dark in Brazil this week, the world discovered that South America’s largest country was the epicenter of online stan culture. Brazil, the [home base]( for dozens of English-language fan pages, banned X after owner Elon Musk refused to suspend right-wing accounts that the government said spread misinformation. The collateral damage was the disappearance of the country’s popular “stan” accounts with millions of followers, including ones for stars like Taylor Swift and author Virginia Woolf. It’s a disruption of a delicate ecosystem. The entertainment industry is losing the efforts of passionate fans who helped promote albums, propel artists up the charts, and chronicle the lives of the glitterati. Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz [credited]( the accounts with resurrecting American TV shows and movies. Bluesky’s smiling at you. Much like how you settle for Pepsi when there’s no Coke, Bluesky is benefiting from X being off the menu in Brazil. According to CEO Jay Graber, Bluesky added 2 million users after the shutdown, with ~90% coming from Brazil. One complaint from stan account proprietors is that Bluesky doesn’t support video posts, although Graber says that’s coming soon.—DL TOGETHER WITH MONOGRAM [Monogram]( A unique AI investment: By 2027, robotic knee surgeries will be 4x as common. [Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM)]( known for their autonomous robotic surgical systems, just filed for FDA approval to commercialize their patented tech. Now they’re offering the opportunity to buy preferred stock with an 8% dividend (in cash or kind) at $2.25/share. Their common stock closed as high as $3.44 in the past two weeks. [Monogram currently plans to close the Series D Preferred offering on September 12, 2024](. AI [NaNoWriMo didn’t condemn AI. Writers revolted]( [Book with page of binary code.]( Scialabba There couldn’t have been a worse group to tell its members that it was cozying up to artificial intelligence. The organization that runs National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) [said]( in a statement last week that it wouldn’t condemn the use of AI because doing so ignores “classist” and ”ableist” issues. Backlash ensued. Four board members resigned in protest, including fantasy writer Daniel José Older, who [pointed]( to generative AI’s habit of stealing work, among other issues. Ellipsus, an anti-AI alternative to Google Docs, stopped sponsoring the organization. Last year, the group welcomed hundreds of thousands of participants to use the technology to assist it in completing the annual challenge of writing a 50,000-word manuscript. But it also specified that “using ChatGPT to write your entire novel would defeat the purpose of the challenge.” This year, however, the org softened its stance on AI, saying the total dismissal of the technology ignores the privilege of time, education, cognitive ability, and the financial means it takes to participate in NaNoWriMo. Many writers disagreed, arguing that the group’s new position was a poorly veiled attempt to court sponsors. In the end...NaNoWriMo amended its statement to acknowledge that some AI can be bad—and it’s too big of a technology to fully endorse or reject.—MM STAT [Prime number: From Russia with love](#) [Tim Pool and Benny Johnson]Tim Pool (left) and Benny Johnson (right). Illustration: Anna Kim, Photos: David Livingston/Getty Images, Jason Davis/Getty Images. How many identical black beanies can you buy with $100,000 a week? You’ll have to ask right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool, since that’s allegedly how much he received in payments from Russian state media employees as part of a [covert disinformation scheme](. In a federal indictment, US prosecutors allege that a media company with ties to Pool and other influencers, including Benny Johnson, collected nearly $10 million from Russia’s state-controlled broadcaster RT in exchange for posting political content that the Kremlin wanted amplified in the US. One influencer, whom reporters identified as Johnson, was allegedly given a whopping $400,000/week and a $100k signing bonus to make videos for the company in question. Pool, Johnson, and the other right-wing personalities caught in the skulduggery say that they were unwitting victims who had no idea where the funds came from. QUIZ [Beetlequiz, Beetlequiz]( [New Friday quiz image]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to when you’re singing with friends and accidentally harmonize. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [France]( named a new prime minister, a former Brexit negotiator, ending two months of a political stalemate that left the country without a government. - [Allan Lichtman]( the controversial historian who has accurately predicted nine out of the last 10 presidential elections, picked Kamala Harris to win in November. - [Ford]( sales increased 13.4% last month, bolstered by strong demand for SUVs and pickup trucks. - [Alex Morgan]( the GOAT of women’s soccer, announced she’ll retire at the end of the NWSL season. - [Trump Media]( has lost 75% of its market value since the company went public in March, costing Trump himself billions in net worth. - [Hunter Biden]( pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, avoiding a trial. His sentencing is scheduled for December. RECS [Friday to-do list] Pivot careers: How a former NBA player went from the jumbotron to the [boardroom](. Binge-watch: Rolling Stone curated the 100 [best TV episodes]( of all time. Apartment envy: Never-before-seen [photos]( of talk show host Andy Cohen’s NYC home. Phone it in: Yes, you can win radio contests. Here’s [how](. Invest: [Monogram (Nasdaq: MGRM)]( stock closed as high as $3.44 over the past two weeks. But they’re selling convertible unlisted preferred shares for $2.25 for a limited time. [Get the details here]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Decipher: Decode the letter jumble to reveal one of the most famous quotes in cinema history. [Run, don’t walk, to play it](. Friday puzzle Which US state has the name of another US state contained within it? (No looking at a map.) 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=4904f90a]( ANSWER Arkansas (Kansas) Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: skulduggery, meaning “secret and dishonest behavior, trickery.” Thanks to Nikki from Snowflake, AZ, and several others for the suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✳︎ A Note From Monogram This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Technologies’ Series D Preferred Stock offering. A prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before making any investment, you are urged to [read the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus]( carefully for a more complete understanding of the issuer and the offering. The securities offered by Monogram are highly speculative. Investing in these securities involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. There is no existing public trading market for the Series D Preferred Stock. Monogram does not intend to apply for listing of the Series D Preferred Stock or the common stock purchase warrants on a national securities exchange or quoted on an over-the-counter market. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. Written by [Adam Epstein]( [Molly Liebergall]( Dave Lozo, [Matty Merritt]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( and [Neal Freyman]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. 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