☕ GDP smash

What fueled the blockbuster GDP growth... October 27, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( Good morning. You might not have opened the Brew thinking your business newsletter would help you out with last-minute Halloween costumes, but we gotchu. Here are some ideas we came up with: - Howie Mandel hosting Deal or No Deal - For the short kings: Little Caesar (the pizza chain) - The Ghost of Twitter - Couples costume for New Yorkers: The rat czar and Splinter from TMNT Take a pic and tag us @morningbrew if you use any of them. —Cassandra Cassidy, Matty Merritt, Molly Liebergall, Sam Klebanov, Neal Freyman, Adam Epstein MARKETS Nasdaq 12,595.61 -1.76% S&P 4,137.23 -1.18% Dow 32,784.30 -0.76% 10-Year 4.847% -11.5 bps Bitcoin $34,162.63 -0.99% IBM $143.76 +4.87% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 11:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Yesterday’s strong GDP data was not enough to keep stocks from sliding to their lowest level [since May]( after Meta’s Q3 earnings continued a two-day tech selloff. One bright spot was IBM, whose shares bucked the trend and rose almost 5% as investors [cheered]( its bets on generative AI.  CRYPTO [SBF takes the ultimate risk: his own defense]( [Sam Bankman-Fried in court]( Tom Williams/Getty Images Sam Bankman-Fried will officially take the stand in his own trial today after completing a hearing in front of US District Judge Lewis Kaplan yesterday [without any jurors]( present. His decision to testify is a risky move at best—and a downright kooky one if you’ve already had multiple former colleagues and an ex-girlfriend testify against you. To recap: It’s been nearly four weeks since Bankman-Fried’s trial began. He’s pleading not guilty to a variety of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the downfall of his crypto exchange, FTX. We’ve already heard from [key witnesses]( Caroline Ellison, who said she worked with SBF to funnel billions in FTX customers’ money to its sister company, Alameda Research; FTX executive Gary Wang, who said SBF lied to the public; and Nishad Singh, who testified that FTX made donations to political campaigns using stolen funds. What crypto’s fallen golden boy said yesterday Spoiler: not a lot. SBF exhibited the sort of question-evading vagueness of a 17-year-old caught with a fake ID. During the hearing… - SBF admitted to being “aware of some speed bumps in place on Alameda’s account,” but said he didn’t know the “exact nature of them.” - When Judge Kaplan asked if he had read FTX’s terms of service, SBF said he read some of it “in depth”—but other parts he “skimmed over.” Judge Kaplan isn’t having any of it. Near the end of the day, after SBF had repeatedly asked the prosecution to clarify questions, Kaplan said “the witness has what I’ll simply call an interesting way of responding.” Reporters inside the courtroom have described Kaplan as frustrated with both the defense and the prosecution’s lines of questioning. What to expect moving forward: Without a jury present, yesterday’s hearing was a way for Kaplan to hear the scope of SBF’s testimony and determine if it’ll be admissible. SBF’s defense is [expected]( to highlight that he acted in accordance with advice from FTX's lawyers. We are simply hoping that SBF is asked to explain [what “oof” means](   FROM THE CREW [Master your money and be a boss]( [The Crew]( Looking to build a business and/or wealth? Get insights and actionable advice from two women who’ve done both. BOSSY features tech luminary Tara Reed, founder and CEO of Apps Without Code, and personal finance fanatic Katie Gatti Tassin, aka Money with Katie, as they blend innovation and financial liberation for modern entrepreneurs. They’ll dive into everything from book deals to big acquisitions to even who has better entrepreneurial energy, Taylor Swift or Rihanna. New episodes drop every Thursday on [Spotify]( [Apple]( [YouTube]( or wherever you get your [podcasts](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Law enforcement officers gathers as part of a manhunt for Robert Card]Joseph Prezioso/Getty Images The mass shooter who killed at least 18 people in Maine remains at large. Authorities are hunting for 40-year-old firearms instructor Robert Card, who went on a deadly [shooting rampage]( at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston on Wednesday. The Coast Guard was searching the Kennebec River after the suspect, who owns a 15-foot motorboat, abandoned his car at a boat launch 10 miles from the crime scenes. Multiple Maine communities remain on lockdown, with several schools closed and residents urged not to leave their homes. The shooting prompted President Biden to renew his calls for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. Israeli troops and tanks briefly entered Gaza. The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas’s anti-tank positions and other infrastructure in a [nighttime raid]( into the enclave yesterday to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a sweeping ground operation. Israeli forces also announced that they eliminated three senior Hamas commanders, while the terrorist group made an unverified claim that Israeli airstrikes killed 50 of the 224 hostages it kidnapped on Oct. 7. Israel’s heavy bombardment of Gaza is taking a steep toll on civilians in the territory; a recent strike [killed four]( immediate family members of Al-Jazeera’s chief Gaza correspondent, Wael Dahdouh. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI reported an uptick in violent threats against Jewish and Muslim Americans since the conflict erupted. Amazon impressed Wall Street. Shares for the e-commerce giant shot up in after-hours trading yesterday after Amazon reported much [better-than-expected]( Q3 earnings. Ad revenue spiked 26% to $12.1 billion, ahead of analysts’ $11.6 billion forecast. Overall revenue was a gargantuan $143.1 billion, up 13% and higher than what analysts predicted. The earnings beat marked a silver lining for the tech industry after several big companies, including Meta, Google, and Tesla, disappointed the markets with their Q3 reports. Amazon’s stock is up about 45% so far this year, ahead of the S&P 500. ECONOMY [US consumers last quarter]( [Spongebob reaching into his wallet, but he has a really creepy smiling, human face.]( Nickelodeon, YouTube Turns out a lot of us were more willing to spring for appetizers this summer. Government data released yesterday revealed that the GDP [jumped]( 4.9% last quarter—more than analysts expected and the most it’s risen since the last quarter of 2021. And half of that growth was thanks to consumer spending. Despite headlines recapitulating fears that a recession is right around the corner, consumer spending was up 4% in Q3 after growing just 0.8% in Q2, even as the Fed kept raising rates to slow the economy down. While people spent more money on groceries and other necessities, it’s discretionary spending that was off the charts. - Experts attribute some of that spending to all the wigs we bought (not to mention the tickets) for summer events like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts, as well as the Barbenheimer premiere. - Americans also balled out in other categories like travel, sports equipment, and gambling. Plus, unlike other advanced economies, the US is “on track this year to return to reach the level that would have been predicted by the pre-pandemic trend,” according to the Treasury Department. Looking ahead…The numbers might not be as pretty for this current quarter, as student loan payments resume and war in the Middle East continues to inject uncertainty into the market.—MM   TOGETHER WITH ENERGYX [EnergyX]( The next gold rush. Demand for lithium—the essential component in EV batteries—is projected to soar 20x by 2040. Perfect timing for [EnergyX](. Their technology extracts up to 300% more lithium than traditional methods. That’s why General Motors led a $50m funding round in EnergyX earlier this year. [Now you can join them by investing and becoming an EnergyX shareholder](. SOCIAL MEDIA [Happy anniversary to Elon Musk’s Twitter]( [3D X logo flashes]( Francis Scialabba It’s already been a year since the guy who still uses doge memes marked his acquisition of Twitter by [bringing a sink]( into its headquarters. And the results are in. Here’s how year one of Musk has impacted site engagement: - Global app [downloads]( fell 38% from October 2022 to September 2023, according to data from Sensor Tower. The Twitter-to-X rebrand was a [major culprit]( per intelligence provider Apptopia. - Monthly active users fell 14.8%, according to SimilarWeb. - Sensor Tower reported that users spend an average of 2% less time on X, though Apptopia found that [active users]( have increased their screen time this year. - US ad [revenue]( has dropped by 60%, Musk, who was forced into buying the platform after he [attempted to back out]( admitted last month. What’s responsible? The rise in [hate speech]( [misinformation]( and [glitches]( under Musk’s leadership likely contributed to the declining interest. [The X rebrand]( and confusion around changes to the [blue check mark]( probably didn’t help either. It could be worse. X is still running faster than Threads, which only had 10 million daily active mobile users last month to X’s 183 million, per Sensor Tower.—ML   GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [Dove deodorant]SOPA Images/Getty Images Stat: The good news is everyone at your office is using deodorant. The bad news is nobody was wearing it before they returned to work in person. Unilever, the company that owns Dove, Axe, Rexona, and several other deodorant brands, said the post-pandemic return to offices led to a 15% [surge in deodorant sales]( boosting total sales at Unilever 5.2% to $16 billion in the latest quarter. People didn’t buy deodorant as much when they were working from home, CFO Graeme Pitkethly said, which explains the mysterious smell in your building’s elevator that disappeared this year. Quote: “A nightmare scenario is unfolding.” Those are not words you want to hear from the [National Hurricane Center](. Otis was supposed to hit Acapulco, Mexico, as a tropical storm, but when it made landfall on Wednesday, it was a Category 5 hurricane—[stunning]( the scientists who had been tracking it. Just before reaching land, Otis passed over a pocket of hot ocean, making the storm much stronger before anyone had time to prepare. At least 27 people were killed and four remain missing. One hurricane expert at MIT [told the AP]( that “the models completely blew it.” Because of warming oceans, researchers expect this to happen more often. Read: Automakers slow their EV roll amid lagging demand. ([Morning Brew]( QUIZ [Quiz-or-treat]( [New Friday quiz image]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to someone at the party getting your niche Halloween costume without your having to explain it. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [The UK’s]( controversial online safety bill, which aims to hold tech companies accountable for protecting kids from harmful content, officially became law yesterday. - [23andMe]( is rolling out a $1,188-per-year tool to identify users’ genetic vulnerabilities as part of its broader transition from a DNA-testing service into a healthcare company. - [Google]( is adding a bunch of new AI-powered features to Maps in an effort to make it easier to search for destinations and explore your surroundings. - [The Beatles]( announced that their last new song, “Now and Then,” will be released next week after artificial intelligence helped recover John Lennon’s vocals from an old cassette. RECS [Friday to-do list] Travel: The most popular [winter travel destinations]( this year will be Hong Kong; Buenos Aires; and Muang Pattaya, Thailand, according to Airbnb. Learn: A database of [every writing system]( throughout human history, from 5,500-year-old proto-cuneiform to South Asia’s Toto, which established an alphabet in 2015. Shiver: [More than 700 songs]( that are scientifically [confirmed]( to give you goosebumps. Our pick: Howard Shore’s “The Breaking of the Fellowship” from the LOTR soundtrack. Read: Hollywood can make pretty much anything look real, but for some reason even big-budget productions still can’t [realistically depict]( a simple flame with CGI. Shopping list: Klaviyo surveyed 3k US consumers about their [shopping plans]( for this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday. [Download their free guide]( for the deets.* *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Picdoku: Unsurprisingly, candy takes the stage in today’s Picdoku. [Play it here](. Friday puzzle [Scrabble puzzle][Alex Dings on YouTube]( Anyone here a Scrabble player? Your challenge: Place all seven of your tiles onto the board with your next move. The tiles are: A, E, E, J, R, R, and blank, which can represent any letter. With the correct placement of your tiles, you can form a 10-letter word. What is that word? 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 Tearjerker (around the “ERK” tiles near the bottom of the board) [Source]( Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: recapitulating, meaning “summarizing and restating the main points.” Thanks to Deb from Minnesota for not repeating the suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✳︎ A Note From EnergyX Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.energyx.com/. Written by [Adam Epstein]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( [Matty Merritt]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Neal Freyman]( and Sam Klebanov 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](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2023 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011