☕ Bad actors

What investors are worried about for 2024... [Advertisement] December 12, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( SPONSORED BY [Apple Card]( Good morning. In a stunning turn of events, it was revealed that $680 million of Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract with the team will be deferred until after the deal ends (to free up cash for the Dodgers to keep spending on other players). That means the baseball superstar will be paid $2m/year for the next 10 seasons, then $68m/year from 2034 to 2043. Everyone’s using buy now, pay later for their gifts this holiday season. —Molly Liebergall, Sam Klebanov, Cassandra Cassidy, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 14,432.49 +0.20% S&P 4,622.44 +0.39% Dow 36,404.93 +0.43% 10-Year 4.236% +0.6 bps Bitcoin $41,304.00 -5.68% Macy’s $20.77 +19.44% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 2:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: It may be cold out, but stocks are on a December [hot streak](. The Dow had its best day since January 2022, and it was the best since March 2022 for the S&P 500. Investors are waiting for fresh inflation data today and the Fed’s rate decision tomorrow. - Stock spotlight: Macy’s shot up toward the stars on the news that an investor group has made a $5.8 billion offer to take the retailer private, and other department stores rose along with it.  Markets Sponsored by Autonomix Health is wealth: Invest alongside an all-star list of tech giants. [Autonomix is looking to pioneer a major leap in electrophysiology](. ENVIRONMENT [Climate leaders want to hear the words ‘phase out’]( [Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass, “say it and I’m yours” scene from Gossip Girl]( Warner Bros. Television Delegates from nearly 200 countries are in Dubai wrapping up COP28, the UN’s annual climate change conference, and folks haven’t been this furious about an ending since the last season of Game of Thrones. Many delegates and climate leaders believed that the main point of COP28 was to call for an international plan to reduce fossil fuel usage to net zero, which scientists say is the only way we’ll have a shot at keeping global warming below the internationally agreed-upon [1.5-degrees Celsius limit](. But the latest version of the summit’s draft [agreement on global warming]( released yesterday, removed mention of a necessary “phase out” of fossil fuels. Instead, it suggests a handful of strategies that nations “could” implement in order to “reduce” emissions. The EU and US both disapprove of the new version, and climate advocates [called it]( “grossly insufficient” as well as “incoherent and dangerous.” Former Vice President and longtime environmentalist Al Gore even [posted on X]( that “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure.” How did COP28 seemingly lose the plot? Climate advocates say the weak language in the new draft indicates that the COP28 presidency—which oversees the conference and writes the agreement—is pandering to oil-producing nations. And the [circumstances]( around this year’s conference aren’t good for beating the “who thwarted?” allegations: - This year, the president of COP28 is Sultan Al Jaber, an Emirati politician who [runs the UAE’s state-owned oil company](. He came under fire last week for [claiming]( that there’s “no science” to support the need for a fossil fuel phase-out, which he walked back the next day. - Saudi Arabia reportedly [pressured]( the UAE to scrap any mention of fossil fuels from the COP28 agreement, according to Reuters. The head of OPEC, the group of oil-producing countries, also sent a letter to its member states urging them to reject mention of a phase-out. What now? UN climate summit deals need unanimous approval to pass. With some representatives considering the current draft a “death sentence,” per Reuters, there will likely either be more revisions or no agreement at all.—ML   SPONSORED BY APPLE CARD [Gift yourself some Daily Cash]( [Apple Card]( Workin’ through your holiday shopping list? Don’t forget to grab yourself a little something, too. Apple Card is the [cash-back]( rewards card dreams are made of. With Daily Cash back, you get the gift of cash back every day. Earn up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every purchase. That’s like a daily present just for getting your holiday (and everyday) shopping done. And you can grow it at [4.15% APY]( when you open a high-yield Savings account with Apple Card. Yes, please. And the best part? Apple Card [doesn’t have a single fee](. No annual, late, or foreign transaction fees. Treat yourself this season. [Apply now for Apple Card](. Terms apply. Savings provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [A gavel hammering down on a Google logo]Francis Scialabba Fortnite maker scores an epic win in Google antitrust suit. In a landmark verdict, the jury in Epic Games’s lawsuit against Google over [fees]( charged by the Google Play Store [found]( that the tech giant was operating an illegal monopoly. Although Google has said it will challenge the decision, and a judge has not yet ruled what penalty may be appropriate, it’s possible that Google will have to make significant changes to how it runs the app store. If Epic being involved in a major antitrust lawsuit sounds familiar, that’s because it’s also been embroiled in a similar years-long battle against Apple—though it’s been less successful there so far. Special counsel asks SCOTUS to decide if Trump has immunity. Special Counsel Jack Smith [asked]( the Supreme Court to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted for crimes he allegedly committed while in office—even though an appeals court has not considered that yet. This unusual request, which marks the first time the high court has been asked to weigh a criminal case against Trump, is an effort to keep the case concerning Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election moving swiftly after a federal judge found that Trump did not have immunity from prosecution. Letting the issue wind its way through an appeals court would likely push the start date of the trial, currently set for March 4, until after the presidential election. Occidental Petroleum makes the latest big energy industry deal. The company has agreed [to buy]( oil driller CrownRock, which operates in the Permian Basin, for $12 billion. It’s the biggest deal for Occidental since it snagged a $10 billion investment from Berkshire Hathaway to take over Anadarko Petroleum in 2019. And it comes as major oil and gas players are snapping up other companies to secure their supplies, including Exxon Mobil’s $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron’s $53 billion deal for Hess. FINANCE [Geopolitics is top of mind for worried investors]( [World exploding]( Francis Scialabba Investing pros are apparently losing more sleep over V. Putin’s next move than any of J. Powell’s plans. Geopolitical risk is the [most cited]( macroeconomic concern by 500 international institutional investors who were asked about their 2024 outlook by financial firm Natixis. Their preoccupation with “geopolitical bad actors” that could upend global markets doesn’t come out of the blue. The survey took place as the Israel-Hamas war erupted and amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, both of which have dampened investor optimism. Looming threats For 2024, money managers are fretting about a chaotic US election; rising tensions with China; the fragmentation of the world economy; and growing cooperation between Russia, Iran and North Korea. More than half of respondents saw a recession next year as inevitable, with fraught geopolitics ranking above other sources of potential market pain… - Harmful political actors are an anxiety inducer for 49% of investors, about on par with a drop in consumer spending (48%). - Meanwhile, central bank policy errors inspire worry in 42% of finance wonks, and 30% are uneasy about China’s economic woes. The need to brush up on our Model UN skills is echoed by BlackRock, which recently said that geopolitical events now have [longer lasting market effects]( than they used to. In more troubling news…The number of wars around the globe is at a three-decade high—and it will likely keep rising, per the International Institute for Strategic Studies.—SK   TOGETHER WITH CVS CAREMARK [CVS Caremark ]( Innovative care is here. From breakthroughs with [GLP1 medications]( to the wave of [biosimilars]( hitting the market, healthcare is entering a new era. To help plan sponsors keep up, we chatted with the CVS Caremark team about everything from [speeding up prior authorization]( to managing treatment costs and improving the member experience. TECH [You can send iMessages with an Android…for now]( [You can send iMessages with an Android…for now]( The dream of blue bubbles for all is alive: Less than three days after Apple effectively blocked the new iMessaging app for Androids, Beeper is back and beeping away. But…whether or not it’ll stay around is a different story. Beeper launched last week, only to be shut down in a matter of days when Apple implemented [blocks]( to prevent the app from working, claiming that Beeper “posed significant risks to user security and privacy” (which Beeper denies). Yesterday, after a short hiatus, the app was back [up and running]( using a new workaround. The saga is part of a larger effort to democratize the group chat: Other companies have tried to make it easier for Android and iPhone users to text, including Nothing Chats, which [launched]( splashily last month but was soon shut down following reports that its servers stored non-encrypted user data. Apple doesn’t want those blue bubbles to get less exclusive—just ask Tim Cook, who once responded to a question about Android/iPhone messaging at a conference with the directive, “Buy your mom an iPhone.” But…that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. In November, Apple said it was working on its own fix to improve [messaging]( between Androids and IPhones as it faces pressure from competitors like Google and Nothing.—CC   GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [President Biden in Philadelphia]Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Stat: If you’re headed to Xfinity Live! one of these days, don’t be surprised to see President Biden riding the bull. The commander-in-chief made his [19th visit]( as president to Philadelphia yesterday, making it the city he’s dropped in on the most outside of his home state of Delaware since being sworn in, per the Washington Post. NYC comes in second to the city it considers its annoying little brother, with 11 Biden visits. Why does Biden keep pushing his tush to Philly? It’s easy to get to from DC, plus it’s in a swing state and has great backdrops for patriotic photo ops. Quote: “It was not easy, but it was worth it.” Here’s a story to help get you ready to laugh it off when your aunt insists on listing your younger cousin’s many accomplishments over the holidays. In California, Peter Park, who was [sworn in]( as an attorney at age 18 yesterday, is believed to be the youngest person ever to pass the state bar exam (he was 17 then). But of course, Park wasn’t just some whippersnapper when he sat the exam—he took the bar so young because he’d started high school and a law school program simultaneously at age 13 in 2019, and had graduated from both. Read: The hottest job in the US pays $80,000 a year, no college degree needed—it’s wind turbine technician. ([Businessweek]( NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [The Texas Supreme Court]( ruled against a woman who sued for permission to get an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition. But even before the ruling came out, she decided to leave the state for the procedure. - [Harvard President Claudine Gay]( is facing calls for her ouster after her disastrous appearance at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism (UPenn’s president, who also appeared at the hearing, has resigned), but more than 600 faculty members also signed a letter to support her. - [Shohei Ohtani]( will receive only $2 million of his historic $70 million annual salary from the Dodgers per year, having deferred the rest until later so the team can have more flexibility in hiring. - [Paramount+]( will officially become a linear cable channel next month, when Showtime gets rebranded as “Paramount+ with Showtime,” a name that’s already being used on the streaming side. As names go, it’s still better than just Max, we guess. - [Barbenheimer]( is back, y’all. And this time it’s taking over the Golden Globes: Barbie led the nominations for the revamped January 7 award show with nine nods, and Oppenheimer followed with eight. - [Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy]( seems to have given listeners an unexpected kind of live stream, after getting caught on a hot mic apparently using the bathroom during a X Spaces event featuring Elon Musk, Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, and others. RECS [Tuesday To Do List] For your next bar crawl: Here’s [a map]( of the US states where famous cocktails were created. Up your mental game: Get inspired by [this clip]( of tennis great Novak Djokovic. Watch: Olivia Rodrigo sings songs that probably make her exes uncomfortable at her [Tiny Desk Concert](. What you’re searching for: These are the [most Googled terms]( of 2023. Save time: Don’t forget to register for tomorrow’s free Miss Excel course. It’s your last chance this year to learn how to save hours a day with Excel tips and tricks. [Register now](. Lifetime flight savings: Save up to $2k on every flight in 2024 & for life. Think Hawaii or Italy from $291, with [Dollar Flight Club’s]( lifetime membership. It’s only [$129 (usually $1,690) until midnight]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Brew Mini: One of the answers in today’s Mini would certainly make a good Word of the Day. [See what it is here](. Flower trivia Today is National Poinsettia Day, but they’ve generously agreed to share the spotlight with other flowers for today’s trivia. Below are pictures of six different flowers—how many can you name? [Pictures of flowers for quiz] FROM THE CREW [C’mon get appy](#) [Unlock your app idea] What if you could learn how to create the best app without knowing how to code? Our partnership with Tara Reed, co-host of Bossy and entrepreneur, is back. Join us today, December 12, for a FREE session about turning your genius idea into an app…without having to learn to code. Walk away with ideas for a product with simplified tech and a plan for success. [Register now](. ANSWER - Poppy - Chrysanthemum - Tulip - Dahlia - Lily - Lotus Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: whippersnapper, meaning “a presumptuous young person.” Thanks to Tricia Higgins from Kentucky and many other seasoned pros for the suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✷ A Note From Autonomix This is a paid advertisement for Autonomix’s Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.autonomix.com/ Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Abigail Rubenstein]( [Molly Liebergall]( Sam Klebanov, and [Cassandra Cassidy]( 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