☕ Monkey business

The wildest things said at Davos this week... January 19, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [CardCritics]( Good morning. Ready for your mind to be blown on a Friday morning? No one’s family name was changed at Ellis Island. The popular belief that immigrants’ names were altered, shortened, or misheard by bungling authorities at Ellis Island is a complete myth, according to a [thorough debunking]( by professors Rosemary Meszaros and Katherine Pennavaria that was spotted by [Marginal Revolution](. In fact, no names were written down at Ellis Island—the people coming to the US were required to provide their contact information when buying the tickets for the journey, so their names were already recorded in the ship’s manifest. Families might have changed their names after settling in the new country. You can blame a scene in The Godfather II for popularizing the urban legend. —Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Molly Liebergall, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 15,055.65 +1.35% S&P 4,780.94 +0.88% Dow 37,468.61 +0.54% 10-Year 4.144% +3.8 bps Bitcoin $41,069.67 -3.91% Apple $188.63 +3.26% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 12:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stock had a nice Thursday, with the Nasdaq climbing more than a whole point as several tech companies [rebounded]( from losses in the first half of the month. That included Apple, which rose after Bank of America [upgraded]( it to a “buy” and said it could soar more than 20%.  GEOPOLITICS [What are trade “chokepoints” and why are they at risk?]( [People watch as a ship transits the Suez Canal in the Red Sea]( Sayed Hassan/Getty Images We haven’t seen this many global supply trade warnings since we stopped checking “[Is the ship still stuck?](. War, climate change, and other abominable factors are disrupting oceanic trade routes—and threatening global GDP. What are these “chokepoints” we’ve been hearing so much about? Usually narrow canals and straits, these maritime hotspots handle massive amounts of traffic every day. The Malacca Strait—which connects the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean—the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, and even the South China Sea are vital waterways that could upend the global shipping industry if blocked (aka choked). The chokepoint under the most duress lately is the Red Sea, which feeds into the Suez Canal, an area that accounts for $1 trillion in global trade every year. Since November, Houthis have [fired missiles]( at passing commercial ships in the region. The attacks have forced vessels to go all the way around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, which can add 10–14 days to the trip, according to Reuters. Targeting these chokepoints is a no-brainer for bad actors, since they are geographically small and valuable targets: - Every day the Suez Canal was shut down in 2021 cost the global trade industry nearly $10 billion. - The Suez Canal Authority told Reuters last week that revenue fell 40% in the first 11 days of January because of unrest in the region. The US and UK have made it clear that they will take military action to protect ships and global supply chains. Yesterday, the US [launched]( another strike against Houthi anti-ship missiles. It’s not just geopolitics threatening trade. A drought plaguing Central America has left the Panama Canal with dangerously low water levels. So low, in fact, that the canal had to [cut]( ship crossings by 36% this week. The cuts are expected to cost the canal operator between $500 million and $700 million.—MM   PRESENTED BY CARDCRITICS [Start your year with cash rewards]( [CardCritics]( It feels a little silly telling you about the “best cash rewards card of 2024” when we’re still in the first month of the year. But folks, this card is just that good. Need a breather after some serious spending? [Here’s the card]( for you. Simplify your payments with a balance transfer and start racking up cash rewards pronto. This card’s got your back with perks like: - a $200 bonus after spending only $500 - unlimited cash rewards without any categories to worry about - a looooong intro APR for purchases and balance transfers And the perks don’t stop there. Check out this expert review for full details and [apply today](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Law enforcement officers speak together outside of Robb Elementary School following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas]Brandon Bell/Getty Images The DOJ released a scathing report on the Robb Elementary School shooting. In the 600-page report, the department called the response to the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, shooting—which left 21 people dead, most of them children—a [total failure]( blaming police and local and state officials for ignoring protocols and “egregious poor decision making.” The gunman, an 18-year-old who was armed with a semiautomatic rifle and known to be seriously troubled, was inside a pair of connected fourth-grade classrooms for 77 minutes before police confronted him. Several officials involved in the response, including school district police chief Pete Arredondo, have already either been fired or resigned. But some families of the killed and wounded didn’t think the DOJ’s investigation into the response went far enough because it didn’t bring criminal charges against those officials. Pakistan launched retaliatory airstrikes into Iran. The strikes [targeted]( areas that Pakistan said harbored separatist terrorist militants. At least nine people were reportedly killed. That came two days after Iran launched missiles into western Pakistan at a different separatist group, which Pakistan condemned and said killed two children. The tit-for-tat airstrikes threaten the already uneasy relationship between the neighboring countries amid fears of a growing regional conflict. The day before it launched strikes into Pakistan, Iran fired missiles at ISIS targets in Syria, as well as what it claimed was an Israeli spy base in Iraq. Reddit’s IPO is reportedly due in March. According to Reuters, the social media platform’s long-awaited initial public offering [will launch]( by the end of March after it makes its public filing in late February. It’ll be the first big social media IPO since 2019, when Pinterest went public. All eyes will fall on Reddit’s own users, who are known to fuel meme stock rallies—namely AMC and GameStop—and could help prop up the company’s debut on the stock market. Valued at about $10 billion as of 2021, Reddit reportedly will sell 10% of its shares as it competes with TikTok and Facebook for attention and ad dollars. BUSINESS [Overheard at Davos]( [Argentina’s President Javier Milei leaves surrounded by media after delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos on January 17, 2024.]( Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images The World Economic Forum wraps up today in Davos, Switzerland. After a week of big-name CEOs and global leaders talking shop and fine-tuning their James Bond villain auditions, here are some memorable moments you may have missed from arguably the world’s most important annual gathering. “Today, I’m here to tell you that the Western world is in danger.” Javier Milei, Argentina’s new president, rallied against what he [described]( as Davos’s “socialist agenda,” which he said “will only bring misery to the world.” Elon Musk [enjoyed]( the speech. “We’ve seen technology go really wrong, and we saw a Hiroshima. We don’t want to see an AI Hiroshima.” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff acknowledged [widespread fears]( that rapid AI development could spell disaster. (Salesforce recently launched its own AI-powered software, Einstein GPT.) “That’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said future versions of AI will give [different answers]( to different people based on their locations and opinions. He said the company “has to be somewhat uncomfortable as a tool builder with some of the uses of our tools.” “At the end of the day, you can eat less calories. You cannot have less liquid.” Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey isn’t worried that Ozempic will hurt the soda giant’s business because Coke owns almost every other beverage line that you’ve heard of has a wide [range of products]( including bottled water. Honorable mentions…JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon begged everyone to [stop asking him]( about bitcoin, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Boeing 737 home [broke down]( before takeoff.—CC   A MESSAGE FROM IBM [IBM]( You can’t spell retail without AI. The retail future is here, and your biz needs to adapt. Ready to unlock the power of AI? [We teamed up with IBM]( to show you how GenAI can boost your biz to heights unrivaled. [Give your biz a power up](. MEDICINE [Southerners don’t want any monkey business]( [Three monkeys and their babies sit in captivity]( Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images Be grateful your neighbor only has a yappy dog—locals and animal rights groups in Texas and Georgia are going Donkey Kong mode over plans to put tens of thousands of monkeys in their backyards. Southwestern Georgia residents [packed]( a city council meeting this week to demand that officials block a company called Safer Human Medicine from constructing a $396 million monkey [breeding center]( in their community. The proposed center would hold up to 30,000 long-tailed macaques to be sold to medical research groups. Some of the executives who run Safer Human Medicine used to work at the $12 billion biomedical company Charles River Laboratories, which [came under fire]( last year for allegedly labeling smuggled wild monkeys as lab-bred. Charles River also recently tried to build a macaque facility in southeastern Texas, but local outcry and a PETA campaign have [stalled]( those plans. Opponents of the monkey facilities worry about…noise levels, the risk of escape, the spread of disease, the disposal of each facility’s [waste]( PETA estimates could nearly fill an Olympic pool every day—and how they might affect property values. What’s the point? The breeding facilities would be a domestic source of research monkeys for clinical drug testing amid a [tight global supply]( of the test animals.—ML   GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [SpongeBob SquarePants]SpongeBob SquarePants/Paramount Global Stat: At the risk of sounding like your grandmother, you really do need to get some sleep, my loves. Americans average less than six and a half hours of sleep per night, according to a [new study]( reported on by Axios. And it’s much worse in some states than others: In Hawaii, for instance, ~76% of people get less than the doctor-recommended seven hours, while in South Dakota and Washington, ~62% do. Researchers say that in cities on the western edges of their time zones, like Tallahassee, Florida—where it stays lighter out for longer—people tend to get less sleep. So if you’re struggling to get some shut-eye, perhaps consider moving to Sioux Falls. Quote: “I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism.” When the NFL’s New England Patriots officially announced their new head coach, Jerod Mayo, at a standard press conference this week, the team was likely expecting little fanfare. But after owner Robert Kraft said he was “colorblind” when hiring Mayo, the first Black head coach in franchise history, Mayo [responded]( almost immediately with a different view. The former linebacker’s comments [earned plaudits]( from several observers, who noted that NFL coaches—especially brand-new ones—rarely comment on issues of race. Read: How a grad student busted the myth that cryptocurrency is untraceable. ([Wired]( QUIZ [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, Quizzy]( [New Friday quiz image]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to someone offering you a ride home just as you open the Uber app. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [The House and Senate]( both passed a stopgap spending bill that will prevent the government from shutting down—for a few more weeks, at least. - [Uniqlo]( sued Shein for allegedly copying its viral “Mary Poppins” bag. - [Mortgage rates]( fell to their lowest levels in eight months. Meanwhile, [jobless claims]( dropped to their lowest level in over a year. - [Microsoft]( is reportedly considering making some Xbox-exclusive games available on rival consoles, like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. - [Instagram]( announced a new “nighttime nudge” feature that will gently suggest teens close the app when it’s late and they’ve spent more than 10 minutes on it. RECS [Friday to-do list] Go nuts: Why you should be [eating more]( nuts and seeds. Learn: Americans’ opinions on [scientists](. Watch: Society of the Snow is on track to become one of Netflix’s [most popular]( non-English movies. Master YouTube: [Reserve your spot]( in the two-day YouTube Growth System workshop, brought to you by Morning Brew and expert Jamie Rawsthorne. The next gold rush: Demand for lithium is projected to soar 20x by 2040. Perfect timing for [EnergyX](. Join General Motors by [investing in EnergyX]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) PIcdoku: You don’t need to know how to play chess to complete today’s Picdoku, but you will be asked to move chess pieces. [See what we mean here](. Friday puzzle Think of a country name that is contained verbatim within another country’s name. There are at least eight possible answers. How many of them can you get? 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 - Dominican Republic, Dominica - Equatorial Guinea, Guinea - Guinea-Bissau, Guinea - Nigeria, Niger - Papua New Guinea, Guinea - Romania, Oman - Somalia, Mali - South Sudan, Sudan [Source]( Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: abominable, meaning “causing moral revulsion.” Thanks to Amy from New York for the suggestion and all of you who noticed that we accidentally used it instead of “abdominal” to describe Kate Middleton’s surgery in yesterday’s newsletter. Now that was truly abominable. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✤ A Note From EnergyX This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX's Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular at [( Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Adam Epstein]( [Matty Merritt]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( and [Molly Liebergall]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [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