🌎 G20 tackles Covid and climate

…and Big Tech’s Apple problem [Disclosures](   The G20’s colossal battle [Grant Faint/The Image Bank via Getty Images]   Last Week’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 35,820 (+0.40%) S&P 500 4,605 (+1.33%) Nasdaq 15,498 (+2.70%) Bitcoin $62,559 (+3.08%) Dow Jones 35,820 (+0.40%) S&P 500 4,605 (+1.33%) Nasdaq 15,498 (+2.70%) Bitcoin $62,559 (+3.08%) Hey Snackers, The scariest Halloween costume of 2021: spam caller. A Colorado hiker who was lost for 24 hours repeatedly [ignored]( rescuers’ calls because he didn’t recognize the numbers. And you thought you hated 800 numbers. Stocks gained for the week, with the tech-heavy [Nasdaq]( index rising 2.7% after Big Tech earnings, even though [Amazon]( [Facebook]( and [Apple]( disappointed. US stocks had their strongest month since November 2020, as investors shrugged off [slowing]( economic growth. Want to start getting Snacks daily? Or prefer to unsubscribe? Manage your subscription preferences [here](. 20 Global checkup: The G20 summit tackles climate change, Covid, and the economy Fly like a G20... or Air Force One over the Colosseum. Over the weekend, leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies met IRL for the first time in two years — minus Russia's Putin and China's Xi, who called in via video. The two-day summit was held in Rome, but it wasn't a breezy Roman holiday. Why it matters: - Econ impact: G20 countries account for more than 80% of the world's economic output, 75% of its trade, and 60% of its population. - Climate impact: The G20 — which includes the US, China, Germany, India, and Brazil — accounts for 80% of greenhouse-gas emissions. - Biz impact: G20 leaders [endorsed]( a minimum global tax rate of 15% for multinational corporations, aiming to implement it in 2023. Climate vitals… Greenhouse-gas concentrations hit a record last year, and the planet is "way off track" in capping rising temperatures, the UN says. This exacerbates extreme weather and rising sea levels. Rich countries are lagging behind their $100B/year [pledge]( to help developing nations transition to greener energy. Covid checkup... While 70% of US adults are fully vaxxed, only half the world’s population has received a shot. The goal was to vaccinate at least 40% of each country's population by the end of 2021 — we’re still far from that. [Most]( African countries have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their population. Recovery screening... Thanks to Delta surges, supply-chain backlogs, and rising prices, global economic recovery is in [danger]( of stalling. The US economy's growth [slowed]( sharply last quarter — so did China's. THE TAKEAWAY With great power comes great responsibility… So the G20 is setting shared targets for the Earth’s biggest problems. On the Covid front, leaders committed to trying to vaccinate 70% of every country by mid-2022. The US plans to donate 1B+ doses by next fall. On climate, leaders [pledged]( to stop financing coal power plants abroad, and “pursue efforts” to limit the average global temp rise to 1.5 °C by 2100. At the UN climate summit this week, powerful nations have another chance to further their ambitious goal: global carbon neutrality by 2050. Zoom Out Stories we’re watching... Post-Halloween scaries… shipping delays. Holiday spending is expected to smash records this year, but retailers are sweating to meet demand. Nearly everything is in short supply, and materials and labor costs are surging. Amazon paid the price last quarter when profit plunged by nearly half from last year. The ’Zon expects to face billions in extra costs this quarter to hire 310K seasonal staff, among other costs. Meanwhile, [Target]( Amazon, [Best Buy]( and [Walmart]( launched Black Friday sales early to ease delays. Ask app not to track… Big Tech earnings are over, but fallout from Apple’s privacy change isn’t. Facebook’s ad-sales growth majorly [slowed]( from the previous quarter (33% growth vs. 56%). Facebook and [Snap]( blamed Apple’s iOS update — which lets users opt out of ad tracking — for the disappointing numbers. [Google]( [Twitter]( and Amazon weren’t as affected. To position itself for growth, Facebook is becoming a “metaverse company” (new name: Meta). The metaverse could be a hub for virtual interaction and commerce, from VR shopping to games. Read: less reliance on iPhone ad $$. Events Coming up this week... Double shot… [Moderna]( and [Pfizer]( drop earnings this week. 68% of Americans over the age of 12 are fully vaxxed — and 92% of that group had either Moderna or Pfizer shots. Unlike J&J, both have chosen to profit from Covid-vax sales. Last quarter, Moderna [revealed]( a whopping $3B profit on $4.2B in vax sales. Meanwhile, Pfizer raised its yearly vaccine sales forecast to $33.5B, from $26B. The FDA just approved Pfizer’s vax for kids as young as 5, while nearly one in 10 Americans has received boosters of the three authorized vaccines. La Mer skincare routine… Now reach for the bronzer. Beauty giant [Estée Lauder]( owns brands like MAC, Clinique, Too Faced, and La Mer. The beauty industry lost $175B last year as masks replaced lip gloss and foundation. But matte is back: For fiscal year 2021, Estée’s sales and profits surpassed pre-pandemic levels. We’ll see whether the beauty boom is still accelerating when Estée unpacks earnings tomorrow. ICYMI Last week's highlights... - [Musky]( Elon and other billionaires balked at a proposed (now dead) “billionaires tax,” which would’ve taxed unrealized gains on unsold investments. - [Cheesy]( [McDonald's]( [Coke]( and [Kraft Heinz]( dished out strong earnings after hiking prices on American food staples, from Bagel Bites to Big Macs. Thank the “staple advantage.” - [Juicy]( Hertz is splurging $4B+ for 100K [Teslas]( in a massive bet on large-scale EV rentals. The goal: appeal to enviro-conscious, commitment-phobic consumers. What else we're Snackin' - [Cube]( Four-inch metal cubes are the hottest, and heaviest, new obsession of crypto investors. Price: $3K apiece. - [Rebrand]( Before Facebook became Meta, ValuJet became AirTran and [Philip Morris]( became [Altria]( to shake their bad reputations. - [Ghost]( The strange new trend that’s enraging hiring managers: job seekers ghosting mid-hiring process. 🍪 Want to start Snacking daily? Sign up [here]( for our daily market newsletter. The Snacks Daily Podcast “It’s an iWin situation.” Microsoft just snatched Apple’s crown as the world’s most valuable company. [Tune in]( to hear how CEO Satya Nadella nailed layups to earn the top spot. Snack Fact Of the Day [Elon Musk’s wealth hit $270B last week, cementing him as Earth’s richest person — but not history’s: Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar’s net worth hit $4.6T (inflation adjusted, of course)]( This Week - Monday: Earnings expected from NXP Semiconductors, Simon Property Group, McKesson, ZoomInfo, PG&E, ON Semiconductor, and Clorox - Tuesday: Earnings expected from Public Storage, Avis, Pfizer, T-Mobile, Estée Lauder, Activision Blizzard, Ferrari, Zillow, Lyft, and Under Armour - Wednesday: Earnings expected from Qualcomm, CVS, Marriott, Match Group, Roku, Allstate, Etsy, Fox, MGM Resorts, Discovery, and GoDaddy - Thursday: Jobless claims. Earnings expected from MetLife, Moderna, Square, Airbnb, Duke Energy, Uber, Fidelity, Cigna, Cloudflare, and Bill.com - Friday: Earnings expected from Enbridge, Dominion Energy, TC Energy, Honda, DraftKings, and AMC Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Walmart, Google, Moderna, Uber, Tesla, Snap, Match, Twitter, Square ID: 1900371 Robinhood Snacks newsletters and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robinhood Financial LLC (Member [SIPC]( and do not reflect the views of Robinhood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security, digital asset (cryptocurrency, etc) in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. 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