☕️ Nuclear option

Owning a home is getting even more expensive... [Advertisement] June 12, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( SPONSORED BY [Apple Card]( Good morning. We woke up hoping it was just a bad dream, but no—it’s all too real: Joey Chestnut has been [banned]( from the annual July Fourth Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition. According to the NY Post, the 16-time champ is being disallowed because of his sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a plant-based meat company that launched a vegan hot dog to rival Nathan’s. A July Fourth hot dog eating contest without Chestnut is unimaginable: It’s like Christmas without Santa, the Louvre without the Mona Lisa, a family reunion without a drunk uncle. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and they come to a resolution. —Cassandra Cassidy, Sam Klebanov, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 17,343.55 +0.88% S&P 5,375.32 +0.27% Dow 38,747.42 -0.31% 10-Year 4.404% -7.0 bps Bitcoin $67,212.70 -3.36% Apple $207.15 +7.27% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq clinched [new records]( yesterday as investors held their breath waiting for two big pieces of news today: 1) the latest inflation data on consumer prices and 2) the Fed’s decision on interest rates. The Fed isn’t expected to announce any rate changes, but everyone will be decoding JPow’s words for hints about the future. - Stock spotlight: Apple soared to a record high in a vote of confidence for its AI play.  ENERGY [Bill Gates goes nuclear]( [Bill Gates]( Gallup/Getty Images The guy who helped construct the computer company in a garage-to-billionaire pipeline has put his money where his mouth is. Bill Gates, a proponent of competitive clean energy sources to combat climate change, broke ground on a next-gen nuclear power facility yesterday outside a [small Wyoming town](. TerraPower, a company Gates co-founded in 2008 to boost private nuclear investment, is building a first-of-its-kind reactor that it thinks will usher in a new era of scalable clean energy. What’s the big deal? TerraPower’s new reactor isn’t like old reactors—it’s smaller, cheaper, and may stand a shot at being finished…unlike new traditional reactors, whose death certificates are usually written before they even start running due to delays and cost overruns. The US has only built two reactors in the last 30 years, costing $35 billion, but TerraPower sees [itself]( as #builtdifferent. - The TerraPower design calls for liquid sodium rather than water to cool the reactor, meaning the power station won’t need extensive (and expensive) heavy piping. - The reactor will also be able to adjust its output, making it easier to coexist with wind and solar sources and take advantage of selling energy to the grid. Digging deep Gates maintains that he’s not involved in the nuclear project to make more money. “I’m involved in TerraPower because we need to build a lot of these reactors,” he [said]( in an interview. The project still has plenty of unknowns, including whether the reactor will actually be cheaper to build (some critics say it won’t) and whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will approve its unorthodox engineering plan. You need deep pockets to pull this off…but with some of the deepest pockets propping up the project, there’s a chance it can work. Gates has poured $1 billion into the project so far, raised another $830 million, and said he’s prepared to stand by it financially.—CC SPONSORED BY APPLE CARD [Checks all the boxes]( [Apple Card]( What’s on your credit card wish list? Does it look something like this: - [no fees]( of any kind—late, annual, or foreign transaction - Daily Cash back that’s easy to access and understand - advanced security technologies like Face ID, Touch ID, and unique transaction codes—built right in We see you nodding furiously, and we have good news: You get all that (and more) with Apple Card. Cardholders earn up to 3% Daily Cash on all (yes, all) purchases, which you can [use right away](. You can also automatically grow your Daily Cash when you open a [high-yield Savings account]( through Apple Card. Watch your green grow over time. Don’t compromise on your credit card wish list. [Apply for Apple Card](. Terms apply. Savings provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Hunter Biden exiting court with his wife and his mother, First Lady Jill Biden]Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Hunter Biden convicted of criminal gun charges. A Delaware jury found the president’s son [guilty]( on all three felony charges against him over his saying on a form that he was not using illegal drugs when he purchased a gun in 2018. Hunter Biden faces a maximum of 25 years in prison but, as a first-time offender, he is unlikely to receive a harsh sentence. The verdict comes during a tense election season where the president’s GOP opponent, Donald Trump, was also recently convicted of felonies. President Joe Biden said he would “continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.” Looks like Skydance won’t be buying Paramount. Proving that Paramount Global doesn’t save the drama for its movies, Chair Shari Redstone has reportedly [cut off]( merger talks with Skydance Media after the companies previously agreed to broad terms. Instead, Redstone will likely seek a buyer for Paramount’s controlling shareholder, National Amusements (which she owns), without a separate merger for Paramount, according to the Wall Street Journal. Paramount’s stock fell nearly 8% after the news broke. Chiquita found liable for deaths caused by paramilitary it financed in Colombia. The term “banana republic” was not coined to sell blazers: A Florida jury [ordered]( Chiquita to pay $38.3 million to the families of people killed by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group it funded during Colombia’s civil war. Although many similar cases have been brought over the company’s relationship with the group—which Chiquita admitted to paying in a 2007 plea deal with the US, which considers it a terrorist group—the jury’s decision marks the first time Chiquita’s been found responsible for the AUC’s actions. Chiquita plans to appeal and said the claims have “no legal basis.” REAL ESTATE [Owning a home is getting more costly]( [House ownership costs]( Parsons When Zillowing a home to find out just how loaded an acquaintance is, the price tag you see is only the tip of the iceberg. On top of mortgage payments, there’s the cost of owning a home, a number that [surged]( in the past four years, according to a recent Bankrate analysis. Even if someone has a suitcase full of cash to cover a home’s entire purchase price (the median for which hit $436k in March, per Redfin), they’d still face a lifetime of regular expenses. - Owners of a single-family home can expect to pay an average of $18.1k a year for home insurance, property taxes, maintenance, as well as bills that renters pay too, like energy, cable, and internet. The overall tab is 26% more than in 2020. - Annual homeownership costs vary by location: They’re highest in Hawaii ($29k), California ($28.8k), and Massachusetts ($26.3k), and lowest in Kentucky ($11.6k), Arkansas ($11.7k), and Mississippi ($11.9k). Rising home insurance premiums and maintenance are the main culprits for the increased cost of the American Dream, Bankrate analyst Jeff Ostrowski told CNN. Insurance premiums have [skyrocketed]( particularly in areas with more frequent natural disasters. A way to avoid the steep cost…is to buy an apartment or a multifamily home, which might be cheaper to own than a single-family property.—SK TOGETHER WITH MED-X [Med-X]( Natural is heading to the Nasdaq. Natural solutions are already better for the environment. But Med-X is taking it a step further: Their natural pesticides outperform chemical alternatives. That’s led to [200% revenue growth as they scale in their $17b market](. Now they’re planning to list on the Nasdaq (ticker MXRX). But you don’t have to wait to invest. [Become an early Med-X shareholder ahead of their planned Nasdaq listing](. SOCIAL MEDIA [BeReal snapped up by French mobile gamer Voodoo]( [BeReal app in app store.]( Photo/Getty Images The app that has seen way too many of your desk lunches is getting a new owner. French mobile game and app publisher Voodoo announced yesterday that it has [acquired]( pandemic darling BeReal for €500 million (~$537 million). The French-founded app prided itself on capturing users’ authentic daily experiences by allowing only one post per day and providing no path to influencer status. But it turns out authenticity isn’t all that alluring to new users. - BeReal [snagged]( 3.25 million downloads in the first half of 2022, making Instagram nervous enough to start working on a [potential copycat](. - Then, the app’s daily active users plateaued at around 25 million for the last two years as the company burned through its VC funding, according to Business Insider. So, what attracted Voodoo to a stagnating photo-sharing app? Voodoo CEO Alexandre Yazdi said a majority of current users log in to the app six days a week. Voodoo plans to stuff seamlessly flow ads into BeReal and add more features to the platform. Big picture: The French tech scene is becoming known for more than long lunches. Paris-based startup Mistral AI—OpenAI’s European competitor—closed a $640 million Series B funding round yesterday that valued the company at $6 billion.—MM STAT [Prime number](#) [A Buc-ees]Morning Brew If you find yourself passing through Luling, TX, needing a clean bathroom or a gas pump you won’t have to wait in line behind other cars to use, you’re in luck: Buc-ee’s opened the world’s largest [convenience store]( there this week. The store boasts 75,000+ square feet and 120 gas pumps. That makes the new store bigger than the 74,707 square foot Buc-ees’s in Sevierville, TN, which was previously the world’s biggest, and much larger than a typical store, which the National Association of Convenience Stores says is less than 5,000 square feet. Plus, it sells barbeque and Beaver Nuggets. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Four US college instructors]( from Iowa Cornell College were stabbed in a park in China. Police have arrested a suspect. - [Elon Musk]( dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman one day after [threatening]( to ban Apple devices from his companies over its newly announced partnership with OpenAI and one day before a judge was scheduled to consider whether to dismiss the suit. - [Justice Samuel Alito]( was secretly taped by an activist questioning bipartisanship and agreeing with the need to return the US “to a place of godliness.” - [GM’s board]( approved $6 billion in share buybacks as investors worry about the transition toward electric vehicles. - [A member of the Four Tops]( sued a hospital for racial discrimination, claiming doctors deemed him delusional when he said he was part of the famous singing group and ignored his real medical problems. - [King Charles’s]( first official portrait, already drubbed by critics, was vandalized by animal rights protesters. RECS [Wednesday to-do list] Chop chop: The best way to cut [an onion](. Stay cool: [Scientists explain]( why linen is a breezier summer fabric than cotton. Go out to eat: There’s a new crop of [James Beard Award winners]( to try. Unnatural beauty: Check out the contestants in an [AI beauty pageant](. Your logo embroidered here: Morning Brew exclusive! See your logo on a great-quality, custom embroidered polo or hat [for just $4.95]( including logo setup and embroidery. [Queensboro.com](. For over 40 years, trust the Queen!* *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Word Search: It’s fitting that during the week of Apple’s big software event, the Word Search theme is…apps. If you stare at your phone all day, you should ace this puzzle. [Play it here](. Scotch or place in Westeros? Today’s trivia is a mashup of two major events arriving Sunday: Father’s Day and the House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere. We’ll give you a strange-sounding name, and you have to determine whether it’s a single-malt scotch or a place in Westeros (the setting of House of the Dragon). - The Frostfangs - Caol Ila - Ashemark - Highland Park - Talisker - Horn Hill 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 - Place in Westeros - Scotch - Place in Westeros - Scotch - Scotch - Place in Westeros Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: drubbed, meaning “beaten severely or berated critically.” Thanks to Michael from Vancouver for hammering us with the suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✳︎ A Note From Med-X Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Med-X’s Regulation CF Offering. Please read the offering circular at [( Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Abigail Rubenstein]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( Sam Klebanov, and [Matty Merritt]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Get smarter in just 5 minutes - Money & Career: [Money With Katie](  [Bossy](  [Brew Markets](  [The Playbook]( Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [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