☕️ Bipartisan barbecuing

Senators grill Boeing’s CEO on safety issues... June 19, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [EnergyX]( Good morning. Today is Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the US following the Civil War. While Black Americans have celebrated Juneteenth since the late 1800s, Congress designated it the nation’s newest federal holiday in 2021. Many US companies have closed their offices for Juneteenth, and the stock market is also observing the holiday. Also: RIP to the great Willie Mays, who died yesterday at 93. Besides being one of the best baseball players in history (he was a 24-time All-Star), Mays is the only major league player to have hit a home run in every inning from the first through the 16th. And who could forget [The Catch]( —Sam Klebanov, Cassandra Cassidy, Matty Merritt, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 17,862.23 +0.03% S&P 5,487.03 +0.25% Dow 38,834.86 +0.15% 10-Year 4.217% -6.0 bps Bitcoin $64,489.22 -2.98% Nvidia $135.58 +3.51% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Call them Frank Zappa because the stocks can’t stop making records. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ticked up to [new record closes]( yesterday, continuing June’s hot streak. As it often does, Nvidia led the way, as its market cap soared past Microsoft’s to take the top spot for the first time ever. Reminder: The market is closed today in observance of Juneteenth.  BUSINESS [Boeing CEO answers to Congress]( [Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun testifies before Congress]( Corum/Getty Images Capitol Hill looked more like Capital Grill yesterday as Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun took a bipartisan barbecuing from a Senate subcommittee. This was the [first time]( Boeing’s boss faced congressional lawmakers since an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was forced to perform an emergency landing in January with a gaping hole in its fuselage. Hours before Calhoun met with probing senators, the subcommittee received yet another whistleblower complaint, worsening Boeing’s bad look. - Quality assurance investigator Sam Mohawk claimed that the planemaker was “losing hundreds” of faulty parts due to improper tracking and storage, and some of them may have ended up in aircraft. - He also said he was told to hide the parts from the Federal Aviation Administration, and was retaliated against for speaking out. The subcommittee said it has reviewed similar reports from other Boeing employees that “paint a troubling picture of a company that prioritizes speed of manufacturing and cutting costs over ensuring the quality and safety of aircraft.” The hearing took place with the company under a regulatory microscope: Federal investigators found various issues with its manufacturing processes, and the Justice Department is mulling criminal prosecution. Boeing takes the stand Calhoun, who was brought on as CEO in 2020 in the aftermath of two fatal Boeing accidents, began his testimony by apologizing to the crash victims’ family members in attendance. He answered pointed questions about Boeing’s efforts to improve safety, the sufficiency of its management reshuffling, and whether he truly deserved his $32.8 million annual pay. Calhoun acknowledged that Boeing has issues with its safety culture, admitted that it had retaliated against whistleblowers, and lamented a shortage of trained workers—but [assured]( that the company is committed to fixing issues. Looking ahead: Calhoun will step down from his role at the end of this year, but Boeing is struggling to find a replacement, with several candidates reportedly [turning down]( the offer.—SK PRESENTED BY ENERGYX [The lithium boom]( [EnergyX]( Did you know it takes 10,000 iPhone batteries’ worth of lithium to make one EV? With over 350m EVs projected to be sold globally by 2030, demand for lithium is expected to soar, and current extraction methods won’t be able to meet it. EnergyX revealed their technology could extract 300% more lithium than traditional methods, and investors everywhere took note. They’ve received [$90m+ in investments from GM and others]( and just last week announced Project Lonestar, a US lithium plant supported by a $5m DOE grant, causing an upcoming share-price increase. Now’s your chance: [Invest in EnergyX at their current price of $9/share before it changes on June 27](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang]Tom Williams/Getty Images Nvidia is now the most valuable company in the world. Everything’s still coming up Jensen. The chipmaker passed Microsoft yesterday to become the world’s most valuable public company, [topping $3.3 trillion]( in market cap. Earlier this month, it reached the $3 trillion mark for the first time, flying past Apple for second place. The AI boom has propelled Nvidia—which owns about 80% of the industry’s data center chip market—to new heights, enriching investors and CEO Jensen Huang along the way. Huang has added nearly $100 billion to his net worth in less than two years, making him the 13th richest person in the world as of June. Amazon’s labor union joined forces with the Teamsters. Workers at a New York City Amazon warehouse voted almost unanimously to [form a partnership]( with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to help in its fight to secure better wages and working conditions. Since voting to unionize in 2022, the 5,500 Staten Island warehouse workers have failed to even bring Amazon to the bargaining table, as the e-commerce giant continues to contest the results of the vote. One labor expert told the Associated Press that the union’s association with the 1.3 million-member Teamsters is a “lifeline” to the group that had been “going nowhere.” Netflix is turning former department stores into entertainment centers. The empty space that used to be a Sears at your local mall could soon turn into a spot to hang out with the Demogorgon from Stranger Things. The streaming company announced yesterday that it’s opening two 100,000+ square-foot [entertainment venues]( at the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania and the other at Galleria Dallas in Texas. It’s Netflix’s latest (and biggest) foray into live experiences, which are less about generating revenue directly and more geared toward drumming up fan interest in its content. Each “Netflix House” will have food, drinks, exclusive merch, and more. AUTO [Fisked around and found out]( [Henrik Fisker with a Fisker vehicle]( J. Brown/Getty Images For a guy who designed the Aston Martin V8, Henrik Fisker is having trouble designing a business model. His company, Fisker, [filed]( for bankruptcy on Monday, citing market and macroeconomic headwinds just one year after it delivered its first electric vehicle. Earlier this year, Fisker stopped production of its first model, the Ocean SUV, following numerous reports of malfunctions. The vehicle also became the subject of a viral [video]( by popular YouTuber MKBHD called “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.” Fisker is the second car company led by Fisker (the human) that’s filed for bankruptcy, following Fisker Automotive, which went Chapter 11-mode in 2013. What went wrong? The Ocean not only suffered from glitches but also hit the market at a time when EV demand ran out of juice. Things weren’t much better inside the company: Multiple former workers anonymously alleged that the work environment was disorganized and chaotic and that the company prioritized dangerous cost-cutting measures, according to a [report]( by Business Insider. A spokesperson from Fisker pushed back on former workers’ claims. EV’s flop era. Fisker isn’t the first Tesla-wannabe to raise boatloads of cash with alacrity only to find out it has no idea how to build cars profitably. Lordstown Motors, Arrival, and Proterra have all filed for bankruptcy after succumbing to similar pitfalls.—CC TOGETHER WITH ROSETTA STONE [Rosetta Stone]( The fast way to learn a language, guaranteed. As the most trusted name in language learning for over 25 years, Rosetta Stone offers effective, expert-crafted courses in 25+ languages. With immersive lessons, pronunciation feedback, real-world scenarios, and live coaching, [Rosetta Stone]( empowers learners to not only speak fluently and confidently but also read, write, and think in new languages. [Sign up now](. INVESTING [Rich Gen Zers, millennials invest in collectibles]( [Watch, sneaker, and wine bottle in the shape of the letter Z.]( Parsons Kids these days might be clearing out their inherited china hutches to display more modern collectibles. High-net-worth Gen Z and millennial investors are at least two times more likely than their Gen X and boomer counterparts to invest in [expensive collectibles]( like wine, watches, and classic cars, according to a new Bank of America Private Bank survey. The survey asked about the investing habits of 1,000+ people in the US with more than $3 million in investable assets and categorized respondents by age: either 21 to 43 or over 44. And among the younger set, stocks are out, sneakers are in: - Only 47% of younger investors’ portfolios are made up of stocks and bonds, compared to 74% of their older counterparts’ holdings. - When asked if they believe it’s possible to achieve “above-average investment returns” by investing exclusively in stocks and bonds, 72% of younger investors said: no Younger investors aren’t just stashing their money in tangible things they can display. About half of younger investors said they own crypto. Bottom line: If you spent the 2008 financial crisis blaring Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” to avoid hearing your parents argue about a second mortgage, you are likely distancing yourself from traditional investment strategies.—MM For more investing news, check out [Brew Markets](. STAT [Prime number](#) [Best Buy logo]Scott Olson/Getty Images Geek Squad...assemble. Best Buy is training more than 30,000 employees to sell and repair Microsoft’s new AI-enhanced Copilot+ laptops, Bloomberg reported. That marks the retailer’s biggest training operation [in a decade]( at least since your grandparents wanted to learn how to pair their AirPods. Best Buy is incentivized to train the Geeks and salespeople well since it owns exclusive sales rights to over 40% of Copilot+ models. And it could use a win: The company has endured 10 straight quarters of falling same-store sales. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Team USA]( revealed its Ralph Lauren uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics—and they include denim. - [The Los Angeles Unified School District]( voted to ban cellphones in schools for the entire day, becoming the largest US school district to do so. - [Vladimir Putin]( met with Kim Jong Un on the Russian dictator’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years. - [Justin Timberlake]( was arrested in the Hamptons and charged with driving while intoxicated. - [Thailand]( will become the first Southeast Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. - [A mysterious monolith]( appeared in the Las Vegas desert in either further evidence that aliens walk among us or one human’s desperate attempt to go viral. RECS [Wednesday to-do list] Eat: You don’t have to live in NYC to be inspired by [this infographic]( of the 57 quintessential New York sandwiches. Call: Dial 458-666-4355 to have Nic Cage whisper in your ear as part of the cleverly [creepy marketing]( for the upcoming horror film Longlegs. Learn: How men’s brains [change]( when they become dads. Watch: The cast of The Sopranos [reunites]( 25 years after the HBO show’s premiere. Shop: Get up to [50% off]( our best Morning Brew merch for our summer sale. Next Wednesday: [Tech Brew’s AI event]( in NYC with top execs. Grab your virtual or in-person ticket. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Word Search: Theater kids, this is your chance to hog the stage. Today’s Word Search asks you to identify the [Tony Award-winning musicals](. Name the music star The following facts describe one musical artist. Who is it? - This weekend, he set a record for the largest ticketed concert in US history, with 110,905 fans packing Kyle Field in College Station, TX. - He has the most No. 1 singles of any artist in any genre. - His upcoming album, Cowboys and Dreamers, drops in September. 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 George Strait Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: alacrity, meaning “cheerful readiness or promptness.” Thanks to Rachel from Maryland and several other eager readers for the suggestion. 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 [Adam Epstein]( Sam Klebanov, [Cassandra Cassidy]( [Matty Merritt]( and [Neal Freyman]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. 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