☕️ Greek week

Popcorn buckets have come to save cinemas... July 03, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [Eight Sleep]( Good morning. We hope you’ve got your hot dogs purchased and a prime fireworks viewing spot all picked out for tomorrow. Like you, the Brew will be taking the day off to celebrate July Fourth with the most American activity of all: drinking from red Solo cups. But we’ll be back in your inbox on Friday. Until then, we wish you safe travels and freedom from heartburn caused by mustard, the only acceptable condiment to slather on those dogs. —Abby Rubenstein, Molly, Liebergall, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 18,028.76 +0.84% S&P 5,509.01 +0.62% Dow 39,331.85 +0.41% 10-Year 4.436% -4.0 bps Bitcoin $61,896.78 -2.02% Tesla $231.26 +10.20% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks [ticked up]( yesterday after Jerome Powell acknowledged progress on inflation while reiterating that he wasn’t quite ready for rate cuts—and new data showing the labor market remains hot helps explain why. Reminder: The stock market will close early today and remain closed tomorrow so bankers can take in the fireworks from their beach houses. - Stock spotlight: Tesla got supercharged after announcing that deliveries (a proxy for sales) dipped last quarter compared to the year before…but not as much as Wall Street expected them to.  TECH [Big Tech faces European crackdown]( [European flags in Brussels]( Kadaj/Getty Images When it came to winning over European users, Big Tech companies pretty much hopped over from the US and declared, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But European antitrust regulators have greeted them with much more skepticism, and it looks like AI’s $3 trillion hero, Nvidia, will be the next one to face a potential smackdown. French antitrust regulators are about to [charge]( Nvidia with allegedly engaging in anticompetitive conduct, which would make it the first regulator to accuse the chipmaker of abusing its position since it came to dominate the AI business, Reuters reported this week. While the specific charges they intend to bring are not public, the regulator published a report last week on competition in the generative AI space that raised concerns about potential misconduct by chipmakers. Nvdia’s not alone under the microscope A separate antitrust investigation into Nvidia by EU-wide regulators will likely be put on hold while the French authority proceeds, per Reuters. Still, those regulators will have plenty of Big Tech battles to keep them busy. - Since the EU’s broad new digital competition law kicked in recently, regulators have accused [Apple]( [Microsoft]( and [Meta]( of violating it. If the EU concludes the companies acted anti-competitively, it could fine them each 10% of their global revenue (or even more for repeated actions). - In the face of regulatory hurdles, Apple, Meta, and Google have delayed bringing AI products to Europe. With clear EU v. Big Tech battle lines drawn, some on the tech side say it’s Europe, which has yet to produce a homegrown tech giant, that will get bruised in the fight. Former Facebook VP of Product Sam Lessin [said on X]( that eventually tech companies will decide Europe’s not worth it, and Europeans will just have to “live with crappy digital services and a crappy digital economy.” It’s not all smooth sailing for Big Tech in the US, either. US regulators have also taken aim at Big Tech—and despite some embarrassing [losses]( they aren’t slowing down. Last month, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission reportedly reached [a deal]( divvying up how to investigate Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia.—AR PRESENTED BY EIGHT SLEEP [Beat the summer heat]( [Eight Sleep]( Sweating through your sheets? Struggling with an old air conditioner? Meet Eight Sleep’s [Pod 4 Ultra]( aka the ultimate sleep upgrade. The award-winning Pod technology is the only one on the market that can [automatically cool down]( each side of your bed to a perfect temperature—as low as 55°F—guaranteeing a sweat-free night. Just add it to any bed like a mattress cover to unlock cool, comfortable rest. Pod 4 Ultra isn’t just about cooling, though. It also includes an adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame. It can adjust your bed to reading and sleeping positions for the best unwinding experience. Elevate your sleep. Take $350 off your order [with code BREW](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Trump accounting trial valuation fraud]Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images Sentencing in Trump hush money case delayed after SCOTUS immunity ruling. The sentencing of the former president for 34 felonies in New York has been [postponed]( until Sept. 18 while Donald Trump tries to get his conviction overturned under the new standard the Supreme Court [set]( this week for presidential immunity. Trump’s lawyers sought the delay for time to argue that his conviction should be tossed based on the SCOTUS decision that he has immunity for official acts, and prosecutors did not object. The NYT points out that Trump’s bid might be a long shot since his convictions stem from actions he took as a candidate before he became president. FDA approves Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s drug. Yesterday, the agency [approved]( Eli Lilly’s drug donanemab, signing off on the treatment after previous delays. The approval expands the limited treatment options for Alzheimer’s as the drug, which will be sold as Kisunla and priced at about ~$32,000 for a year’s supply, will compete with a similar one from Biogen and Eisai that was approved last year. Both drugs target plaques in the brain called amyloids to slow the progression of the disease, representing a breakthrough after decades of failures to find new treatments. Short seller that caused Adani rout says it didn’t make that much. When Hindenburg Research published its report accusing the business empire of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani of “brazen stock manipulation” last year, it shaved over $100 billion from the value of the companies—but its bet against them [netted]( the short seller just $4.1 million. Hindenburg published the figure on its website this week, along with a letter from Indian securities regulators accusing the firm of intentionally misleading the public in the report. Hindenburg criticized the regulator right back, saying it failed to investigate the fraud allegations against Adani. WORK [Greece introduces a 6-day workweek]( [Athens]( TZORTZINIS/AFP via Getty Images Greece has given us some pretty good ideas in the past, like democracy and Euclidean geometry, but we’re hoping its latest innovation—namely, a [six-day workweek]( catch on. New regulations that took effect in Greece this week extend the typical 40-hour workweek to 48 for private businesses providing round-the-clock services. The first-of-their-kind rules in the EU are an effort to boost the Greek economy, which has only recently begun to rebound from a decade-long slump. - Greece’s business-friendly government says the move is necessary to address a skilled worker shortage and combat unpaid overtime. - Meanwhile, labor unions denounced it as “barbaric.” For some, it may not be much of a change. Greek workers already log more hours than those in any other EU nation—as well as more than employees in the famously workaholic US and Japan, CNBC reports. Workers in Greece averaged 1,886 working hours in 2022, compared to 1,811 in the US and 1,571 across the EU. Zoom out: The new Greek rules fly in the face of a broader trend toward shorter workweeks. The four-day week is gaining momentum, with trials showing it increases productivity. Almost [one-third]( of US businesses are considering cutting their workweek down, according to a survey of CEOs by KPMG released in April.—AR TOGETHER WITH TOVALA [Tovala]( Lunch is cooking…itself? From bacon BBQ cheddar chicken melts to gnocchi bolognese, Tovala’s delish meals effortlessly cook themselves at the push of a button. Just choose from 35+ chef-crafted options each week and have them [freshly cooked (not reheated)]( in Tovala’s revolutionary smart oven. The result? [Tons of variety, flavor, and time saved](. ENTERTAINMENT [Gru’s popcorn BabyBjörn is cinema’s latest savior]( [Despicable Me 4 popcorn carrier]( via X These days, it seems like you’re not getting the full theatrical experience unless you’re clawing buttery kernels out of a character’s head, mouth, or…child carrier. Despicable Me 4 premieres today, and to cushion the box office’s gradual post-Covid rebound, theaters are selling yet another limited-edition popcorn bucket. But Daddy I love it. The hands-free popcorn carrier pictured above plays on Gru’s latest adventure: raising a baby. The souvenir stands on the shoulders of giant buckets: - The Dune: Part Two popcorn hole that got everyone talking about Shai-Hulud (and prompted an all-time spike in “popcorn bucket” Google searches) is [reselling]( on eBay for $50 to $130. - AMC [sold all]( 25,000 of its Barbie Corvette popcorn holders in the movie’s opening weekend last summer, raking in $875,000. Cinemark also reported selling out its Scream VI-themed popcorn holders. Everybody’s a critic. Dune director Denis Villeneuve called the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine popcorn holder “[horrific]( last week. Collectible plastic offsets some lost ticket sales: AMC’s admissions are down almost 20% from 2018, but food and beverage and “other” sales (including themed popcorn buckets, which tend to cost ~$30) are still roughly at pre-pandemic levels, TheWrap [reported](. Theater chains aren’t the only winners—movie studios earn licensing fees from themed merch.—ML STAT [Prime number](#) [Fried chicken sandwich from Popeye's]Francis Scialabba Those Chick-fil-A cow mascots exhorting you to eat more chicken may be the most powerful influencers out there. Since the chain kicked off a fierce fast-food battle for the best chicken sandwich, the dish has been pecking at the burger’s popularity crown. McDonald’s recently said that it’s making $25 billion off chicken annually, putting it on par [with beef]( (though that figure includes nuggets). Sit-down restaurants are taking notes: According to Bloomberg, chicken sandwiches now feature on 47% of [restaurant menus]( while burgers are only on 41%. But don’t count the burger out just yet: Overall, people still order burgers twice as frequently as chicken sandwiches, per market researcher Circana. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [More than 100 people]( were killed in a stampede at a religious gathering in northern India, police said. - [Hurricane Beryl]( a Category 4 storm, is expected to hit Jamaica today. - [Skydance and Paramount]( may have a deal after all. Despite previously calling off merger talks, Skydance is said to have come to terms to buy Shari Redstone’s company National Amusements, which owns the majority of Paramount’s shares. - [CDK Global]( said “substantially all” of the ~15,000 car dealerships that use its software are back to normal, nearly two weeks after a cyber attack shut the software down. - [Moderna]( will get $176 million from the US to develop a bird flu vaccine. - [Rudy Giuliani]( the former federal prosecutor, NYC mayor, and legal advisor to Donald Trump, was disbarred in New York for repeatedly lying about Trump’s 2020 election loss. - [The Supreme Court]( is gearing up for another spicy term: It agreed to consider a case challenging a Texas law requiring age verification to access porn websites, as well as a suit that takes aim at the FDA’s regulation of sweet-flavored vapes. RECS [Wednesday to-do list] Where should you live? [This tool]( will tell you. It’s hot out: Make [popsicles](. Play: Find the hidden words and the hidden theme in the [newest game]( from the NYT. Make an agenda: [This website]( lays out the daily routines of writers, artists, and big thinkers if you need inspiration. Spend $1, save $500: …on every flight. Get [round-trip flights to Europe]( from $250 to cities like Rome and London. Try Dollar Flight Club for just $1—[offer ends in 12 hours]( Lean on each other: Working parenthood is never easy—but having a [support system]( makes all the difference. We partnered with Delta + The Female Quotient to learn how working moms can create support networks. [Read the interview]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Word Search: In a movie title, sometimes less is more. Find the [one-word movie titles]( in today’s Word Search. Nutritional facts We give you the ingredient list for a popular food product (Fourth of July-themed, of course), and you have to name it. Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Contains 1 Percent Or Less Of Each Of The Following: Dextrose, Malic Acid, Guar Gum, Citric Acid, Raspberry Juice Concentrate, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Cherry Juice Concentrate, Modified Cellulose, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Locust Bean Gum, Red 40, Blue 1. 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 Popsicle Firecracker Ice Pops. You know, the ones with red, white, and blue that are shaped like a rocket. Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: exhorting, meaning “urging strongly.” Thanks to Mike from Houston, TX, for the forceful suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Abigail Rubenstein]( and [Molly Liebergall]( 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 © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011