☕️ We have no bananas

The maker of Jeeps is crashing... October 03, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( Good morning. For anyone asking, it’s October 3rd. —Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 17,925.12 +0.08% S&P 5,709.54 +0.01% Dow 42,196.52 +0.09% 10-Year 3.785% +4.0 bps Bitcoin $60,861.98 +0.01% NIke $83.10 -6.77% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks managed to squeak out [some gains]( despite concerns about roiling tensions in the Middle East weighing on the market. Nike fell after pulling its guidance for the year as its new CEO hopes to stage a comeback for the sneaker-maker.  AUTO [The Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler-maker is in trouble]( [Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Stellantis dealership]( Images Call Stellantis Tom Petty because the automaker is free falling. Sales across its 14 car brands tanked last quarter for the fifth time in a row amid flailing demand for the Jeep parent’s overstocked, relatively expensive inventory, the company announced yesterday. Stellantis reported: - US sales between July and September [fell 19.8%]( from the year before and 11.5% from the previous three-month period. That’s a gut punch to Stellantis’s bottom line—more than half of its profits tend to come from the American market. - Driving the dip were Chrysler and Dodge. Sales for both plunged more than 40% last quarter, but every other Stellantis brand, except Fiat, also logged negative growth. - The company sold enough cars to shave down its inventory by 11.6%, but its US dealerships are still bursting at the seams: Ram has about double the industry average (77 days’ worth) of trucks waiting to be sold, and Dodge and Jeep aren’t far behind. Bad timing. Since its 2021 merger-birth, Stellantis has discontinued some smaller vehicles and focused on bigger, pricier cars, just as American drivers got hungrier for cozier, cheaper rides. Now, the company is prepping to roll out new EVs, even as consumers get more keen on hybrids. ‘You created this problem,’ dealerships tell Stellantis CEO With this latest setback, Chief Executive Carlos Tavares will likely remain public enemy No. 1 among Stellantis’s network of US car dealers. In an [open letter]( last month, the group’s chairman accused Tavares of prioritizing short-term profit goals that qualified him for a 50% raise to the detriment of the company’s long-term health. Critics have [noted]( that Stellantis raised prices more than most competitors in the past few years and waited longer to issue discounts. Amid high interest rates, that priced out a lot of customers. Tavares copped to making “arrogant” mistakes at the company’s investor day in June. He pledged to boost car discounts but is also warning of a meager 7% operating profit this year.—ML Presented By Betterment [Thinking about retirement yet?]( [Betterment]( Bottom line: Whether retirement is right around the corner or still far on the horizon, thinking about it now is always a good idea. That’s where Betterment comes in. Whether you’ve never invested a dime or already have an IRA and a 401(k), they can help you [sail into retirement]( with automated tech and expert guidance. And here’s the cherry on top: [Betterment can give your retirement a boost]( with a 1% IRA match when you open a Roth or traditional IRA and invest up to the annual limit ($7k if you’re under 50, $8k if 50+) before Dec. 30. We’ve got a no-brainer here. [Claim the offer](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Israeli military vehicles at the Lebanon border]Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Images Threat of wider war grows in the Middle East. Israeli ground troops [clashed]( with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon yesterday, with Israel reporting eight of its soldiers were killed in the first direct ground fighting. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli bombings killed six people in Beirut. Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation for Iran’s Tuesday ballistic missile attack on Israel in response to Israel’s assassination of the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah. President Biden said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities but said he and the other G7 leaders “agree that they have a right to respond, but they have to respond proportionally.” Tesla’s sales are picking up—but maybe not enough. Following two consecutive quarters of declining sales, Tesla’s vehicle sales finally went up in the period from July to September. But the 6.3% jump in sales from the previous quarter still [disappointed]( Wall Street, which had estimated an even higher delivery number than the 462,890 Tesla reported, sending the company’s stock down. Electric vehicle sales overall appeared to be [improving]( but for Tesla, that also means there’s more competition. Now, investors are waiting for Elon Musk’s promised robotaxi reveal on October 10. Special counsel lays out his election interference case against Trump. In a 165-page filing [unsealed]( yesterday, Special Counsel Jack Smith presented the evidence he has to argue that Donald Trump was acting in his private capacity as a candidate and not in his official role as a president on January 6, 2021. The filing is part of Smith’s effort to keep his case alive after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting broad immunity to presidents for official acts. Rather than acting as the president, the brief argues, Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office.”—AR SUPPLY CHAIN [These items could be delayed by the port strike]( [Person holding bananas at grocery store.]( Images You’re going to want to really lean into apple picking this season. With the dockworkers strike [shutting down]( 36 ports from Maine to Texas, supply chains will be disrupted. One of the first casualties? Bananas. Nearly three-fourths of bananas (the most popular fruit in the US) enter through the now-dark East and Gulf Coast ports. Because they are perishable, retailers couldn’t stockpile them like other items in preparation for the strike, and it’s too expensive to ship them by air. Other things that might get scarce: - Hundreds of containers of [coffee beans]( are currently waiting idle, but the good news is the cold brew will be stronger the longer the beans sit in the water. - Cherries, electronics, and alcohol could experience delays. Supply chain experts are also worried about vehicles and auto parts. It would be nearly impossible to load the [~200,000 metric tons]( of auto parts that typically enter through the shuttered ports every month onto an airplane, Michigan State Professor Jason Miller said on LinkedIn. Meanwhile, American poultry producers and soybean farmers could have trouble exporting products. What you don’t need to worry about. Some people will find any reason to start [hoarding]( toilet paper, but more than 90% of paper products are produced domestically.—MM Together With EnergyX [EnergyX]( Stop trying to make oil happen. Lithium is here, and Oct. 3 is the last day to invest in the future of clean energy. [EnergyX]( can extract it 300% better than conventional methods. That’s why they’ve earned $5m+ in DOE grants and 100k+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land. Don’t lose your seat. [Become an EnergyX shareholder before midnight](. SPORTS [Michael Jordan’s racing team is suing Nascar]( [Michael Jordan]( Riely/Getty Images The king of the basketball court wants to make his imprint on the racetrack: Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing group is one of two teams that filed an antitrust lawsuit against Nascar and its CEO Jim France yesterday. It alleges that the organization uses monopolistic practices to limit competition and unfairly control teams. The lawsuit stems from two years of ongoing [negotiations]( between Nascar and racing teams over the charter system, a franchise-like operation in which Nascar guarantees teams’ cars a spot in each race and a portion of revenue from TV deals. In September, both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the charter renewal for next season, saying it denied teams a fair share of revenue. The suit claims: - Nascar and its owners, the France family, are “monopolistic bullies” who eliminated competition in the sport by buying up racetracks and making teams sign [exclusivity]( agreements. - The company threatened to take away teams’ charters if they didn’t sign its offer for next season. At least four teams are listed as having signed the contract under duress. Zoom out: The lawsuit is the latest to take aim at powerful professional sports leagues long thought to be inviolable, following high-profile cases against the NBA and PGA. Jordan has retained GOAT antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, known for garnering the USWNT equal pay and setting the groundwork for NFL free agency.—CC STAT [Prime number: The biggest VC deal ever](#) [Sam Altman in front of the OpenAI logo]Jason Redmond/Getty Images Sam Altman’s path to world domination just got clearer. OpenAI has [completed]( the largest VC fundraising round of all time, raking in $6.6 billion in a deal that values the company at $157 billion. The new fundraising, led by Thrive Capital, puts the ChatGPT-maker among the top three biggest venture-backed startups along with fellow potential supervillain Elon Musk’s SpaceX and TikTok owner ByteDance, sources told Bloomberg. The substantial cash infusion comes as OpenAI plans to ditch its nonprofit oversight structure amid the departures of several high-ranking leaders. It also comes as the company needs massive funds to achieve its lofty AI goals: Before the funding deal came through, OpenAI expected to make $3.7 billion this year, but it still anticipated losing $5 billion because its costs are so high, per the New York Times. The company is also reportedly trying to keep competitors from getting access to the same cash pile by asking its investors for exclusivity.—AR NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [President Biden]( visited North Carolina to see the damage from Hurricane Helene and deployed 1,000 troops to help with recovery efforts. - [LVMH and Formula 1]( announced a 10-year partnership for “hospitality, bespoke activations, limited editions, and outstanding content” that will begin next season. - [A doctor]( charged with crimes over Friends star Matthew Perry’s death pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. - [A WWII-era US bomb]( exploded at an airport in Japan, delaying flights but causing no injuries. - [A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee]( in prison for stealing $22 million from the team sued FanDuel, claiming it preyed on his gambling addiction. - [Costco]( which found success selling gold bars, will now sell platinum ones, too. RECS [To do list Thursday] Lend a hand: [How to help]( victims of Hurricane Helene. Watch: Is the world [running out]( of sand? Find your sound: The BBC’s archive has 33,000+ [sound effects]( you can download for free. It’s perfect for the next time you need to hear a reindeer grunt. Go beyond the PSL: Enjoy fall’s favorite flavor with these [pumpkin recipes](. Hear clear: Bulky hearing aids are out. [This nearly invisible hearing device]( from [hear.com]( is in. It has a comfortable, lightweight design that uses smart noise filtering. [Learn more]( It’s about the journey: We sat down with three [small-business owners]( to learn about their “why” and how they handle the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. Check out the business (and life) lessons [from their stories]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Brew Mini: Some of your favorite cereal mascots get a starring role in today’s Mini. [Play it here](. Three Headlines and a Lie Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than an effective natural deodorant. Can you spot the odd one out? - Industry group [says]( apple cider donut is the hardest candle scent to create - Man [buys]( Taylor Swift-inspired guitar at auction only to destroy it - Montana man gets 6 months in prison for [cloning]( giant sheep and breeding it - She defended ‘El Chapo.’ Now this lawyer is using her narco-fame to [launch]( a music career 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 We made up the one about candle scents. Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: inviolable, meaning “unassailable.” Thanks to Mark from Portland, Maine, for the bulletproof 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 [invest.energyx.com/](. Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Abigail Rubenstein]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Matty Merritt]( and [Cassandra Cassidy]( 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