☕ Another red flag

Uber ponders an Expedia acquisition... October 18, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( Presented By [Miso Robotics]( Good morning. With Halloween just 13 days away (fitting), it’s time to actively start thinking about a costume. But if you’re going for originality, there are a few concepts you’ll want to avoid. Thankfully, Google exists. The search engine released the [top trending costumes]( for Halloween 2024, and here’s what the masses are looking up: - Pretty much any character from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Pretty much any character from Inside Out 2 - Raygun (the breaker from the Olympics with the green and yellow tracksuit) - Pop star Sabrina Carpenter - Wolverine and Deadpool, for a duo costume Of course, if you don’t care about being unique and just want to blend in at the party, these are some great ideas. —Molly Liebergall, Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt, Adam Epstein MARKETS Nasdaq 18,373.61 +0.04% S&P 5,841.47 -0.02% Dow 43,239.05 +0.38% 10-Year 4.096% +8.0 bps Bitcoin $67,072.67 -0.74% TSMC $205.84 +9.79% 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 were [flatter]( than Kyrie Irving’s model of the Earth yesterday as robust retail sales data and an optimistic outlook from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) offset worries about the chip industry. TSMC soared after it posted a huge jump in quarterly profit and raised its revenue forecast for the year.  Markets Sponsored by Miso Robotics Invest by midnight: Fast food’s future = automation. That’s why Miso Robotics sold out initial units of their latest robot in one week. [Invest in Miso before midnight PST](. ECONOMY [Another red flag raised on Trump’s tariff plan]( [Donald Trump and Janet Yellen]( Platt, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is just like us: She called out a very specific behavior she disapproves of without shading the person by name. Yellen [denounced]( “sweeping, untargeted tariffs” as “deeply misguided” in a speech addressed to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York yesterday that was largely directed at former President Donald Trump’s tariff plan, which he claims would boost domestic growth. Yellen was the latest financial bigwig to throw cold water on the proposal. Here’s why so many economists hate the tariffs Trump has talked about stamping a 60% tariff on everything shipped in from China, plus a 10% to 20% blanket levy on all other imports. Though he claims that foreign countries will bear the added costs, tariffs are actually paid by the importer—in this case, American companies—which usually pass along those extra expenses to consumers via higher prices. Last time he was in office, Trump’s 50% tariff on washing machine imports cost US consumers an estimated $1.5 billion per year, according to the BBC. If he gets a second term, economists [widely agree]( that Trump’s tariffs would make it more expensive to buy almost anything in America: - Gas prices could go up by 75 cents per gallon in the Midwest, according to GasBuddy, where most fuel comes from Canada. - Inflation could tick up almost 1%, per Morgan Stanley, and prices of products not mass-produced domestically would likely rise even higher. - Retailers, automakers, and industrial companies would be the worst-hit sectors, according to UBS. Overall, the typical household could face an average of $2,600 in extra costs per year, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, or as much as $7,600, per the Yale Budget Lab. A 10% across-the-board tariff could shrink the stock market by 10%, UBS projects. Zoom out: According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump’s full budget plans would widen the deficit by $7.5 trillion over the next decade, while Kamala Harris’s proposals would widen the deficit by $3.5 trillion.—ML Presented By Miso Robotics [Ending tonight: Up to 3x profits? Yes, chef!]( [Miso Robotics]( Carmy’s tattooed arms may no longer be the most distinctive ones in the kitchen. With the fast-food industry facing 150% annual turnover rates, brands are turning to [Miso’s]( AI-powered kitchen robot, Flippy, to help increase profits up to 3x and address devastating labor shortages. Miso already leads kitchen AI and automation with 150k+ hours of experience for brands like Jack in the Box. They just launched the newest Flippy Fry Station—their smallest, smartest, fastest Flippy robot yet. Its first production run sold out in just seven days. [And this sellout’s just the start](. White Castle even announced interest in rolling out Flippy to 100 locations. With 170+ US fast-food brands in need, there’s a $4b annual revenue opportunity for the taking. [Invest in Miso before midnight PST tonight](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar]Mahmud Hams/Getty Images Israel confirmed it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The mastermind of the October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza, Sinwar was the top target of the Israeli military for more than a year. His body was discovered after a firefight in Gaza, and his identity was later [confirmed]( with DNA testing. Sinwar was reportedly overseeing Hamas military operations while in hiding, in addition to serving as the group’s political leader following the July assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Several US officials affirmed the news of Sinwar’s death, while some were hopeful that it could convince Israel to scale back its brutal war and end the suffering in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it marks the “beginning of the end” but that the war will continue. Netflix beat earnings forecasts…again. As is becoming tradition, the streaming giant surpassed Wall Street expectations. It [added 5 million customers]( in Q3, growing its global subscriber base to more than 282 million. It also generated nearly $10 billion in revenue in the quarter—significantly higher than in the same period last year. While Netflix is still growing, it’s not doing so as quickly as it used to, which has led many analysts to expect it to announce another price hike in the US, which it’s done periodically in recent years. Meta laid off employees at Instagram and WhatsApp. According to The Verge, the social media giant made a [series of cuts]( across various departments as part of a reorganization. A Meta spokesperson confirmed there were layoffs aligned with “long-term strategic goals and location strategy.” Meta also recently fired about two dozen employees for abusing $25 Uber Eats and Grubhub credits, the Financial Times reported. Staff members were allegedly using the company perk, which is meant for employees in locations without cafeterias, to buy household items like laundry detergent instead of food. The moves come about two years after Meta laid off tens of thousands of employees as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency.”—AE TRAVEL [Would you book a hotel with Uber?]( [uber logo in black and white]( Kim It could soon be possible. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Uber has considered [acquiring]( travel booking site Expedia. With a market value of more than $20 billion, Expedia would be Uber’s biggest acquisition in its history and a bold, expensive move. But after a year of bulking up, the ride-hailing company is focused on hitting homers instead of singles: Its share price has surged (no pun intended) 85% in the past 12 months to give it a market cap of nearly $170 billion, and in February, it reported an annual profit for the first time ever. Next stop: super app. Uber CEO Dara Khasrowshahi has ambitions to grow Uber into a “super app” similar to China’s WeChat. Uber is already much more than your ride to the airport, offering services such as food delivery, freight, and even yacht rides. Adding Expedia, the world’s fourth-largest online travel company and owner of Vrbo, Hotels.com, and Orbitz, would bring its super app vision closer. For Khosrowshahi, it would be a reunion. He was the CEO of Expedia from 2005 to 2017 before leaving to turn a disorganized Uber into a mature company. Mission accomplished. Looking ahead…the FT said that deal talk is in the early stages, so Uber could still cancel without paying a fee.—NF Together With Tinto Amorio [Tinto Amorio]( Orange is the new red. Show your friends how cool and hip you are without moving to Brooklyn—try [Tinto Amorio’s natural and orange wines](. Conventional winemaking in the US can involve over 60 additives, from synthetic preservatives to lab-grown yeasts to animal byproducts. Tinto crafts artisanal, minimal-intervention wines using exclusively organic grapes and minimal sulfur. [Check out Tinto Amorio today](. FOOD & BEV [Chocolate may be dethroned this Halloween]( [Gummy candy]( Sebastian/Getty Images You’ll probably still feel a little bilious after this year’s trick-or-treat haul, but it will likely come from all the sour dust you ingested. Rising cocoa prices and changes in consumer preference are [pushing]( candymakers to introduce new, chocolate-free options this spooky season. The main reason? Chocolate is expensive. Prices are at the mercy of cocoa plant yields, which have been damaged by bad weather in West Africa during the past two growing seasons. Prices dropped a little earlier this year but are still outpacing general food inflation. Since 2020, average unit prices for chocolate have jumped 40%, according to Nielsen IQ. Meanwhile, fruit and sour candies are cheaper to make and experiment with. Even the chocolate heavyweights are getting creative with their confectionery. Hershey is releasing two new products for the Halloween season: Reese’s Werewolf Tracks, which have a vanilla crème top instead of traditional chocolate, and Kit Kat Ghost Toast with cinnamon toast crème coating. And from Ferrero, Butterfinger’s first new iteration in almost a decade will be a salted caramel-coated candy bar. Big picture: It’s not just Halloween—gummy and sour candies seem always to be going viral, whether it’s the aesthetically pleasing scoops of Swedish candy store BonBon or peelable gummies.—MM STAT [Prime number: 20% of the world’s steel](#) [Neom]NEOM Neom, the Saudi megaproject that’s essentially what you’d get if someone gave Billy McFarland $1.5 trillion to make the Fyre Festival, requires a lot of metal. According to a Saudi official, construction of the gigacity is using [one-fifth]( of the world’s steel. It also apparently accounts for 5% of the global logistics market. The crown jewel of Saudi Arabia’s economic development plans, Neom is supposed to feature luxury resorts, business hubs, and a 100-mile-long linear smart city called “The Line” by ~2045, but it’s been beset by delays and mismanagement. Neom execs have started to temper expectations, though the country’s economy minister denied that any plans were reduced in scope. That’s just about what Billy was saying right before he served people slices of cheese for dinner.—AE QUIZ [Quizanthemum]( [New Friday quiz image]( Getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to the feeling you get after finishing an enormous pile of laundry. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Prada]( alongside Axiom Space, unveiled the design of the spacesuit that NASA astronauts will wear when they walk on the moon in 2026. - [Google]( said it will block ads about the presidential election after Nov. 5 to prevent the spread of misinformation, like if a candidate prematurely declares victory, Axios reported. - [Ferrari]( revealed its first supercar in 11 years: the $3.9 million F80, inspired by the aerospace industry. - [Weight loss drugs]( like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic can help to cut drug and alcohol abuse, according to a new study. - [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky]( said that he has received intelligence that 10,000 North Korean troops are preparing to fight alongside Russians in Ukraine. RECS [Friday to-do list] Watch: The songwriter who penned Rihanna’s “SOS” reveals a [mind-blowing fact]( about the hit song. Observe: The diminutive winners of Nikon’s annual [microscope photography contest](. Travel the states: What [every state capitol building]( in the US looks like. Read: The Wall Street Journal put 12 strangers in a group chat to talk about the economy, and this is [what happened](. Arouse the whole you: This FDA-registered vibrating ring for women adjusts to your unique shape for distributed external stimulation and [magnified sensations]( everywhere you want them. Even better? [Take 30% off today]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Decipher: In today’s puzzle, you’ll uncover a movie quote that will send chills up your spine. [Play Decipher here](. Friday puzzle What is longer: The height of the standard-issue Peroni glass or the circumference of its rim? [Peroni glassware is displayed at the Filmmaker Reception during the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival]Jerod Harris/WireImage 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 The circumference of the rim, if you can believe it. The circumference of a Peroni glass is 238mm, compared to a height of 231mm. [Source]( Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: diminutive, meaning “extremely small.” Thanks to Kathi from Utah for the teensy-weensy suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✢ A Note From Miso Robotics This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at [invest.misorobotics.com](. Written by [Adam Epstein]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Neal Freyman]( and [Matty Merritt]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. 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