Morning Brew Daily - McDonald's Stock Tumbles After E. coli Outbreak & Retailers Finally Slash Prices

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

Episode 437: Neal and Toby talk about the IMF’s recent report that puts the US at the top when it comes to global economic productivity, thanks to a healthy dose of tech and energy investments. Then, McDonald’s deals with a PR crisis as an e.coli outbreak is linked to one of its beloved menu items. Also, Target, Walmart, and other major retailers are rolling back prices to win back inflation-scarred shoppers – just in time for holidays, of course. Plus, researchers have found Arkansas is sitting on a massive lithium repository. Meanwhile, the FAA finally changed an antiquated rule that required an off switch for the ‘No Smoking’ sign on planes. Lastly, the last-minute news to catch up on. Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Find your fit at bonobos.com and use code BREW20 for 20% off.  Get your Morning Brew Daily T-Shirt HERE: https://shop.morningbrew.com/products/morning-brew-radio-t-shirt?_pos=1&_sid=6b0bc409d&_ss=r&variant=45353879044316  Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC and includes 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 10/8/2024, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across all ten bonds is greater than 6%. A bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased and is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. While corporate bond yields should fall in reaction to a Federal Reserve rate cut, there is no way to know whether that will be true of the bonds in the Bond Account, how quickly bond yields will respond, or by how much they will decline. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. All investing involves risk. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. High Yield bonds carry greater risk of default. Visit public.com/bond-account to learn more. 00:00 - NBA Beer Prices 02:15 - IMF US Economy Report  07:40 - McDonald’s E. Coli Outbreak  11:50 - Retailers cutting Prices 16:00 - Arkansas Lithium  19:45 - FAA and No Smoking Signs  23:15 - News Headlines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Consider this comparison. PWC data found the percentage of CEOs who report revenue gains or cost reductions from AI is almost equal to the percentage who say they're still stuck. What separates these two groups? PWC points to a clarity issue. Even for CEOs, it's hard to tell what's AI hype, what's reality, and where this tech can make a tangible difference. Learn where AI can actually make an impact and what successful adoption looks like at

pwc.com slash US slash brew AI. That's pwc.com slash us slash brew AI. Good morning brew daily show. I'm Neil Fryman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, let me hear your loudest woo pig suey because a game-changing discovery was just announced in Arkansas.

Ben McDonald's is in a quarter pound of trouble after an E. coli outbreak sent its stock tumbling yesterday. It's Wednesday, October 23rd. Let's ride. The NBA kicked off its season last night, filling the basketball void left by the WMBA wrapping up. But if you wanted to catch a game in person and maybe snag a beer, it is going to hurt your wallet.

The average price for a 16-ounce beer at an NBA game is $12.57. But there are some massive differences between the highest and lowest-priced brews. At the top end of the spectrum is your NBA champions. The Boston Celtics where a beer will set you back $20.30.32. cents. But if you're looking at a ball on a budget, Cleveland is the spot for you. The Cavs will only charge you $5.91. Neal, a huge spread between these two. That is a big spread. I suppose you could just go to a Cavs game by four beers for the price that you would get one at the Celtics game and just pretend you're watching the world champion Celtics. I just hope that prices in Boston are

cheaper for Patriots games because those are tough to watch. It's a little colder out there as well. I guess you could just go to Cleveland and watch them play the Celtics and get the same experience. Now a word from our sponsor, Bonobos. Neil, I was thinking the other day, finding a pair of pants that actually fits you has to be a top three feeling in the world. It's top three and it ain't two or three. There are some things tailors just can't fix either. They have to fit right off the rack to get that magical moment. And that's why we both love Bonobos so much.

I have really long legs compared to the rest of my body, but Bonobos has got every length and waist fit combo I could ever actually. ask for. Oh, just had to slide the long legs piece in there. But yes, my issues come from the Tush region. I hate that dreaded diaper butt. And see, that's Bonobus's best feature. They have this curved waistband that can help get rid of that annoying bunching of fabric. It all combines to create the best fitting pants any podcaster or podcast listener can ask for. If you want to find your fit, go to your nearest bonobo store or head to bonobos.com and use the code Brew 20 for 20% off. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars.

Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Must be 21 to enter. The International Monetary Fund released its least, latest global economic scorecard, and America, yours is refrigerator worthy. The rest of you,

we'll see you after class. The report concluded that the United States is Katie Ledeckying the field when it comes to economic growth, putting it even further ahead than its wealthy peer countries. Here are the numbers. The IMF upgraded its previous forecast for the U.S. economy, projecting it to grow at an annual rate of 2.8% this year and 2.2% next year. Compare that to the Euro-era-area economy, which is expected to grow less than 1% and Japan, which is not projected to grow at all. Among the group of seven major economies, the United States is expected to grow the fastest this year and next. What's behind the gap between America and its peer countries?

According to the IMF, it's a potent combo of productivity, investment, and wages. Real wages or wages when factoring in inflation are rising in the U.S. leading to strong consumer spending. Meanwhile, the U.S. is receiving tons of investment, boosting. productivity. In the United States, a key measure of investment will rise 4.5% this year from 2003, more than triple the rate for all advanced economies. Neil, I'm about ready to bust out the Star-Spangled Ban. The U.S. economy is truly on a rudge for the ages, which was highlighted in this IMF report. It's only accelerated since the pandemic, but really this gap has been widening

since the early 1990s. Here's some really insane stats that the economist dug up. In 1990, the U.S. accounted for 40% of the GDP of the G7. Today, it makes up about half. U.S. economic output per person is 40% higher than in Western Europe and Canada and 60% higher than in Japan. And then average wages in Mississippi, the poorest state in the United States, are higher than the average in Germany, Canada, and Britain. So the United States has this potent mix of productivity, rising wages, R&D investment, tech supremacy that is just leading to. to an absolute booming economy, even when compared to wealthy peer countries. And I think economists really say it boils down to Americans are more efficient workers.

I mean, you mentioned some of those stats. The average American worker will generate about $171,000 worth of economic output. If you compare that to the euro area, it's just $120,000, just $96,000 in Japan. It's also risen a lot. Their hourly productivity has risen 70% since 1990. So I think it is just the fact that Americans do. Some people do point to the fact that we have less holidays than other countries. So maybe those inflation or those productivity stats are juiced a little bit.

But even when you normalize it for days worked, we still are more productive. One thing that America has done really well is keep their economy evolving. If you go back to the biggest patent issuers back in 2005, in America, it was Procter & Gamble, 3M, General Electric, DuPont, and Qual. Now it is Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, as well as Qualcomm. So you can see how we invested in the right sectors. We rode the tech wave and didn't get caught up in maybe a more static economy like you see over in Europe. We evolved in the right places.

Right. In 2005, those five top patent issuers in Europe are largely the same. Four out of the five are the same. Well, in the United States, four out of the five are new. Besides South Korea and Israel, the U.S. spends most of any country on our, our country. R&D of its GDP. The IMF had a lot to say besides the United States, though, it had an overall assessment of the global economy. One thing that the economy has going for at the IMF said, it looks like the global battle against inflation has largely been won. And the IMF projects

inflation by the end of next year to go to a lower rate than what was seen in the 20 years preceding COVID-19. What are the potential threats that could face the global economy? the IMF cited escalating violence in the Middle East, as well as the prospect of a new round of trade war, stemming from potentially the election of former President Trump back to the White House, who has pledged to raise tariffs all over the world on a base rate of perhaps 20%, which would lead to retaliatory tariffs. They say that could lop off economic growth going forward, especially in the United States, which could see its GDP grow by 1% less than the baseline because of blanket tariff.

And then I know we spent the whole first half of this segment talking about how worker productivity is powering American growth. But the IMF did warn that there is declining worldwide productivity, including in the United States, which is not good news for global economic growth. One thing that could reverse that trend, though, is artificial intelligence. Some people are pretty optimistic that that will boost productivity, will turbocharge economies in the way that we need it to. But so they're saying that the IMF does want governments to do more to promote this competitive. headative business environment, do more to support small businesses and hopefully get that extra juice from AI to reverse this declining trend of productivity. I mean, you've saved an hour on prep just from using AI tools.

I brought it down from like seven hours to six hours, but I guess that is a boost right there. This story about McDonald's will surely make you grimace. Yesterday afternoon, the CDC revealed that there had been an E. coli outbreak linked to the fast food chain's quarter pounder burgers, leading to 49 cases, 10 hospital and one death. The outbreak had been reported in 10 states from September 27th to October 11th, with most of the illnesses occurring in Colorado and Nebraska. The CDC said that most sick people reported eating a McDonald's quarter pounder. The hit to McDonald's business could be significant. Quarter pounders are one of the most popular items on its menu, bringing in billions of dollars

in sales each year, according to CNBC. When the news dropped, so did McDonald's stock a chunky percent in after-hours trading. As a response to the outbreak, McDonald's has removed the quarter-pounder off of menus in four states, Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming, and investigators are looking into which ingredients could be the source of the contamination.

Early info from the FDA linked a subset of the illnesses to the slivered onion source from a single supplier, which McDonald's has withdrawn from the affected states. Toby, it's likely that this issue is more widespread than reported. The CDC said the numbers are probably much higher than just the 49 cases since it typically takes three to four weeks to determine if a patient is sick from eating the contaminated food. The first thing that we both thought of when this news dropped is a previous big E. coli outbreak affecting a fast casual food chain.

And that was Jopoldi back in 2015, 2016 era. That was a nightmare. Both its profits and stock plummeted immediately in the aftermath of this big E. coli outbreak. The company reported a 44%. drop in profits in the Q4 of the year that that happened. So when you're looking at this story, like, oh, it's just an E. coli outbreak, but sometimes it balloons into a much wider thing. It looks like McDonald's supply chain is a little bit more under control. They know who the supplier of these slivered onions are. But like you said, we don't really know the full scope of it until we know the

full scope of it. So who knows if it will be a full Jopoli situation, but we have seen E. coli outbreaks wreck havoc in the fast casual industry before. Yeah, the McDonald's PR crisis team just absolutely went into a full court press. The president of McDonald's USA issued a video statement saying at McDonald's, you can count on us to do the right thing. And outside experts did point to McDonald's pretty airtight supply chain as a reason to say that they could probably contain this. Luckily, it was probably sourced from a single supplier, these contaminated onions.

So the fact that McDonald's just has is very buttoned up supply chain. and they know exactly where ingredients came from and which stores they're going to is a big deal. And they're hopefully going to rely on that to contain it. Another question is whether this onion supplier has supplied any other restaurants. So they will make sure to track that. But yeah, definitely not a good look. Obviously, you know, a 6% stock price from a company decline for a company as big as McDonald's is a big hit and is a sign that investors are worried because as we saw with Chipoli, as we saw with Wendy's two years ago, which removed romaine lettuce that could be contaminated.

This is a big problem because you lose trust with customers and customers are saying, you know, I know you're saying it's safe, but I still won't go there. I need my time to get back there and trust your food again. And McDonald's has had a string of tough headlines recently, too. I mean, for the first time in nearly four years, it reported a 1% decline in same source stales across the globe. That was the first time it happened in a while. they are just facing down these rising prices, weaker demand, lower foot traffic. They actually ended up competing with Chipotle because their prices started to rise so high ironically.

And then, of course, there is the visit from former president Donald Trump that happened. A lot of narratives swirling around that right now. McDonald's response actually was praised there as well where they say, we are neither red nor blue, we are just golden. So people actually loved that corporate comm. So if you are McDonald's right now, there are a laundry list of things that you wish weren't swirling around you right now, but it looks like they're trying to handle each crisis as it comes. A fundamental law of gravity is that what goes up must come down.

Despite defying gravity for a long time, it looks like prices might be heading down at 9.8 meters per second now. After months and years of rising prices, companies ranging from restaurants to car dealers are giving consumers a break via discounts in a bid to win back some goodwill and business. Target announced this week that it is cutting prices. on more than 2,000 items in the hopes to win over inflation wary shoppers ahead of the holidays. IKEA also cut its global prices by 10% over the last fiscal year, the biggest annual drop in company history, according to its CEO. Nike, McDonald's, Darden Restaurant Group, and even

car brands are shaving decimals off as well. Through September of this year, car sales are up roughly 7%. And nearly half that growth, 43% came from the lower $20,000 to $30,000 price range. Neil, companies push consumers right up to the edge of what they're willing to pay over these last inflation-filled years, but now it looks like they are finally pulling back. I just want to make a note because all of the physics people are going to come out for you, 9.8 meters per second squared. Yes, I just want to get ahead of all of those science nerds who are about to post on our YouTube page. But yeah, we are absolutely in a price war across many different industries. Target is cutting prices on 10,000 items this year.

one of the biggest reasons we're seeing retailers do this right now is that there's a very rushed holiday shopping cycle because Thanksgiving is so late. It's at the very tail end of November. So there's just 27 days in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So you're going to start to see deals pop up earlier than ever because all of this shopping that accounts for a majority of the retailer sales in the year is happening in such a squish timeline, 27 days. So you're going to start to see, and we have already seen Walmart all the target. start rolling out discounts way ahead of time. So people start shopping, get their holiday shopping done earlier with lower prices than we're used to, which is great.

I do think, though, that you can't just say all these companies are lowering prices for the same reasons, because Target actually did it, and it drove a lot of business. Same store sales increased 2% last quarter. It's profit jumped 36%. But then you look at a company like Nike, for instance, who is cutting prices. They are doing it for a much different reason. that is to unload inventory that isn't selling as fast as they hoped that they did. Same thing for IKEA.

IKEA did these price drops. They drew more customers to its store, but the company said on Thursday that annual sales fell 5.3%. So there is some nuance here. It isn't just that everyone got together and say, hey, let's give people a break. They are doing it for different reasons and are seeing different results because of that. Up next, America just found a whole lot of lithium.

Today we helped a Latte for Sam Coffee shop Get an insurance quote Simply and easily And made sure A floral delivery van Was able to make someone's day

We're the Hartford With decades of experience Ensuring millions of unique small businesses When it comes to your small business insurance Thank you One size Absolutely does not fit all Get a quote or find an agent today

At thehartford.com slash small business. It's time to refresh your yard during spring backyard days at the Home Depot. Get low prices guaranteed on propane grills starting at $179,

like the next grill three burner gas grill, or get $50 off to select Weber Spirit grill and bring big flavor to your backyard. Then set the scene with Hampton Bay string lights

that bring it all together. Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot. Now through May 6th. Exclusion supplies to home depot.com slash price match for details. Little riddle for you all, what is hot, human, and has enough lithium reserves to satisfy the world's entire demand for EV batteries?

If you said Southwest Arkansas, then congrats, you'd probably root for the Razorbacks, or you worked on the most recent U.S. Geological Survey. Researchers estimate that the smackover formation, an extensive limestone geological unit spanning from Arkansas to Florida, may contain up to 19 million tons of lithium. That would be enough to satisfy the hungry needs of the smartphone and electric car industries who rely on the weight-saving but powerful punch of lithium ion batteries. The finding is so monumental that the USGS estimates that it would be enough to supply nine times the expected amount of lithium needed globally for car batteries in 2030.

Neil, there is this meme that goes around every once in a while where there is a cycle in four parts. First, there is a global resource shortage. a U.S. geopolitical opponent has a lot of it, therefore U.S. dominance is finished, but the final stage is a random farmer in the middle of nowhere of America, summels across the largest supply of said resource known to man, and that meme, more or less, just happened in real life. It's kind of true.

I mean, most lithium production and processing definitely doesn't happen in the United States. Most of it is produced in Australia and South America. Then it is shipped over to China where it's processed, and if you're looking for one reason why Chinese electric vehicles are so much cheap, than they are in the United States. It is because they are let they can produce batteries cheaper because they process all the lithium which is needed for batteries. So finding a domestic source as big as this is huge for our green transition and to wean off China's Chinese supply of lithium which is a

major strategic goal of the United States but the problem is yes there's a lot of lithium. The question is can we get it out at economically feasible way? is the big question. So the smack over formation, which, by the way, great name for a geological formation. It's been a site for oil and gas production. And so until recently, this brine, this lithium-rich brine, has been thought of as wastewater from these oil and gas companies. They weren't really doing much with it because they didn't know how to extract it in an economically viable way. But now they are trying this new techniques called direct lithium extraction. It separates lithium from water using chemical solvents, various filters. I won't go too far deep into it, but it is, they think,

a big leap in terms of the effectiveness of extracting lithium to make it more economically viable and also more green. The previous way of extracting lithium requires a ton of water, and you sort of evaporate that water. So if they can nail down this direct lithium extraction, it does unlock this huge, huge lithium supply between 5 million and 19 million tons of it across this big formation. So you're right, it is a big geopolitical win as well for Southwest Arkansas. Yeah, but it is just big. The question is, can we extract this and can this new technique work?

Because previously what you do is you bring all this brine, this salt water that contains lithium, you bring into above ground pools, and then you just let it evaporate for 18 months. It's a very energy and resource intensive process that requires a lot of fresh wire and fresh water and can degrade the low. local environment. So a lot of this relies on this new, you know, experimental technique that ExxonMobil and others are trying. So all lies on Southwest Arkansas. Northwest Arkansas has been so much in the headlines and is booming, but I think Southwest Arkansas's time has come. As of yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration no longer requires U.S. Airlines to equip

their no smoking signs with an off switch. Yes, I mean yesterday as in October 22nd, 2024, not 1994. It seems bizarre, but until Tuesday, aviation regulators had a rule on the books that no smoking signs had to have the ability to be turned off and on. Keep in mind that no U.S. airline has allowed smoking on flights in 24 years, and yet this rule has persisted for more than two decades, despite being totally obsolete, since apparently there were other more important things for the FAA to focus on. But thanks to an embarrassing incident in February of this year, they couldn't. ignore this antique law any longer. United was forced to cancel flights and ground its brand new

airbus planes because they didn't come with an off switch for the no smoking signs. Because why would they? Now though, common sense has been restored and it's likely that no one will even notice. The FAA expedited its typical process of making a rule change saying this regulation, quote, will have little to no practical effect on the American flying public. I mean, nothing quite encapsulates regulatory, overreach and bureaucratic bloat more so than this rule not being changed before it was. I mean, it was grounding planes, brand new planes in some cases, delaying fights. It was just absurd. One thing that this did give us a chance to do, though, is look at how tied the rise of smoking was to the rise of commercial flights. When smoking

started to become more popular in the early 20th century, cigarette companies actually glommed on to the blossoming airline industry to help sell their products. They would, a lot of their ads, featured flight attendants or pilot smoking. Amelia Earhart actually was endorsed by Lucky Strike Cigarette. So it really was one of those things where they did rise up together. And it was just so common for so long. Eventually, the Surgeon General kind of elucidated the public on the dangers of smoking. In 1988, the FAA did ban smoking on domestic flights.

And then finally, there was this federal smoking brand on international flights in 2000. But it really wasn't until 2000 that it was fully banned on flights. My thought here was why would there ever be a no smoking sign that was turned off? Why would you even need it if you could smoke on flights? And the reason is there are still points, there were points where it would be unsafe to light a cigarette in a plane, even though it probably is the entire time. But that's when they were refueling on the ground. That's what they would put the no smoking sign on.

But apparently none of the new planes have come equipped with an off and on switch. They had just been granted an exception by the FAA for the last. last 30 years. They would just say, yeah, we're not even dealing with you. We're just going to apply for an exemption. And the FAA would be like, sure, United forgot to do that when it took these new planes in. And that's why they were grounded. But it looks like, you know, they won't have to worry about asking for those exemptions anymore. My thought, too, was why would there ever be no smoking signs in general? Everyone knows at this point that you're not allowed to smoke on planes, but flight attendants have pushed back and say, people still try it. Like, if you didn't have

those no smoking signs there, people would absolutely try it. So I don't think they're going anywhere and there's certainly enough not turning off anytime soon. Okay, let's close things out with our rapid fire headline segment, which we're still working on a name for. Keep sending us your suggestions, but I will say it's unlikely we go with a coffee pun. Just keep that in mind. Kicking things off with Abercrombie and Fitch. The brand may be experiencing a revival, but its former CEO will be watching it all in handcuffs. Yesterday, longtime Abercrombie boss Michael Jeffries was arrested and indicted on charges of running an international sex trafficking scheme while leading the company.

Prosecutors accused Jeffries and two others of pressuring aspiring male models into attending sex parties and locations around the world, warning them their career would take a hit if they didn't comply. The indictment comes at a time when Abercrombie is trying to turn the page on the hypersexualized reputation it earned when Jeffreys was running the company. I mean, Jeffries isn't just a bad person based off the information contained in this indictment. He was also a bad CEO in his later days of his tenure.

He stepped down as CEO on December 9th, 2014. That was after 11 consecutive quarters of negative sales growth. Now, the stock in the company led by CEO Fran Horowitz is up about 455% over the decade since Jeffreys left the company. So has been a massive turnaround. Zuck is finally seeing eye-to-eye with Elon on something banning celebrity jet tracking accounts from their social media platforms. Yesterday, META removed several accounts across threads and Instagram. that were used to track the comings and goings of various celebrities' private jets. Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Kylie Jenner, and Suck himself,

can now crisscross the globe in peace without the threat of, quote, physical harm, the stated reason for the jet tracking ban. There is a Florida college student named Jack Sweeney, who is really the poster child of flight tracking. He said that he's now had 38 different accounts banned across meta and X. So maybe he wears that as a source of pride, but still he'd probably rather have his flight tracking apps back. There is trouble in Troop Land.

The Girl Scouts of America have voted to more than double membership dues over the next two years. The 112-year organization is in dire financial straits and said that it would either hike membership dues from the current $25 a year to $65 a year by 2027 or face serious cuts. Now, it looks like we might be paying more for thin mince suit. Well, we already are. Last year, they boosted prices for Girl Scout cookies in most of the United States from $5 to $6. So it looks like that could go up because revenue is coming in low at the Girl Scouts. Unlike almost everyone else on the planet, Tim Cook didn't know that you can name your group chats in iMessage. In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the CEO of Apple appeared to be confused when the reporter asked him about the best name for a group chat.

So upon learning about this feature offered by his own product, Cook later revealed he named his group chat with his college roommates, roommates. What's most disappointing about this news is that the Cook family group chat has so many good naming possibilities. You could go with yes chef, a little cooking bun, or too many cooks in the kitchen, somebody cooked here. There's just so many options Tim Cook. So text me in a group chat, put us in a group chat with Neil and I. Actually, Neil doesn't have an iPhone, so you can't do that. If you want some naming ideas here, I just want a little creativity. If you were sitting courtside at the Lakers game last night,

you might have heard Brony James asking his dad, LeBron James, for The Rock. The two made history by becoming the first father-son duo to play in a regular season NBA game together, and they won. James put up a stat line of 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while James chipped in with zero points, one rebound, and zero assists. I'll let you guess who was who. Well, this is actually a pretty cool moment, and you know it was on hand was the Griffey's, and they became the first, I'm talking about Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey, Sr., and they

became the first father-son duo to play on the same team in an MLB game in 1990. So just honestly, a cool moment. And also, I feel very old because I remember watching LeBron James Sr. play, or he's not even senior, LeBron James play in his first high school game that was televised in St. Vincent, St. St. Mary's, it's on ESPN. It was a really big deal. So I remember when this guy was in high school and now he's playing with his son on an NBA game. Pretty cool moment.

It's his 22nd season. Talk about longevity. All right, that is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have a fantastic Wednesday. For any questions, comments, or feedback on the show, send an email to Morningbrewdaily at morningbrew.com. And if there are people

you know who you wish you could have a more intelligent conversation with about the news, well, there's an easy solution. tell them about Morning Brew Daily. Or if that person doesn't exist in your life, take a sharing idea from Toby. I want you to share today's show with someone in the New York area

who likes running. Myself, Neil, and some other people from the brew have started to host a Run Club every Thursday morning. So if you or your friend is based in New York City, check out the Morning Brew Daily Instagram for more details about our Run Club

and we hope to see you there. That was like a double plug. Double plug right there. We're plugging everything. All right. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milliron is our executive producer. Raymond Liu is our producer. Olivia Graham is our associate producer. Eugenwa

Ogu is our technical director. Billy Minino is on audio. Hair and makeup clearly hasn't gotten the productive American worker memo. Devin Emery is our chief content officer and our show is a production of Morning Brew. Great show today, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow. Not loving your AT&T or T mobile bill? Yeah, we've been hearing that a lot. Good news. Bring your AT&T or T mobile bill to Verizon and we'll give you a better deal. So get away from that unfortunate phone bill and get to Verizon. Run, ride, canoe. Whatever it takes, we'll be here. Bring your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best network. A better deal. No surprises. That's Verizon. Best network based on route metrics, best overall mobile network performance U.S.

second half 2025. All rights reserved. It must provide a recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person for giving me the deal. Additional terms, conditions, and restrictions apply.