Morning Brew Daily - Stock Trading Banned for Lawmakers? & Vending Machines That Sell… Ammo

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

Episode 363: Neal and Toby examine the bipartisan bill that would prevent members of Congress from trading on the stock market that often bring up concerns of ethics. Then, some states are allowing vending machines to sell bullets to gun owners. Plus, Three Mile Island, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in US history, is gaining interest in opening back up to power AI. Next, Neal shares his favorite numbers on a $150K dog, Drake’s lost bet, and children leaving downtown areas. Lastly, NYC Mayor Eric Adams rolls out the first official trash bin.  Expand your world with Meta AI. Now on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger. 00:00 - 7-Eleven Day 2:30 - Stock trading ban for Congress 6:50 - Vending machines shooting out bullets 11:00 - Three Mile Island revival 14:50 - Kids are leaving cities 17:00 - The $150K dog 19:00 - Drake curse strikes again 21:00 - NYC trash bin Get your Morning Brew Daily Mug HERE: https://shop.morningbrew.com/products/morning-brew-daily-mug?utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=mbd&utm_campaign=mug Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Fryman. And I'm Toby Howl. Today, three-mile island was the site of the worst nuclear accident in American history. So why are there plans to reopen? Then a new law aims to stop politicians from trading stocks introduced by politicians. It's Thursday, July 11th. Let's ride. Happy July 11th, everyone.

Or more importantly, happy 711 day. Little history lesson to start off the show. Why is the store called 7-Eleven? Well, it comes from the operating hours. They were open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. 7 days a week, which was considered these crazy extended hours at the time. Now we're used to 24-hour stores, but 24-7, it just doesn't hit the same as 7-Eleven. Neil, are you getting your free slurpee today? I am getting my free slurpee, but one fun fact about me is I can't get a brain freeze.

My brain runs hot. I've tried this. At college, all my friends, we went to a 7-Eleven, and they just huddled around me, and I chugged a slurpy, and I just looked at them, was like, yep, nothing. So maybe we should try today and see if somehow my chemical composition, my brain has changed over the past 10 years, and I can get a brain freeze now because they seem pretty electric. That is genuinely a fun fact that I've never heard about you. And I don't even know if it's verifiable, because maybe you just have a really good poker face.

What is your favorite slurpy flavor, though, if you were to try? I don't have one. I like blue raspberry just because my dad always said, you know that blue raspberry doesn't exist in the wild, so I always just think about how, you know, chemicals create our particular fruit flavors. Can't go wrong with blue raspberry. Now a word from our sponsor, meta-a-I.

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Expand your world with Meta-I-I-I. Now on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger. Politicians trading stocks has always felt like oil and water. They just shouldn't go together. And now politicians are doing something about it. A group of bipartisan senators unveiled a new proposal that would require members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to divest from their assets starting in 2027. The penalty for breaking the law would either be the lawmaker's monthly salary or 10% of the value of the asset in violation, whichever is bigger.

The public has long been aboard the politicians. shouldn't trade train. A University of Maryland poll showed that 85% of respondents were for banning trading by members of Congress. But right now, the current rules only require lawmakers to disclose when they are their spouses trade individual stocks over $1,000. But with a measly $200 penalty for not abiding by the law, critics argue that it is insufficient and rarely enforced. Neil, countless bills have died before seeing the light of day on this very topic. Does this bipartisan push feel any different? They're saying they may have a chance because we're in an election year and they could

attach this particular bill to a broader bill that has a, you know, that needs to get passed for spending or something like that. But it does seem like there are these efforts made every single year most recently around the 2022 midterms to get a stock trading banned by politicians past, or at least one that has a lot more teeth like this one. But it seems like it just stalls. There's not a lot of political appetite in Congress because they are absolutely prolific stock traders. Like the people in Congress trade stocks more than you or me or anybody listening. So it just seems like they really want to do that. It's kind of encapsulated by what Nancy Pelosi said. Nancy Pelosi is probably one of the biggest lightning rods in this arena because

her husband, Paul, is a big trader. And she said, she said, we're at a free market economy and members of Congress should be able to participate in that. She walked that back a little bit. and got on board with the stock trading ban in 2022, but it didn't really pass a committee or anything. So I just will forever be doubtful that anything like this will get passed. Yeah, we've been having this conversation for a very long time. Now, it first kicked off in earnest all the way back in 2009 because a lot of questions were raised about some members of Congress

profiteering off information that they were learning about potential bank stocks going bust. And then it also got turbocharged again when some very, profitable change started emerging in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when members of Congress, we're privy to information about how serious things were and we're acting on that information. Eventually, the FBI launched a probe, nothing came of it. And then it, again, picked up steam in those 20-22 midterm elections because you're right. Nancy Pelosi has always been like the poster child of the stock trading movement because there's entire companies now dedicated to just tracking her and her husband's trades because of how

well she usually outperforms the markets. And the stats around her trading are pretty remarkable. Yeah, there is a new Choose Your Own Money Manager app called Autopilot, where you can literally just load up the Pelosi tracker and your portfolio will match the top 10 stock picks made by Nancy Pelosi's husband. And then there are these ETFs that have been launched, one which tracks Democrat stocks of Congress. And that's called Nance, N-A-N-C. And then there's one that tracks Republican stocks, which is Cruz, C-R-U-Z, which is a reference to Ted Cruz. And both of those portfolios have outperformed the market over the past year. So it's maybe not the worst idea to just hit your wagon in your portfolio to what members of Congress do because maybe they're, you know,

they're not allowed to trade on insider information. But, you know, they're probably some of the most plugged-in people in society. Yeah, I do think that the biggest difference between this bill and some of the other bills that we've seen in the past is this bill has a ton of teeth. The fines in this bill are actually legit. That $200 number is just a slap on the wrist. It really is, doesn't do anything to dissuade people from trading stocks, but these, the 10% of the values of each asset or your monthly salary, those can add up very quickly. It's supposed to accrue monthly. So hopefully that this, this bill actually has some teeth and actually makes it further than bills in the past have.

Walk into a grocery store in Alabama, Oklahoma, or Texas, and you might find something surprising while checking out your yogurt and eggs. A computerized vending machine selling ammunition. Since last November, a Texas-based company called American Rounds has installed vending machines selling bullets in six grocery stores and has plans to expand to more. It says it has over 200 store requests for its machines across nine states. Wait a second.

What is going on here? Why are we selling lethal bullets in grocery stores? Many people are asking, given that America has a dire gun violence problem, there have been 15 mass killings involving a firearm so far in 2024, and on 4th of July alone, 33 people were killed in gun violence. The CEO of American rounds, Grant Majors, says he understands the concerns of making ammunition more accessible, but argues that his vending machines are a more secure way to buy bullets than the two existing venues online and at retail stores.

Toby, the reactions to this news were predictably all over the place, ranging from, great, I live in a rural area. This will make it so much easier to buy ammo to go hunting. Two, holy moly, is this dystopian? It feels dystopian because you don't think about shotgun shells being next to you, your milk or your bread that you're buying at the grocery store, but the technology behind this is something that makes a lot of sense. You have to scan your driver's license.

you have to verify you're above 21 or older. It also then scans your face to make sure that you are matching the driver's license that you submitted. And it is potentially safer than a lot of the other avenues. You said online and in person, there have been multiple studies from gun violence organizations showing that a lot of these websites especially are not verifying IDs at all. And so if you have a method like this vending machine that does verify IDs, you could argue it's a lot safer than the other avenues out there. People might be wondering what are the regulations around buying ammo in the United States?

There aren't that many. Federal law does require you to be 18 years old to buy ammo for long guns like rifles and shotguns. And then if you want to buy bullets for handguns, you have to be at least 21. American round says its age verification mechanism, make sure that you are over 21 to buy anything from its vending machines. It also said, look, we didn't necessarily come up with this idea. We were approached by grocery stores in rural areas that wanted more people to have a reason to come into their stores. You know, you have grocery stores. You know, you sell groceries, but at grocery stores, you also have other things that you might want to buy.

And they're like, hey, if we have an ammo vending machine in these particularly rural areas, we'll get more customers. So he said he was approached. And that was the reason these things exist in the first place. Right. These are very small cities, too. I mean, Pell City, Alabama has one. They have a population of just over 13,000. Noble Oklahoma has 7,600 people.

So you're right, convenience and accessibility is a big reason for these things being installed. Vending machines that sell age-restricted things are not new either because there's been multiple companies developing technology to sell alcoholic beverages, multiple to sell cannabis products as well. So I don't think that this is going to be the first or the last company we see creating these safe and secure ways to conveniently buy age-restricted Of course, there are a ton of critics to this, and they're saying, why would we make it ever more accessible to buy lethal items? Just, you know, going into a retail store, there's always a human middleman. You have to wait in line. Maybe this is something that you should have to wait in line for, and they don't, you know, technology does not work all the time. It has the potential to get

hacked. It may not verify you particularly correctly. So this is, I don't know whether this thing is going to grow already in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The city counselor was, they had a city council, meaning the city council was like, somebody just called me up and said, we have a grocery store with a vending machine selling ammo. And like, initially I thought it was a joke. So the city council looked into whether this was legal and eventually this vending machine in Tuscaloosa was pulled. So I am not necessarily bullish on avenues for growth for this particular company. Three Mile Island is a name burned into many Americans' minds as the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. But the dormance plant's owner, Constellation Energy, is in talks with

Pennsylvania officials to potentially turn the plant back on soon, driven by the bottomless energy demands of artificial intelligence, plus a little help from the government. The economics of operating a nuclear power plant have totally shifted in the years since Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island was shut down in 2019, as data centers that fuel hungry AI models are forecasted to suck up 9% of the U.S. power supply by 2030. Given those demands, politicians have rewarned to the idea of. nuclear as well. A slate of clean energy subsidies championed by the Biden administration has inspired other energy companies to begin drafting up plans to dust off old reactors as well.

Neil, the U.S. has never opened a shuttered nuclear plant. And Constellation said nothing is confirmed yet, but it's historic that this conversation is even happening. Totally. There is a wave of interest in reopening nuclear power plants or building more. And that all has to do with AI and the data centers that fuel them. They're expected, just data centers. are expected to eat up as much as 9% of the U.S. power supply by 2030 in six years from now, which is triple their share of electricity demand today. The CEO of Constellation Energy said he expects a 40% rise in U.S. power demand just over the next two decades. He says he's getting approached by companies, by tech companies, opening data centers

that are going to require the power use of the city of Miami. And these need to be, to hit our climacals, these need to be zero carbon. They need to be emission free. best ways of doing that is nuclear. The Biden administration is pouring a ton of money into nuclear plans. So they're not so easy to build. They cost 20 to 40 billion dollars to make these things. So you look around the United States and they're like, okay, where do we have semi-functioning nuclear plants that we could restart? Three Mile Island is one of them. There aren't just one reactor there. There's two reactors. One melted down. There's another one that was actually

going until 2019. So that's the one they're going to potentially revive. You have to remember that not a very long time ago at all. The nuclear power industry was just shutting down plants left and right because it simply could not compete with the financial incentives offered to natural gas, offered to solar power, wind power, these other green energy sources. It just didn't have the subsidies that could go toe to toe with these. But now with all these energy demands, I mean, even beyond AI, you have the rise of EVs as well. You just have this frenzied search for zero emissions power. So, of course, nuclear energy is back on the table right now. There is a little bit of a frantic push right now, too, because what if the next administration

that comes in the office isn't as nuclear-friendly? Are these subsidies going to remain in place for much longer? So you see this frenzy of deal-making, this frenzy of conversations around reopening these plants right now in the current moment. Maybe politicians aren't great traders, because I don't see any of these nuclear companies in their portfolio, but they probably should have because Constellation Energy has jumped 80 percent. far this year. And another nuclear company has soared 132%. These nuclear stocks are probably the best performing S&P stocks after the AI stocks themselves, Nvidia and Super Micro. So they're absolutely

surging right now thanks to this tailwind of government help in reopening plants. And it's not guaranteed whether Three Mile Island will reopen, but there does seem to be momentum in that direction. Up next, my literal favorite segment of the week, Neil's numbers. Welcome to Neal's numbers, the segment where I share three stats from the week's news that will have you spouting knowledge with the confidence of Hermione Granger. My first number is about the rise in toddlerless cities. Yeah, there just aren't many small kids in the largest U.S. cities anymore because families have packed up and left during the pandemic. According to new census data, since April 2020, the under five population has fallen by 18% in New York, 15% in Chicago's Cook County, 15% in San Francisco and 14% in Los Angeles County.

These are shocking numbers that spotlight a number of recent trends. Number one, how expensive it's become to raise a family in a city. And number two, the COVID-induced exodus of people out of metropolitan areas and toward the suburbs and rural areas. More than 800,000 people moved out of large urban counties last year, twice the pre-pandemic rate, and they brought their kids with them. It's not just cities where strollers are evaporating, though, due to an end. aging population that has fewer babies. The number of children under five fell in 58% of all U.S. counties last year. Still, it's big cities that are seeing the most striking declines in kids.

Here is a stat that I've thought about every single day since I first read it. In downtown Boston, there are 36 high school students. Just a shocking stat right there. I think part of what happens is that just cultural norms take over at a certain point because if none of your friends or family or people that you know are having kids, then suddenly it doesn't make sense to have kids yourself. Like, if you look at a stat, like the number of kids in New York can drop 18% over the last 40 months or so, it's not unfathomable to think that that number will accelerate

as you start seeing more and more childless families around you. Yeah, it's childless, I think it's two things. It's childless families, and then it's also just people leaving urban centers. I think those are the two trends that are leading to these really remarkable declines. I mean, if you just walk around New York City, not during school time, you don't really see that many kids at all. I mean, and the numbers speak to it. You know, under five populations aren't decreasing everywhere. What are the fastest growing states, Texas and Florida, and in Polk County, which is near Walt Disney World, the number of under five kids has increased more than 12 percent.

And then suburbs in Texas and Texas cities like Dallas and Houston have also seen there a lot more. stroller, so it's not universal, but 58% of counties are seeing a decline in under five, and that is pronounced in major cities. For my second number, how much would you pay for a military-grade protection dog that also exhibits the warmth and the temperament of a conventional family pet? A grand? 10 grand? Try $150,000, which is how much these one-of-a-kind luxury dogs cost, according to the New York Magazine. Bread on what is essentially an army base for for canines in Montana. Each dog is an undisclosed mix

of Dutch Shepherd, German Shepherd, and Belgian Malinua. And they've been described by one owner as having a gentle Navy seal in the house. They'll tear an intruder to shreds when threatened, but can also be perfectly lovable when you just want to curl up with your pup and watch Netflix.

Worth 150K? Well, some rich people think so, but get in line. The breeder called Svalin only sells 20 of these dogs max per year, and just 350 exist around the world. Toby, these dogs are literal commandos with four legs. Impeckably trained fierce but cool

under pressure. I think I want one. A lot of, there's a lot of trained professional attack dogs, whatever you want to call them protection dogs out there, but the difference is that these dogs are also they're feasible as pets because most of those protection dogs are just very aggressive and you don't necessarily want to curl up on the

couch with them. I'm totally on board with this price tag though because they go through some extensive training. They have this obstacle course on the ranch in Montana where they're trained. It's called the Phoenix. They change it every single day. It's meant to challenge both the physical parts of the dog and then also the mental part. But my favorite part about Svalin, the training company, is that they also bring the owners out. They vet the owners. They said, we're as much training the owners as we are training the dogs. They check in with the

owners after 45 days of owning the dogs and saying, listen, have you been staying up on your training? So I think that's a very important part of having a very highly trained dog that you need the owners to be on board as well. This has become truly a luxury piece in western Montana to have one of these dogs. For my final number, Drake can't stop racking up the Ls this year. First, the rapper was the victim of an onslaught of discracks by Kendrick Lamar. Then this week, he lost $300,000 after betting on his native Canada to be Argentina in the Copa America semifinals, which did not happen. Argentina won. And then to pour salt on the wound, Argentina trolled Drake by posting a photo after the game with the line

Not Like Us, which is a reference to Lamar's most recent disc track. Drake is actually a prolific sports gambler, and just like you, he is not very good. He bet $500,000 on the Mavericks to beat the Celtics in the NBA finals, they lost. And he also bet a similar amount on the Oilers to beat the Panthers in the NHL finals.

They lost, too. Of course, these amounts are chump change for Drake, who is arguably the most famous rapper on the planet and makes zillions of dollars. but it does feel like everyone just wants to pig pile on this guy this year. Drake absolutely stinks at bedding. I think you're underselling it. That is, he also lost $565,000 on the Tyson Fury fight.

Like that is multiple millions of dollars that he has lost. My takeaway from this, though, is that Drake does not do well against short adversaries. Kendrick Lamar, 5-5. Lino Messi, 5.7. If you want to take down Drake, you better be under 5'8. It sounds like Ronaldo is 6-2, by the way. Jay Cole is 6-3, so I think there is a trend emerging here right now. But yes, we do have to say, too, that Drake has a partnership with an online casino named Steak.

And you'll notice he'll post these betting slips on his Instagram story, and it's powered by Steak. So they definitely subsidize his gambling, but still, truly an abysmal track record. If you want to look further into this, too, just look up the Drake curse. even if you post a picture with your team, that team usually ends up losing. There is historical documentation of this trend. So if Drake ever shouts out your team, you better run and hide because they're probably going to lose. It's July in New York, which means one thing for anyone who has ever been to the Big Apple during the summer.

It smells like hot garbage. That's because New York has a lot of people creating a lot of garbage. Some 44 million pounds are collected every day. but it's also because New York doesn't use garbage bins. Yes, due to a variety of reasons from space constraints to cost considerations, New Yorkers have always been instructed to bag up their rubbish and toss it to the curb on trash days. But trash habits are changing after an announcement from Mayor Eric Adams earlier this week, mandated that all residential buildings with one through nine units will be required to put their

trash in containers starting this November. feels common sense enough, but the realizing on the cake of this story is the fact that NYC came to the conclusion that garbage should go in bins by commissioning a 20-week $4 million report from the consultants over at McKinsey. Neil, beyond the absurdity of that price tag, I know there is some deep New York City trash lure that you are as happy to dig into as an oversized rat. Well, so this week, everyone was making fun of New York City for paying McKinsey $4 million to come up with the, grand idea of a trash bin, which is used by all other major American cities and cities around the world like Barcelona. But I will say that the trash problem in New York City is particularly unique. And I don't know if it's worth a $4 million price tag for McKinsey, but it is a very tough logistical challenge to solve. First of all, is the amount of trash that you said, tens of millions

of pounds per day of trash being hoisted into the sidewalk. And then another quirk of New York City that makes it such a tough trash nut to crack is that we don't have alleys. So most other major American cities like Chicago and Philadelphia, they, in their city plans, they had alleys, which are these small lanes behind stores, behind buildings that allow you to take out the trash out of view of everyone. And New York City, for whatever reason, doesn't have that. When the guys were creating the grid in 1811, they were on a deadline to build the Erie Canal. and it looks like they were just preoccupied with building the Erie Canal and just forgot to add alleys

when they were drawing in the grid above Houston Street. So it is a big problem to solve. And for the past decades, they've used particularly, you know, they've used trash bags. And it's become just an absolute feast for rats, which is another problem. They're trying to solve with this. And it looks like now we're slowly moving to bins, thanks to McKinsey. I am actually on board with it because it is a hard problem. 14 billion pounds of trash every year.

It's not easy to figure out what to do with. that but you have to determine what sort of bins you would use what different vendors you should use what safety considerations are going to come into play with with bins on the on being used by garbage men to dump them in the garbage trucks do you want wheelies do you want stationary containers share containers there is a lot of considerations to to think about and yeah the rat problem is definitely the biggest thing as well rats are just cursing mackenzie right now because like they're all you can eat buffet of 14 billion pounds of trash is now going to start being binned up, so tough one for the rats out there. Meanwhile, New York City does collect trash

from residences. 84,000 of them in other cities rely on private services, but New York City takes it upon themselves to collect trash. Private businesses do contract with private garbage services, but if you live in a New York City residence, then the city itself is taking up your trash, which is no easy feat. All right, that is all the time we have for today. Thanks so much for listening and have a wonderful 7-Eleven. Our inbox is open all hours of the day, not just 7-211. So feel free to write an email to Morning Brew Daily at Morningbrew.com with any feedback on the show. Let's roll the credits.

Emily Milliron is our executive producer. Raymond Liu is our producer. Olivia Graham is our associate producer. Euchenawa Ogu is our technical director. Billy Minino is on audio, hair and makeup is taken out the trash. 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.