Good morning. Let's kick off this Saturday edition with a little trivia: Every year around this time, a certain Google search term spikes. Do you know what it is? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)  —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt | | | READ THIS TO REMAIN A SUBSCRIBER Want to keep receiving Morning Brew? Clicking on newsletter links is the only way for us to know you are reading (and enjoying) Morning Brew. If you don't click by next month, you will stop receiving this newsletter. Click here to let us know that you're still an active subscriber. Thanks! | | | |  | Nasdaq | 16,057.44 | | |  | S&P | 4,697.96 | | | | | Dow | 35,601.98 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.549% | | | | | Bitcoin | $57,960.99 | | | | | Apple | $160.55 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The Dow ended lower for the week but the Nasdaq closed higher, illustrating the recent strength of tech stocks. Apple shares notched a record after a report Thursday revealed it was accelerating its autonomous vehicle push.
- Nation: Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in a closely watched trial over gun rights and vigilantism. Rittenhouse killed two men with a semiautomatic rifle in the summer of 2020 when he traveled to Kenosha, WI, during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Rittenhouse said he went to Kenosha to protect property.
| | If you enjoy our perspective on business news, take a second to share the Brew. Not only will you appear worldly, but you'll win free swag like mugs and t-shirts. Click to share | | | Mario Tama/Getty Images From Crypto.com Arena to Adele's new album, there were plenty of distractions this week from the more sobering news that Covid-19 is once again rearing its spiky head, forcing lockdowns, moving markets, and creating more urgency around the rollout of booster shots. Here's a quick roundup. Unleash the booster shots: The CDC attempted to simplify the confusing patchwork of rules around booster shot eligibility by announcing that anyone 18 or older can get one, provided they received their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago. - 12 states had already opened up boosters to all adults due to concerns about rising case numbers over the last two weeks. A study from Pfizer and BioNTech showed that boosters restore immunity against symptomatic infections to about 95%.
Lockdowns are back: Austria became the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a full lockdown, which starts Monday and will last for at least 10 days. Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe (about 64%, still higher than the US), and its infection rates are among the highest on the continent. - Germany isn't ruling out another lockdown, either. "We are in a national emergency," the country's health minister said of a surge in cases.
Oil prices are dropping: News of Austria's lockdown sent oil prices falling yesterday to a six-week low, as investors fret that demand for fuel could dry up with Covid spreading. That may be welcome relief to Americans paying an average of $3.41/gallon at the pump, but it could take a while for lower oil prices to trickle down to your local Hess. Travel stocks are falling: Shares in travel companies like Carnival, United, and American Airlines have all dipped this week due to...all of the above. Looking ahead...rising Covid cases do not seem to be scaring Americans away from heading home for Thanksgiving. The TSA expects the number of airline passengers over Thanksgiving week to nearly match 2019 levels.—NF | | | Francis Scialabba This Thanksgiving, we're grateful that inflation will be the topic of convo instead of our dating life. The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal is up 14% this year to $53.31 for a group of 10 people (a little under $6 per person), according to a survey conducted by the Farm Bureau. That's the biggest annual increase in 31 years. - A 16-pound turkey costs $23.99, up 24% from last year.
- Two frozen pie crusts rose 20% to $2.91 this year.
- And a dozen dinner rolls were up 15% from 2020, rolling in at $3.05.
The $53.31 price tag comes with an asterisk: The Farm Bureau's survey was administered between October 28 and November 8, before deals on frozen turkeys (the most expensive Thanksgiving menu item) hit grocery stores. The average frozen turkey price has actually fallen from $1.50/lb to $0.88 over the last week. The opposite of an early bird special. Still, food prices have jumped considerably this year due to supply chain snags and higher demand. Tyson Foods said that pork prices jumped 38% and chicken prices gained 19% last quarter. Food prices overall increased 5.3% annually in October, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.—MM | | | Giphy Miramax, the studio behind Pulp Fiction, sued director Quentin Tarantino this week for planning to sell NFTs related to the iconic film. Tarantino replied, to paraphrase, "I don't remember asking you a gd thing." The scuffle brings questions about ownership and intellectual property to the forefront of NFT watercooler chats. The backstory: At the NFT.NYC conference earlier this month, Tarantino announced his plan to sell NFTs of his first handwritten drafts of Pulp Fiction's screenplay. Within days, Miramax sent Tarantino a cease-and-desist letter that the director ignored—prompting the studio to sue him over copyright infringement. From Miramax's POV, Tarantino does not own the rights to his Pulp Fiction scripts and thereby cannot sell them, even as digital tokens. But according to Tarantino's lawyer Bryan Freedman, "Miramax is wrong—plain and simple." Zoom out: Legal experts say whoever owns the copyright of an asset has the right to sell an NFT of it, but creative projects that involve numerous assets don't always have a clear contract of who owns what. Expect this to be the first of many high-profile squabbles over NFT rights in the future.—JW | | | | If you've previously heard the term "balance transfer," been interested in a deal, but then procrastinated it away in fear of a labyrinth-like process, then we're here to do some myth busting. Ready? Here's how simple balance transfers actually are: Apply for a card, transfer your balance, save on interest. The end. And if you're wondering how much interest can be saved, how does 0% interest for 18 months sound? Amazing? Yes. Mythical? No. That is in fact the introductory rate offered by this card, which is also one of the few balance transfer cards to receive a 5-star review from The Ascent. For example: if you have $10k in debt, that's an estimated $1,863 saved. This card also has no annual fee and double cash back your first year. When The Ascent says 5-stars, they mean 5-stars. Apply, transfer, and save. Start here. | | | Michael Kovac/Getty Images Quote: "No. Freaking. Way." That was pretty much the response of everyone when they found out that the person who outbid a group of crypto investors to buy a copy of the Constitution was none other than...Ken Griffin. The billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Citadel is a favorite target of individual traders, so this purchase is being billed as the ultimate troll move. Griffin said he'd lend the document, which cost him $43.2 million, to a free museum in Arkansas. Stat: In an attempt to delay the Build Back Better bill from a vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took the floor at 8:38pm Thursday night and talked for 8 hours and 32 minutes, the longest House speech in modern history. But only a few hours after he yielded the floor early Friday morning, the House passed the $1.75 trillion social and climate spending bill, 220–213, sending it to the Senate. Read: The notorious Mrs. Mossler. (Texas Monthly) | | - The prosecution rested its case in the trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. And right after, to the surprise of everyone, Holmes took the stand to testify.
- A female Tesla employee sued the automaker over the alleged rampant sexual harassment she endured at Tesla's Fremont, CA, plant.
- Two Democratic senators came out against the nomination of Jerome Powell to lead the Fed for another four years, arguing he hasn't done enough to fight climate change.
- Rivian and Ford (which is a Rivian investor) said they're no longer developing an electric vehicle together.
| | | Start your day in-the-know by catching up on the latest Business Casual episodes: | | | | There's a certain holiday coming up, and that holiday may or may not be the theme of this week's crossword puzzle. You'll just have to play it to find out. | | | Friendsgiving. We ask this question every year—don't get caught flat-footed in 2022! | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, and Matty Merritt Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → Tips for smarter living → - Money Scoop: your personal finance upgrade
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