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[00:01]
A
Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
[00:04]
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And I'm Toby Howell.
[00:05]
A
Today, Wall street staged a revolt after the Fed meeting.
[00:08]
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Then Meta and Microsoft reported earnings and they're still spending on AI like they stole their parents credit card. It's Thursday, July 30th. Let's ride.
[00:26]
A
One of the most bizarre business stories of the past few years has reached a resolution. This week, eBay agreed to a $56 million settlement with two Massachusetts journalists who had been harassed in stocks by company security personnel in 2019. The TLDR is. Back then, ebay was catching heat from an activist investor, and this couple, the Steiners, who ran the website E Commerce Bites, were posting unflattering articles about the company. Then the freaky mail started showing up. For a period, the Steiners began to receive packages of live cockroaches, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse. Turns out this campaign was all orchestrated by some ebay executives to get the couple to shut up. Ebay has apologized, saying what the Steiners were subjected to by former ebay employees in 2018 was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened.
[01:19]
B
I remember covering this story when I first joined the Brew five or six years ago. It was crazy then, and it's still crazy now. It's. It also got me thinking, though. We talk a lot about companies on this podcast. Who is going to send us live cockroaches and a bloody pig Halloween mask? The only answer I could come up with was Chipotle. Not because of what we say about them, but because of how many times I've mispronounced it. Chipotle. Chipotle, Chipotle. If any Chipotle execs are listening to this, a carnitas burrito instead of a bloody pig Halloween mask, please. Which, now that I think about it, are actually kind of the same thing. And now a word from our sponsor, Anthropic. The team behind Claude, Toby and I
[02:00]
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tackle a lot of hard hitting questions here at Morning Brew Daily.
[02:03]
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Like, who keeps stealing my lunch?
[02:05]
A
No, like, will I take people's jobs?
[02:08]
B
Anthropic, the public benefit corporation behind Cloud, heard questions like that over and over in more than 120,000 interviews about people's hopes and fears around AI so they published contingency plans for the hard unemployment scenarios, not just the rosy ones.
[02:23]
A
And they just launched Claude Core, a $150 million fellowship paying 1,000 people full salaries to work at nonprofits while training for AI era careers.
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So if you've got your own hard questions about AI, head to Claude AI/mbd to submit it to Anthropic and explore how they are answering them. That's claude.AI/mbd the Fed held its meeting yesterday to decide what to do with interest rates. And it feels like we're in a situationship with Kevin Warsh given how Deliber bad at communicating he's been about his plans to tame inflation markets expected the Fed to do absolutely nothing and hold rates steady. But there was still a roughly 1 in 3 chance of a surprise rate hike in the normally predictable world of central banking and made for an exciting lead in. In the end, The Fed voted 9 to 3 to keep rates the same. But that 3 is the headline. Three officials wanted a quarter point hike. The first time since 2016 that three policymakers have dissented in the same direction. You can understand why there's a split. Data shows that the economy is still growing at a solid pace. The labor market remains stable and recent inflation readings have cooled slightly. But inflation has also been above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years now, while tariffs and higher energy prices from the war in the Middle east are a constant inflationary threat. For new Fed chair Kevin Warsh, the split Fed also puts his communication experiment to the test. He's been very vocal about not being vocal, deliberately trying to wean markets off the Fed's traditional forward guidance. And yesterday was no different. The statement the committee put out was much shorter than traditional Fed statements. It was almost identical to the one released after last month's meeting, frustrating some who wanted clearer commitments. He would hike if conditions warrant it. Neil with so much uncertainty swirling heading into the meeting, the Fed ended up sticking to the status quo. But it only feels like a matter of time before they're forced to Troy Bolton it and break free of this holding pattern.
[04:20]
A
Just two meetings in. Kevin Marsh already has a credibility problem. Wall street doesn't believe he's going to do what he says he's going to do. He says he wants to bring inflation down to 2%. But when asked why they didn't raise interest rates to do that, he really didn't have any explanation. And there was a bit of a revolt in the markets yesterday. The 30 year bond yield climbed 10 basis points after this Fed meeting and they didn't do anything. The Fed just held interest rates steady. But you saw a huge reaction in the bond market. The 30 year yield is a proxy for long term borrowing costs across the US economy rose to its highest level in 19 years above 5.2%. So we're talking financial crisis levels from the bond market. So this was investors in Wall street saying, look, we don't believe you. You're saying you're going to bring down inflation by raising interest rates. But look, you gave us no reason to think that you're actually going to do that.
[05:15]
B
But Warsh is pointing to that bond movement and basically saying, this is exactly what I want. I want the market to actually set interest rates or set borrowing costs more so than the Fed. This is something that he has been vocal about. He doesn't want the Fed's move to kind of inform which way the economy is going and how markets are reacting. So the fact that rates essentially got higher, effectively got higher. If you are, you know, trying to buy a house right now or you're trying to pay off credit card bills, those rates are determined more by the bonds, even more so than what the Fed is setting. So the bond market may be calling its bluff or wars would argue it's doing exactly what he wants it to. But a lot of people are frustrated because Warsh could have given a good argument about holding rates steady. He could have pointed to the fact that we had a better than expected June inflation report. He could have pointed to the fact that maybe US Iran hostilities are thawing. These are all things that he could have said. And hey, we're looking at this data and we think it all is pointing towards a hold. Instead, he didn't really say much of anything, which is why you mentioned that he has a little bit of a credibility problem. Right.
[06:24]
A
So looking forward, I mean, inflation, the question facing Fed and Wash is is this inflation going to be a one off shock or is there going to be a persistent problem here? And there are maybe three things that are driving inflation higher. One which is kind of new is the AI boom. We're about to talk about this in the next couple of stor, but companies are spending so much money on AI infrastructure and that is inflationary at the moment. We've already seen consumer gadgets like iPads and Xbox is all rise because of the memory crunch. And then the other two things are we saw President Trump institute new 10% tariffs on the rest of the world. That is also inflationary. And then the final thing is this war, and you mentioned it, that tensions were thawing. But actually, no, they're going in the opposite direction. Iran launched a surprise attack on U.S. forces in Jordan earlier this week. And then overnight Trump pledged to retaliate and they're doing so Oil prices are back up. And as we know, higher oil prices filter across the global economy in the in form of greater inflation. So this just got a lot harder for Kevin Washington right now. The markets don't really believe he's going to do what he says he's going to do.
[07:35]
B
I mean, we've talked about the bond market, but we might as well mention the equity market as well. The Nasdaq 100, which is a tech focus index, is now down 11% from their June, from its June record. It's now in correction territory. We're on pace for the worst July on record.
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So no matter what, the dog of the week tomorrow.
[07:57]
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I know, I know. And we're actually going to talk about this a little later as well. All right, moving on. Metta reported earnings yesterday and it might lose its membership card to the Magnificent Seven if it keeps this up. The biggest question going into this report was how much money is it spending on its AI buildout? And the answer made investors queasy. Total costs and expenses were up 55% year over year, bringing its free cash flow to $784 million, down from eight and a half billion a year ago, good for a cool 91% decline. Its advertising unit is still one of the greatest money making machines in the world, bringing in $59.3 billion and beating expectations. But Metta has committed to the AI race at this point, which means spending on data centers will continue until morale improves. And now has three big datacenter projects underway. A $9 billion one in Canada, a recently announced $14 billion venture with BlackRock in El Paso, and a monster data center in rural Louisiana that will cost more than $50 billion. Neal, we saw Alphabet go cash flow negative for the first time in two decades this past quarter. But Alphabet has a growing cloud business. Something better does not, which is part of the reason why the market is so much more critical of its spending compared to the rest of big tech. Shares tumbled after hours as investors cast doubts on Zuck's grand plans.
[09:19]
A
I think everyone was asking, why don't we have more of a concrete plan? That that's actually not me saying it. That's a direct quote from Brent Thill, who's a tech analyst at Jefferies. Met is spending so much money along the lines of Microsoft and Google and Amazon, as we'll see is reporting later today. But they don't have this cloud unit to monetize. So right now, how do they monetize this? Through advertising and WhatsApp and Instagram and things like that, but they don't. They have. They're building all of this compute capacity by building HU data center projects and investors don't think that they need all of that capacity to run Instagram and Facebook and do all the AI on those particular apps. And they don't exactly have a plan to sell that to other companies. Zuckerberg did mention it on the call. He said, look, we think we're going to have some leftover and we have a few customers in the pipeline. He didn't really mention that or any specifics, but investors will want to hear more specifics if Meta Stock wants to get a bump.
[10:13]
B
Yeah, one of the issues is they did get specific in one category that people didn't really want to hear about, which is their 202026 CAPEX guidance. They previously had a range of 125 billion to 145 billion. There was a little wiggle room there. Now they've revised it upwards to 130 billion to 145 billion. So they are narrowing in on record spending and that's not what the market wants to hear right now. Especially because you're right, Metta is the has maybe the most tenuous story to tell when it comes to their AI because again, if you are a Microsoft or if you are Google, you have a cloud business that you can service other customers with and they are better is dipping their toe into that. But they're way they're years behind, decades behind when it comes to building out a cloud business. So they're burning cash with not exactly a great story to tell to investors of how that cash is going to pay off. Microsoft, on the other hand, is keeping its Mag7 membership card for now. It also reported earnings yesterday and like matter, the big news is that it is spending a lot of time. It dropped 41 billion on capital expenditures last quarter, up nearly 70% from a year ago as it continues its own build out of data centers. It expects to spend roughly 190 billion on capex this year. But Microsoft is actually turning it into a business. Microsoft now has 30 million paid subscribers to its Copilot AI assistant, up from 20 million just one quarter ago and well ahead of what analysts expected. It also has a rip snorting cloud division. Azure revenue grew 43% with the unit topping $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Microsoft is also sitting on a staggering $678 billion backlog of revenue it hasn't yet recognized, which sounds sweet until you realize that a lot of it comes from contracts with Open Air, the company it owns 27% of. Neil investors punish matter because it's spending billions on AI without a cloud business to directly monetize that investment. Microsoft is almost the perfect counterexample to. It is spending even more aggressively. But Azure is accelerating, Copilot is expanding, and the company is still cash flow positive. The stock rose 8% after hours, which in this market is a huge win.
[12:28]
A
It's a mirror image of Betta's earnings call. Microsoft's cloud unit, Azure grew the fastest pace in four years. It even topped expectations 43% versus 40%. If the question from investors to these executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is Are you making money from AI? Are you making money from spending $190 billion a year to justify all of that investment? Meta could not answer that question and Microsoft absolutely did because they're saying, hey look, oh, you got a lot of workers, employees using Copilot now because that's our AI service and we have a bunch of companies paying us for server space because they're using our cloud offering. So they have a much more compelling story to tell of how they're making money from all these AI spending.
[13:12]
B
Still, despite this good earnings report from Microsoft, the stock is still down around 17% this year. And I just want to zoom out for a second. The Magnificent Seven has been the force that has powered the market to all time highs over the last decade or so. But now that narrative is cracking a little bit. The equal weighted S&P 500 where every company gets the same weight that has rallied to an all time high which shows that the market is broadening a little bit. It's not just the Magnificent Seven in everyone else. And we're actually seeing that in this latest crop of earnings reports. Yesterday, outside of big Tech, Starbucks and Chipotle reported great earnings and raised their guidance. They say they're seeing broad based gains across all incomes and all consumer age groups. So consumers are being resilient right now and investors are shifting their attention to these consumer stocks honestly and away from big tech because like while you guys are doing your AI thing, these, these companies are just servicing people who want coffee and burritos. So maybe that's the next story that we'll be talking about is how big tech is no longer the thing. Magnificent Seven is no longer the narrative. It's about the other players in the market right now. All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with Neil's numbers right after this.
[14:31]
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[14:33]
B
Enough with the foot size jokes.
[14:36]
A
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[14:47]
B
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[14:50]
A
Use promo code Morning Brew 10 for 10% off your first pair of ultra running shoes at ultrarunning.com/morning brew. That's a LTRA running.com/morning brew Neil, how
[15:04]
B
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[15:06]
A
According to my therapist, extremely.
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B
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[15:48]
B
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[16:25]
A
Welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats in the week's news that will have you talking and you'll see what I mean in a bit. For my first number, the skies are busier than a Trader Joe's on a Sunday afternoon. According to Flight Radar 24, last Thursday was the busiest every day for commercial aviation with 153,359 flights tracked. Imagine telling someone this in the spring of 2020 when airports were ghost towns. They think you were crazy. It's Not a coincidence that the record setting day happened in the summer. During the warm months in the Northern hemisphere. Airlines jack up the number of flights to accommodate the increase in vacationers like Toby going to all of his weddings. But the record was not a given. High fuel costs from the war in Iran, lower consumer confidence and questions around spending made for an uncertain summer travel season. From the looks of it though, overhead bin space is more precious than ever.
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B
When you count all aviation. So not just commercial aviation, the number is even more absurd. On July 23, Flight Radar tracked 287,000 flights. Because when you factor in military and private aircraft as well, that's what makes the number higher. There is also a big aviation events taking place across the country. One in Farnborough and then one in. So, yeah, Farnborough is in England, Oshkosh is in Wisconsin, which meant a lot of planes were just up in the air. And flight radar only surpassed 200,000 total flights on June 29, 2025. Now we are getting closer to 300,000 flights. So a lot more planes are taking off these days.
[18:00]
A
Yeah, and I want to focus on one plane actually, because another record was set in aviation this week. Qantas, an Airbus A350 1000ULR, which is a modified Airbus A350, just completed what is believed to be the longest ever commercial flight. It took off from Melbourne, Australia and landed in Toulouse, France on Tuesday. And I mentioned that because that is a far distance, but it took this plane 24 hours and 24 minutes to make this journey. It purposely went the wrong way across the Atlantic and Pacific. And this is Qantas testing its Project Sunrise, which is coming next year. And they're launching long flights, very long flights from Australia to England. So this is part of the testing phase. But yes, these pilots, there's nobody on board, there are no passengers on board, but this plane was in the air for over 24 hours.
[18:58]
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Oh, my goodness. I hope whoever gets on a 24 hour flight, I hope the person in front of you does not recline their seat.
[19:07]
A
All right, for my second number. Next time someone asks you for a light, it's probably for a point instead of a cigarette. More Americans now use marijuana on a daily or near daily basis than cigarettes for the first time ever. The data, which come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration, found that 21.4 million Americans age 12 or over use marijuana every day in 2025. That's more than the 19.9 million who smoke cigarettes regularly and the 17.2 million who frequently drank alcohol. This changing of the guard was inevitable. If you looked at the trend line, daily pot use has surged 21% since 2021, while tobacco and alcohol use is down 28% and 24%, respectively. To be clear, overall, far more Americans drink than use cannabis. 129 million per month, compared to 43.8 million. When it comes to regular, daily, or near daily use, Popping a gummy after clocking out of work is more popular than grabbing a beer.
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B
What I found interesting is that at the same time that marijuana is becoming broadly more popular, teen marijuana use is falling. And the reason why the number is going up and teen use is going down is that more adults 26 and older are using into their 30s, 40s, and 50. Cannabis is now a daily or near daily thing for them. And that is actually a big win for proponents of legalization because a lot of critics of legalization said that this is going to mean more kids are going to be smoking weed. And in reality, it's actually adults that are smoking more. So maybe a win for the broader legalization, the federal legalization movement.
[20:41]
A
But opponents of that movement will also point to the data I just mentioned and say this is a problem, because we're talking about daily use here. And even the CDC says it's estimated that people use cannabis have about a 30% likelihood of becoming addicted. So they say that marijuana addiction is real alcohol. So we're looking at these numbers and like, well, actually alcohol, people who drink alcohol, they don't drink it that much. They drink it a few times a month, but the users of marijuana actually do so every day or almost every day. And there's a big fight right now over whether we should be rescheduling marijuana as a much less dangerous drug. And the DEA actually just finished its public hearing on the matter in July 15th. So we'll find out a decision soon. For my final number, people are speaking way less than they used to. Reading in the Atlantic, Olga Cousin details a recent study that found participants spoke about 338 fewer words per day than they did the previous year. Over the experiment span, from 2005 to 2019, the decline in speaking was 28%. She chalks it up to two trends. One, people are spending more time alone, so naturally they are speaking to others less. Another paper found that the portion of free time Americans spent by themselves rose from 44% to 49% from 2003 to 2019. The other factor is, unsurprisingly, digital communications replacing in person conversation. Think about how you used to make a restaurant reservation. You stopped by and chatted with the host, or you picked up the phone and called them. Now you use resi in silence, and that's just interacting with strangers. Text messages and group chats have also revolutionized the way we keep up with friends and family. Prioritizing written over verbal communication. Cousin says less time talking to people is a worrying development, stunting social skills, harming mental health, and neglecting parts of your brain that need exercise. Toby, I resonate with this sometimes, say a Saturday afternoon that I mostly spent around my apartment sometimes think to myself, wow, I haven't. I haven't said a word out loud today.
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B
You can always call me Neil. We can always have a conversation on the phone. But actually, it's not the same as what we're doing right now, which is talking face to face. You mentioned that talking is a brain workout. We are in the gym every morning, Neal, because when you are conversing with someone, you have to remember what the other person just said. You have to hold what you plan to say in your working memory. You got to formulate a response in a real time. You have to actually listen to what comes after as well. It's a lot. Once I started perceiving that, I couldn't remember what you were saying actually, as soon as I started going down that rabbit hole. So, yes, you need to talk to people. It doesn't have to be deep conversations with people. You know, it can actually just be small talk with the cashier. Because those interactions, too, are not only good for your brain, they're just good for society as a whole. They boost well being, make people feel more connected to something larger than themselves. It's exactly the feelings that you have when you're stuck in your apartment. You're like, I wish I was participating in the fabric of society. So, yes, this is a real issue, and it's accelerating downwards every year. We're just talking less.
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A
All right, so next time I go get a coffee, I'm going to not use the Dunkin app to order, and I'll actually just go up to the cashier. But good to know we're working out. And that's my excuse for not going to the gym. All right, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani is once again beefing with the city's 1%. Anger is mounting after the mayor's office last week published a list online of property owners who may be subject to a new tax on pricey second homes known as a pied a tear. The list, which contains names, addresses and the market value of properties, included homes owned by Trump's niece Mary Trump, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and other big time names among the 960,000 properties released on the Web. Business people lashed out at the decision to release the list, accusing the mayor of doxing celebs and implying they were targets for doing something wrong. Stephen Phillips, CEO of the influential business group Partnership for New York City, said the mayor has already won the election. He doesn't need to govern by singling people out to make a political point. Yesterday, Mamdani tried to play cleanup, responding that the list was required by state law and that ultimately a small fraction of these property owners would face the new tax. Still, as tax attorney Adrian Diaz told the Wall Street Journal, a shorter list, something more targeted would have been more appropriate.
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B
Yeah, the biggest problem here is that he kind of created the impression that almost a million homes could be hit by the tax, even though it's only going to hit a tiny fraction of them. The city ultimately mailed out just 17,000 notices to owners, so the public facing list that they published was 56 times larger than the actual pool receiving the notices. And that's the main criticism here. Mamdani was saying that this was procedural, but when it comes to just public perception, that's why this got a ton of backlash. Finally, if you feel someone pounding on the back of your seat on your next Delta flight, it might not be because you reclined too early, but because they lost a sports pick. DraftKings and Delta have teamed up to launch Sky Picks, a new sports contest that allows customers 21 and over to engage with sports while they travel. If that's a weird way of describing what feels like a sports betting partnership is because betting is still illegal on commercial aircrafts, these SkyPix game instead is a free contest you play over Delta Wi Fi on your phone that lets you answer sports related questions like who will score first or what team will win for a chance to win a Delta gift card. Neil Reactions to this were not positive. In the Delta subreddit, the second top comment was gambling is a cancer and it's everywhere. The first comment was Delta needs to worry about consistent functional Wi Fi first.
[26:14]
A
Okay, so they say, quote, no wagering, no deposits, no risks. It's just a fun contest. But when I'm looking at the questions that they're asking, I'm like, where have I seen that before? Literally, sports betting on the DraftKings app and the fact that you need to create a DraftKings account to use. The product tells you that they're using this for Legion. Who will score first, which team will win, what will the final score be? I mean, those are all prop bets that you can find on DraftKings. So they're looking for their new generation of customers.
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B
The only way that this is okay is if you're allowed to play against other people in plane for the right to their seat. If I could win enough bets in a row, a parlay that lets me move from my typical seat by the toilets in the 30th row to first class. Now we're talking. We also have anarchy in the sky.
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Do you believe you have the skills to upgrade?
[27:04]
B
I would move further back somehow. They're like you actually have have to sit in the bathroom.
[27:07]
A
Well, it's the same. You either lose $1,000 sports betting and you don't get any. You know, you maybe you get a first class ticket or you just pay $1,000 to actually get a first class ticket. All right, that is all the time we have. Thanks for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Thursday. We're excited to see a bunch of you tonight at our trivia contest where you all are going to go up against Toby and me in a trivia night. Usually we're the ones asking questions, but this time we're going against you. Are you nervous, Toby?
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B
I don't think we're favored, by the way. I think we're going to lose. We have some pretty smart listeners, so I hope we lose, actually.
[27:39]
A
All right, so if you there's still a few tickets available, so head to the link in our description to to buy your ticket and we'll see you there tonight. I think there are still a few tickets available, so if you want to join us and are still free tonight, head to the link in the description and grab your ticket. To share your thoughts on the episode or anything else, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram at me Daily show let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our supervising producer. Raymond Lu is our senior producer. Our producer is Olivia Graham and our associate producer is Olivia Lake. Technical direction by Nina Miller. Hair and makeup doesn't have a problem with talking, let me tell you. Devin Emery is our president and our shows are production of Morning Brew.
[28:20]
B
Great show, Danielle. Let's run it back tomorrow.
[28:25]
C
If your pack could use a change of pace, get to one of Great Wolf Lodge's 22 locations, splash away in the indoor water park, where it's always 84 degrees. There's a massive wave pool, a lazy river and tons of water slides. There's also a bunch of great dining options and complimentary daily events like nightly dance parties, all under one roof. Book your stay@greatwolf.com that's greatwolf.com.

Summary6 min read

Morning Brew Daily – Episode Summary

Episode: Investors Question Kevin Warsh’s Credibility & People Are Talking Less?
Date: July 30, 2026
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell

Overview

This Morning Brew Daily episode dives into a post-Fed meeting Wall Street reaction, questions around new Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s credibility, and the ongoing AI arms race in Big Tech—focusing on earnings from Meta and Microsoft. The hosts round out the show with “Neil's Numbers” (a segment surfacing surprising stats on aviation, marijuana use, and social interaction), discuss New York’s controversial property tax list, and Delta’s partnership with DraftKings. The conversation is witty, fast-paced, and packed with business context and memorable banter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. eBay’s Harassment Settlement (00:26)

Story: eBay reaches a $56 million settlement with Massachusetts journalists targeted and harassed by company executives over negative coverage in 2019.
Memorable detail: Packages included live cockroaches and a bloody pig mask.
Neal: “What the Steiners were subjected to...was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened.” (00:24)
Toby jokes: Worried about companies retaliating against their podcast, but asks for a carnitas burrito instead of a bloody pig mask from Chipotle. (01:19)

2. Fed Meeting Fallout & Kevin Warsh’s Credibility Crisis

Interest Rate Decision & Dissent (02:33 - 04:20)

Fed action: Held rates steady (9–3 vote), with three dissents for a hike—the largest such dissent since 2016.
Uncertainty: Economic data is mixed—growth continues, labor market is stable, and inflation is slightly cooler, but still above the 2% target.
Communication shift: New Fed chair Kevin Warsh is “deliberately bad at communicating,” bucking tradition by refusing to provide forward guidance.
Quote (Neal): “Kevin Warsh already has a credibility problem. Wall Street doesn’t believe he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do.” (04:20)

Market Reactions & Warsh’s Strategy (04:20 - 06:23)

Bond market revolt: 30-year yield jumps 10bps, hitting highs not seen since the financial crisis (above 5.2%).
Warsh’s view: Prefers the market, not the Fed, to “set interest rates…borrowing costs.” (05:14)
Criticism: Warsh could have justified holding steady with recent good data but said almost nothing, heightening investor anxiety.

Inflation Drivers & Challenges (06:23 - 07:35)

Inflation risks:
- AI Boom: Elevated corporate spending on AI infrastructure is pushing up prices (not just for tech—“iPads and Xboxes all rise because of the memory crunch”).
- Tariffs: President Trump’s new 10% tariffs are contributing to inflation.
- Geopolitics: Iran’s attack on US forces and Trump’s retaliation have driven oil prices higher.
Quote (Neal): “This just got a lot harder for Kevin Warsh and right now, the markets don’t really believe.” (07:20)

Equity Market Impact (07:35 - 07:53)

Tech slump: The Nasdaq 100 is down 11% from its June record—correction territory and the worst July on record.

3. Big Tech Earnings: Meta & Microsoft in the AI Arms Race

Meta’s Record Spending & Investor Doubts (07:56 - 10:12)

Baseline: Meta’s costs/expenses up 55% YoY; free cash flow plunges 91% to $784M.
Mega spending: Big data center projects—$9B (Canada), $14B (El Paso w/ BlackRock), “monster” $50B data center in Louisiana.
Investor concern: Meta doesn’t have a cloud unit (unlike MS or Google), so long-term AI spending is hard to justify.
Quote (Brent Thill via Neal): “Why don’t we have more of a concrete plan?” (09:19)
Meta's Story: Vague on selling compute to others—Zuck says “we have a few customers in the pipeline,” but provides no details.

Microsoft’s Winning Streak (10:12 - 13:12)

Spending big too: $41B in capex last quarter; $190B projected for the year, but with a payoff.
Monetization:
- Copilot AI assistant reaches 30M paid subscribers (up from 20M last quarter).
- Azure cloud revenue up 43% YoY; breaks $100B in annual revenue for first time.
- Unrecognized revenue backlog: $678B.
Comparison (Neal): “Microsoft absolutely did [answer how AI spend justifies itself]…Meta could not.” (12:27)
Market reaction: Microsoft +8% after-hours; Meta stock tumbles.

Changing Market Leadership (13:12 - 14:30)

Magnificent Seven’s power diminished: Equal weighted S&P 500 rallies to all-time high as money rotates out of Big Tech into consumer stocks.
Consumer brands shine: Starbucks and Chipotle post strong results—investors shift attention to these as Big Tech’s narrative fades.

4. Neil's Numbers – Noteworthy Stats in the News (16:25 - 23:40)

Record Air Traffic (16:25 - 18:57)

Stat: July 23 saw a record 153,359 commercial flights (287,000 counting all aviation).
Ultra-long-haul: Qantas’s Project Sunrise test—24 hrs 24 min from Melbourne to Toulouse.
Quote (Neal): "The skies are busier than a Trader Joe’s on a Sunday afternoon." (16:25)

Marijuana > Cigarettes (19:06 - 20:40)

Milestone: More Americans use marijuana daily (21.4M) vs. cigarettes (19.9M) for the first time.
Demographic trend: Rise driven by adults (26+) even as teen use falls—a “win for broader legalization.”
Quote (Neal): “Popping a gummy after clocking out is more popular than grabbing a beer.” (19:37)
Caution: CDC notes about 30% of daily users risk addiction; the DEA may soon change marijuana's federal scheduling.

We’re Speaking Less (20:40 - 23:40)

Finding: Americans utter 338 fewer words per day; 28% decline in speaking from 2005–2019.
Causes: More time alone (up to 49% of free time), texting/app communication over talking.
Warning: Olga Khazan in The Atlantic links less speech to “stunting social skills, harming mental health.”
Anecdote: Neal: “Sometimes…wow, I haven’t said a word out loud today.” (22:25)
Toby: “Small talk…boosts well being, makes people feel more connected to something larger than themselves.” (23:15)

5. Final Headlines & Quirky Stories (23:40 - End)

NYC “Pied-à-Terre” Tax List Controversy (23:40 - 24:52)

Mayor releases list of nearly 1 million property owners who may face a luxury second-home tax—sparking privacy/doxxing backlash.
Reality: Only 17,000 owners received notices. Perception “created the impression almost a million homes could be hit”—exacerbating criticism.

Delta & DraftKings Launch “Sky Picks” (24:52 - 27:06)

Launch: Sky Picks—a free sports prediction contest on Delta flights developed with DraftKings.
Not real gambling (gambling illegal on flights), but you need a DraftKings account. Seen as lead-gen for their sportsbook.
Reddit skeptics: “Delta needs to worry about…Wi-Fi first.”
Quote (Neal): “When I’m looking at the questions… literally, sports betting on the DraftKings app.” (26:14)
Toby jokes: Only way it’s okay is if you can win another passenger’s seat in a parlay.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On Wall Street’s Fed skepticism:
“We don’t believe you…you gave us no reason to think you’re actually going to do that.” — Neal (04:20)
On Meta’s AI spend:
“Meta is burning cash with not exactly a great story to tell investors about how that cash is going to pay off.” — Toby (10:12)
On social skills decline:
“This is a real issue, and it’s accelerating downwards every year. We’re just talking less.” — Toby (23:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

eBay Harassment Settlement: 00:26-01:19
Fed Meeting, Kevin Warsh’s Credibility: 02:33-07:35
AI Boom, Market Reactions: 07:35-14:30
Neil’s Numbers:
- Record Air Travel: 16:25-18:57
- Marijuana Use: 19:06-20:40
- Decline in Speaking: 20:40-23:40
NYC Tax List: 23:40-24:52
Delta + DraftKings Sky Picks: 24:52-27:06

Tone & Style

Witty, informal, energetic: Frequent jokes and cultural references (“Troy Bolton it and break free…”, “Magnificent Seven membership card”).
Conversational: Banter between Neal and Toby makes business news accessible without sacrificing substance.
Critical yet playful: Willing to challenge big names (Meta, Fed), poke fun at themselves, and highlight real-world implications.

Summary

This episode captures a restless moment in both markets and daily life: Investors no longer buy the central bank’s assurances, tech giants spend madly on AI without clear payoffs, and people are speaking less than ever before. Neal and Toby guide listeners through financial intrigue, quirky data, and society’s shifting habits—with memorable stats, sharp analysis, and a dose of self-aware humor. If you missed it, you’ll feel caught up—and ready for trivia night.

Loading summary

Transcript57 lines

[00:01]
A
Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
[00:04]
B
And I'm Toby Howell.
[00:05]
A
Today, Wall street staged a revolt after the Fed meeting.
[00:08]
B
Then Meta and Microsoft reported earnings and they're still spending on AI like they stole their parents credit card. It's Thursday, July 30th. Let's ride.
[00:26]
A
One of the most bizarre business stories of the past few years has reached a resolution. This week, eBay agreed to a $56 million settlement with two Massachusetts journalists who had been harassed in stocks by company security personnel in 2019. The TLDR is. Back then, ebay was catching heat from an activist investor, and this couple, the Steiners, who ran the website E Commerce Bites, were posting unflattering articles about the company. Then the freaky mail started showing up. For a period, the Steiners began to receive packages of live cockroaches, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse. Turns out this campaign was all orchestrated by some ebay executives to get the couple to shut up. Ebay has apologized, saying what the Steiners were subjected to by former ebay employees in 2018 was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened.
[01:19]
B
I remember covering this story when I first joined the Brew five or six years ago. It was crazy then, and it's still crazy now. It's. It also got me thinking, though. We talk a lot about companies on this podcast. Who is going to send us live cockroaches and a bloody pig Halloween mask? The only answer I could come up with was Chipotle. Not because of what we say about them, but because of how many times I've mispronounced it. Chipotle. Chipotle, Chipotle. If any Chipotle execs are listening to this, a carnitas burrito instead of a bloody pig Halloween mask, please. Which, now that I think about it, are actually kind of the same thing. And now a word from our sponsor, Anthropic. The team behind Claude, Toby and I
[02:00]
A
tackle a lot of hard hitting questions here at Morning Brew Daily.
[02:03]
B
Like, who keeps stealing my lunch?
[02:05]
A
No, like, will I take people's jobs?
[02:08]
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Anthropic, the public benefit corporation behind Cloud, heard questions like that over and over in more than 120,000 interviews about people's hopes and fears around AI so they published contingency plans for the hard unemployment scenarios, not just the rosy ones.
[02:23]
A
And they just launched Claude Core, a $150 million fellowship paying 1,000 people full salaries to work at nonprofits while training for AI era careers.
[02:33]
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So if you've got your own hard questions about AI, head to Claude AI/mbd to submit it to Anthropic and explore how they are answering them. That's claude.AI/mbd the Fed held its meeting yesterday to decide what to do with interest rates. And it feels like we're in a situationship with Kevin Warsh given how Deliber bad at communicating he's been about his plans to tame inflation markets expected the Fed to do absolutely nothing and hold rates steady. But there was still a roughly 1 in 3 chance of a surprise rate hike in the normally predictable world of central banking and made for an exciting lead in. In the end, The Fed voted 9 to 3 to keep rates the same. But that 3 is the headline. Three officials wanted a quarter point hike. The first time since 2016 that three policymakers have dissented in the same direction. You can understand why there's a split. Data shows that the economy is still growing at a solid pace. The labor market remains stable and recent inflation readings have cooled slightly. But inflation has also been above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years now, while tariffs and higher energy prices from the war in the Middle east are a constant inflationary threat. For new Fed chair Kevin Warsh, the split Fed also puts his communication experiment to the test. He's been very vocal about not being vocal, deliberately trying to wean markets off the Fed's traditional forward guidance. And yesterday was no different. The statement the committee put out was much shorter than traditional Fed statements. It was almost identical to the one released after last month's meeting, frustrating some who wanted clearer commitments. He would hike if conditions warrant it. Neil with so much uncertainty swirling heading into the meeting, the Fed ended up sticking to the status quo. But it only feels like a matter of time before they're forced to Troy Bolton it and break free of this holding pattern.
[04:20]
A
Just two meetings in. Kevin Marsh already has a credibility problem. Wall street doesn't believe he's going to do what he says he's going to do. He says he wants to bring inflation down to 2%. But when asked why they didn't raise interest rates to do that, he really didn't have any explanation. And there was a bit of a revolt in the markets yesterday. The 30 year bond yield climbed 10 basis points after this Fed meeting and they didn't do anything. The Fed just held interest rates steady. But you saw a huge reaction in the bond market. The 30 year yield is a proxy for long term borrowing costs across the US economy rose to its highest level in 19 years above 5.2%. So we're talking financial crisis levels from the bond market. So this was investors in Wall street saying, look, we don't believe you. You're saying you're going to bring down inflation by raising interest rates. But look, you gave us no reason to think that you're actually going to do that.
[05:15]
B
But Warsh is pointing to that bond movement and basically saying, this is exactly what I want. I want the market to actually set interest rates or set borrowing costs more so than the Fed. This is something that he has been vocal about. He doesn't want the Fed's move to kind of inform which way the economy is going and how markets are reacting. So the fact that rates essentially got higher, effectively got higher. If you are, you know, trying to buy a house right now or you're trying to pay off credit card bills, those rates are determined more by the bonds, even more so than what the Fed is setting. So the bond market may be calling its bluff or wars would argue it's doing exactly what he wants it to. But a lot of people are frustrated because Warsh could have given a good argument about holding rates steady. He could have pointed to the fact that we had a better than expected June inflation report. He could have pointed to the fact that maybe US Iran hostilities are thawing. These are all things that he could have said. And hey, we're looking at this data and we think it all is pointing towards a hold. Instead, he didn't really say much of anything, which is why you mentioned that he has a little bit of a credibility problem. Right.
[06:24]
A
So looking forward, I mean, inflation, the question facing Fed and Wash is is this inflation going to be a one off shock or is there going to be a persistent problem here? And there are maybe three things that are driving inflation higher. One which is kind of new is the AI boom. We're about to talk about this in the next couple of stor, but companies are spending so much money on AI infrastructure and that is inflationary at the moment. We've already seen consumer gadgets like iPads and Xbox is all rise because of the memory crunch. And then the other two things are we saw President Trump institute new 10% tariffs on the rest of the world. That is also inflationary. And then the final thing is this war, and you mentioned it, that tensions were thawing. But actually, no, they're going in the opposite direction. Iran launched a surprise attack on U.S. forces in Jordan earlier this week. And then overnight Trump pledged to retaliate and they're doing so Oil prices are back up. And as we know, higher oil prices filter across the global economy in the in form of greater inflation. So this just got a lot harder for Kevin Washington right now. The markets don't really believe he's going to do what he says he's going to do.
[07:35]
B
I mean, we've talked about the bond market, but we might as well mention the equity market as well. The Nasdaq 100, which is a tech focus index, is now down 11% from their June, from its June record. It's now in correction territory. We're on pace for the worst July on record.
[07:53]
A
So no matter what, the dog of the week tomorrow.
[07:57]
B
I know, I know. And we're actually going to talk about this a little later as well. All right, moving on. Metta reported earnings yesterday and it might lose its membership card to the Magnificent Seven if it keeps this up. The biggest question going into this report was how much money is it spending on its AI buildout? And the answer made investors queasy. Total costs and expenses were up 55% year over year, bringing its free cash flow to $784 million, down from eight and a half billion a year ago, good for a cool 91% decline. Its advertising unit is still one of the greatest money making machines in the world, bringing in $59.3 billion and beating expectations. But Metta has committed to the AI race at this point, which means spending on data centers will continue until morale improves. And now has three big datacenter projects underway. A $9 billion one in Canada, a recently announced $14 billion venture with BlackRock in El Paso, and a monster data center in rural Louisiana that will cost more than $50 billion. Neal, we saw Alphabet go cash flow negative for the first time in two decades this past quarter. But Alphabet has a growing cloud business. Something better does not, which is part of the reason why the market is so much more critical of its spending compared to the rest of big tech. Shares tumbled after hours as investors cast doubts on Zuck's grand plans.
[09:19]
A
I think everyone was asking, why don't we have more of a concrete plan? That that's actually not me saying it. That's a direct quote from Brent Thill, who's a tech analyst at Jefferies. Met is spending so much money along the lines of Microsoft and Google and Amazon, as we'll see is reporting later today. But they don't have this cloud unit to monetize. So right now, how do they monetize this? Through advertising and WhatsApp and Instagram and things like that, but they don't. They have. They're building all of this compute capacity by building HU data center projects and investors don't think that they need all of that capacity to run Instagram and Facebook and do all the AI on those particular apps. And they don't exactly have a plan to sell that to other companies. Zuckerberg did mention it on the call. He said, look, we think we're going to have some leftover and we have a few customers in the pipeline. He didn't really mention that or any specifics, but investors will want to hear more specifics if Meta Stock wants to get a bump.
[10:13]
B
Yeah, one of the issues is they did get specific in one category that people didn't really want to hear about, which is their 202026 CAPEX guidance. They previously had a range of 125 billion to 145 billion. There was a little wiggle room there. Now they've revised it upwards to 130 billion to 145 billion. So they are narrowing in on record spending and that's not what the market wants to hear right now. Especially because you're right, Metta is the has maybe the most tenuous story to tell when it comes to their AI because again, if you are a Microsoft or if you are Google, you have a cloud business that you can service other customers with and they are better is dipping their toe into that. But they're way they're years behind, decades behind when it comes to building out a cloud business. So they're burning cash with not exactly a great story to tell to investors of how that cash is going to pay off. Microsoft, on the other hand, is keeping its Mag7 membership card for now. It also reported earnings yesterday and like matter, the big news is that it is spending a lot of time. It dropped 41 billion on capital expenditures last quarter, up nearly 70% from a year ago as it continues its own build out of data centers. It expects to spend roughly 190 billion on capex this year. But Microsoft is actually turning it into a business. Microsoft now has 30 million paid subscribers to its Copilot AI assistant, up from 20 million just one quarter ago and well ahead of what analysts expected. It also has a rip snorting cloud division. Azure revenue grew 43% with the unit topping $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Microsoft is also sitting on a staggering $678 billion backlog of revenue it hasn't yet recognized, which sounds sweet until you realize that a lot of it comes from contracts with Open Air, the company it owns 27% of. Neil investors punish matter because it's spending billions on AI without a cloud business to directly monetize that investment. Microsoft is almost the perfect counterexample to. It is spending even more aggressively. But Azure is accelerating, Copilot is expanding, and the company is still cash flow positive. The stock rose 8% after hours, which in this market is a huge win.
[12:28]
A
It's a mirror image of Betta's earnings call. Microsoft's cloud unit, Azure grew the fastest pace in four years. It even topped expectations 43% versus 40%. If the question from investors to these executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is Are you making money from AI? Are you making money from spending $190 billion a year to justify all of that investment? Meta could not answer that question and Microsoft absolutely did because they're saying, hey look, oh, you got a lot of workers, employees using Copilot now because that's our AI service and we have a bunch of companies paying us for server space because they're using our cloud offering. So they have a much more compelling story to tell of how they're making money from all these AI spending.
[13:12]
B
Still, despite this good earnings report from Microsoft, the stock is still down around 17% this year. And I just want to zoom out for a second. The Magnificent Seven has been the force that has powered the market to all time highs over the last decade or so. But now that narrative is cracking a little bit. The equal weighted S&P 500 where every company gets the same weight that has rallied to an all time high which shows that the market is broadening a little bit. It's not just the Magnificent Seven in everyone else. And we're actually seeing that in this latest crop of earnings reports. Yesterday, outside of big Tech, Starbucks and Chipotle reported great earnings and raised their guidance. They say they're seeing broad based gains across all incomes and all consumer age groups. So consumers are being resilient right now and investors are shifting their attention to these consumer stocks honestly and away from big tech because like while you guys are doing your AI thing, these, these companies are just servicing people who want coffee and burritos. So maybe that's the next story that we'll be talking about is how big tech is no longer the thing. Magnificent Seven is no longer the narrative. It's about the other players in the market right now. All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with Neil's numbers right after this.
[14:31]
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Finding the right shoe is no small feat.
[14:33]
B
Enough with the foot size jokes.
[14:36]
A
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[14:47]
B
Altra does actually make shoes shaped like feet. What a concept.
[14:50]
A
Use promo code Morning Brew 10 for 10% off your first pair of ultra running shoes at ultrarunning.com/morning brew. That's a LTRA running.com/morning brew Neil, how
[15:04]
B
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[15:06]
A
According to my therapist, extremely.
[15:08]
B
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[15:13]
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[15:48]
B
Yeah, I think it's these Ultra pouches I started using. They give me a nice energy boost for my gym sets without the vaso constriction that comes with nicotine.
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[16:19]
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[16:25]
A
Welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats in the week's news that will have you talking and you'll see what I mean in a bit. For my first number, the skies are busier than a Trader Joe's on a Sunday afternoon. According to Flight Radar 24, last Thursday was the busiest every day for commercial aviation with 153,359 flights tracked. Imagine telling someone this in the spring of 2020 when airports were ghost towns. They think you were crazy. It's Not a coincidence that the record setting day happened in the summer. During the warm months in the Northern hemisphere. Airlines jack up the number of flights to accommodate the increase in vacationers like Toby going to all of his weddings. But the record was not a given. High fuel costs from the war in Iran, lower consumer confidence and questions around spending made for an uncertain summer travel season. From the looks of it though, overhead bin space is more precious than ever.
[17:16]
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When you count all aviation. So not just commercial aviation, the number is even more absurd. On July 23, Flight Radar tracked 287,000 flights. Because when you factor in military and private aircraft as well, that's what makes the number higher. There is also a big aviation events taking place across the country. One in Farnborough and then one in. So, yeah, Farnborough is in England, Oshkosh is in Wisconsin, which meant a lot of planes were just up in the air. And flight radar only surpassed 200,000 total flights on June 29, 2025. Now we are getting closer to 300,000 flights. So a lot more planes are taking off these days.
[18:00]
A
Yeah, and I want to focus on one plane actually, because another record was set in aviation this week. Qantas, an Airbus A350 1000ULR, which is a modified Airbus A350, just completed what is believed to be the longest ever commercial flight. It took off from Melbourne, Australia and landed in Toulouse, France on Tuesday. And I mentioned that because that is a far distance, but it took this plane 24 hours and 24 minutes to make this journey. It purposely went the wrong way across the Atlantic and Pacific. And this is Qantas testing its Project Sunrise, which is coming next year. And they're launching long flights, very long flights from Australia to England. So this is part of the testing phase. But yes, these pilots, there's nobody on board, there are no passengers on board, but this plane was in the air for over 24 hours.
[18:58]
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Oh, my goodness. I hope whoever gets on a 24 hour flight, I hope the person in front of you does not recline their seat.
[19:07]
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All right, for my second number. Next time someone asks you for a light, it's probably for a point instead of a cigarette. More Americans now use marijuana on a daily or near daily basis than cigarettes for the first time ever. The data, which come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration, found that 21.4 million Americans age 12 or over use marijuana every day in 2025. That's more than the 19.9 million who smoke cigarettes regularly and the 17.2 million who frequently drank alcohol. This changing of the guard was inevitable. If you looked at the trend line, daily pot use has surged 21% since 2021, while tobacco and alcohol use is down 28% and 24%, respectively. To be clear, overall, far more Americans drink than use cannabis. 129 million per month, compared to 43.8 million. When it comes to regular, daily, or near daily use, Popping a gummy after clocking out of work is more popular than grabbing a beer.
[20:01]
B
What I found interesting is that at the same time that marijuana is becoming broadly more popular, teen marijuana use is falling. And the reason why the number is going up and teen use is going down is that more adults 26 and older are using into their 30s, 40s, and 50. Cannabis is now a daily or near daily thing for them. And that is actually a big win for proponents of legalization because a lot of critics of legalization said that this is going to mean more kids are going to be smoking weed. And in reality, it's actually adults that are smoking more. So maybe a win for the broader legalization, the federal legalization movement.
[20:41]
A
But opponents of that movement will also point to the data I just mentioned and say this is a problem, because we're talking about daily use here. And even the CDC says it's estimated that people use cannabis have about a 30% likelihood of becoming addicted. So they say that marijuana addiction is real alcohol. So we're looking at these numbers and like, well, actually alcohol, people who drink alcohol, they don't drink it that much. They drink it a few times a month, but the users of marijuana actually do so every day or almost every day. And there's a big fight right now over whether we should be rescheduling marijuana as a much less dangerous drug. And the DEA actually just finished its public hearing on the matter in July 15th. So we'll find out a decision soon. For my final number, people are speaking way less than they used to. Reading in the Atlantic, Olga Cousin details a recent study that found participants spoke about 338 fewer words per day than they did the previous year. Over the experiment span, from 2005 to 2019, the decline in speaking was 28%. She chalks it up to two trends. One, people are spending more time alone, so naturally they are speaking to others less. Another paper found that the portion of free time Americans spent by themselves rose from 44% to 49% from 2003 to 2019. The other factor is, unsurprisingly, digital communications replacing in person conversation. Think about how you used to make a restaurant reservation. You stopped by and chatted with the host, or you picked up the phone and called them. Now you use resi in silence, and that's just interacting with strangers. Text messages and group chats have also revolutionized the way we keep up with friends and family. Prioritizing written over verbal communication. Cousin says less time talking to people is a worrying development, stunting social skills, harming mental health, and neglecting parts of your brain that need exercise. Toby, I resonate with this sometimes, say a Saturday afternoon that I mostly spent around my apartment sometimes think to myself, wow, I haven't. I haven't said a word out loud today.
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B
You can always call me Neil. We can always have a conversation on the phone. But actually, it's not the same as what we're doing right now, which is talking face to face. You mentioned that talking is a brain workout. We are in the gym every morning, Neal, because when you are conversing with someone, you have to remember what the other person just said. You have to hold what you plan to say in your working memory. You got to formulate a response in a real time. You have to actually listen to what comes after as well. It's a lot. Once I started perceiving that, I couldn't remember what you were saying actually, as soon as I started going down that rabbit hole. So, yes, you need to talk to people. It doesn't have to be deep conversations with people. You know, it can actually just be small talk with the cashier. Because those interactions, too, are not only good for your brain, they're just good for society as a whole. They boost well being, make people feel more connected to something larger than themselves. It's exactly the feelings that you have when you're stuck in your apartment. You're like, I wish I was participating in the fabric of society. So, yes, this is a real issue, and it's accelerating downwards every year. We're just talking less.
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All right, so next time I go get a coffee, I'm going to not use the Dunkin app to order, and I'll actually just go up to the cashier. But good to know we're working out. And that's my excuse for not going to the gym. All right, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani is once again beefing with the city's 1%. Anger is mounting after the mayor's office last week published a list online of property owners who may be subject to a new tax on pricey second homes known as a pied a tear. The list, which contains names, addresses and the market value of properties, included homes owned by Trump's niece Mary Trump, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and other big time names among the 960,000 properties released on the Web. Business people lashed out at the decision to release the list, accusing the mayor of doxing celebs and implying they were targets for doing something wrong. Stephen Phillips, CEO of the influential business group Partnership for New York City, said the mayor has already won the election. He doesn't need to govern by singling people out to make a political point. Yesterday, Mamdani tried to play cleanup, responding that the list was required by state law and that ultimately a small fraction of these property owners would face the new tax. Still, as tax attorney Adrian Diaz told the Wall Street Journal, a shorter list, something more targeted would have been more appropriate.
[24:52]
B
Yeah, the biggest problem here is that he kind of created the impression that almost a million homes could be hit by the tax, even though it's only going to hit a tiny fraction of them. The city ultimately mailed out just 17,000 notices to owners, so the public facing list that they published was 56 times larger than the actual pool receiving the notices. And that's the main criticism here. Mamdani was saying that this was procedural, but when it comes to just public perception, that's why this got a ton of backlash. Finally, if you feel someone pounding on the back of your seat on your next Delta flight, it might not be because you reclined too early, but because they lost a sports pick. DraftKings and Delta have teamed up to launch Sky Picks, a new sports contest that allows customers 21 and over to engage with sports while they travel. If that's a weird way of describing what feels like a sports betting partnership is because betting is still illegal on commercial aircrafts, these SkyPix game instead is a free contest you play over Delta Wi Fi on your phone that lets you answer sports related questions like who will score first or what team will win for a chance to win a Delta gift card. Neil Reactions to this were not positive. In the Delta subreddit, the second top comment was gambling is a cancer and it's everywhere. The first comment was Delta needs to worry about consistent functional Wi Fi first.
[26:14]
A
Okay, so they say, quote, no wagering, no deposits, no risks. It's just a fun contest. But when I'm looking at the questions that they're asking, I'm like, where have I seen that before? Literally, sports betting on the DraftKings app and the fact that you need to create a DraftKings account to use. The product tells you that they're using this for Legion. Who will score first, which team will win, what will the final score be? I mean, those are all prop bets that you can find on DraftKings. So they're looking for their new generation of customers.
[26:44]
B
The only way that this is okay is if you're allowed to play against other people in plane for the right to their seat. If I could win enough bets in a row, a parlay that lets me move from my typical seat by the toilets in the 30th row to first class. Now we're talking. We also have anarchy in the sky.
[27:01]
A
Do you believe you have the skills to upgrade?
[27:04]
B
I would move further back somehow. They're like you actually have have to sit in the bathroom.
[27:07]
A
Well, it's the same. You either lose $1,000 sports betting and you don't get any. You know, you maybe you get a first class ticket or you just pay $1,000 to actually get a first class ticket. All right, that is all the time we have. Thanks for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Thursday. We're excited to see a bunch of you tonight at our trivia contest where you all are going to go up against Toby and me in a trivia night. Usually we're the ones asking questions, but this time we're going against you. Are you nervous, Toby?
[27:34]
B
I don't think we're favored, by the way. I think we're going to lose. We have some pretty smart listeners, so I hope we lose, actually.
[27:39]
A
All right, so if you there's still a few tickets available, so head to the link in our description to to buy your ticket and we'll see you there tonight. I think there are still a few tickets available, so if you want to join us and are still free tonight, head to the link in the description and grab your ticket. To share your thoughts on the episode or anything else, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram at me Daily show let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our supervising producer. Raymond Lu is our senior producer. Our producer is Olivia Graham and our associate producer is Olivia Lake. Technical direction by Nina Miller. Hair and makeup doesn't have a problem with talking, let me tell you. Devin Emery is our president and our shows are production of Morning Brew.
[28:20]
B
Great show, Danielle. Let's run it back tomorrow.
[28:25]
C
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