Market Tumbles After Jobs Report & Nasdaq Wants to Trade Around the Clock

Summary

Morning Brew Daily – December 17, 2025

Episode Title: Market Tumbles After Jobs Report & Nasdaq Wants to Trade Around the Clock
Hosts: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell
Theme: The hosts dive into a disappointing jobs report, the drama over the next Fed Chair (spoiler: both frontrunners are named Kevin), and the Nasdaq’s push to make stock trading almost 24/7. Other stories include a legal battle over food delivery tipping, Paramount’s messy bid for Warner Brothers, and a viral raccoon fund-raiser.

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Main Theme Overview

This episode centers on major shifts in the business and economic landscape:

• A mixed-bag November jobs report shakes market confidence and raises questions on the economy’s stability.
• The ongoing, surprisingly comical race to be the next Fed Chair (between two Kevins) is heating up.
• Nasdaq wants to extend stock trading hours to 23/24, triggering strong reactions from across the financial world.
  The hosts bring their signature wit and banter, keeping the tone light while dissecting serious economic topics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. November Jobs Report Disappoints

Segment Start: [02:08]

• Headline numbers:

  • Only 64,000 jobs added in November; October revised to a loss of 105,000 jobs.
  • Unemployment rose to 4.6%, highest since September 2021.
  • “A steady rise in unemployment suggests the labor market is seeing a structural weakening, AKA the the exact kind of move that the Fed is hyper attuned to.” — Toby Howell [03:14]

• Sector breakdown:

  • Healthcare and social assistance are the lone bright spots, accounting for more than 100% of private sector gains (offsetting losses elsewhere, like manufacturing and government due to layoffs, especially those affected by DOGE policy changes).
  • Manufacturing: “Manufacturing lost 5,000 jobs in November… we have certainly not seen a manufacturing renaissance as a result of high tariffs on the rest of the world.” — Neal Freyman [06:32]

• Young workers hit hardest:

  • Unemployment for ages 16-24 jumped to 10.6%, the highest since 2021.

• Is it as bad as it looks?

  • Neal points out rounding exaggerates negative headlines (unemployment technically rose from 4.44% to 4.56%).
  • Private payrolls growth average (75,000 per month) suggests “maybe more of a confusing or muddy job report than the headline numbers suggest.” — Neal Freyman [05:03]

• Fed’s Perspective:

  • Data is viewed as messy due to recent government shutdown; Fed officials likely to wait for more clarity before reacting.
  • RSM economist Joe Bruce Sueilus summarized: “If you are not confused, you are not paying attention.” — Neal Freyman [07:51]

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2. The ‘Kevin vs. Kevin’ Fed Chair Race

Segment Start: [07:51]

• The Situation:

  • Jerome Powell is outgoing; both frontrunners to replace him are named Kevin (Kevin Hassett and Kevin Warsh).
  • Trump is expected to decide soon, but prediction markets flip daily.
  • Hassett was favored due to closeness with Trump and preference for low rates; now Warsh is surging amid concerns about market reactions.
  • “On Tuesday, Kevin Warsh surged ahead of Hassett as the favorite for the next Fed chair... this really does feel like a toss up at this point.” — Neal Freyman [08:33]

• High stakes for Fed independence:

  • If Trump pushes for a compliant Fed chair, central bank independence is at risk.
  • “Either you want to kind of bend the knee to the executive branch… or you don't bend the knee and are subject to a very rocky tenure with Trump.” — Toby Howell [09:24]

• Possible wild card:

  • Trump is also meeting Fed governor Chris Waller, seen as defender of Fed independence — could he be the “dark horse”?

• Wall Street reaction:

  • Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan CEO): prefers Warsh (viewed as more mainstream).
  • Ken Griffin (Citadel CEO): stresses need for the Fed to remain independent, possibly a veiled criticism of Hassett.
  • “The two Kevins and a Chris. It sounds like a messed up sitcom that is coming down the pipeline — with only the global economy at stake.” — Toby Howell & Neal Freyman [11:41]

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3. Nasdaq’s Bid for Nearly 24-Hour Stock Trading

Segment Start: [11:42]

• The Proposal:

  • Nasdaq asks SEC to allow trading from 9pm to 4am, in addition to traditional hours — totaling 23 hours per day.
  • This caters to international investors; global demand for US stocks is immense ($17 trillion in foreign holdings).

• Crypto’s influence:

  • Neal observes: “Bitcoin has come along over the past decade or so and, and you can trade it 24/7... This is just our new reality.” [13:42]

• Controversy:

  • Detractors (including a Wells Fargo trading desk) say it’s “literally the worst thing in the world” [14:19].
  • Concerns:
    • Increased speculation and risk (especially at low-liquidity hours).
    • Infrastructure headaches and major cost increases for Wall Street.
    • “Pauses are useful — companies need downtime to release earnings and avoid every single thing that they do moving the markets.” — Toby Howell [14:19]

• Momentum for continuous trading is growing:

  • “It looks like the momentum is shifting toward this 24/7 trading. It’s maybe a matter of when, not if.” — Neal Freyman [15:31]

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4. Uber & DoorDash Tipping Law Showdown in NYC

Segment Start: [18:02]

• What’s happening:

  • New law: Prompt customers to tip upfront (minimum 10%) instead of after delivery, beginning January.
  • Uber and DoorDash are suing, claim it’s government overreach (“free speech” angle).
  • They argue upfront tips create “sticker shock” and lower order volume.

• Background & impact:

  • Last year, NYC imposed a minimum wage (~$21/hr) for delivery workers, leading apps to push tipping prompts to the end (result: tipping plunged).
  • “Tips, while they accounted for 50% of a worker's delivery income before this minimum wage law, now they account for just 13%.” — Neal Freyman [20:34]

• Why it matters:

  • The UX of when you’re asked for a tip has a major impact on pay.
  • NY City Council: goal is transparency and returning to the previous status quo.

• Booming delivery industry:

  • “New Yorkers spent more than $265 million on restaurant deliveries in the first half of 2025.” — Neal Freyman [21:57]

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5. Quick Headlines

Segment Start: [22:16]

• Paramount vs. Netflix in Warner Bros. bid:

  • Kushner’s Affinity Partners drops out, Netflix back as favorite.
  • “The Ellison family is backstopping all $41 billion in equity commitments and they're just not sure whether he is truly committed.” — Neal Freyman [23:16]

• Volkswagen closes historic Dresden plant:

  • Economic pressure (weak sales, US tariffs); symbolic as the “Transparent Factory” closes for the first time in 88 years.

• Viral raccoon (the “trashed panda”) becomes a charitable sensation:

  • Merch sales raise $250K+ for the animal shelter.
  • “Sometimes a silly Internet story can do a little good.” — Neal Freyman [25:41]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On jobs report confusion:

• “If you are not confused, you are not paying attention.” — Neal Freyman, quoting RSM economist Joe Bruce Sueilus [07:51]

On the Kevin-Fed conundrum:

• “The two Kevins and a Chris. It sounds like a messed up sitcom… with only the global economy at stake.” — Toby Howell [11:28]

On 24-hour trading push:

• “Wells Fargo trading desk put out a response saying this is literally the worst thing in the world…” — Toby Howell [14:19]

On food delivery tipping wars:

• “Tips, while they accounted for 50% of a worker's delivery income before this minimum wage law, now they account for just 13%.” — Neal Freyman [20:34]

Viral raccoon:

• “Merch commemorating the viral raccoon has raised over a quarter of a million dollars…” — Neal Freyman [25:41]
• “This is what you're supposed to do when you have a very wholesome meme. Go viral. Cash in on it. Raise some money for a good cause.” — Toby Howell [26:20]

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 02:08 — Jobs report breakdown & implications
• 07:51 — Fed chair “Kevin v. Kevin” drama
• 11:42 — Nasdaq & the 24/7 trading revolution
• 18:02 — The NYC tipping law, Uber & DoorDash response
• 22:16 — Paramount-Netflix bid, Volkswagen plant closure, and viral raccoon charity
• 25:41 — Raccoon merch for a cause

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Tone & Language

The hosts maintain a breezy, irreverent, and highly engaging style, blending humor with data-driven analysis. Listeners get clear debate, explained numbers (with some “extra decimal point” geekery), and real-world business implications — all punctuated with playful jabs and pop culture references.

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This episode is ideal for keeping up with shifting economic narratives and understanding how even seemingly small policy decisions or quirky industry experiments (like trading hours or tipping UX) can have wide impacts. Even a viral raccoon story gets the Morning Brew treatment — useful, funny, and up-to-date.

Transcript

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[Neal Freyman]

Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

[Toby Howell]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[Neal Freyman]

Today, who's going to be the next Fed chair? Probably a guy named Kevin.

[Toby Howell]

Then, after a long delay, the jobs report is finally here and it kind of stinks. It's Wednesday, December 17th. Let's ride.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's say you're watching a TV show and you'd want to avoid sports spoilers. Maybe you'll stay off the Internet for a bit or avoid talking to friends who are ahead of you. But there's another place you may want to stay away from Google Earth. Fans of the hit Apple show Pluribus are confronting the fact that Google Earth's historical imagery reveals a major plot point in episode seven. If you zoom in on the fake neighborhood outside of Albuquerque that was used for the set, I'm not going to tell you what it is, of course, but Toby, this has got me spooked. I still in the middle of Lord of the Rings and I'm totally going to stop my Google Maps Street View tour of Osgilia.

[Toby Howell]

What people do with their free time astounds me. How does one even remotely begin to one find the set and then to know to go back through old historical satellite imagery to then stumble upon a spoiler? I wonder what other shows though you could spoil with some good old historical Google Earth data. Red Wedding, Game of Thrones. And you know what? I'm just going to hold my tongue there because apparently I've spoiled show shows on our show before. Namely the ending of the summer I Turned Pretty. So I'd rather you direct your ire towards Google Earth than towards Toby Howell. And now a word from our sponsor, Public. Now, remember when we said we'd start doing more adult things this year?

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, and I've been pretty good. I've been meal prepping, getting better sleep and hitting the gym.

[Toby Howell]

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[Toby Howell]

I am going to be adulting so hard this year. Get started at public.com/morning brew and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/morning brew paid for by Public Investing Full Disclosures in Podcast Description Like a hinge date with a punctuality problem, the November jobs report dropped in yesterday looking messy and late. Employers added 64,000 jobs last month, but officials also revealed a revised October report that showed the US economy lost 105,000 jobs a month prior. The biggest red flag, other than failing to hold the door open for you, is that the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%. That is up from 4.4% the month prior, in the highest level since September 2021, when the country was still emerging from the pandemic. A steady rise in unemployment suggests the labor market is seeing a structural weakening, AKA the the exact kind of move that the Fed is hyper attuned to. As it indicates a broader slowdown, not a one off blip. It remains a lumpy job market out there. Some sectors like health care and hospitality are still crushing it, while other areas like manufacturing remain anemic. The federal government, for instance, saw a decline of 162,000 jobs over the last month as workers affected by DOGE officially came off payrolls. One more vibe killing stat. Wage growth slowed to its lowest level since 2021, which only adds to the pessimism pie consumers have been eating lately. Neal, do not go on a hinge date with a November jobs report.

[Neal Freyman]

Certainly not. But I do want to present some beige flags or maybe even some green flags because I don't think this report was as bad as maybe you described. And to do that, I want to go where no one has gone before. An extra decimal place. So you said the unemployment rose rate rose from 4.4% to 4.6%. That is technically true, but let's go an extra decimal place. It rose from 4.44% in September to 4.56% in November. And due to the vagaries of rounding, you get something that is maybe a little more dramatic than what the 4.4 to 4.6% suggest. Then again, you also look at private payrolls. So we talked about the fact that Doge eliminated 162,000 government jobs. But let's look at private payrolls. They have risen by an average of $75,000 per month for the last three months. So that maybe suggests stronger underlying job creation than the headline number of job losses may suggest. So there are some glass half full statistics that maybe show that this is maybe more of a confusing or muddy job report than the headline numbers suggest.

[Toby Howell]

All right, fine. You had red green flags and beige flags. I'm going right back to red flags though. And, and that is young people are struggling in this job market. Employment prospects for young workers aged 16 to 24 are grim. In November, their unemployment rate rose to 10.6%, the highest since November 2020 or the highest since 2021. So you don't need an extra decimal point there to know that it's not great that people are the youngest people. The people entering the workforce in the beginning of their careers are having struggles doing that. And then also we are just below stability in general right now. The US Economy is failing to put enough jobs into the job market to keep up with the supply of new workers. So we are seeing if you just average out the last three months of jobs growth, we're adding just 22,000 jobs on a six month basis. Job growth is averaging just 16,000 jobs per month. That is not replacement rate. That is not signs of a stable jobs market. That is breaking even in terms of new people being added into the workforce, having jobs available for them.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, I mean, when you do the sector breakdown here, there's really only one sector that is adding jobs. I mean, this is basically like Joe Burrow on the Bengals. They're the only company or the only sector that is actually doing anything to improve the prospects of the job market. And that is health care and social assistance. So health care and social assistance accounted for 116% of private sector job gains across October and November. And you're thinking, how can something add 116% of total jobs? So that's because everything else was losing jobs. And one sector I want to highlight there is manufacturing. Manufacturing lost 5,000 jobs in November. Manufacturing payrolls haven't risen. They've been all negative since March and they are now at their lowest level. So since March 2022, we have certainly not seen a manufacturing renaissance as a result of high tariffs on the rest of the world.

[Toby Howell]

I do think the Fed is holding their nerve when looking at this though, because one thing that they've said is that there's significant data distortions over just the last few months. The government shutdown made everything a little bit wonky right now. So maybe they won't put as much sway into these big revisions or these big upsides one way or the other because they're saying, well, listen, we know we're peering through, you know, muddied glasses right now. Let's wait for everything to clear up a little bit before we make any prognostications or react too strongly.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's give the final word to RSM economist Joe Bruce Sueilus, who wrote a report on the job, on the jobs report that was released yesterday and he said, if you are not confused, you are not paying attention. Moving on the race for the next Fed chair has been shaken up over the last few days with Kevin overtaking Kevin as the most likely new central bank boss. Yes, both the final contenders to replace Jerome Powell in May are name Kevin. President Trump has signaled that within a few weeks he's probably going to choose between appointing Kevin Hassett, currently a top economic adviser at the White House, and Kevin Warsh, a former Bush economic adviser and ex Fed governor. I think you have Kevin and Kevin, trump said on Friday. I think the two Kevins are great. However, there's growing belief that one Kevin might be a more likely pick than the other, and it's not the Kevin most thought. Hassett, the White House economist, was long viewed as the front runner because of his close relationship with Trump and and his advocacy for lower interest rates, which is what Trump has pleaded for. Since September, Hassett has been the odds on favorite in prediction markets with Kevin Walsh in second. But this week, the flipping happened. On Tuesday, Kevin Wash surged ahead of Hassett as the favorite for the next Fed chair. That came from a one, two punch. Number one, Trump indicated in an interview that Wash was now at the top of his list. And number two, a CNBC report on Monday revealed that people close to Trump were warning him against choosing Hassett was over concerns of a bond market revolt. Then again, I just checked Koshi this morning and now Hassett is back in the lead. So it really does feel like a toss up at this point. More importantly, Toby, is America ready for a Fed chair named Kevin?

[Toby Howell]

I think the Kevin's are in a bit of a lose lose scenario. No matter who wins. Either you want to kind of bend the knee to the executive branch and deliver the low interest rates that Trump wants, which increases concerns of the Federal Reserve lacking independence, which is what a lot of people are highlighting, or you don't bend the knee and are subject to a very rocky tenure with Trump after he presumably might turn on you if you don't do exactly what he says. So maybe you don't even want the job if your name is Kevin. You're. You're already behind the eight ball when your name is Kevin. I'm just kidding. But also maybe it won't even be one of the Kevin's at all. You mentioned another kind of change in the prediction market. Yes, this morning. Later this afternoon, Trump is meeting with Chris Waller, which is a Fed governor he appointed in 2020. Waller is viewed as someone who would defend the institution's independence. So the fact that they're having a meeting later, that has got people saying, actually maybe it's not the Kevin's we, we want Waller in here. So maybe he's the dark horse in the Kevin versus Kevin race.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah. A few finance titans have sounded off on who they would want as the Federal Reserve Chair. J.P. morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who is really the kingmaker in this space, said implied that he would prefer Wash, which is the more mainstream view outside of Waller, as opposed to Hassett in a meeting. So he is, he wants to back Wash and he doesn't like the Hassett pick because Hassett is so close to Trump and would maybe lower interest rates when the market doesn't exactly benefit from that. And then Ken Griffin, who's the CEO of the Citadel, didn't say anything one way or another indicating who he would prefer. But he did make it clear that the most important move the President and the incoming Fed chairman can make is to create distance between the White House and the Fed. And maybe that's, you know, a backhanded knock against Kevin Hassett, who again works in the White House. And while he has gone on interviews this past weekend and before that, saying he would protect the Fed's independence is seen as pretty buddy buddy with Trump.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, Hassett has been on damage control saying like no, he would have no weight. Which is what you're supp. Say it if you're a candidate for Fed chair. But the two Kevin's and a Chris. It sounds like a messed up sitcom that is coming down the pipeline with.

[Neal Freyman]

Only the global economy.

[Toby Howell]

Exactly. Moving on. Bust out a Red Bull in the soundtrack from challengers. NASDAQ wants you to pull an all nighter. The second largest US exchange asked the SEC for permission to beef up its trading hours by adding an additional session from 9pm to 4 4am bringing the total amount of time you can make ill fated bets on beyond meat to 23 hours. The pros of such an approach include letting your cousin in Brussels day trade during his waking hours as it would invite market participants outside the US to play ball. US stocks dominate global portfolios, so investors in Asia to Europe who currently react after the fact to big events like earnings or Fed decisions could capitalize on information more quickly. Now the downsides are what you'd expect. Near continuous trading can lead to some wild swings, especially during times like 3am when volume and liquidity are low. Still, this is the way the trading world is moving. The New York Stock Exchange received initial approval for 22 hour weekday trading earlier this year, while Robinhood and other brokers Both already offer 24 hour trading, albeit executed on less regulated exchanges. Neal Nothing like waking up with night terrors at 3:30 in the morning to see you've lost a quarter of your net worth on a quantum computing stock.

[Neal Freyman]

From what I understand, this is being very much cheered by traders in Europe and Asia where they want more accessibility to the US Stock market, which is the biggest in the world. Foreign holdings of U.S. stocks reached a record $17 trillion last year. The U.S. stock market represents almost two thirds of the market value of all listed companies globally. When we're talking about Nasdaq, which wants to go 23 hours, it's home to Nvidia, Apple and Amazon. So if you're in Hong Kong or a trader and you have to wake up in the middle of the night to actually trade the most valuable companies in the world, that can be very annoying. So they say, wow, this is a game changer for us to be more in line with the trading hours of the United States where these are all the stocks I want to buy. And I think one factor that we have to mention that's driving a lot of this is cryptocurrency. Now bitcoin has come along over the past decade or so and, and you can trade it 247 when the markets go quiet after Friday at 4pm Bitcoin is still going crazy and people are making money or losing money on Bitcoin, Ethereum, bunch of other cryptocurrencies. And that ushered in a new paradigm of 24. 7 trading. We're on the Internet anyway. This, the pandemic has also blurred the lines between working hours and non working hours. This is just our new reality. So that's what proponents say, why we should move to more 24. 7 trading.

[Toby Howell]

And then some detractors pointed out there's a role for pauses in markets. You need pauses to allow people to digest information, to kind of reduce Some of the volatility, maybe in some of your positions. Companies need to be able to rely on downtime, to release earnings, to conduct these meetings, to not have every single thing that they do move the markets. There are a reason why we have these positive markets. At least that's why some people are proponents of just the normal system that we have right now. And there's been some very strong language coming out of Wall Street. A Wells Fargo trading desk put out a response saying this is literally the worst thing in the world because it just makes. That is a direct quote from Wells Fargo. They argue that nonstop trading pushes markets further towards gambling behavior. It encourages more speculative trading, especially at those wee hours in the morning where big swings can happen because, you know, bid ask spreads are wider. There's just less institutional money flowing through things. And I think that is the big question mark. Is this just going to be all retailers trading at crazy hours or are institutions going to provide maybe that stabilizing liquidity force in the markets that make them a little bit more efficient? These are all questions that are still up in the air.

[Neal Freyman]

I think they're also just annoyed about having to create the infrastructure. And you're not just annoyed, but also it's going to cost a lot of money to run something 24 or 23 hours a day. Like think about if you're a store owner and you're open from 7am to 7pm you shut off the lights, you go home and you can go back to your family. But then your the parent company says, okay, actually you guys have to stay open 24 7. That means hiring people overnight. That means keeping the lights on overnight. That means more inventory management overnight. That means building the infrastructure to go from, you know, 7:00am to 7:00pm to an all day operation. That's exactly what's happening with over at Wall Street. They need this whole infrastructure behind it, which is going to cost tens of billions of dollars. But I don't know, it looks like the momentum is shifting toward this 24,7 trading. It's maybe a matter of when, not if.

[Toby Howell]

All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with a story about tipping right after this. Neal, are you hitting your protein goals?

[Neal Freyman]

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[Neal Freyman]

Uber and DoorDash are throwing a Christmas time Hail Mary to try and block a new tipping law coming to New York City next year. The food delivery companies sued the Big Apple over a measure that will change the way tipping looks on their apps. The law, coming into effect in January, forces them to prompt customers to tip their delivery person up front instead of after the transaction, and the default tip will be a minimum of 10%. The companies say this infringes on their First Amendment rights to free speech by requiring them to relay a government mandated message to their customers. They argue that people are suffering from so much tipping fatigue that they'll stop ordering food delivery due to pre checkout sticker shock. New York City Council Shop back. Hey, what goes around comes around. The city enacted the law as a counterattack to Uber and DoorDash moving their tip prompt post checkout in 2023, seen by critics as a move to suppress worker pay and make them more dependent on on the apps for work. But stick with me here. There's one more layer to this. The move by Uber and DoorDash to move tips to the post checkout screen was itself a response to New York City introducing a minimum wage for delivery workers in 2023, which raised costs for the companies. So the full timeline is New York mandates a minimum wage for delivery workers. Delivery apps move their tipping prompts to after the order was completed. New York makes them move it back and Uber and DoorDash sue to stop that from happening. Toby it is one battle after another between the city and the apps but it highlights the stakes and what' become a massive food delivery industry.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, let's go back to 2023 when this minimum pay rate for app based delivery workers was established in New York City. That prompted the the companies to move tipping after checkout because they were saying, hey, we're paying these workers more. We don't want people to open up their apps and see their delivery fees plus a tip and just go, it's not even worth it anymore. So it was in their best interest to move it later in the process. And as a result of that, tips did collapse. So there is massive, just think about the consumer behavior here. Are you going to tip more if you are presented with it immediately or are you going to go back after your meal and open your app again and tip people? Obviously it's going to lead to less tips. And a lot of workers have come on and say like hey, yes, my earnings have gone up because of this minimum pay but my tipping absolutely collapsed from out from underneath me. So whatever way the, you know, this lawsuit turns out, it does absolutely change how people are getting compensated for, you know, delivering your, your meals because it does affect the tipping rate.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, delivery workers absolutely got paid more because of the minimum wage today. Delivery workers, they're, they're guaranteed a little over $21 per hour spent actively delivering and doordash says they make closer to $30. But you're right, tipping has gone down precipitously. And as a share of their earnings, customers tipped 64% less and tips. While they accounted for 50% of a workers delivery workers income before this minimum wage law, now they account for just 13% of their earnings per hour in the second quarter of 2025. So little UX tweaks and minimum wage things can make a really big difference as evidenced by the law in 2023 and all of the wrangling that's come after it.

[Toby Howell]

And the city council's position here is that it's just about transparency. Customers deserve that clarity at checkout. Workers deserve the fair chance to receive a tip for their work. And this is not necessarily a new thing. It would just be returning back to how it always was, which is tips before checkout. I have noticed too, unfortunately I order some food on delivery apps from time to time. And I think they are AB testing a little bit because sometimes I get prompted before, sometimes I don't get prompted. So there's certainly some experiments going on within these companies right now saying how does it affect it? Is it actually true that it's going to lead to sticker check, sticker shock at checkout, or could we actually put tips back where they originally were?

[Neal Freyman]

Toby, you are not the only one who orders food delivery. New Yorkers spent more than $265 million on restaurant deliveries in the first half of 2025. That is up from 183 million during the same period of 2022. So when you're looking for pandemic trends that have stuck around, it's not peloton, it's food delivery.

[Toby Howell]

I was at least like $50 of that, that total right there. Deal on one order. On one order. All right, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Jared Kushner is out. Yesterday, Affinity Partners, the P E firm tied to Jared Kushner, officially exited Paramount's bid for Warner Brothers discovery. This comes just days before Warner Brothers is expected to Reject Paramount's latest $30 per share all cash offer. One of the board's biggest concerns was whether Paramount's complex funding structure could hold itself together. There was money coming in from Saudi, Qatari and Abu Dhabi's investment funds. Oracle stock was being pledged as collateral. Banks were involved. It was all held together by tape and Hotspur. Affinity Exiting validates those concerns and has totally flipped this bidding war on its head. As of this morning, Netflix is firmly back in the lead to get a deal done, according to prediction markets, with kelsey showing a 70% chance that they will successfully take over Warner Brothers compared to days of Paramount being the odds on favorite.

[Neal Freyman]

Wow. So looks like what's going to happen today is Warner Brothers is going to reject Paramount's $30 per share bid which will, you know, send Paramount back to the drawing board and saying, should we come back with a higher offer? The problem is they are worth $15 billion. Netflix, who they're going up against, is worth over 400 billion. The question mark here is the big boy, Larry Ellison. He's the father of David Ellison, who controls Paramount. Larry Ellison is one of the richest people in the world. However, there are questions reportedly among Warner Brothers board about whether he is good for all of the money. The Ellison family is backstopping all $41 billion in equity commitments and they're just not sure whether he is truly committed. I mean, or he. A lot of his wealth. He's one of the richest persons in the world. His a lot of his wealth is tied up in Oracle stock. Oracle stock has dropped about 45% from their September high. He's still extremely rich and can afford this, but I think there is a huge Larry Ellison question mark and now the ball is in Paramount's court to see whether they'll come back with a better offer. Facing intense pressure to cut costs, Volkswagen is doing something it hasn't done in its 88 year history, closing a plant in Germany. The final car rolled off the assembly line at VW's factory in Dresden yesterday, a red ID3 GTX. When it was signed by workers and will go on display for visitor tours, CEO of Volkswagen brand Thomas Schaefer said, we did not take this decision to end a vehicle production at the Transparent factory, as the Dresden plant is known after more than 20 years, lightly. From an economic perspective, however, it was absolutely necessary. Volkswagen has been punch buggied on the nose by weakening sales in Europe and and in its biggest market, China, while U.S. tariffs contributed to a $1.5 billion loss last quarter. Shutting down plants, which was floated earlier this year, is a very sensitive political issue inside Germany, given that VW is one of the largest employers in the country.

[Toby Howell]

And this Dresden plan in particular is very visible because it opened in 2001. It's been cranking out cars for over two decades, but it's also nicknamed the Transparent Factory because it's got this really cool glass wall design. So it is a production site, but it's also kind of this showcase experience for Volkswagen. So I think that's why a lot of people, obviously it's crazy that they're closing down a plant. This is not something this company ever does. But the fact that it's the Dresden plant, it's just so visible and it's so recognizable that makes it feel even more symbolic.

[Neal Freyman]

Finally, sometimes a silly Internet story can do a little good. Remember that viral picture of the drunk passed out raccoon after raiding a Virginia liquor store Thanksgiving weekend? It's translated into big bucks for the local animal shelter that helped him nurse his hangover. Merch commemorating the viral raccoon has raised over a quarter of a million dollars for the Hanover County Animal Protection Shelter, which teamed up with an apparel maker to release a line of merch featuring trashed panda, including cup stickers and sweatshirts. They sold around 19,000 items so far. And if you're wondering whatever happened to that raccoon, officials said it was uninjured. Besides, some Hangover symptoms and and regret over poor life choices.

[Toby Howell]

Local businesses have also been cashing in a little bit. The downtown Ashland association launched a raccoon themed scavenger hunt to try to boost up foot traffic. This is what you're supposed to do when you have a very wholesome meme. Go viral. Cash in on it. Raise some money for a good cause. You know, get some people involved in the community. The pictures are genuinely hilarious. I do encourage you, if you haven't already come across it, look up the trashed panda. Look up the drunk raccoon because it's weirdly relatable because he got thrown in a kennel. After that, they convert it into a drunk tank. So a lot of people are like, people have been there, you know, regretting your choices the night before. They also can't figure out how to keep this raccoon out of the building. He's a repeat offender. He's broken into other buildings around this town. Raccoons just have the ability to kind of, they, they look like bandits because of their, their facial hair, but also because their abilities should just get into places. So raccoons, you just can't keep them out of the liquor cabinet sometimes.

[Neal Freyman]

Okay, that is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Wednesday. If you want to get in touch, you can set a note to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram @MB. Daily Show. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Liu is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham. Graham and Olivia Lake. Hair on makeup is a worse spoiler than Toby. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show that. I know. Let's run it back tomorrow. Neil, do you know David?

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, lots. The one who does nature doc, voiceovers, the magician king, etc.

[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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