New Crypto-Friendly Era For the SEC? & UnitedHealthcare CEO Fatally Shot in NYC

Summary

Morning Brew Daily – December 5, 2024

Hosts: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell
Episode Title: New Crypto-Friendly Era For the SEC? & UnitedHealthcare CEO Fatally Shot in NYC

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Bitcoin Surges to $100,000 Amid SEC Shifts

Neal kicks off the episode with breaking news: Bitcoin has surpassed the $100,000 mark, a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency that took 15 years to achieve this valuation. This surge, which has seen Bitcoin's price increase by over 40% since Election Day, is largely attributed to the anticipation of a crypto-friendly administration in Washington, D.C., under the incoming Trump administration.

Neal Freyman [00:52]:
"The price of one bitcoin hit more than $100,000, a major milestone for an asset once dismissed as a fad."

Toby Howell [01:24]:
"An absurd run up for crypto this year, spurred in part by a new Trump cabinet choice."

The hosts delve into the historical significance of Bitcoin Pizza Day, reminiscing about Laszlo Hanyecz's infamous 2010 purchase of two pizzas for 10,000 BTC, now valued at over $1 billion.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Murdered in Targeted Attack

The conversation shifts to a tragic event in New York City: Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealth Group's insurance arm, was fatally shot outside a hotel. Thompson was in town for an investor meeting when the attack occurred, described by police as a targeted assassination. The suspect fled on a gray e-bike, and the investigation is ongoing.

Toby Howell [02:49]:
"Thompson was leading UnitedHealth Care, providing insurance for over 50 million people and generating $281 billion in revenue."

Neal provides a detailed background on Thompson, highlighting his rise from a rural Iowa town to leading a major division within UnitedHealth Group. The hosts discuss the broader implications for executive security policies, noting that companies may revisit their strategies in light of this tragedy.

Neal Freyman [05:09]:
"Thompson's story is quite interesting... He offered to arm wrestle to bring the temperature down."

SEC's New Direction with Paul Atkins Nomination

President-elect Trump has nominated Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move signals a potential shift towards a more deregulated stance, especially concerning cryptocurrencies.

Neal Freyman [06:24]:
"Under Atkins, a conservative who advocates for deregulation, the SEC could look a lot different than it did under Gensler."

Atkins, a former SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush and founder of Potomac Global Partners, is viewed favorably by Wall Street and the crypto community. His appointment is expected to foster a more accommodating environment for digital tokens, contrasting sharply with Gensler's adversarial approach.

Toby Howell [08:10]:
"Atkins is a big proponent for not being too overbearing with the penalties that you levy against companies that engage in wrongdoing."

Spotify Wrapped 2024: Dominated by Women Artists

Shifting to entertainment, Neal and Toby discuss the latest Spotify Wrapped, highlighting that the top eight albums by worldwide streams were recorded by female artists, including Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter. Despite this success, some listeners expressed disappointment over the perceived lack of new viral features compared to previous years.

Toby Howell [11:24]:
"For the first time ever, the top eight albums by worldwide streams were recorded by women."

Neal shares his personal Spotify Wrapped, revealing Guster as his top artist, much to the approval of the Morning Brew community.

Neal Freyman [14:04]:
"My top artist was Guster because I went to a show for them back in February."

Neal's Numbers: Year in Review Edition

In this special segment, Neal presents three intriguing statistics from Tom Whitwell's "52 Things I Learned in 2024."

1. Grading Bias Based on Surname Order

   • Neal Freyman [19:01]:
     "College students with last names at the end of the Alphabet tend to get grades 0.6% lower than those with A through E surnames."
   • The University of Michigan study attributes this to grader fatigue, as assignments are often sorted alphabetically, leading to harsher grading for those at the end.

2. Rise of Colons in Movie Titles

   • Neal Freyman [22:15]:
     "The average length of movie titles increased by nearly two characters since the 1970s, with a significant rise in the use of colons."
   • This trend reflects Hollywood's shift towards longer, more complex titles that signify sequels or extended narratives.

3. Recombobulation at Milwaukee's Airport

   • Neal Freyman [25:07]:
     "Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport features 'recombobulation' areas to help passengers relax after security checkpoints."
   • The term, invented in 2008, has been embraced locally and recognized nationally for its creative approach to passenger comfort.

Bonus Tally:
There are only 16 trademarked scents in the United States, including unique ones like Crayola crayons and Play-Doh.

Final Headlines

1. French Government in Crisis

   • France's National Assembly has ousted the Prime Minister after a no-confidence vote, plunging the nation into political turmoil. The proposed austerity budget, aiming to cut $63 billion in spending and implement tax hikes, failed to gain support, challenging the government's ability to function without a workable budget for 2025.

2. Weight Loss Drug Showdown

   • In a recent clinical trial, Eli Lilly's Zepbound outperformed Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, with patients losing an average of 20.2% of their body weight compared to Wegovy's 13%. Despite this, both drugs remain effective, with Novo Nordisk likely to emphasize additional health benefits in their marketing strategies.

3. Potential Baseball Rule Change: The Golden At Bat

   • MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has floated the idea of the "Golden At Bat," allowing each team one opportunity per game to replace any player at the plate with a star hitter. While intended to create more exciting moments, this proposal has sparked debate among traditionalists who fear it could disrupt the fundamental nature of the game.

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Notable Quotes:

• Neal Freyman [00:52]:
  "Bitcoin hit more than $100,000, a major milestone for an asset once dismissed as a fad."

• Toby Howell [01:24]:
  "An absurd run up for crypto this year, spurred in part by a new Trump cabinet choice."

• Toby Howell [02:49]:
  "Thompson was leading UnitedHealth Care, providing insurance for over 50 million people and generating $281 billion in revenue."

• Neal Freyman [06:24]:
  "Under Atkins, the SEC could look a lot different than it did under Gensler."

• Toby Howell [08:10]:
  "Atkins is a big proponent for not being too overbearing with the penalties that you levy against companies that engage in wrongdoing."

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Conclusion:

In this episode, Neal and Toby navigate through a spectrum of pressing issues—from the meteoric rise of Bitcoin and significant shifts within the SEC to the tragic loss of a major healthcare CEO. They also explore cultural phenomena like Spotify Wrapped and delve into intriguing statistics that reveal unexpected trends in education and entertainment. The final headlines touch on global political instability, advancements in healthcare, and potential changes in America's favorite pastime, baseball. As always, the hosts provide insightful analysis and engaging commentary, ensuring listeners are well-informed to start their day.

Transcript

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[Toby Howell]

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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 you are going to regret selling your bitcoin when I tell you what price it just hit.

[Toby Howell]

Then Spotify wrapped, finally dropped, but left some users a little disappointed this year. It's Thursday, December 5th. Let's ride.

[Neal Freyman]

Well, it actually happened last night. The price of one bitcoin hit more than $100,000, a major milestone for an asset once dismissed as a fad. It took Bitcoin 15 years to go from 0 to 100k. But it's experienced a serious surge in just the last few weeks, popping more than 40% since election day over the prospect of a crypto friendly administration coming to D.C. next year. Toby, very few people predicted this would happen, but the ones who did will absolutely let you know about it.

[Toby Howell]

Oh, absolutely. I'm retiring after this pod today. Neil. No, just kidding. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane though. A famous part of bitcoin's allure is something called Bitcoin Pizza Day. There was this man named Laszlo Han yet who paid 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas on May 18, 2010. At the time, the transaction was worth about $41 at today's prices. Those two pieces are now worth $1,033,709,259. Never good, Neal, when your pizza order involves three commas. But yes, an absurd run up for crypto this year. Run up that was spurred in part by a new Trump cabinet choice, which we'll talk about a little later in the show. But first, a word from our sponsor, Yahoo. Finance. I think I finally cracked the code as to why Yahoo Finance is such a great resource for investors.

[Neal Freyman]

Because it's got real time market data? Well, yes, and a my portfolio feature where you can keep tabs on the stocks that matter most to you.

[Toby Howell]

That too.

[Neal Freyman]

Also a research tab where you can see everything from economic calendars to investment ideas to reports from experts.

[Toby Howell]

All right, I'm starting to think that you cracked the code as well.

[Neal Freyman]

Well, what were you going to say?

[Toby Howell]

You forgot about the latest news headlines.

[Neal Freyman]

So you can stay up to date on all the latest stories that might influence the market.

[Toby Howell]

No one likes a know it all.

[Neal Freyman]

Neal, but everyone likes Yahoo Finance, which you can go check out@yahoo finance.com today.

[Toby Howell]

Tragedy struck in a midtown New York yesterday as Brian Thompson, CEO of United Health Group's insurance arm, was fatally shot outside a New York City hotel in what police described as a targeted attack. Videos show the suspect lying in wait, then fleeing on a gray E bike after shooting Thompson in the back and leg. Thompson was in town for United Health's investor meeting and as of this morning, a manhunt is still underway for the shooter. Thompson's wife Paulette told NBC that there had been some threats made against her husband, saying she didn't know the details, but a lack of coverage was involved. Thompson led United Health Care, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and the largest private health insurer in the US since April 2021. After Thompson's murder, the company took down the web pages showing headshots and bios for the rest of the company's leadership team. But Neal, a wild story affecting one of the largest health companies and largest public companies in the world.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, I mean, they were gathered for their annual investor day, which is their execs opportunity to talk to shareholders and tell them what they're doing in the next year. It is a huge event. Everyone was in town and they, they had, they held the event for a few hours and then the CEO just got up there as people were checking their phones and said, wow, we've, you know, announced what had happened. We're disbanding our investor day. So it was an absolute shock to everyone at the company, everyone who knew him. But apparently, you know, Thompson's story is, is quite interesting. He started, he was born and was raised in a very rural Iowa town, went to University of Iowa for accounting, worked at PwC for seven years before joining UnitedHealth Group in 2004. He rose through the ranks to become the CEO of a truly massive division. This division is, provides health insurance for over 50 million people. It did revenue of $281 billion. It employs 140,000 people. So he had a ton of responsibility, had a lot of contacts within the health care space because this is a immense, immense industry where everyone knows everyone and you know, a lot of, a lot of other health care leaders chimed in saying that he was a very amicable guy, was very low key. When something got too stressful, he offered to arm wrestle you to sort of bring the temperature down. So a big loss for the health care industry.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, and just to be clear, he wasn't the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, which is the broader organization, but he was still the the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, which was a big, obviously one of the biggest, if not, it is the biggest private insurer in the United States. This has also put a focus on CEO and executive safety policies at companies. Security filings for United Health Care's parent company don't make any mention that the company was paying for executive security for Thompson. And it's understandable that a health care giant wouldn't necessarily think to provide security expenses because none of its executives are as high profile as someone like a Mark Zuckerberg, as someone like an Elon Musk. But now it probably is a good bet that a lot of these big public companies will start rethinking their strategy, rethinking their approach in the wake of this tragedy. Several tech companies are already way ahead the curve when it comes to this. I mean, for instance, security filings showed that Metta paid about $23 million to on security for Mark Zuckerberg. So even though you wouldn't think to, you know, a health care CEO would need a level of scrutiny and a level of security like this, I think you're going to see a bit of a wave and a bit of a shift in the strategy because of this instance.

[Neal Freyman]

Well, you might though, because health care executives have received threats before over denied coverage and things like that. I mean, his wife did say that he had received unspecified threats in the past. Police also said that so there is an, there is a world in which health care CEOs do are provided some security. But now we look forward the kill. The killer is still on the loose somewhere in New York City or in the vicinity. Police said they found words written on the bullets that said deny, defend and depose. And they're still working out a specific motive for the shooting. President Elect Trump made his first big move to put a stamp on Wall street by nominating lawyer Paul Adkins to lead the securities and Exchange Commission, replacing current chair Gary Gensler. You may not have heard of Atkins before, but for bigwigs in New York and D.C. he is a familiar and respected face. Atkins was one of the commissioners at the SEC under former President George W. Bush and has stayed close to top financiers after he founded the influential consulting firm Potomac Global Partners. Under Atkins, a conservative who advocates for deregulation, the SEC could look a lot different than it did under Gensler, who pushed the agency in a more progressive direction. One of the Biggest gulfs between them is how they view cryptocurrencies. Gensler was very much a crypto skeptic, launching unprecedented action and penalties against the biggest companies in the industry such as Coinbase. Atkins, on the other hand, is a big fan of crypto and he'll likely take a much lighter touch to digital tokens in line with the incoming Trump administration's pro crypto messaging. Toby Atkins is very much a known quantity and he's a pick that will elate Wall street and crypto after they chafed under the Gensler years.

[Toby Howell]

Let's start with Wall Street a little bit and then get to crypto. Atkins has been a pretty big critic of the SEC's current approach to cracking down on corporate wrongdoing, or whatever you want to call it. He is actually pretty opposed to imposing these large penalties on companies that have already agreed to settle fraud chargers. And the reason why you charge or you levy these penalties against companies is that you hopefully deter them from doing wrongdoing in the future. But Atkins actually has argued in the past that they've already received penalties through a drop in their share prices and that all you're doing is punishing shareholders further so who have already been victimized by the company before. So he's kind of a big proponent for not being too overbearing with the penalties that you levy against companies that engage in wrongdoing. As to the crypto side of things, this was exactly the person that the crypto crowd wanted to see because you are right, they have been languishing under Gary Gensler, who's been very adversarial to it. The Trump administration has said we're going to embrace the crypto world. Atkins has embraced the crypto world. So I do think that is part of the reason why, I mean, we teased at the top of the show, bitcoin kind of was inevitably pushed up over the UK barrier because of this pick.

[Neal Freyman]

And then meanwhile, President Elect Trump made some other nominations yesterday to some high profile posts. He nominated the fintech billionaire and veteran Space X investor Jared Isaacman to serve as the next NASA administration. If you remember that Isaac man name, he was one of the two people a few months ago who conducted the first commercial spacewalk, you know, 400 miles above Earth. And he is a. He has been involved in Space X for a long time and now he's going to head up NASA. I think this is another sign that NASA will work even closer with the private sector to fulfill its space ambitions.

[Toby Howell]

This choice was very enthusiastically embraced by the commercial space industry because they know Isaac man is just a huge fan of it. He puts his money where his mouth is. He has been on these space flights. One thing that is a little up in the air right now is that he signed on to fly four of these commercial space flights. One of the next mission was actually to fly to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to try to raise its orbit, to extend its life.

[Neal Freyman]

And is that like Superman? It.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, like essentially push it back up because Hubble Space is struggling a little bit out there because it's just been out there for so long. But NASA itself, it says, I don't know if we really want a commercial person, a private citizen messing with such an expensive piece of equipment. But now Isaac man might lead NASA. So everyone's like, so what happens now? Are you going to go as the head of NASA if you are approved by the Senate, or would he kind of fall in line with what NASA has been saying previous? So some conflicts of interest or whatever you want to call it. But for the most part, people are pretty excited by this pick because Isaac men just love space.

[Neal Freyman]

He loves space and he's been to space and he's been a huge booster. But speaking of conflicts of interest, he's a big investor in Space X and all these space companies, their biggest customer is NASA. So if I'm Blue Origin, if I'm Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin or another rocket company CEO, and now I have to compete against Space X for a contract with a guy who's a big shareholder in Space X, I'm probably a little confused or a little miffed that you know, what, what might go into this selection process?

[Toby Howell]

Well, it was the moment that your Instagram stories have been waiting for. Spotify wrap dropped yesterday, revealing just how many of your friends went through a pink Pilates princess strut pop phase this year. The answer was probably a lot of them. Artists like Chapel Rohn, Sabrina Carpenter and Charlie X dominated listening habits this year. But at the summit of Mount Spotify, there can be only one artist. And the number one most streamed artist globally in 2024 on Spotify for the second year in a row was Neil Frift. Turns out when you release an album with 31 songs on it, while on the second year of a massive global tour, you get a lot of Spotify streams. Speaking of albums, for the first time ever, the top eight albums by worldwide streams were recorded by women. Billie Eilish, Carol G, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter as well as SZA all joined Taylor in the top 10 Neil. Despite the cultural sway, Spotify rap still holds on people. I did see some complaining a little about the perceived effort from Spotify this year. While 2023 gave us those viral Soundtown features, this year was a little bit lacking with that viral punch.

[Neal Freyman]

Well, they built a monster and they have to feed the monster with new features that introduce even more shareability and make it an even bigger cultural moment than it is. I think what you were hearing is that maybe some of the new features didn't, you know, get the blood flowing as much. Some of them. One of them that a lot of people were talking about was the your music evolution, which documented three distinct musical phases for your listening habits over the course of the year. What was the one you mentioned? I forgot that was mine. During the summer.

[Toby Howell]

Pink Pilates, Strut pop.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah. So that happened when every. Everyone when all of like the Sabrina Carpenter Espresso and Chapel Roan became big over the course of the summer. The other feature that Spotify was hyping up was a AI generated podcast that was in partnership with Google's Notebook lm and we had talked about this on the show a few months ago. This is a viral podcasting tool that you can feed it text and it will create. I will have two AI hosts who very seemingly sound like humans and we'll talk about whatever text you put in. In this case, they will either celebrate you or roast you for your musical taste. So those are the two, I would say big software updates to Wrapped. It didn't seem like they caught on in a viral way that others have. Still, what Spotify has built with Wrapped is pretty impressive. I just, it is interesting to see where it will go from here because it is just so huge already and they're probably already thinking about the next Rapt right now.

[Toby Howell]

Well, you've. We've buried the lead long enough though. Neil, give us your top artists from your 2024 Raptor.

[Neal Freyman]

My top artist was Guster actually because I went to a show for Guster back in February and I just. I know most of the words to all of their songs but I wanted to make sure I knew every single word because is the most sing along music. So I listened to so much of their music and I guess that carried over into. Into the full year. So yeah, Guster was my number one.

[Toby Howell]

And I do have to give you props though. When you shared your Spotify Wrapped in the morning brew Slack channel full of young tastemakers, they. They applauded your. Your taste.

[Neal Freyman]

They did because the other, the other artists were krung bin which I should everyone should check out Lana Del Rey trying to think of who other Charlie X and then I forget the fifth one. But yeah, I was applauded by the Gen Z people here and I was very very happy about it. Meanwhile, Spotify is got to be feeling really good right now. Its market cap crossed $100 billion for the first time. Its stock price has surged 160% this year. So after many years of failing to make a profit and making this business model of music work, it's finally found that magic.

[Toby Howell]

Up next. I've been waiting all week for this. I know you have too. It's time for Neil's numbers.

[Neal Freyman]

CFOs kind of have it tough when it comes to getting legit visibility into company wide financial health. They're working with too small tech that can't really keep up with the big time.

[Toby Howell]

That's why so many CFOs are turning to the right AI powered finance software to unlock the next stage of their biz. In fact, I saw somewhere that 78% of finance leaders emphasize AI's importance in gaining a competitive edge.

[Neal Freyman]

The go to player in this space is Sage. They help CFOs automate manual processes and give them a real time view of their numbers so the finance pros can spend more time on doing the big stuff that matters.

[Toby Howell]

Sage can slash build processing time by two to three times. That's huge. Plus, their AI powered tools empower CFOs by allowing them to review thousands of transactions in minutes and combine all their entities in seconds. Yep, CFOs can finally see best practices across their whole organization.

[Neal Freyman]

Sage is long trusted and well established. They've been in business for over 40 years and were ranked number one in customer satisfaction by G2 for mid market accounting software.

[Toby Howell]

OGs for sure. To level up your biz, head to ww.sage.com/morning brew. That's www.com/morning brew.

[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. LinkedIn ads will even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com/mbd to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com/mbd. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn the Place to Be, to be.

[Neal Freyman]

Welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats from the week's news that gives you better brain food than fatty fish. Today's Neil's Numbers is a special one. It's a year in Review edition Every December, I look forward to Tom Whitwell's article called 52 Things I Learned in 2024, in which he lists out 52 things he learned this year. They're always fascinating and send you into a deep rabbit hole. So my three numbers this week are drawn from a list of things I learned in 2024. My first number is that college students with last names at the end of the Alphabet, starting with U through Z, tend to get grades 0.6% lower than students with A through E Surnames. This was the conclusion of a University of Michigan business school study that analyzed more than 30 million grades at a large university. What the heck is going on? Are Zimmerman's just inherently not as smart as Bloomberg's? Nope. The researchers controlled for a bunch of characteristics instead. The study finds that the surprising difference in grades is the result of teachers grading the students at the top of the Alphabet first and the students at the bottom of the Alphabet last. These days in college, instructors grade assignments using software or what's known as learning management systems that always sort documents in alphabetical order by surname. They always start with the A's and end with the Z's. A standardized process that never would have happened back when you turned in your exam by paper and everyone's was jumbled up. So what's causing the grading discrepancy, the researchers hypothesize, is that instructors get fatigued by the end of their grading gauntlet, translating to worse scores for the end of the Alphabet. Wild.

[Toby Howell]

It is wild. Another theory mentioned by the authors is that the graders may tend to feel stricter if they've given out a string of as. We've all been there on an exam before. We go, that's way too many C's in a row. That's way too many B's in a row. I got to switch it up. I think graders might experience a similar thing. We're like, I'm being way too nice right now. I got to start toughening up. And you saw that too, not just in the quantitative grade grades that these people are giving, but also the qualitative feedback they were giving as well. For example, they found more negative and impolite comments. The later on in the grading process went comments like why no answers to questions two and three. You're setting yourself up for a failing game and never do that again. They were literally finding that as you progress through and get a little cranky or maybe get a little bit more mean in your, in your grading, you actually do give worse grades and also worse feedback.

[Neal Freyman]

Now I'm just reflecting. I'm an F. Like am I think I'm a total fraud. Have I just been getting great inflation for, for years? But this, this study actually did spur change at one of the companies that is this one of these learning management systems. They now offer a randomized version citing this particular study. Because if you keep alphabetizing then the names at the end of the Alphabet are going to continuously get penalized. So actually a remarkable finding. My second number is about the rise of the long movie title and the emergence of the colon in a title along with it. You know what I'm talking about. Furiosa Colon A Mad Max Saga. The Chronicles of Narnia Colon the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Percy Jackson and the Olympics Olympians Colon the Lightning Thief. This colonization of movie titles is a distinct measurable pattern according to Daniel Paris at Stat Significant. He found that the average length of movie titles increased by nearly two whole alphanumeric characters from the 1970s until now. Meanwhile, 16% of movies in the 2000s had a colon in the title, compared to 5% as recently as the 1990s. Paris argues that the surge of colon use in movie titles is a regrettable reflection of the rinse and repeat movies Hollywood puts out right now. He writes. These protracted monikers present stories known to audiences intellectual property while also offering a small degree of novelty. Hence, instead of Spider Man 2 and Spider Man 3, you get Superman Colon, man of Steel and Spider Man Colon no way Home. Here's Parents Once again, every film is an event, a fleeting once in a lifetime experience that serves as a single chapter in a long running and perhaps never ending story.

[Toby Howell]

So this is a modern phenomenon that a lot, as you said, the inventification of movies has led into led to a rise in colons. But you also quizzed the group yesterday and said, do you guys know what the longest movie title is that has a budget of $20 million or more and it's actually 2006 Borat, which goes Borat colon Cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan. So that was funny because that was an ironic use of the Kremlin, but in 2006. But as you go through and you see the sequels, you see the rise of these events, you do see a less ironic use of coal. And so it was funny to trace the lineage of Borat making a joke out of it to it becoming a real phenomenon in the entertainment industry.

[Neal Freyman]

My final number, Inspired by the 52 Things I Learned this year. Well, it's more of a fun fact is something unique about Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport. It has multiple recombobulation areas where you can recombobulate after the hassle of going through a TSA security checkpoint. Is recombobulate even a word? Not really. It was apparently invented in 2008 by Milwaukee's airport director at the time, Barry Bateman, who wanted to give stressed out passengers a reason to relax and smile after going through security. He asked the sign shop about making a recombobulation area. They replied, you know that's not a word, right? But they made it anyway. And the concept of recombobulating has been embraced by the city ever since. It's also gained national recognition. In 2009, the American dialect Society declared recombobulation the most creative word of the year. What's it mean? Simply the opposite of discombobulating or putting back in order. Toby, you lived in Milwaukee. Have you ever recombobulated at the airport?

[Toby Howell]

I'm embarrassed to say that I just assumed this was a thing in other airports because, yeah, I saw the recombobulation area, and you're just in an airport, you're on autopilot, so you're like, of course that's what it's called these days. But I didn't know that there was such a backstory or that Milwaukee embrace the word so much. I do love airport psychology, though. Having a little bit of a funny joke like recombobulation does help that discombobulation, you know, stave off for a little bit longer. One of my favorite airport psychology stories that I've told you is that operators of the Houston airport had this one route where they just received a ton of baggage weight complaints where people are saying, I have to wait so long for my baggage on this one specific route. And they found that it was taking people one minute to walk to the baggage claim and seven minutes waiting at the baggage claim. So what they did is just move the arrival gate so people had to walk further to get to their baggage. And just the fact that they were walking rather than standing made those complaints drop off a clip. So I think it's very interesting that you can tweak very small psychological things like calling it a recombobulation area and it might lead to real kind of changes in consumer psychology of airport passengers. Well, that list of 52 was just too dang good to only pick three numbers from. So you're getting a special bonus Toby's tally that I also pulled from Tom Whitwell's curated list. And my tally is that there are just 16 trademark scents in the United States. That sweet 16 includes smells like crayola, crayons, play doh, an ocean scented indoor playground in Indiana, and a type of gun cleaner that smells a little bit like ammonium and gas. Neal, this number, excuse me, tally was surprising on a few levels. One, I never really considered that you could trademark a cent in the first place. And two, there are not a whole lot of scent trademarks out there and it also got me thinking. Any sense that you think should be trademarkable?

[Neal Freyman]

Two that have to be on there is anti ends. I mean that one is distinct and memorable. And then obviously gas station sent oh that.

[Toby Howell]

See that's good. But I don't think those would actually pass the requirements for a cent trademark. They have to have non functionality. So the scent must not serve a practical purpose or affect the products quality or cost of something like antianz. I don't think you're allowed to actually do so. For example, perfumes, you're not allowed to actually trademark their scent since the scent is a primary function. So maybe food works because I guess smell isn't its primary function. But I don't know, you might be up against it when it comes to trying to trademark antianz.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. The French government is in shambles after a no confidence Biden's vote passed the national assembly yesterday, ousting the prime minister and sending Europe's second largest economy into his deepest political crisis in decades. Lawmakers on the left and the right linked up to boot. Prime Minister Barnier, who released an austerity budget they could not get on board with. Barnier proposed more than $63 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes to narrow France's deficit, which was projected to reach more than 6% of GDP, double the EU's limit. Now France is without a functioning government or a workable budget for 2025. So the question remains how it will fund basic operations like paying the bills and collecting taxes in the year ahead. It is a colossal mess.

[Toby Howell]

It is a colossal month. Unprecedented. No one really knows what happens next. Parliament will probably pass a special law that will allow the government to, you know, pay its bills, keep the lights on, collect taxes in the meantime. But a lot of people are kind of looking back through history. This is the first time that a dispute has forced prime minister out since 1962. So people are kind of looking around the room saying, like, do you know what we do now? Do you know what we do now? And there's not a lot of people in the room who do know. But hopefully the French government can figure out how to at least make it to the end of the year without a budget. There was a bird versus magic showdown in the GLP1 weight loss drug category recently. And it wasn't Novo Nordisk products that came out on top. The Danish drug maker behind Ozempic took an L in the first randomized controlled clinical trial comparing its weight loss drug to Eli Lilly's Zep Bound. According to the trial results, patients who received Zep Bound injections lost an average of 20.2% of their body weight over 72 weeks, compared to a loss of just 13% for WeGovy. Neal, for so long, Novo Nordisk and its products, Wegovy knows MPIC have been synonymous with this new class of drug, but it's losing out a little bit on performance.

[Neal Freyman]

It is, but my conclusion is this is still an incredible amount of weight loss from both drugs. But now because it lost this particular test, which hasn't been peer reviewed and will be published next year, you probably going to see Novo Nordisk and Wegovy hype up their other benefits. You know, Wegovy has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease in people who have obesity or are overweight. So you'll probably see Novo Nordisk messaging and branding of these drugs start to talk about the incredible other benefits it may have in addition to weight loss just in that competition that it has with Zepbound, which Zepbound does an incredible insane job at reducing people's weight. Major League Baseball has introduced a bunch of rule changes in recent years to keep up with the times the pitch clock, bigger bases and more. But another potential rule change floated by Commissioner Rob Manfred has everyone in the baseball world talking this week. The golden at Batman, the golden at bat means that each team would have one opportunity per game to send anyone they want to the plate to hit. You can imagine what that might look like. It's the ninth inning, bases loaded, two outs, you're down by one. But instead of the journeyman's second baseman coming to bat, you can swap them out with your best player like a Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto. It's unclear whether this is a serious proposal or not. Manfred mentioned the golden at bat in passing on a podcast in October, saying there was a quote, little buzz around it at an owner's meeting, but if implemented, this might break baseball.

[Toby Howell]

So I was talking to some baseball fanatics out there, one of which is your brother, and he said that baseball is as close to a perfect game as you can get. But that is maybe something a baseball hardo would say, maybe a Caswell fan would be like. I do want more of those moments. And I was reading this athletic article that said that for 150 years the best moments in baseball have come from these late inning at bats that happen organically. It is the journeyman second baseman that can send you to the World Series or something like that. But if you were to step back and design the sport from scratch, wouldn't you want more of those moments, not fewer? And by allowing you to put your best players into those moments, it would create more of them. So I'm not saying one way or the other which way this would go, but if you were kind of looking at it from that perspective, of course you'd want more of these moments.

[Neal Freyman]

I think for baseball fans this would be a step too far. You know, some of Manfred's changes have increased viewership. The World Series was its most watched in seven years. There does seem to be a little more buzz around baseball, but changing one of the most fundamental things about baseball, which is that you know the person who is batting next in the lineup most often has to go bat and face the pitcher. That is something you cannot change and I could see just a massive uproar that would probably lead to Manfred, you know, just leaving town. That is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have an epic Thursday. For any questions, comments or feedback, send an email to Morning Brew Daily at Morning Broadcom. If you have no questions and are fully satisfied, then help out a friend in need of a morning news podcast and share the podcast with them. For today's sharing inspo of the day, here's Toby I want you to share.

[Toby Howell]

The podcast with someone who posted their Spotify wrapped yesterday but didn't have Morning Brew Daily in their top five podcasts. I do just want to give a shout out to everyone who did spend time with us last year. Thank you so much. It was very cool to see your Instagram stories come in. But now help us sow the seeds for more MBD on People's wraps next year.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Liu is our producer. Olivia Graham is our associate producer. Chenowa Ogu is our technical director. Billy Menino is on audio Hair Makeup is recombobulating. Devin Emery is our chief content officer. And our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show, Danielle. Let's run it back tomorrow.