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[00:01]
A
Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
[00:03]
B
Right.
[00:04]
A
And the best part? They accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.
[00:23]
C
Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
[00:34]
B
And I'm Toby Howell.
[00:35]
C
Today, the energy crisis just got real. Oil prices shot through $100 a barrel.
[00:41]
B
Then the economy is shedding jobs left and right. It's Thursday, March 9th. Let's ride.
[00:52]
C
Good morning and welcome back to a week that's going to feel like spring is finally here, thanks to daylight saving time. Sure, we lost an hour of sleep, but sunset tonight in New York, 7pm But I want to start on the opposite coast. The Los Angeles Marathon was held yesterday, and an announcement before the race was ruffling some feathers due to expected high temperatures. Organizers said that runners could stop at mile 18 and still collect a finisher's medal. There is no shame in making a smart decision for your body, the marathon's website read. But that didn't stop many people from shaming the decision. Toby, as a marathoner yourself, is this snowflake culture gone wild or a reasonable health measure?
[01:30]
B
Thank you for sliding in a marathoner there. I appreciate that. Obviously, I was very against this when I first heard it, but I was poking through the marathon training subreddit and got some additional context beyond the weather that made me more sympathetic. 1L A is unique in that there are 3,000 middle school and high schoolers that run through a program called Students Run L A. And as some pointed out, kids are very metal motivated. So this might have been done to take some of the pressure off of them. And then 2L A has a very weird course. The 18 mile mark isn't arbitrary. You actually pass the finish line at mile 18 and then have to double back, which would just be horrible for my mental state at that point. So logistically, 18 miles makes sense if you wanted to provide an off ramp. Understanding all of that, I definitely wouldn't have accepted a medal, though, because it would haunt me to look at it knowing I didn't actually complete the race. We do just have to touch on the the winner of the race, though, because it was electric. American Nathan Martin beat Kenya's Michael Kamau by 0.01 seconds, which was the closest finish in L A Marathon history. I'm sure the 18 mile finish line was just as close as well.
[02:38]
C
And now a word from our sponsor Tax Act. Toby, you're a small business owner.
[02:42]
B
I am not. Oh wait, you're totally right, I am. I forgot about my pickled wall shoe company for a second.
[02:47]
C
Answers like that are why I don't trust you to do your taxes. And that's why there's Tax Act. They help small business owners get their taxes done. TaxAct filing easy for small businesses by providing the only online DIY filing software for small businesses with TaxAct you can
[03:02]
B
file your business taxes any way you'd like. You can do them by yourself with step by step guidance. You can file them with help from a credentialed tax expert when you have questions, or you can upload your documents and an expert will prepare and file for you.
[03:16]
C
Just head to taxact.com/business-returns to get started. That's taxact.com/business-survors the most severe global energy crisis since the 1970s these has arrived Oil prices spiked to more than $100 a barrel this morning, their highest level since 2022 as the war in Iran halts shipments from the Gulf, presenting an imminent threat to the global economy. Crude prices skyrocketed 15% overnight, extending their historic rise last week when they jumped 35% for their biggest weekly gain on records dating back to 1983. Investors are responding to troubling developments over the weekend. Major producers Kuwait, the UAE and Iraq said they are cutting oil production because their storage tanks are full and they can't ship any F through the Strait of Hormuz. The critical right away, which is now effectively sealed off. Qatar's energy minister warned that oil prices could spike to $150 if the status quo continued, adding that the conflict in the Middle east could, quote, bring down the economies of the world. It's already hitting the US Economy, where gas prices have soared in response to the oil supply shock. The last seven days brought one of the top 10 largest weekly increases ever in US gas prices, rising 41 cents a gallon. Before the war started, the national average was to 80 a gallon. Now it's over $3.40 cent, well on its way to climbing above $4. President Trump has downplayed the price surge, writing that a gain in, quote, short term oil prices was a small price to pay for taking out Iran's nuclear capabilities and suggested they'll come back down soon. Wall street has a less optimistic view. The Dow just Posted its worst week in almost a year. While The S&P 500 is now negative for 2026 after tumbling on Friday, things don't look any better this morning. As of 6:00am Eastern Stock Futures are way down. Toby, lots of alarm bells going off. An energy crisis can quickly met an economic crisis.
[05:04]
B
Yeah. Oil is now about 50% more expensive than it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28th. It was whiplash over the last few 24 hours. Honestly. When the oil markets opened on Sunday night, oil prices rocketed past $120 a barrel and everyone's like holy moly. We went to bed, we woke up this morning and they actually started falling once again. That's because we got a piece of news early this morning that are mellowing. That helped mellow things out. The Financial Times reported that the Group of seven nations was planning a call on Monday to discuss the release of oil from their strategic reserves which would help exacerbate some of this supply crunch that we are in right now. And if you look even further down the line, September oil futures are still trading around $70 a barrel which shows that traders are still optimistic that things get resolved.
[05:56]
C
I just want to put this in historical context. There isn't any. This is the largest oil shock we've seen in history. 20% of global output has been taken off the market. That' 20 million, 20 million barrels a day that was flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. In normal times it's just not flowing anymore. 20 million barrels a day is just dwarfs any other historical comparison. The second biggest oil shock was the Iranian Revolution in 1978 that took off five and a half million barrels per day. Some of these quotes from analysts who cover the energy sector are pretty mind boggling. Mizuho's head of FICC strategy, Jordan Rochester said this may be a war, but it's also perhaps the biggest energy supply logistics crisis we've in modern history. And then JP Morgan chased analyst Natasha can never said in the whole written history of the strait it has never been closed ever. To me it was not just the worst case scenario, it was an unthinkable scenario. So you have some energy analysts saying we're going up to $150 a barrel. Some saying we see this being resolved not in the short term, but in the medium term. Still, oil prices remain elevated at over $100 a barrel this morning.
[07:04]
B
The world is more resilient this time around, even dating back to the 1970s because the crude market is just more flexible. There's more, there's less. Long term contracts. Traders can like push cargo to places that they need at a greater flexibility than in times path. China's also has a big stockpile of oil these days, enough to cover 200 days of import imports. The US obviously has turned from a net importer to a net exporter when it comes to oil. Saudi Arabia has different ways to get oil out of the country. Not just through the Strait of Hormuz. They have a pipeline that reaches its western coast. Obviously all of these measures are half measures. It's not the same as opening the strait itself. And it does show that which parts of the world are very exposed to a supply shock like this, which is Asia. Myanmar has launched a rationing system for cars. Thailand has suspended some of its fuel exports. And then the Philippines are actually having people turn off computers at lunch and set their air conditioning no lower than 75 degrees Fahrenheit in order to ration their energy.
[08:08]
C
Huge global ramifications. Now I said earlier that an energy crisis can quickly become a broader economic crisis. How can that happen? Well, I want you to look at one thing. Diesel. So diesel prices are skyrocketing far more than crude prices. They just recorded their largest single price increase ever recorded, which was 22 cents last Friday. And the reason that diesel can impact everything in the economy is that everything that you buy essentially gets to the store or gets to your house. Diesel trucks, trucks that run on diesel. So if diesel is skyrocketing, which it is, then that's essentially a tax on everything you can buy. Even agriculture. Diesel runs the agriculture industry because farmers use diesel to power tractors and combines. So essentially inflation can go way up as diesel prices go up, because it just infiltrates everything in the economy. Every consumer product and every industrial product.
[09:01]
B
And then just to throw another wrench in the supply chain, jet fuel is also going up. You know what do planes run on? Planes move stuff around the world. Repair. Jet fuel prices have risen 58% since the start of the war. So that's going to mess with things getting to your home, but also your summer vacation plans. Airlines are struggling right now, as are the cruise industry, but maybe not as impactful on the entire global economy as the other two industries that we mentioned. What is the big picture here? Like what are we looking at in terms of this war with Iran? It is not ending any time soon. Iran selected Mohatba Khamenei as the country's next supreme leader. That is the successor to his father, Ali Khamenei, although he is seen as potentially even more hardline than his father. So the Israel and the US have said that they would not accept him as a new leader. So again, no immediate end in sight. Moving on. February's jobs report dropped on Friday and it was enough to make a Pisces cry. The economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs, one of the largest declines since the pandemic, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%. It was a whiplash inducing report not only because it surprised economists who forecasted a 55,000 jobs gain, but also because it's a sharp reversal from January when The economy added 126,000 jobs. Now there are signs that this was potentially an aberration. February had horrible weather, which factors into hiring choices for industries like hospitality and construction. There was also a physician strike that dented the only reliable employment engine in the labor market, the health care industry. But the losses were pretty broad based with payrolls sinking in the government, manufacturing and tech sectors too. Given that, it's looking more like January was the aberration since the report also showed December was revised down from a gain of 48,000 to a loss of 17,000. Neal, a lot to unpack here, but one can't help but think about the Fed here, which is now dealing with accelerating price growth due to the war with Iran, pushing up energy costs and what looks to be a very weak jobs market.
[11:09]
C
Yeah, companies aren't hiring. There's too much uncertain day. They haven't been hiring for almost a year now. The US has lost jobs since May 2025. The only industry that's gained any jobs and is keeping the job market somewhat afloat is health care. The 4.4% unemployment rate, while still pretty low, is one of the highest rates since 2021. Young workers and workers of color are struggling the most in this job market. Blue collar workers getting absolutely SM Construction lost 11,000 jobs. Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality that employs about one in 10American workers lost 27,000 jobs. You go down the line, it was a, it was just a horrible report all around the board.
[11:49]
B
Yeah. Omar Sharif, the president of Inflation Insights llc, which is a great name for a firm, said this is about a labor market that is so soft it cannot withstand a strike of 31,000 physicians in health care because no one else is hiring. We have talked a lot about how technically we were getting jobs gains, but if you look deeper, like only one industry was propping it up and now that a single strike happened, it kind of tanked the entire labor market. It's also maybe shows that companies are following through on some of the layoffs that they were planning a few years ago. They've, or not even years ago, a few months ago. A lot of people have been saying artificial intelligence is going to eat into white collar workforces. Maybe this is them falling through on those promises. So you are right though, that you do not want young people to struggle to find a job because that's kind of the bedrock of the labor market right now. It seems like the labor market had found its footing a little bit with that blowout January report. Turns out it is like Bambi on ice still.
[12:47]
C
And you mentioned the Fed. The job just got a lot harder. It was already hard to begin with in this particular economy. But you have the war in, war in Iran, which leads to higher inflation that supports rates staying where they are. But then you have a weakening, a deteriorating labor market here that bolsters the case for a rate cut. The Fed is meeting later this month and will probably hold rates steady. But they're between a rock and a hard place. Every single maneuver that they can make will probably send something in the wrong direction elsewhere in the economy. We also talk about one job that I don't think anybody wants right now, which is a TSA officer. So I don't know if you saw this over the weekend, but there were insane lines at a couple of airports, some of the busiest in the United States. Hobby Airport in Houston, insane lines. They told passengers to arrive as early as five hours before their flight. Security wait times were much longer than three hours. Hartsfield, Jackson in Atlanta and the New Orleans International Airport also said that passengers should arrive at least three hours early because TSA officers are not getting paid right now. Remember, we are still in a partial government shutdown. They just collected their paychecks. They just got 30% of their pay because DHS is not being funded. And then next weekend they're going to miss their second paycheck. So some are calling out sick, sick. And because they're not getting paid and it's leading to absolute chaos this weekend at airports.
[14:06]
B
I mean, you combine the TSA lines with the fact that jet fuel prices are rising and that gas prices are rising, you can't go by car or plane anywhere. I'm walking, I'm running.
[14:17]
C
At least you're stopping off in mile 18.
[14:19]
B
Yeah, at least 18 miles. All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with our winners of the weekend right after this. Neil, I'm ready to make an announcement.
[14:28]
C
Toby, we all know it's okay that you're afraid of horses.
[14:31]
B
No. And I am not afraid. I just don't trust that them I'm announcing my personal endorsement for Spectrum Business. I've seen firsthand how they keep businesses of all sizes connected seamlessly with fast, reliable Internet, advanced Wi, Fi, phone, TV and mobile services, all backed by 100% US based support.
[14:48]
C
Spectrum Business offers tailored connectivity solutions with packages built for your business budget. In fact, millions of business owners rely on Spectrum Business to keep them connected.
[14:57]
B
So whether your business is big or small, visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. That's spectrum.com business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas
[15:11]
C
Waking up at 4am is a unique daily experience.
[15:14]
B
Hair and makeup cannot say the same.
[15:17]
C
It's really all about understanding how something impacts your body and pivoting accordingly. And that's something Whoop's wearable tech can help with.
[15:24]
B
Whoop gives you insight into your sleep, your recovery, the strain you're taking on, and how your daily behavior may influence your overall health. It helps you see patterns that can support better decisions.
[15:34]
C
And by understanding your body, you can adopt behaviors that help you feel and perform at your best every day.
[15:40]
B
Try Whoop on for size@join.whoop.com Brew Daily that's join.whoop.com Brew Daily Neil have you ever had to deal with 10 of something all at once?
[15:56]
C
Yeah, live bees and let me tell you, big ouchies.
[16:00]
B
Well, managing that many campaigns all at once can mean big ouchies for those in the agency world. That's why there's Disney Campaign Manager. With one unified dashboard, it lets you launch and manage every client campaign in one place with reporting that highlights insights fast.
[16:15]
C
Built in optimization feeds those insights back into future planning, helping agencies deliver strong results.
[16:21]
B
Get started today at disney campaign manager.com that's disney campaign manager.com let's head to
[16:30]
C
our winners of the weekend, the segment where we pick two things that didn't have to change their clocks because they never changed them in the first place. I won the pre show arm wrestling match so I get to go first and my winner is a Man camps. As data center construction expands into sparsely populated rural areas, Bloomberg reports that companies are setting up so called man camps to lure hesitant dudes to build the giant structures. The man camps, more politely known as workplace hubs, are temporary dorm like campuses adjacent to construction projects that house hundreds or even thousands of workers at a time time. They're a function of data centers being increasingly built in far flung areas such as remote Louisiana, Texas and Indiana that don't have existing housing or infrastructure to accommodate all the employees needed to set them up. Working in construction, far from your family in the middle of nowhere is not the most desirable job. So according to Bloomberg, companies that operate the man camps have been rolling out the red carpet with dude focused amenities to lure workers, including free steak dinners, gyms, golf simulators and ping pong rooms. Tell me Bandcamp sounds like a fun home away from home until some guy ruins it by pulling pulling out his guitar at the campfire and playing Wonderwall.
[17:36]
B
I wish I could play my guitar out of man camp this. Let's go back to the labor market actually, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics kind of forecasted what are going to be the jobs that drive employment growth over the next few years. And it does look to be construction. All jobs are projected to grow 3%, but construction trades are projected to grow 6%, which is double the average. Electricians specifically are projected to grow 9%. So this is maybe the new hospitality industry because. Or the new health care industry because as this AI build out needs to happen, you need people to build these data centers and it looks like man camps are going to be the place where that happens. It's also a really good gig. Not only do you have the really fun perks, like, you know, free steak, but the average electrician wage, if you're just a normal electrician, is 30 bucks an hour. Hour. A data center electrician wage is $130 an hour according to ZipRecruiter. So kind of a good.
[18:33]
C
I'm sure, I'm sure your fiance will absolutely love you heading off to mankind to build a data center in the absolute middle of nowhere. What's interesting is this is pretty much a carbon copy repeat of what happened in the 2010s during the shale boom there. There was huge boom in oil rigging in the Permian Basin, which is West Texas in New Mexico. Said to build all these things and get oil workers to these places. Very much in the middle of nowhere in West Texas. Think Friday Night Lights. So a bunch of companies back then also set up a man camps and they're just kind of repeating the same playbook.
[19:07]
B
And you mentioned that they are happening in very remote parts of the country. So remote in fact, that sometimes it doubles the country, the county's population when a man camp descends upon it. I'm thinking about Dickens County, Texas. Not a lot going on there, but. But when you. When they added a 1500 bed site that did double the county's population, right There. So it does lead to questions though of hey, these man camps descend on this place, it brings an economic boom for a short time, but what happens when that data center leaves? It's not a long term man camp. You're not going to live in these dorm like environs for a long time. So it is kind of a blessing and a curse for these smaller rural areas. My winner of the weekend is a group of finance fellows that did a little photo shoot and broke some unspoken Wall street rules. In the process of Wall Street's various insider do's and don'ts, one of the biggest one for junior employees is keep a low profile. But for young guys working at Goldman Sachs, Barclays and PwC decided to do the opposite, posing for a glossy photo shoot in designer suits at a famous Wall street steakhouse. The shoot was published by Interview, a magazine founded by Andy Warhol. And the article was titled Meet the finest boys in Finance. And it was exactly as cringy as it sounds. One Talked about blowing $3,000 on a Montclair jacket. They didn't even need another about working until their Excel spreadsheet froze at three in the morning. These answers were given in between espousing sage financial advice like telling readers to live below your means. All as they were lounging on velvet couches in Celine suits. The Internet saw it and the memes immediately flowed. Goldman Sachs saw it and immediately let it be known that nobody in their press office had signed off on any of this. One of the guys, a consultant named Demar Johnson who works for PwC, said, My initial reaction was, oh, they're going to clown us because we think we're pretty. And that's exactly what happened. Neil this struck a chord with a lot of people because everything was just so extra from the quotes to the film fits the style of the photography. Should we do a little shoot?
[21:13]
C
I think we should pass. Toby Based on the reaction here, Finance Young is flaunting their wealth isn't new, but it has always been frowned upon. Last week the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, published a memoir and there's an episode in this particular memoir. So he recalled a 1986 incident in which a 31 year old retail broker at Goldman, who his name is Jim Cramer, was boasting about his wealth to the New York Times Times. He told the Times back then, there isn't anything I see in a store that I can't buy. And then Blankfein said he was gone from the firm. Shortly thereafter, Kramer went on to have a Pretty good career after he was, he was sacked at Goldman Sachs. But it's just one example of how if you kind of upstage your bosses, whether it's by flaunting your wealth to the media, then the firm is going to take notice. And they did this time too.
[22:03]
B
I just want to go through some of the more notable quotes from this piece as well. Mason Clark was, who works at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst, said his idea of hell is mediocrity. He also talked about the hours that he works. And he did say, I work until my Excel crashes. Clay Nelson, which is the sales trading associate at Goldman Sachs, on his idea of Heaven, he said, it's a continuous DJ set, everybody dancing and having the time of their lives. I wonder if that actually was a little homage to David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, who is a dj. He moonlights as a dj, so maybe he'll keep his jobs because he's kind of, you know, alluding to the culture that David Solomon likes as well. I do think it's very funny too. I was looking at the LinkedIn that some of these guys, one of them worked as a Morning Brew campus ambassador. So I think there's just painting the archetype of the person.
[22:57]
C
What are you saying about Morning Brew?
[22:59]
B
I don't know. I'm just good for him or good for us? I don't know.
[23:02]
C
And I don't know. One reason that I think this also struck a chord is that first of all, no one dresses like that on Wall street anymore. No one's wearing these designer suits that these designer bags and these designer shoes. It's a much more casual atmosphere since the 1980s. And Wall street, the movie you know, showed depicted this type of dressing. It's just not like that. People wear J. Crew and Lululemon. It's supposed to be this understated thing. And second of all, yes, these guys are making a lot of money, but they could not afford what they were wearing in the photo shoot. This magazine just gave it to them. So for those reasons, this all was a bit extra. We'll see what happens with these fellas and whether Goldman Sachs is going to crack down now. Okay, it's Monday, so here's what you need to know to stay ahead in the week. Ahead on Wall street, nerves will be high and market moves will almost exclusively be driven by developments from the war in the Middle East. Until Wednesday, that is when the monthly inflation report drops For February, inflation was tamer than expected to start out the year in January, though any hopeful report for February may be shrugged off by investors since it doesn't account for the spike in oil prices to begin March.
[24:00]
B
Which is why a surprise spike in inflation could be extremely scary because ways if that happens without the shock of the Iranian war being factored in, then that is big alarm bells going off as well, especially when you compare it with the weak jobs data that was released on Friday. That brings up fears of the S word, which is stagflation, which could be something you hear us talking about going forward in sports.
[24:27]
C
It's time to start thinking about your March Madness bracket. With college basketball conference tournaments running all week week leading up to selection Sunday on March 15th. Toby, you're going to have to catch me up on the contenders this year because I have not been locked in this season.
[24:39]
B
It's actually very similar to last year. We have four historically strong teams as well. Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Maryland, Florida. Not Maryland. You're close. I will eat something of our listeners choosing if one of those four teams don't win. That's how confident, that's how outlier of a year we have once again with just 14 teams head and shoulders above the rest. You could maybe toss UConn in there as well. They just lost to Marquette over the weekend. For the women, Texas just upset South Carolina so I like them as a sneaky pick.
[25:11]
C
All right, well what I have been locked into is the World Baseball Classic which is already generating tons of buzz and wraps up pool play on Wednesday before the quarterfinals begin. The vibes are absolutely incredible. You have to watch videos of this. There have been a couple of walk off homers already. The Japanese and Dominican fans are next level and Team Italy even as an espresso machine in their dugout.
[25:32]
B
I open X and I see a random walk off every other day. Seeing the Netherlands hit dingers is just so hilarious to me because you just don't associate your Gregorius. I know it is very funny. So I only see the highlights. So are you watching games on the streaming service?
[25:48]
C
Is there any way to find watching the highlights? The quarterfinals come and we get USA Japan hopefully in the championship game. I will absolutely be watching. And then finally it's Oscars week ahead of the Academy Awards on Sunday. Not the worst idea to set aside some time to watch as many nominated movies as possible so you can get all the references.
[26:05]
B
I have to ask too, have you been up to date with this Timothee Salameh backlash that's broken out over the weekend? I'll catch people up. Timothy Chalamet is under a lot of heat right now because of the conversation he had with Matthew McConaughey about the need to keep movie theaters alive. And in it, he says said I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it's like, hey, keep this thing alive, even though it's like no one cares about this anymore. So that got a lot of people up in arms. But a bunch of opera and ballets are leaning into it and cashing in on it. The Seattle Opera used the actor's name as a promo code, posting on social use promo code Timothy to save 14% off select seats. And then the English National Opera also operates offered free tickets to Timothy to help him fall back in love with opera. So you just checked this morning, Michael B. Jordan has surged ahead on prediction markets when it comes to best actor. I wonder if this has any with it. All right.
[26:58]
C
We'll always be selling opera houses. That is all the time we have. Thanks for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Monday. If you'd like to reach us, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram at me Daily show let's roll the clip credits. Emily Milian is our supervising producer. Raymond Liu is our senior producer. Our producer is Olivia Graham, and our associate producer is Olivia Lake. Hair and makeup is tapping the strategic mascara reserve. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.
[27:25]
B
Great show today, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow.

Summary8 min read

Morning Brew Daily Podcast Summary

Episode: Oil Prices Soar Past $100 & Workers Are Flocking to ‘AI Man Camps’
Date: March 9, 2026
Hosts: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell

Overview

This episode dives into the mounting global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran, resulting in oil prices soaring past $100 a barrel and igniting fears of a wider economic fallout. Neal and Toby also dissect the latest, dismal US jobs report, explore the rise of “man camps” for the AI data center construction boom, and wrap up with lighter stories from Wall Street antics to sports and Oscars buzz. The hosts maintain their trademark wit while unpacking the serious—sometimes alarming—business and economic headlines shaping the week.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Global Energy Crisis: Oil Prices at Historic Highs ([03:15]–[09:01])

Oil Soars Over $100/Barrel:
- Triggered by the escalation of war in Iran, specifically a halt of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
  - “Oil prices spiked to more than $100 a barrel this morning, their highest level since 2022 as the war in Iran halts shipments from the Gulf.” — Neal [03:18]
- Major producers like Kuwait, UAE, and Iraq are cutting production because they can’t ship crude; storage tanks are full.
Record-breaking Spike:
- Oil up 15% overnight, 35% jump last week (largest weekly gain since 1983).
- Qatar warns prices could go as high as $150/barrel if the blockade continues.
Immediate Impact:
- US gas prices up $0.41/gallon in a week, now over $3.40, racing toward $4/gallon.
- President Trump minimizes the risk, but Wall Street reacts sharply.
  - “President Trump has downplayed the price surge, writing that a gain in ‘short term oil prices’ was a small price to pay for taking out Iran’s nuclear capabilities and suggested they'll come back down soon.” — Neal [04:30]
- The Dow posts its worst week in almost a year.
Market Resilience and Uncertainty:
- G7 considering coordinated release of strategic reserves, easing panic slightly ([05:03]–[05:55]).
- September oil futures suggest trader optimism about resolution (around $70/barrel).
Historical Comparison:
- 20 million barrels/day lost—a scale “dwarfing” the 1978 Iranian Revolution oil shock.
  - “This is the largest oil shock we’ve seen in history...it just dwarfs any other historical comparison.” — Neal [05:55]

2. The Broader Economic Fallout ([09:01]–[12:46])

Diesel and Jet Fuel Surge:
- Diesel up most on record in a day (+22 cents Friday)—direct, broad inflationary impact as it’s vital to trucking and agriculture.
  - “Everything that you buy essentially gets to the store or gets to your house. Diesel trucks...So if diesel is skyrocketing...that’s essentially a tax on everything you can buy. Even agriculture.” — Neal [08:07]
- Jet fuel up 58% since the war began, hurting airlines, cargo, and travel plans ([09:01]).
Global Effects:
- Asia is especially vulnerable—Myanmar rationing, Thailand suspending fuel exports, and Philippines instituting energy-saving measures.
No End in Sight:
- War continues; Iran’s new leader is seen as even more hardline, dashing hopes for quick resolution.

3. The (Very) Weak US Labor Market ([09:21]–[12:46])

February Jobs Report Shock:
- US lost 92,000 jobs (largest since the pandemic), unemployment up to 4.4%.
- Loss was broad-based: government, manufacturing, tech, and even healthcare (due to a physician strike).
  - “The economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs...while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%.” — Toby [10:00]
Long-term Softening:
- US has been losing jobs since May 2025; only health care had shown gains, but even that is now faltering.
- Young people and workers of color hit hardest; construction, manufacturing, hospitality all shed jobs.
  - “Blue collar workers getting absolutely SM” — Neal [11:20]
AI’s Role in Layoffs:
- Companies may finally be following through on earlier pledges to slim white-collar ranks thanks to AI.
  - “A lot of people have been saying artificial intelligence is going to eat into white collar workforces. Maybe this is them falling through on those promises.” — Toby [11:49]
Fed in a Bind:
- Stagflation fears: War-driven inflation argues for higher rates, weak jobs market for cuts. The Fed is “between a rock and a hard place.” ([12:46])
  - “Every single maneuver that they can make will probably send something in the wrong direction elsewhere in the economy.” — Neal [12:46]

4. TSA, Government Shutdown & Travel Headaches ([12:46]–[14:18])

Insane TSA Lines:
- Partial government shutdown means TSA workers are unpaid, leading to chaos and callouts at major airports—waits over three hours, advice to arrive five hours before flights.
  - “TSA officers are not getting paid right now...some are calling out sick...leading to absolute chaos this weekend at airports.” — Neal [13:33]
Travel Disrupted Further:
- Rising jet fuel and gas means flying and driving both get harder and costlier.
  - “You can't go by car or plane anywhere. I'm walking, I'm running.” — Toby [14:14]

5. Winners of the Weekend: “Man Camps” & Finance Bros ([16:29]–[23:01])

A. “AI Man Camps”: The Construction Industry’s Unlikely Boom

([16:29]–[19:07])

AI Drives Construction Demand:
- Huge data centers for AI are being built in rural areas, requiring masses of workers—hence temporary "man camps."
  - “Bloomberg reports that companies are setting up so-called man camps to lure hesitant dudes to build the giant structures. The man camps...are temporary dorm-like campuses...that house hundreds or even thousands of workers…” — Neal [16:33]
- Amenities (steak dinners, gyms, golf simulators) attract workers far from home.
- Data center construction trades projected to grow twice as fast as average jobs; electrician wages jump from $30/hr (normal) to $130/hr (data centers).
  - “A data center electrician wage is $130 an hour...” — Toby [17:51]
- Echoes the 2010s shale boom’s temporary labor encampments and economic booms (and busts) for rural counties.

B. Finance Bros Go Viral in Cringy Photo Shoot

([19:07]–[23:01])

Four young Wall Streeters pose in designer gear—breaking the old rule to “keep a low profile.”
- Featured in Interview magazine’s “Meet the Finest Boys in Finance” spread, sharing over-the-top quotes about wealth and work life.
- Goldman Sachs and others quickly distance themselves.
  - “The Internet saw it and the memes immediately flowed. Goldman Sachs saw it and immediately let it be known that nobody in their press office had signed off on any of this.” — Toby [20:50]
- Notable Quotes:
  - “My idea of hell is mediocrity.” — Mason Clark (Goldman), on what motivates him [22:03]
  - “I work until my Excel crashes.” — Mason Clark [22:03]
  - “It’s a continuous DJ set, everybody dancing and having the time of their lives.” — Clay Nelson (Goldman), on his idea of heaven [22:21]
- Neal points out the irony: no one can really afford what they were wearing; Wall Street dress is now more casual.

Other Memorable Segments

LA Marathon Medal Debate ([00:52]–[02:38])

Runners could stop at mile 18 and receive a finisher’s medal due to high heat, sparking a “snowflake culture” vs. “reasonable precaution” debate.
- “Logistically, 18 miles makes sense if you wanted to provide an off ramp...I definitely wouldn’t have accepted a medal, though, because it would haunt me...” — Toby [01:30]
- The finish was the closest in LA Marathon history (American Nathan Martin beat a Kenyan rival by 0.01 seconds).

Market & News Lookahead ([23:01]–[26:57])

All Eyes on the War & Inflation Report:
- Markets driven by further Middle East developments; February inflation report Wednesday—big risk if inflation spikes even before oil shock fully registers.
  - “Which is why a surprise spike in inflation could be extremely scary...big alarm bells going off as well, especially when you compare with the weak jobs data.” — Toby [23:59]
March Madness & Sports:
- College basketball conference tournaments all week, selection Sunday coming up.
  - “I will eat something of our listeners choosing if one of those four teams don’t win.” — Toby [24:38]
- World Baseball Classic: high energy, wild fan moments, and quirky team quirks (Italy’s espresso machine in the dugout).
- Oscars week: Timothée Chalamet triggers opera world with comments; opera houses use his remarks for promotions.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

“Oil prices spiked to more than $100 a barrel this morning, their highest level since 2022 as the war in Iran halts shipments from the Gulf...” — Neal [03:18]
“This is the largest oil shock we’ve seen in history...it just dwarfs any other historical comparison.” — Neal [05:55]
“A data center electrician wage is $130 an hour according to ZipRecruiter. So kind of a good.” — Toby [17:51]
“The Internet saw it and the memes immediately flowed. Goldman Sachs saw it and immediately let it be known that nobody in their press office had signed off on any of this.” — Toby [20:50]
“Everything that you buy essentially gets to the store or gets to your house. Diesel trucks...So if diesel is skyrocketing...that’s essentially a tax on everything you can buy.” — Neal [08:07]
“My idea of hell is mediocrity.” — Mason Clark (Goldman Sachs) [22:03]
“I work until my Excel crashes.” — Mason Clark [22:03]

Episode Flow and Tone

Neal and Toby blend urgent business news with a conversational, often humorous tone. Their analysis is crisp and direct, particularly regarding the severity of the oil shock and economic ramifications, but they also inject levity in digressions (Wall Street fashion, marathon medals, sports picks). The approach makes complex topics accessible and engaging for everyday listeners.

Timestamps for Key Segments

Oil Crisis & Global Economic Fallout: [03:15]–[09:01]
US Jobs Report & Labor Market Trends: [09:21]–[12:46]
Energy Crisis Transmission (Diesel, Travel, Fed Dilemma): [08:07]–[14:18]
Winners of the Weekend—"Man Camps": [16:29]–[19:07]
Winners of the Weekend—Finance Bros: [19:07]–[23:01]
Sports & Entertainment Roundup: [24:26]–[26:57]

Summary Table

| Segment | Topics Covered | Timestamps | |----------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|------------------------| | Energy Crisis & Oil Prices | Record oil/gas prices, global implications | 03:15–09:01 | | Economic Impact | Inflation risks, ripple effects from diesel/jet fuel | 08:07–09:01 | | Labor Market Crisis | Jobs loss, AI layoffs, Fed policy dilemma | 09:21–12:46 | | Winners: AI Man Camps | Data center boom, rural America, rising trade wages | 16:29–19:07 | | Winners: Wall Street Photo Shoot | Young finance workers bucking norms, viral moment | 19:07–23:01 | | Sports & Oscars Preview | March Madness, WBC, Oscars, entertainment news | 24:26–26:57 |

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode delivers all you need to understand why oil prices are spiking, how profoundly the war in Iran is rocking global and US economic health, and why the labor market looks shakier than headlines suggest. You'll also get insight into future job opportunities in unexpected booming sectors—from rural construction trades to data centers—and a taste of the evolving culture on Wall Street. It’s a must-listen for staying ahead in turbulent economic times, delivered with characteristic Morning Brew Daily wit and accessibility.

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Transcript57 lines

[00:01]
A
Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
[00:03]
B
Right.
[00:04]
A
And the best part? They accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.
[00:23]
C
Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
[00:34]
B
And I'm Toby Howell.
[00:35]
C
Today, the energy crisis just got real. Oil prices shot through $100 a barrel.
[00:41]
B
Then the economy is shedding jobs left and right. It's Thursday, March 9th. Let's ride.
[00:52]
C
Good morning and welcome back to a week that's going to feel like spring is finally here, thanks to daylight saving time. Sure, we lost an hour of sleep, but sunset tonight in New York, 7pm But I want to start on the opposite coast. The Los Angeles Marathon was held yesterday, and an announcement before the race was ruffling some feathers due to expected high temperatures. Organizers said that runners could stop at mile 18 and still collect a finisher's medal. There is no shame in making a smart decision for your body, the marathon's website read. But that didn't stop many people from shaming the decision. Toby, as a marathoner yourself, is this snowflake culture gone wild or a reasonable health measure?
[01:30]
B
Thank you for sliding in a marathoner there. I appreciate that. Obviously, I was very against this when I first heard it, but I was poking through the marathon training subreddit and got some additional context beyond the weather that made me more sympathetic. 1L A is unique in that there are 3,000 middle school and high schoolers that run through a program called Students Run L A. And as some pointed out, kids are very metal motivated. So this might have been done to take some of the pressure off of them. And then 2L A has a very weird course. The 18 mile mark isn't arbitrary. You actually pass the finish line at mile 18 and then have to double back, which would just be horrible for my mental state at that point. So logistically, 18 miles makes sense if you wanted to provide an off ramp. Understanding all of that, I definitely wouldn't have accepted a medal, though, because it would haunt me to look at it knowing I didn't actually complete the race. We do just have to touch on the the winner of the race, though, because it was electric. American Nathan Martin beat Kenya's Michael Kamau by 0.01 seconds, which was the closest finish in L A Marathon history. I'm sure the 18 mile finish line was just as close as well.
[02:38]
C
And now a word from our sponsor Tax Act. Toby, you're a small business owner.
[02:42]
B
I am not. Oh wait, you're totally right, I am. I forgot about my pickled wall shoe company for a second.
[02:47]
C
Answers like that are why I don't trust you to do your taxes. And that's why there's Tax Act. They help small business owners get their taxes done. TaxAct filing easy for small businesses by providing the only online DIY filing software for small businesses with TaxAct you can
[03:02]
B
file your business taxes any way you'd like. You can do them by yourself with step by step guidance. You can file them with help from a credentialed tax expert when you have questions, or you can upload your documents and an expert will prepare and file for you.
[03:16]
C
Just head to taxact.com/business-returns to get started. That's taxact.com/business-survors the most severe global energy crisis since the 1970s these has arrived Oil prices spiked to more than $100 a barrel this morning, their highest level since 2022 as the war in Iran halts shipments from the Gulf, presenting an imminent threat to the global economy. Crude prices skyrocketed 15% overnight, extending their historic rise last week when they jumped 35% for their biggest weekly gain on records dating back to 1983. Investors are responding to troubling developments over the weekend. Major producers Kuwait, the UAE and Iraq said they are cutting oil production because their storage tanks are full and they can't ship any F through the Strait of Hormuz. The critical right away, which is now effectively sealed off. Qatar's energy minister warned that oil prices could spike to $150 if the status quo continued, adding that the conflict in the Middle east could, quote, bring down the economies of the world. It's already hitting the US Economy, where gas prices have soared in response to the oil supply shock. The last seven days brought one of the top 10 largest weekly increases ever in US gas prices, rising 41 cents a gallon. Before the war started, the national average was to 80 a gallon. Now it's over $3.40 cent, well on its way to climbing above $4. President Trump has downplayed the price surge, writing that a gain in, quote, short term oil prices was a small price to pay for taking out Iran's nuclear capabilities and suggested they'll come back down soon. Wall street has a less optimistic view. The Dow just Posted its worst week in almost a year. While The S&P 500 is now negative for 2026 after tumbling on Friday, things don't look any better this morning. As of 6:00am Eastern Stock Futures are way down. Toby, lots of alarm bells going off. An energy crisis can quickly met an economic crisis.
[05:04]
B
Yeah. Oil is now about 50% more expensive than it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28th. It was whiplash over the last few 24 hours. Honestly. When the oil markets opened on Sunday night, oil prices rocketed past $120 a barrel and everyone's like holy moly. We went to bed, we woke up this morning and they actually started falling once again. That's because we got a piece of news early this morning that are mellowing. That helped mellow things out. The Financial Times reported that the Group of seven nations was planning a call on Monday to discuss the release of oil from their strategic reserves which would help exacerbate some of this supply crunch that we are in right now. And if you look even further down the line, September oil futures are still trading around $70 a barrel which shows that traders are still optimistic that things get resolved.
[05:56]
C
I just want to put this in historical context. There isn't any. This is the largest oil shock we've seen in history. 20% of global output has been taken off the market. That' 20 million, 20 million barrels a day that was flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. In normal times it's just not flowing anymore. 20 million barrels a day is just dwarfs any other historical comparison. The second biggest oil shock was the Iranian Revolution in 1978 that took off five and a half million barrels per day. Some of these quotes from analysts who cover the energy sector are pretty mind boggling. Mizuho's head of FICC strategy, Jordan Rochester said this may be a war, but it's also perhaps the biggest energy supply logistics crisis we've in modern history. And then JP Morgan chased analyst Natasha can never said in the whole written history of the strait it has never been closed ever. To me it was not just the worst case scenario, it was an unthinkable scenario. So you have some energy analysts saying we're going up to $150 a barrel. Some saying we see this being resolved not in the short term, but in the medium term. Still, oil prices remain elevated at over $100 a barrel this morning.
[07:04]
B
The world is more resilient this time around, even dating back to the 1970s because the crude market is just more flexible. There's more, there's less. Long term contracts. Traders can like push cargo to places that they need at a greater flexibility than in times path. China's also has a big stockpile of oil these days, enough to cover 200 days of import imports. The US obviously has turned from a net importer to a net exporter when it comes to oil. Saudi Arabia has different ways to get oil out of the country. Not just through the Strait of Hormuz. They have a pipeline that reaches its western coast. Obviously all of these measures are half measures. It's not the same as opening the strait itself. And it does show that which parts of the world are very exposed to a supply shock like this, which is Asia. Myanmar has launched a rationing system for cars. Thailand has suspended some of its fuel exports. And then the Philippines are actually having people turn off computers at lunch and set their air conditioning no lower than 75 degrees Fahrenheit in order to ration their energy.
[08:08]
C
Huge global ramifications. Now I said earlier that an energy crisis can quickly become a broader economic crisis. How can that happen? Well, I want you to look at one thing. Diesel. So diesel prices are skyrocketing far more than crude prices. They just recorded their largest single price increase ever recorded, which was 22 cents last Friday. And the reason that diesel can impact everything in the economy is that everything that you buy essentially gets to the store or gets to your house. Diesel trucks, trucks that run on diesel. So if diesel is skyrocketing, which it is, then that's essentially a tax on everything you can buy. Even agriculture. Diesel runs the agriculture industry because farmers use diesel to power tractors and combines. So essentially inflation can go way up as diesel prices go up, because it just infiltrates everything in the economy. Every consumer product and every industrial product.
[09:01]
B
And then just to throw another wrench in the supply chain, jet fuel is also going up. You know what do planes run on? Planes move stuff around the world. Repair. Jet fuel prices have risen 58% since the start of the war. So that's going to mess with things getting to your home, but also your summer vacation plans. Airlines are struggling right now, as are the cruise industry, but maybe not as impactful on the entire global economy as the other two industries that we mentioned. What is the big picture here? Like what are we looking at in terms of this war with Iran? It is not ending any time soon. Iran selected Mohatba Khamenei as the country's next supreme leader. That is the successor to his father, Ali Khamenei, although he is seen as potentially even more hardline than his father. So the Israel and the US have said that they would not accept him as a new leader. So again, no immediate end in sight. Moving on. February's jobs report dropped on Friday and it was enough to make a Pisces cry. The economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs, one of the largest declines since the pandemic, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%. It was a whiplash inducing report not only because it surprised economists who forecasted a 55,000 jobs gain, but also because it's a sharp reversal from January when The economy added 126,000 jobs. Now there are signs that this was potentially an aberration. February had horrible weather, which factors into hiring choices for industries like hospitality and construction. There was also a physician strike that dented the only reliable employment engine in the labor market, the health care industry. But the losses were pretty broad based with payrolls sinking in the government, manufacturing and tech sectors too. Given that, it's looking more like January was the aberration since the report also showed December was revised down from a gain of 48,000 to a loss of 17,000. Neal, a lot to unpack here, but one can't help but think about the Fed here, which is now dealing with accelerating price growth due to the war with Iran, pushing up energy costs and what looks to be a very weak jobs market.
[11:09]
C
Yeah, companies aren't hiring. There's too much uncertain day. They haven't been hiring for almost a year now. The US has lost jobs since May 2025. The only industry that's gained any jobs and is keeping the job market somewhat afloat is health care. The 4.4% unemployment rate, while still pretty low, is one of the highest rates since 2021. Young workers and workers of color are struggling the most in this job market. Blue collar workers getting absolutely SM Construction lost 11,000 jobs. Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality that employs about one in 10American workers lost 27,000 jobs. You go down the line, it was a, it was just a horrible report all around the board.
[11:49]
B
Yeah. Omar Sharif, the president of Inflation Insights llc, which is a great name for a firm, said this is about a labor market that is so soft it cannot withstand a strike of 31,000 physicians in health care because no one else is hiring. We have talked a lot about how technically we were getting jobs gains, but if you look deeper, like only one industry was propping it up and now that a single strike happened, it kind of tanked the entire labor market. It's also maybe shows that companies are following through on some of the layoffs that they were planning a few years ago. They've, or not even years ago, a few months ago. A lot of people have been saying artificial intelligence is going to eat into white collar workforces. Maybe this is them falling through on those promises. So you are right though, that you do not want young people to struggle to find a job because that's kind of the bedrock of the labor market right now. It seems like the labor market had found its footing a little bit with that blowout January report. Turns out it is like Bambi on ice still.
[12:47]
C
And you mentioned the Fed. The job just got a lot harder. It was already hard to begin with in this particular economy. But you have the war in, war in Iran, which leads to higher inflation that supports rates staying where they are. But then you have a weakening, a deteriorating labor market here that bolsters the case for a rate cut. The Fed is meeting later this month and will probably hold rates steady. But they're between a rock and a hard place. Every single maneuver that they can make will probably send something in the wrong direction elsewhere in the economy. We also talk about one job that I don't think anybody wants right now, which is a TSA officer. So I don't know if you saw this over the weekend, but there were insane lines at a couple of airports, some of the busiest in the United States. Hobby Airport in Houston, insane lines. They told passengers to arrive as early as five hours before their flight. Security wait times were much longer than three hours. Hartsfield, Jackson in Atlanta and the New Orleans International Airport also said that passengers should arrive at least three hours early because TSA officers are not getting paid right now. Remember, we are still in a partial government shutdown. They just collected their paychecks. They just got 30% of their pay because DHS is not being funded. And then next weekend they're going to miss their second paycheck. So some are calling out sick, sick. And because they're not getting paid and it's leading to absolute chaos this weekend at airports.
[14:06]
B
I mean, you combine the TSA lines with the fact that jet fuel prices are rising and that gas prices are rising, you can't go by car or plane anywhere. I'm walking, I'm running.
[14:17]
C
At least you're stopping off in mile 18.
[14:19]
B
Yeah, at least 18 miles. All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back with our winners of the weekend right after this. Neil, I'm ready to make an announcement.
[14:28]
C
Toby, we all know it's okay that you're afraid of horses.
[14:31]
B
No. And I am not afraid. I just don't trust that them I'm announcing my personal endorsement for Spectrum Business. I've seen firsthand how they keep businesses of all sizes connected seamlessly with fast, reliable Internet, advanced Wi, Fi, phone, TV and mobile services, all backed by 100% US based support.
[14:48]
C
Spectrum Business offers tailored connectivity solutions with packages built for your business budget. In fact, millions of business owners rely on Spectrum Business to keep them connected.
[14:57]
B
So whether your business is big or small, visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. That's spectrum.com business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas
[15:11]
C
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[15:14]
B
Hair and makeup cannot say the same.
[15:17]
C
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[15:24]
B
Whoop gives you insight into your sleep, your recovery, the strain you're taking on, and how your daily behavior may influence your overall health. It helps you see patterns that can support better decisions.
[15:34]
C
And by understanding your body, you can adopt behaviors that help you feel and perform at your best every day.
[15:40]
B
Try Whoop on for size@join.whoop.com Brew Daily that's join.whoop.com Brew Daily Neil have you ever had to deal with 10 of something all at once?
[15:56]
C
Yeah, live bees and let me tell you, big ouchies.
[16:00]
B
Well, managing that many campaigns all at once can mean big ouchies for those in the agency world. That's why there's Disney Campaign Manager. With one unified dashboard, it lets you launch and manage every client campaign in one place with reporting that highlights insights fast.
[16:15]
C
Built in optimization feeds those insights back into future planning, helping agencies deliver strong results.
[16:21]
B
Get started today at disney campaign manager.com that's disney campaign manager.com let's head to
[16:30]
C
our winners of the weekend, the segment where we pick two things that didn't have to change their clocks because they never changed them in the first place. I won the pre show arm wrestling match so I get to go first and my winner is a Man camps. As data center construction expands into sparsely populated rural areas, Bloomberg reports that companies are setting up so called man camps to lure hesitant dudes to build the giant structures. The man camps, more politely known as workplace hubs, are temporary dorm like campuses adjacent to construction projects that house hundreds or even thousands of workers at a time time. They're a function of data centers being increasingly built in far flung areas such as remote Louisiana, Texas and Indiana that don't have existing housing or infrastructure to accommodate all the employees needed to set them up. Working in construction, far from your family in the middle of nowhere is not the most desirable job. So according to Bloomberg, companies that operate the man camps have been rolling out the red carpet with dude focused amenities to lure workers, including free steak dinners, gyms, golf simulators and ping pong rooms. Tell me Bandcamp sounds like a fun home away from home until some guy ruins it by pulling pulling out his guitar at the campfire and playing Wonderwall.
[17:36]
B
I wish I could play my guitar out of man camp this. Let's go back to the labor market actually, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics kind of forecasted what are going to be the jobs that drive employment growth over the next few years. And it does look to be construction. All jobs are projected to grow 3%, but construction trades are projected to grow 6%, which is double the average. Electricians specifically are projected to grow 9%. So this is maybe the new hospitality industry because. Or the new health care industry because as this AI build out needs to happen, you need people to build these data centers and it looks like man camps are going to be the place where that happens. It's also a really good gig. Not only do you have the really fun perks, like, you know, free steak, but the average electrician wage, if you're just a normal electrician, is 30 bucks an hour. Hour. A data center electrician wage is $130 an hour according to ZipRecruiter. So kind of a good.
[18:33]
C
I'm sure, I'm sure your fiance will absolutely love you heading off to mankind to build a data center in the absolute middle of nowhere. What's interesting is this is pretty much a carbon copy repeat of what happened in the 2010s during the shale boom there. There was huge boom in oil rigging in the Permian Basin, which is West Texas in New Mexico. Said to build all these things and get oil workers to these places. Very much in the middle of nowhere in West Texas. Think Friday Night Lights. So a bunch of companies back then also set up a man camps and they're just kind of repeating the same playbook.
[19:07]
B
And you mentioned that they are happening in very remote parts of the country. So remote in fact, that sometimes it doubles the country, the county's population when a man camp descends upon it. I'm thinking about Dickens County, Texas. Not a lot going on there, but. But when you. When they added a 1500 bed site that did double the county's population, right There. So it does lead to questions though of hey, these man camps descend on this place, it brings an economic boom for a short time, but what happens when that data center leaves? It's not a long term man camp. You're not going to live in these dorm like environs for a long time. So it is kind of a blessing and a curse for these smaller rural areas. My winner of the weekend is a group of finance fellows that did a little photo shoot and broke some unspoken Wall street rules. In the process of Wall Street's various insider do's and don'ts, one of the biggest one for junior employees is keep a low profile. But for young guys working at Goldman Sachs, Barclays and PwC decided to do the opposite, posing for a glossy photo shoot in designer suits at a famous Wall street steakhouse. The shoot was published by Interview, a magazine founded by Andy Warhol. And the article was titled Meet the finest boys in Finance. And it was exactly as cringy as it sounds. One Talked about blowing $3,000 on a Montclair jacket. They didn't even need another about working until their Excel spreadsheet froze at three in the morning. These answers were given in between espousing sage financial advice like telling readers to live below your means. All as they were lounging on velvet couches in Celine suits. The Internet saw it and the memes immediately flowed. Goldman Sachs saw it and immediately let it be known that nobody in their press office had signed off on any of this. One of the guys, a consultant named Demar Johnson who works for PwC, said, My initial reaction was, oh, they're going to clown us because we think we're pretty. And that's exactly what happened. Neil this struck a chord with a lot of people because everything was just so extra from the quotes to the film fits the style of the photography. Should we do a little shoot?
[21:13]
C
I think we should pass. Toby Based on the reaction here, Finance Young is flaunting their wealth isn't new, but it has always been frowned upon. Last week the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, published a memoir and there's an episode in this particular memoir. So he recalled a 1986 incident in which a 31 year old retail broker at Goldman, who his name is Jim Cramer, was boasting about his wealth to the New York Times Times. He told the Times back then, there isn't anything I see in a store that I can't buy. And then Blankfein said he was gone from the firm. Shortly thereafter, Kramer went on to have a Pretty good career after he was, he was sacked at Goldman Sachs. But it's just one example of how if you kind of upstage your bosses, whether it's by flaunting your wealth to the media, then the firm is going to take notice. And they did this time too.
[22:03]
B
I just want to go through some of the more notable quotes from this piece as well. Mason Clark was, who works at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst, said his idea of hell is mediocrity. He also talked about the hours that he works. And he did say, I work until my Excel crashes. Clay Nelson, which is the sales trading associate at Goldman Sachs, on his idea of Heaven, he said, it's a continuous DJ set, everybody dancing and having the time of their lives. I wonder if that actually was a little homage to David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, who is a dj. He moonlights as a dj, so maybe he'll keep his jobs because he's kind of, you know, alluding to the culture that David Solomon likes as well. I do think it's very funny too. I was looking at the LinkedIn that some of these guys, one of them worked as a Morning Brew campus ambassador. So I think there's just painting the archetype of the person.
[22:57]
C
What are you saying about Morning Brew?
[22:59]
B
I don't know. I'm just good for him or good for us? I don't know.
[23:02]
C
And I don't know. One reason that I think this also struck a chord is that first of all, no one dresses like that on Wall street anymore. No one's wearing these designer suits that these designer bags and these designer shoes. It's a much more casual atmosphere since the 1980s. And Wall street, the movie you know, showed depicted this type of dressing. It's just not like that. People wear J. Crew and Lululemon. It's supposed to be this understated thing. And second of all, yes, these guys are making a lot of money, but they could not afford what they were wearing in the photo shoot. This magazine just gave it to them. So for those reasons, this all was a bit extra. We'll see what happens with these fellas and whether Goldman Sachs is going to crack down now. Okay, it's Monday, so here's what you need to know to stay ahead in the week. Ahead on Wall street, nerves will be high and market moves will almost exclusively be driven by developments from the war in the Middle East. Until Wednesday, that is when the monthly inflation report drops For February, inflation was tamer than expected to start out the year in January, though any hopeful report for February may be shrugged off by investors since it doesn't account for the spike in oil prices to begin March.
[24:00]
B
Which is why a surprise spike in inflation could be extremely scary because ways if that happens without the shock of the Iranian war being factored in, then that is big alarm bells going off as well, especially when you compare it with the weak jobs data that was released on Friday. That brings up fears of the S word, which is stagflation, which could be something you hear us talking about going forward in sports.
[24:27]
C
It's time to start thinking about your March Madness bracket. With college basketball conference tournaments running all week week leading up to selection Sunday on March 15th. Toby, you're going to have to catch me up on the contenders this year because I have not been locked in this season.
[24:39]
B
It's actually very similar to last year. We have four historically strong teams as well. Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Maryland, Florida. Not Maryland. You're close. I will eat something of our listeners choosing if one of those four teams don't win. That's how confident, that's how outlier of a year we have once again with just 14 teams head and shoulders above the rest. You could maybe toss UConn in there as well. They just lost to Marquette over the weekend. For the women, Texas just upset South Carolina so I like them as a sneaky pick.
[25:11]
C
All right, well what I have been locked into is the World Baseball Classic which is already generating tons of buzz and wraps up pool play on Wednesday before the quarterfinals begin. The vibes are absolutely incredible. You have to watch videos of this. There have been a couple of walk off homers already. The Japanese and Dominican fans are next level and Team Italy even as an espresso machine in their dugout.
[25:32]
B
I open X and I see a random walk off every other day. Seeing the Netherlands hit dingers is just so hilarious to me because you just don't associate your Gregorius. I know it is very funny. So I only see the highlights. So are you watching games on the streaming service?
[25:48]
C
Is there any way to find watching the highlights? The quarterfinals come and we get USA Japan hopefully in the championship game. I will absolutely be watching. And then finally it's Oscars week ahead of the Academy Awards on Sunday. Not the worst idea to set aside some time to watch as many nominated movies as possible so you can get all the references.
[26:05]
B
I have to ask too, have you been up to date with this Timothee Salameh backlash that's broken out over the weekend? I'll catch people up. Timothy Chalamet is under a lot of heat right now because of the conversation he had with Matthew McConaughey about the need to keep movie theaters alive. And in it, he says said I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it's like, hey, keep this thing alive, even though it's like no one cares about this anymore. So that got a lot of people up in arms. But a bunch of opera and ballets are leaning into it and cashing in on it. The Seattle Opera used the actor's name as a promo code, posting on social use promo code Timothy to save 14% off select seats. And then the English National Opera also operates offered free tickets to Timothy to help him fall back in love with opera. So you just checked this morning, Michael B. Jordan has surged ahead on prediction markets when it comes to best actor. I wonder if this has any with it. All right.
[26:58]
C
We'll always be selling opera houses. That is all the time we have. Thanks for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Monday. If you'd like to reach us, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram at me Daily show let's roll the clip credits. Emily Milian is our supervising producer. Raymond Liu is our senior producer. Our producer is Olivia Graham, and our associate producer is Olivia Lake. Hair and makeup is tapping the strategic mascara reserve. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.
[27:25]
B
Great show today, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow.