️ FedEx for space
MARKETS
- No, you're not bugging out: We've switched up the market moves today to reflect YTD (year-to-date) changes. For example, the S&P 500 is up 4.02% in 2018.
- Our reasoning? 1) We value your time and don't want to repeat what we include in Saturday's Brew and 2) having a long-term perspective is always important.
- Energy: OPEC and friends are hinting at oil supply cuts in 2019.
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SPACE
What Is This...a Rocket for Ants?
No, that's just the pint-sized Electron rocket from Rocket Lab. The U.S.-New Zealand startup successfully completed its first commercial launch in New Zealand on Sunday.
We feel obligated to mention the launch took place on a sheep farm. We feel even more obligated to mention that it symbolizes a potential shift in the commercial space industry.
But first, a few more details about the launch:
- The Electron rocket is 56 ft. tall and can carry a few hundred pounds into space.
- Its first payload was several satellites...one of which was built by high school students in California.
- The cost per launch is $5.7 million (compared to $62 million for SpaceX's Falcon 9).
We think you get the idea: These rockets are much smaller, less expensive, and less powerful than the kind you get from Elon Musk's and Jeff Bezos's space companies.
And that's why this launch is a big deal
Sure, enormous rockets with names like the "Falcon Heavy" and "Big Falcon Rocket" will make your jaw drop. But Rocket Lab and dozens of other startups think there's a solid business case to be made for launching smaller, less expensive spacecraft.
- The thought process: As technology advances, satellites (used for anything from science to telecom to imaging) are shrinking in size.
- If Rocket Lab and its 100+ competitors in the sector can blast those lightweight payloads into space at lower prices (and, this is key, can do so on a regular schedule), there could be customers lining up.
Zoom out: We were going to think of the perfect business analogy for what Rocket Lab and co. are trying to do to the commercial space industry...
...but its founder and CEO Peter Beck beat us to the punch. "We're FedEx," he told the NYT. "We're a little man that delivers a parcel to your door."
+ Impress your Kiwi friends: The mission, called "It's Business Time," is named after a song performed by New Zealand comedy legends Flight of the Conchords.
WEATHER
California Fires Cause Record-Setting Damage
The wildfires north of San Francisco and close to L.A. have devastated the Golden State—at least 25 people have died, and 250,000 people have been forced to evacuate.
In Northern California...the so-called Camp Fire is now the most destructive wildfire in the state's history (in terms of property damage).
- Utilities under scrutiny: Power lines and faulty equipment have historically been blamed for sparking wildfires in California, per CNBC.
- PG&E—which was linked to 16 fires last year—wrote in a regulatory filing Friday that a transmission line near the fire's origin experienced an outage just 20 minutes before the first fire was reported. Shares fell 16.5%.
And in Southern California...the fire has burned 35,000 acres, more than double the size of Manhattan. It 2x'ed in size Sunday morning.
A worrying trend, per an Aon meteorologist:
E-COMMERCE
Alibaba Blows Bezos Out of the Water
Jack Ma is really, really grateful your best swiping efforts have only resulted in a few awkward first dates. That's because on China's annual Singles Day shopping event, his Alibaba raked in a record $30.8 billion in sales in just 24 hours.
Take that, Amazon Prime Day. Sales during Alibaba's spending extravaganza whizzed past Amazon's biggest shopping day of the year...in the time it takes you to shower and brush your teeth—less than 10 minutes.
What else was notable?
- Alibaba said the top three brands in early Singles Day sales were Xiaomi, Apple, and Dyson.
- It jumped past the previous Singles Day sales record of $25.3 billion by the early evening, and total sales grew 27% from last year.
Zoom out: A lot of people were concerned that a slowing Chinese economy could undermine Singles Day. And while Alibaba did hit a new record, that 27% growth was the smallest increase in the 10 years the event has existed.
SOFTWARE
Talk About a Change of Plans for Qualtrics
Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey's larger, faster-growing, and more profitable cousin, was all set for its IPO this week...until a little no-name firm called SAP (that's sarcasm) came along and said, "Forget that—we'll just buy you for $8 billion."
And it's one for the record books...
- This would be SAP's second-biggest purchase ever, just behind its $8.3 billion acquisition of travel and expense management firm Concur in 2014.
- It would also be the biggest-ever acquisition of a VC-backed enterprise software company, per Axios.
If you're having déjà vu, that's because there's been a couple of these last-minute deals recently:
- Cisco scooped up AppDynamics right before it went public in 2017
- Over the summer, Workday bought Adaptive Insights at the last hour.
A new billionaire family: Scoring an invite to the Smith family's Thanksgiving meal just got a lot more competitive. CEO Ryan Smith founded Qualtrics with father Scott and brother Jared, and together they owned 45.5% of the company before the deal.
CALENDAR
What’s on Tap
Start off your pre-Thanksgiving cleanse with a carb-free diet of retail earnings.
Monday: Veterans Day is observed; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit; National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day
Tuesday: Italy's budget deadline; earnings (Home Depot, Tilray, SurveyMonkey, Tyson Foods)
Wednesday: Consumer price index; earnings (Macy's, Blue Apron, Cisco, Tencent)
Thursday: Jobless claims; earnings (Walmart, Nvidia, Nordstrom, Manchester Utd.); Steve Irwin Day
Friday: Women's Entrepreneurship Day Summit at the UN; block off three hours at night for "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald"
WHAT ELSE IS BREWING
- Athenahealth reportedly has new owners—Reuters said that PE firm Veritas Capital and hedge fund Elliott Management reached a deal to buy it for $5.5 billion.
- Apple disclosed some issues with its iPhone X and MacBook Pro models but said it'll fix them for free.
- Aetna will have to pay more than $25 million to the family of a woman who died after the insurer refused to cover the radiation treatment she needed.
- Samsung will reportedly launch its foldable phone in the first half of next year and produce at least 1 million units.
- "The Grinch" proved it's never too early to start spreading holiday cheer (or gloom). It topped box offices this weekend in the U.S. and Canada with $66 million in ticket sales.
- Lime, the e-scooter startup, will pull one of its models from all markets given concerns it can break apart during use.
BREAKROOM
Business Trivia
Did you know: There are many single-letter stock tickers. Can you name the companies represented by the following stock tickers?
F, S, C, K, V, M, T, X
(Answer located at bottom of newsletter)
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Breakroom Answers
Business Trivia
F—Ford, S—Sprint, C—Citigroup, K—Kellogg, V—Visa, M—Macy's, T—AT&T, X—U.S. Steel
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