🌎 G20 tackles Covid and climate

Fly like a G20... or Air Force One over the Colosseum. Over the weekend, leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies met IRL for the first time in two years — minus Russia's Putin and China's Xi, who called in via video. The two-day summit was held in Rome, but it wasn't a breezy Roman holiday. Why it matters:

• Econ impact: G20 countries account for more than 80% of the world's economic output, 75% of its trade, and 60% of its population.
• Climate impact: The G20 — which includes the US, China, Germany, India, and Brazil — accounts for 80% of greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Biz impact: G20 leaders endorsed a minimum global tax rate of 15% for multinational corporations, aiming to implement it in 2023.

Climate vitals… Greenhouse-gas concentrations hit a record last year, and the planet is "way off track" in capping rising temperatures, the UN says. This exacerbates extreme weather and rising sea levels. Rich countries are lagging behind their $100B/year pledge to help developing nations transition to greener energy.

Covid checkup... While 70% of US adults are fully vaxxed, only half the world’s population has received a shot. The goal was to vaccinate at least 40% of each country's population by the end of 2021 — we’re still far from that. Most African countries have fully vaccinated less than 10% of their population.

Recovery screening... Thanks to Delta surges, supply-chain backlogs, and rising prices, global economic recovery is in danger of stalling. The US economy's growth slowed sharply last quarter — so did China's.

Post-Halloween scaries… shipping delays. Holiday spending is expected to smash records this year, but retailers are sweating to meet demand. Nearly everything is in short supply, and materials and labor costs are surging. Amazon paid the price last quarter when profit plunged by nearly half from last year. The ’Zon expects to face billions in extra costs this quarter to hire 310K seasonal staff, among other costs. Meanwhile, Target, Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart launched Black Friday sales early to ease delays.

Ask app not to track… Big Tech earnings are over, but fallout from Apple’s privacy change isn’t. Facebook’s ad-sales growth majorly slowed from the previous quarter (33% growth vs. 56%). Facebook and Snap blamed Apple’s iOS update — which lets users opt out of ad tracking — for the disappointing numbers. Google, Twitter, and Amazon weren’t as affected. To position itself for growth, Facebook is becoming a “metaverse company” (new name: Meta). The metaverse could be a hub for virtual interaction and commerce, from VR shopping to games. Read: less reliance on iPhone ad $$.

Double shot… Moderna and Pfizer drop earnings this week. 68% of Americans over the age of 12 are fully vaxxed — and 92% of that group had either Moderna or Pfizer shots. Unlike J&J, both have chosen to profit from Covid-vax sales. Last quarter, Moderna revealed a whopping $3B profit on $4.2B in vax sales. Meanwhile, Pfizer raised its yearly vaccine sales forecast to $33.5B, from $26B. The FDA just approved Pfizer’s vax for kids as young as 5, while nearly one in 10 Americans has received boosters of the three authorized vaccines.

La Mer skincare routine… Now reach for the bronzer. Beauty giant Estée Lauder owns brands like MAC, Clinique, Too Faced, and La Mer. The beauty industry lost $175B last year as masks replaced lip gloss and foundation. But matte is back: For fiscal year 2021, Estée’s sales and profits surpassed pre-pandemic levels. We’ll see whether the beauty boom is still accelerating when Estée unpacks earnings tomorrow.

• Musky: Elon and other billionaires balked at a proposed (now dead) “billionaires tax,” which would’ve taxed unrealized gains on unsold investments.
• Cheesy: McDonald's, Coke, and Kraft Heinz dished out strong earnings after hiking prices on American food staples, from Bagel Bites to Big Macs. Thank the “staple advantage.”
• Juicy: Hertz is splurging $4B+ for 100K Teslas in a massive bet on large-scale EV rentals. The goal: appeal to enviro-conscious, commitment-phobic consumers.

• Cube: Four-inch metal cubes are the hottest, and heaviest, new obsession of crypto investors. Price: $3K apiece.
• Rebrand: Before Facebook became Meta, ValuJet became AirTran and Philip Morris became Altria to shake their bad reputations.
• Ghost: The strange new trend that’s enraging hiring managers: job seekers ghosting mid-hiring process.

• Monday: Earnings expected from NXP Semiconductors, Simon Property Group, McKesson, ZoomInfo, PG&E, ON Semiconductor, and Clorox
• Tuesday: Earnings expected from Public Storage, Avis, Pfizer, T-Mobile, Estée Lauder, Activision Blizzard, Ferrari, Zillow, Lyft, and Under Armour
• Wednesday: Earnings expected from Qualcomm, CVS, Marriott, Match Group, Roku, Allstate, Etsy, Fox, MGM Resorts, Discovery, and GoDaddy
• Thursday: Jobless claims. Earnings expected from MetLife, Moderna, Square, Airbnb, Duke Energy, Uber, Fidelity, Cigna, Cloudflare, and Bill.com
• Friday: Earnings expected from Enbridge, Dominion Energy, TC Energy, Honda, DraftKings, and AMC

Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Walmart, Google, Moderna, Uber, Tesla, Snap, Match, Twitter, Square

ID: 1900371