🚗 Musk v. Newsom

Tit for tat… California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to offer electric-vehicle rebates in the Golden State if POTUS-elect Trump scraps the federal EV tax credit — but said Teslas likely wouldn’t be eligible for the incentive. Tesla stock sank after word that its cars might be excluded. Trump’s reportedly considering ditching Uncle Sam’s tax credit of up to $7.5K for EV buyers, and his staunch ally Elon Musk has suggested he supports the plan. If Trump goes through with it, Newsom said he’d try to institute rebates to incentivize Californians to buy electric cars (just not Teslas).

• The reasoning: Newsom’s office cited efforts to encourage competition in the EV market as the reason Tesla (and potentially others) may be left out of the program.

• Petty cash: Musk called Newsom’s move “insane,” saying that Tesla is the only company that manufactures EVs in California.

Electric beef… Newsom has set ambitious targets to tackle the climate crisis, and Trump threatens to derail those goals. Trump has said that he would end California’s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. In his first term, Trump eliminated CA’s power to set its own standards on air pollution (the Biden admin restored that ability). Trump also loosened federal environmental regs and removed the US from the Paris climate agreement. Musk was a driving force behind making EVs mainstream, but appears to have toned down his climate ambitions since allying himself with Trump.

That’s that me espresso… Coffee’s getting es-pensive. Arabica-bean futures hit a 27-year high this week, while futures for the lower-cost robusta (think: instant coffee) reached their highest price since the ’70s. Bean prices are jumping as the industry deals with a double shot of supply-chain probs. An extreme drought in Brazil (the top arabica producer) has devastated crops. Its bean haul this season is expected to be 26% smaller than last year’s. In Vietnam (the leading robusta grower) a lack of rainfall shrank shipments; this quarter the region could reap half of its typical supply.

• Perk down: Budget-strained shoppers are skipping pricey beans. Sales of at-home coffee dipped more than 1% this year after surging in 2020 (remember dalgona coffee?).

French-pressed… Coffee sellers have been trying to figure out which strategy will boost their sales: passing down costs by raising prices, or keeping prices steady even as it squeezes margins. Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee maker, has raised java prices twice since 2022 and said more hikes are on the way. Meanwhile, Starbucks and coffee-pod maker Keurig Dr Pepper tried cutting prices and using promos to boost sales, but said that strategy failed. Now they plan to raise prices and nix promos. Downmarket, Folgers owner JM Smucker just reported its sales surged last quarter as shoppers opted for its more affordable joe.