| TOGETHER WITH |  | | Good morning. No glitches in the Brew's precinct: We are excited to announce Brew vet Meagan H. and Brew newbie Jenna N. have each won a MacBook Pro through our giveaway. And thanks so much to everyone who shared but didn't win. You'll get another opportunity... Today. Because we believe everyone deserves a second chance, we're running it back. Same as yesterday, today we are giving away two MacBook Pro laptops—one to a current Brew reader, and one to someone they refer to the Brew. Click here to start sharing. | | | |  | NASDAQ | 9,467.97 | + 2.10% | | | | S&P | 3,297.65 | + 1.50% | | | | DJIA | 28,808.91 | + 1.44% | |  | GOLD | 1,557.80 | - 1.55% | | | | 10-YR | 1.595% | + 6.30 bps | | | | OIL | 49.71 | - 0.80% | | | *As of market close | - State of the Union: In President Trump's address last night, the economy was a major talking point. He touted the country's job growth, the historically low unemployment rate, and the new North American trade deal, USMCA.
- U.S. markets: Good job, good effort. The S&P had its best day in about six months and the Nasdaq hit a record high yesterday.
| |  Francis Scialabba | Monday night's Democratic Iowa caucuses did not go smoothly. Technical glitches left Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) officials and volunteers scrambling to transmit and validate vote totals. Zoom out: Iowa caucusgoers cast the first votes in the presidential primary races. The winner won't necessarily be the nominee, but pundits and the general public view Iowa as a test of the candidates' strength. What went wrong This year, the IDP rolled out a new mobile app for precinct workers to share voting totals with party officials. The idea was to modernize the process; previously, workers had to call their totals in to state party leaders on the phone (ew). The app did not work—it couldn't handle the volume of a statewide election. Many workers were forced to call in to a party hotline, which gave them a steaming batch of "Your call will be answered in the order it is received." Who's to blame Obviously, the IDP is taking a lot of heat—they didn't test the app with precinct organizers and rushed its development. Cybersecurity experts say that was irresponsible. - Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said there was a "coding issue" but no hack or intrusion, and no underlying voting data was compromised.
Also under fire is the startup that made the app, Shadow, which was founded by former Hillary Clinton campaigners aiming to upgrade the party's online operations. - It apologized for the delay in a Twitter thread yesterday afternoon.
The fallout Some commentators are questioning the introduction of tech solutions to the democratic process. The NYT's Kevin Roose writes, "every piece of technology involved in the voting process is a possible point of failure. And the larger and more interconnected the technical system, the more vulnerable it is to an attack." Bottom line: This is an embarrassing moment for the Iowa Democrats. But when it comes to elections, late is better than inaccurate. | |  Getty Images | The retailer said it will close 125 department stores over the next three years—about a fifth of its total locations. - Also going: About 2,000 corporate jobs, its Cincinnati HQ, and tech offices in SF.
As is 21st century retail tradition, the mall takes the fall. Macy's will leave its locations in the weakest malls and open smaller locations called "Market by Macy's" in shopping centers near main roads. They'll be 10% the size of a typical Macy's. Looking ahead...Macy's will present its turnaround plan to investors today. Expectations are in the basement near the lost shoppers. You can read more about Macy's in today's Retail Brew. | |  Francis Scialabba | Disney reported fiscal Q1 earnings yesterday, its first since launching the Disney+ streaming service in November. First, the high-level financials: - Total revenue was up 36% annually to $20.9 billion.
- But Disney+ expenses dragged profit down 23%.
Next, the Baby Yoda stuff Disney+ added 10 million subscribers on launch day, and that was before anyone met the most irresistible carnivorous humanoid ever to be animated. Disney+ ended up beating expectations with 26.5 million subscribers at the end of Q1 and 28.6 million as of Monday. - For context: In 83 days, Disney+'s user base grew from zero to 17% the size of Netflix's.
That's impressive, but don't forget about its other streaming properties that all fit together in a tidy $13/month bundle. - ESPN+ grew to 6.6 million subscribers from 1.4 million a year ago.
- The number of Hulu subscribers grew 33% annually to 30.4 million.
Looking ahead...the company is about to find out whether Disney+ subscribers will stick around for exclusive Marvel content. | | SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL |  | You are an expert at many things (please take a moment to think of them all now, and know that we're proud of you). But, just spitballing here, there's a good chance you don't have a 160 IQ on the shifting economics in urban China. That's ok, not everyone can be a self-professed stock savant like our loud friend Erick (yes, with a K). So lately we've been turning to our friends at The Motley Fool, more specifically their Stock Advisor service, to help us navigate the increasingly complicated and, says Erick (with a K), borderless world of investing. We had a chance to sit down with one of The Motley Fool's Analysts, Jason Moser, to learn how he can help us (and you). It was an eye-opening discussion filled with expert analysis that, if we're being honest, was way easier to digest than one of Erick's (with a K's) handwritten volatility charts. Check out what Jason had to say here. | |  Anthony Kwan/Getty Images | As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases crossed 24,000 yesterday, industries dependent on China began showing new symptoms. Gambling: The semiautonomous Chinese territory of Macau—aka the "Las Vegas of Asia" even though it actually does 6x the gaming revenue—closed casinos for two weeks and suspended basic public services. Macau's government earns 80% of its revenue from gambling, and the closure could wipe 5%–15% off the industry's top line in 2020. Auto: Hyundai will suspend production in South Korea as components from Chinese suppliers dry up. It's the first major carmaker outside China to shutter factories. IHS Markit predicts automakers will produce 350,000 fewer vehicles than expected this quarter. - Sorta auto: Uber suspended 240 customer accounts after two drivers in Mexico transported a passenger with coronavirus.
Luxury: Danish mink breeders shelved February's auction of 2 million furs. And Italy expects a 1.8% decline in fashion sales in the first half of 2020. Looking ahead...some experts think the coronavirus has all the warning signs of a pandemic. If they're right, this might just be the first wave of consequences for business. | |  Wendy's | When we think of chefs "hand-cracking fresh eggs" we don't typically think of Wendy's. But that may change on March 2 when the fast food chain begins serving breakfast across the U.S. Big picture: With traffic slowing down across the industry, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day for fast food. - "We have to win at breakfast," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said last week. His company got a head start: It debuted all-day breakfast in 2015.
- Wendy's anticipates its breakfast menu will ultimately account for 10% of total daily sales.
Looking ahead...Wendy's is hoping this rollout goes better than past breakfast efforts. A test launched in 2010 didn't meet targets, and the company pulled the plug in 2013. Now for the audience interaction part We're going to rank fast food breakfast items, you're going to tell us how wrong we are. - Chick-fil-A: Chick-n-Minis
- Tim Hortons: Hot Breakfast Sandwich
- McDonald's: Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
- Dunkin': Anything on the croissant
- Del Taco: Huevos Rancheros Epic Burrito
- Wendy's: We haven't tried it yet but the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit sounds delicious.
- Taco Bell: Waffle Taco (RIP)
What's your favorite fast food breakfast? Share it here. | |  Giphy | Whether you prefer the Puppy or Kitten Bowl, they're both better on a new MacBook Pro. Lucky for you, we're giving two away today. All you have to do is refer your friends to the Brew. How the giveaway works: Each time you refer a friend, family member, or coworker to Morning Brew, you'll get a ticket entered into a raffle for one of two MacBook Pros. 1 referral = 1 ticket. - If you win a computer, we'll select someone you referred to win one, too.
What to do next: Do you see the big blue button below this? Click it. It contains your unique referral code, which you can use to get credit every time someone you refer signs up. The more people who sign up using your link, the better your odds. Share to WinOr copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=5e25388f | | - Tesla shares cannot be stopped. They gained another 14% yesterday, one day after they rose ~20%.
- Snap missed on Q4 revenue ($561 million vs. $563 million expected), and its stock fell more than 10% after hours.
- Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is doubling his already gargantuan TV ad spend following the Iowa caucuses.
- New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange has made a $30+ billion offer for eBay, per the WSJ. EBay's stock popped more than 8% on the news.
- Instagram recorded about $20 billion in ad revenue last year, reports Bloomberg. That's more than a quarter of Facebook's 2019 revenue.
| | - Fake security cameras and Eduardo the Chihuahua aren't enough. Whole home protection with SimpliSafe sets up in minutes and provides 24/7 professional monitoring to keep your space safe from intruders, fires, water damage, and the unexpected. Upgrade to SimpliSafe today.*
- Bring your best self to the table by putting good food on your table. Daily Harvest delivers chef-crafted food built on organic fruits and vegetables, all ready in minutes. Choose from more than 65 options like smoothies and soups. Get $25 off your first box with code "BREW25."*
- If you want to get better at typing, this site's free program will teach you the right technique. It's also a fun way to test your speed and accuracy even if you're already a 150 WPM whiz.
- If you don't want to get better at typing, look for love on Amazon.
*This is a sponsored post | |  Francis Scialabba | Last week, in dishonor of Brexit, we asked you to mash up different ways of saying "farewell" to U.S. states. Here are our favorites so far (and they are really good). Keep 'em coming here. - Hate watching you leave, but love Washingtongo
- Missouri leaves company
- Massadieusetts
- Hasta la Virginia, baby!
- New York, new me
- New York, who dis?
| | | Brew readers are rightly flabbergasted by Tesla stock's recent performance. Two of them, Mike W. and his friend Wynn, even shared with us a trivia game they started playing. How it works: We'll give you a company, you have to say whether its market value is greater than or less than Tesla's $159.9 billion (as of market close yesterday). - McDonald's
- Ford + GM + Honda
- Nike
- Goldman Sachs + Morgan Stanley
- 30 Macy's
Keep scrolling for the answer. | | - McDonald's: $161.6B, greater than
- Ford + GM + Honda: $36.5B + $49.1B + $47.2B = $132.8B, less than
- Nike: $126B, less than
- Goldman Sachs + Morgan Stanley: $85.7B + $87.4B = $173.1B, greater than
- 30 Macy's: $5.1B x 30 = $152.7B, less than
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