đ Diwali lights up American retail
Good morning, Quartz readers!
HEREâS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Donald Trumpâs immigration plan might leave Americans hungry. Mass deportations would wreck U.S. food supplies, say people who work with migrant farm hands.
Plus, Janet Yellen is hinting that she doesnât like his trade proposals either. Without calling Trump out by name, she called plans for new tariffs âdeeply misguided.â
Meta fired dozens of workers for misusing meal stipends. The employees allegedly used the money to get things like toothpaste instead.
The FBI made a big crypto arrest. It nabbed the person who it says hacked the SECâs X account to front-run the Bitcoin ETF approval news.
An aggressive regulator is in Silicon Valleyâs crosshairs. The Federal Trade Commissionâs Lina Khan is the cause of much consternation for her robust antitrust approach.
Corporate Americaâs got turkey time on the mind
Inflation is threatening to shrink the size of Americaâs Thanksgiving meals this year. Two of the countryâs biggest grocery chains are duking it out to woo shoppers who donât want that to happen.
Walmart and Aldi are bragging about their ability to help consumers feed huge tables for less than $10 a person. Theyâre hoping that slowing retail sales wonât mean fewer receipts for one of the yearâs biggest food holidays.
How cheap can a Thanksgiving meal be amid higher food prices? Quartzâs Francisco Velasquez highlights how two household names are trying to make the answer âvery.â
Another seasonal reason to ring cash registers looms
Like Halloween, the Indian festival of Diwali is slowly becoming one of retailersâ favorite holidays. The celebration of renewal and light is drawing attention from executives eager to cash in.
From gold bars to specialized Barbie dolls, the occasion is making its mark on store shelves. Some stores in the U.S. are increasingly devoting whole sections to goods marketed toward Diwali celebrants.
How heavily is the festival of lightâs retail presence being felt? Quartzâs Vinamrata Chaturvedi explains how much attention Diwali is getting in American board rooms.
MORE FROM QUARTZ
âď¸ United Airlines outsmarted the industry and had a spectacular quarter
đ A guide to Joe Bidenâs economy, in charts
đ A Google-Apple search team-up could be canceled by the feds
đ Ozempic could prove helpful to those addicted to alcohol and opioids
đ° Boeingâs plans to raise billions in cash are taking shape
SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
Zelle moves about $2 million every minute. The payments platform did 1.7 billion transactions this year through July alone.
Thereâs a chestnut-chucking cheating scandal. The World Conker Championships were rocked by allegations that one competitor used a chunk of steel instead.
Wrecked U.S. cars are driving through a loophole into Russia. Dealers are finding ways around sanctions to keep a huge used auto market going.
The founder of Spindrift drinks six seltzer cans a day. One of them is not watermelon, which failed to impress upon debut and got mistaken for cucumber.
China cooled to Swiss watches virtually overnight. Exports to Hong Kong and the mainland fell by 50% in September.
Did you know we have two premium weekend emails, too? One gives you analysis on the weekâs news, and one provides the best reads from Quartz and elsewhere to get your week started right. Become a member or give membership as a gift!
Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, Diwali deals, and chestnuts of steel to [email protected]. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Melvin Backman and Audrey McNamara.