Good Morning! The post-election rally continued, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting record highs of 6,000 and 44,000 respectively. Bitcoin crossed the $88k threshold, Doge surpassed Ford’s market cap, and Elon is $70 billion richer after Tesla’s 40% rally in five days. Inflation fell to its lowest level since December 2020 but a dealmaking surge might not be a surefire bet under Trump’s second term. And Bill Ackman pulled his companies out of Amsterdam.

Plus, Goldman is pitching a personal CFO to the ultrawealthy, Chipotle announced a new CEO, and Trump is planning to shut down the Department of Education.

Be part of the next big smart home success—invest in RYSE now.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Sweetgreen Fries Just Dropped

Sweetgreen might be the most popular salad chain in big coastal cities like New York, Washington D.C., or Boston. But Sweetgreen doesn’t just want to be known for its salads - the chain is starting to test out fries as the chain appeals to non-salad eaters.

Sweetgreen was founded by three college seniors at Georgetown University and quickly grew into a billion-dollar salad chain. Sweetgreen opened its first NYC location in 2013 and is one of the go-to lunch options for corporate workers.

Sweetgreen is testing "ripple fries" in some of its Los Angeles locations. Of course, the new menu item does come with a pitch to the health-conscious: They are potato chips, air-fried with avocado oil, and have about 240 calories. 

Sweetgreen’s had some success testing out steak and desserts at its locations, and the company could even bring back wraps. The fries are expected to roll out nationwide in 2025, and Sweetgreen is known for having some of the highest-quality ingredients in the fast-casual industry.

CEO Jonathan Neman called the move an attempt to "disrupt fast food" in Friday’s earnings call. Sweetgreen's same store sales grew 6% over the last quarter, leading the company to raise its annual forecast.

Takeaway: The introduction of steak this past May was a big success, contributing to the increase in same-store sales. While Sweetgreen did miss earnings expectations, the hope is that new menu items will drive long-term growth. Regardless of the direction Sweetgreen takes, it can still rely on midtown vests as its loyal clientele.

_{PRESENTED BY RYSE}

Billion Dollar Exits & 20X Returns - Are Investors Sleeping on the Smart Home Space?

Best Buy has a knack for picking the up-and-coming tech products that go on to dominate the market. Their early bets on household items like Ring (acquired by Amazon for $1.2B) and Nest (acquired by Google for $3.2B) have a proven record of paying off. 

Now Best Buy is lifting the curtain on their latest find, launching RYSE’s SmartShades in over 120 retail stores. RYSE has already hit $9M+ in lifetime revenue with over 60,000 units sold, and the numbers are rising (along with the window shades). 

RYSE shareholders have seen their value increase 40% year-over-year, with strong upside remaining as they scale into retail and high-volume B2B channels. 

Invest in RYSE at just $1.75/share before it becomes a household name.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• S&P 500 breaks 6,000 level as Trump and Fed-fueled rally advances (CNBC)

• Tesla rejoins $1T in market cap club (YF)

• Elon Musk is $70 billion richer since Trump victory (CNBC)

• $DOGE Surpasses Ford Market Value (CN)

• Dealmaking surge isn’t a sure bet in Trump 2.0 (Axios)

• Inflation fell to lowest level since December 2020 (YF)

• Bill Ackman to pull companies out of Amsterdam (CNN)

• Chipotle Mexican Grill names Scott Boatwright as permanent CEO (CNBC)

• Bitcoin hits another record high in undeniable bull market (YF)

• Powell and Fed can’t avoid talking about Trump forever (CNBC)

• Steve Madden moving production out of China to avoid Trump tariffs (Axios)

• Toyota says California-led EV mandates are ‘impossible’ (CNBC)

• DJT stock climbs after Trump says he will not sell shares (YF)

• Goldman pitches a personal CFO to the ultrawealthy (WSJ)

• Trump win expected to grease corporate M&A wheels (Axios)

• Microsoft added AI to software it has barely touched since 1985 (CNN)

• Missouri becomes the 39th state to legalize sports betting (Axios)

• Trump gears up for assault on wokeness with education overhaul (WSJ)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks Close Higher: Major U.S. equity markets continued their momentum from last week, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones hitting new record highs. Leading sectors included consumer discretionary and financials, while bond markets were closed for Veterans Day.

In global trading, China’s markets dipped as stimulus measures fell short of expectations, while Europe finished higher. In commodities, WTI oil declined on concerns over weaker demand tied to China’s limited stimulus package.

Inflation in Focus: This week’s key data will be October’s consumer price index (CPI), due Wednesday, which is expected to show a slight annual increase to 2.6% from 2.4% in September.

Month-over-month CPI is forecasted at 0.2%, translating to around 2.4% annualized. The data is anticipated to support the view of gradually cooling inflation, potentially giving the Federal Reserve room to continue cutting interest rates.

Corporate Earnings Wrap-Up: As earnings season winds down, with 91% of companies reporting, third-quarter earnings are up about 5.2% year-over-year, with 74% of companies exceeding expectations.

Broad-based earnings growth, with eight of the 11 sectors showing gains, has driven a shift in market leadership. Over the past six months, consumer discretionary, financials, and real estate have led performance, outpacing the communication services sector that dominated earlier this year.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Tesla ($TSLA) +9% after investors bet that a Trump administration would fare well for the company and CEO Elon Musk.

• (+) Cigna ($CI) +7% because the health insurance company will not be merging with Humana.

• (–) AbbVie ($ABBV) -13% after a disappointing schizophrenia-drug trial.

Private Dealmaking

• Affinity Equity Partners acquired Indonesian gummy maker Yupi Indo Jelly Gum for $1.2 billion

• AT&T bought wireless spectrum licenses from U.S. Cellular for $1.02 billion

• Yelp acquired RepairPal, an auto repair price estimator, for $80 million

• Performance Home Medical, a medical equipment provider, raised $55 million 

• Guidepost Growth Equity invested for a minority stake in Kaizen for $45 million

• Fractional, a property co-investment platform, raised $15 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Tomorrow’s Capitalist

The core tenets of a capitalist system that dominated the world for more than a century are being challenged as never before.

Narratives about the failures of capitalism, the greed of the 1 percent, and the blindness of corporations to public need have made their mark and are driving change. These aren’t the superficial cosmetic fixes that generated so much cynicism in the past, but a revolution in the way corporations are imagined and run.

Tomorrow’s Capitalist reveals how corporate CEOs—the ultimate pragmatists—realized that they could lose their “operating license” unless they tackle the fundamental issues of our time: climate, diversity and inclusion, and inequality and workforce opportunity.

Responding to their employees and customers who are demanding corporate change, they have taken the lead in establishing the bold new principles of stakeholder capitalism, ensuring that for the first time in more than a half a century it is not just shareholders who have a say in how corporations are run.

Alan Murray vividly captures the zeitgeist of the real and compelling dynamic that is transforming much of the corporate world.

“In an era of political and cultural extremism, America’s corporate leaders have emerged as the pragmatic center of a movement for social and economic progress.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

The US Fiscal Position

_{PRESENTED BY BRIGHTWAVE}

Go Beyond the Surface—Discover What Others Miss

A successful investment thesis is all about finding what others overlook. Investment research doesn’t stop at data points. Brightwave uses advanced AI to dig deep into complex financial datasets, uncovering connections and insights that go unnoticed by others. 

• Advanced AI Analysis: Goes beyond surface-level data, connecting trends, risks, and opportunities.

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• Competitive Advantage: Empowers your investment theses with insights others miss.

With Brightwave’s powerful reasoning capabilities, you’ll find comprehensive, trustworthy financial analysis that helps you connect the dots and stay ahead of the competition.

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Modern Monetary Theory

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) presents a different way of understanding government spending, taxation, and debt, particularly for countries that issue their own currency, like the United States.

Unlike households or businesses, these governments don’t need to "earn" money before they spend; instead, they can create money as required.

In MMT's view, taxes are not the primary source of funding for government expenditures.

Instead, they serve to regulate demand, control inflation, and ensure currency circulation, making the government’s ability to spend not limited by revenue, but by the risk of inflation.

Traditional concerns about budget deficits are also reimagined under MMT—deficits, rather than being inherently negative, are seen as a way to increase private sector savings and boost economic activity.

The real limit, according to MMT, is inflation, not debt.

Therefore, government spending should be carefully calibrated to avoid creating excess inflation, but fears of "too much" debt are largely misplaced for a currency-issuing nation.

This perspective has major policy implications, suggesting that governments have more freedom to invest in public services, infrastructure, or address crises without the usual fears about increasing national debt.

MMT calls for a proactive fiscal policy that focuses on public well-being while keeping inflation in check.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• 9 minimalist ways to make your home cozy

• The framework to be respected at work

• Effective ways to address the ‘unhappy leave’ workplace trend

• Strategies of mindful leaders who make a greater impact

• Why society expects good-looking people to be do-gooders

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day