Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Nike reports earnings. The athletic wear giant is expected to outperform projections, though analysts caution that trade tariffs likely stifled its growth. Sales revenue is expected to hit $9.17 billion—up more than half a billion from 2017.
The Banks of England and Japan convene. Both are expected to keep interest rates unchanged. The BOE will likely hold steady at 0.75% as it awaits additional news on the Brexit front. The BOJ, meanwhile, appears content with its -0.1% interest rate in the face of risks like higher sales taxes and trade issues.
The busiest US travel season begins. An estimated 45.7 million passengers are expected to fly domestically (subscription) in the two and a half week period ending Jan. 6, thanks to more affordable tickets brought on by a downturn in global oil prices.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump announced that US ground troops will leave Syria. The US president claimed that ISIL has been “defeated” (even though it hasn’t) and failed to lay out a timetable for the withdrawal. Trump supporters and detractors alike were anxious about the move, with GOP senator Lindsey Graham calling the decision a “huge Obama-like mistake.”
The US Treasury Department said it would lift sanctions on two Russian companies. The sanctions were meant to impact Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch with stakes in both Rusal and EN+ Group. He will still be penalized.
The Fed raised interest rates a quarter-point. The move from 2.25% to 2.5% marks the US Federal Reserve’s fourth increase this year. Chairman Jerome Powell admitted that the Fed’s next move is uncertain and largely dependent on how the economy fares, though it did lower its economic projections for next year. Stocks responded accordingly, with the Dow plunging 400 points.
Altria is reportedly buying a 35% stake in Juul. The planned deal, which values the three-year-old startup at $38 billion (subscription), would expand the tobacco behemoth’s share in the explosively growing e-cigarette market.
Pinterest prepared to file its IPO. The social network could choose bankers next month and go public as soon as April (subscription). With more than 250 million active monthly users, it could be valued in excess of $12 billion when it hits the scene alongside other closely watched IPOs, including Uber and Lyft.
Obsession interlude
For some eaters, fast food’s no longer about simplicity. Menu hacking—which might date back to surfer hangs at In-N-Out in the 1960s—is all about secret menus and clever ingredient combinations. It adds a bit of personalization to the least personal cuisine, and establishments are learning more about their customers from it. Read more (and get the inside scoop) in today’s Quartz Obsession.
Membership
Selling bras is not unlike selling pot. When everyone in the market is offering basically the same product, differentiation is expressed in the details and in the emotional experience. Peter Horvath, former COO of Victoria’s Secret and current CEO of Green Growth Brands, shares how he’s leveraging his experience in lingerie for cannabis. Read his Q and A with Alex Halperin here.
Matters of debate
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The mirror test says more about humans than about animals. We need better ways to gauge animal self-awareness.
Cashless commerce leaves the most vulnerable behind. In the UK alone, 25 million people, including many poor and elderly, need to use cash to get by.
Productivity advice has become irksome. Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling tweeted a mild expletive on a story about how successful people tend to rise at 4am.
Surprising discoveries
Costa Rica went 300 days on only renewable energy. The Central American nation set a new record running its electricity on hydropower, wind and geothermal energy, and other renewables.
AI can help us describe how something smells. An odor wheel puts English words used to describe scent in associative order to help people express their olfactory experiences.
Saturn’s rings are disappearing. The signature features of the sixth planet in our solar system are being sucked in by gravity’s pull.
Xhosa and Saoirse Ronan are two of 2018’s most-often flubbed names. According to Babbel, the other most frequently mispronounced words in 2018 include freekeh and the names Beto O’Rourke and Brett Kavanaugh.
The commodities world doesn’t really know what a bushel is. Prices for agricultural items are routinely set by the ancient basket measure that many traders find puzzling (subscription).
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, evocative scents, and bushels and pecks to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by April Siese and Holly Ojalvo.