Good morning, Quartz readers!
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Donald Trump’s 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 doesn’t like his trade proposals either. Without calling Trump out by name, she called plans for new tariffs “deeply misguided.”
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 SEC’s X account to front-run the Bitcoin ETF approval news.
An aggressive regulator is in Silicon Valley’s crosshairs. The Federal Trade Commission’s Lina Khan is the cause of much consternation for her robust antitrust approach.
Corporate America’s got turkey time on the mind
Inflation is threatening to shrink the size of America’s Thanksgiving meals this year. Two of the country’s biggest grocery chains are duking it out to woo shoppers who don’t want that to happen.
Walmart and Aldi are bragging about their ability to help consumers feed huge tables for less than $10 a person. They’re hoping that slowing retail sales won’t mean fewer receipts for one of the year’s biggest food holidays.
How cheap can a Thanksgiving meal be amid higher food prices? Quartz’s Francisco Velasquez highlights how two household names are trying to make the answer “very.”
Another seasonal reason to ring cash registers looms
Like Halloween, the Indian festival of Diwali is slowly becoming one of retailers’ 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 light’s retail presence being felt? Quartz’s Vinamrata Chaturvedi explains how much attention Diwali is getting in American board rooms.
MORE FROM QUARTZ
✈️ United Airlines outsmarted the industry and had a spectacular quarter
📊 A guide to Joe Biden’s economy, in charts
🔍 A Google-Apple search team-up could be canceled by the feds
💉 Ozempic could prove helpful to those addicted to alcohol and opioids
💰 Boeing’s plans to raise billions in cash are taking shape
📡 Some Tesla investors are grumpy that its remote-controlled robot assistants still aren’t autonomous
SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
Zelle moves about $2 million every minute. The payments platform did 1.7 billion transactions this year through July alone.
There’s 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 week’s 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 talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Melvin Backman and Audrey McNamara.