Morning Brew Daily
US, EU Economies Going Opposite Ways? & The Fatal Aircraft Collision in DC
Fri, 31 Jan 2025
Episode 509: Neal and Toby discuss the tragic midair collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and a military helicopter, crashing into the Potomac River. After initial efforts from a rescue team, there’ve been no survivors found, making it the deadliest air disaster in the US since 2001. Then, a recent report shows the US economy is stronger than ever, a sharp contrast from across the pond where 20 European countries are stuck in a rut. Plus, Chili’s is the Stock of the Week, and UPS is the Dog of the Week. Meanwhile, the Blue Man Group’s legendary 34-year run in NYC is coming to an end. Lastly, a sprint run through of the headlines to head into the weekend. Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Download the Yahoo! Finance App (on the Play and App store) for real-time alerts on news and insights tailored to your portfolio and stock watchlists. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. APY as of 1/16/25, offered by Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Rate subject to change. *Terms and Conditions apply. 00:00 - End of Dry January 02:30 - Deadly Aircraft Crash in DC 07:00 - US Economy vs European Economy 11:00 - Stock of the Week: Chili’s 13:10 - Dog of the Week: UPS 17:40 - The End of the Blue Man Group 22:00 - Headlines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened in the deadly aircraft collision in DC?
Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, everything we know about the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil in over two decades.
Then the U.S. and Europe's economies are heading in two completely different directions. It's Friday, January 31st. Let's ride.
It is January 31st, the final day of the first month of the year. And congratulations to everyone who successfully completed Dry January. I raise a glass of apple juice to you. Toby, you were doing Dry January. Should I be toasting to you as well?
Well, Neil, I did a slightly wet January, but I have a good excuse. I had a friend visit New York City last weekend. We went to a comedy show that, to put it lightly, was the worst comedy show I have ever seen. And I didn't want to leave, so I did the next best thing, which led to the unfortunate end of my dry January. So do not blame me. Blame a really deadbeat audience in a 6 p.m. start time.
So slightly wet January. Thank you, though. You can still toast me. Now a word from our sponsor, Yahoo Finance. Neil, I've been listening to The Odyssey while I've been working out recently, and I gotta say, it slaps.
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Chapter 2: How do the US and European economies compare?
I'm sure Homer appreciates your review, Toby.
Two themes have stood out to me. One, characters like Odysseus' wife Penelope take a very long-term view of things, holding out hope over years that Odysseus will return.
I see where you're going with this. Kind of like how investors need to have long-term horizons when considering where they put their money.
And then the other theme, knowledge. Odysseus visits tons of gods and oracles, even goes down to Hades to talk to the dead, all in the pursuit of learning more about how he may complete his journey home.
Chapter 3: What makes Chili's the Stock of the Week?
Yahoo Finance makes it way easier than traveling to the underworld. You can just head to its research tab to get insights from experts or read research reports. No bargains with Persephone required.
If you want to stay informed about the market without going on an odyssey, head to yahoofinance.com. That's yahoofinance.com. No survivors are expected to be found from the mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. that shocked the DC community late Wednesday night.
Chapter 4: Why is UPS the Dog of the Week?
With 67 victims in total, it was the deadliest crash in nearly 24 years, ending an era of unprecedented US airline safety. After a moment of silence to honor the victims before his remarks at the White House, Trump was quick to lay the blame for the crash on DEI hiring policies and his Democratic predecessors, Biden and Obama, though didn't provide any evidence to support his theories.
Here's what we do know. Audio recordings show air traffic controllers made two attempts to warn the helicopter. The first was made 30 seconds before the crash, the second just a few seconds before. A preliminary investigation by the FAA found that a single controller was handling both helicopters and planes landing at the Reagan Airport when the accident occurred.
Those jobs are typically assigned to two controllers, not just one, the New York Times reported. Neil, air traffic control facilities all over the country have been understaffed for years, but this crash highlights the dangers when you push a fragile system to its limits.
Yeah. And we should say that investigators are still it's just the beginning of the investigation to figure out exactly what happened. These things take weeks, months. But two major concerns have been raised here. Is D.C. airspace too crowded and are there enough air traffic controllers on the job? Let's start with that congested airspace. Skies over D.C.
Chapter 5: What led to the end of the Blue Man Group's run?
are among the busiest of anywhere in the world. You have planes landing at D.C. Reagan, two other airports in the vicinity of as well as a ton of military helicopter flights. This is the capital of the United States. Over a three-year period ending in 2019, there were 88,000 helicopter flights within 30 miles of Reagan National Airport. That's nearly 100 per day. At the
squashed on this peninsula of land surrounded by water on three sides. And this runway that they use, the one that's most active, they use 90% for their flights, basically is the busiest runway in the entire United States. You have 800 daily takeoffs and landings. That effectively means you have a takeoff or landing once a minute across the entire day. So this is a very busy airspace.
It is very controlled and should be very safe. because it is Washington, D.C., the cradle of the United States government. So people were quick to point out the congestion around D.C. 's skies, and that has been actually a major talking point among lawmakers about whether to allow more flights into DCA over the past few years.
And then the background context of all this, too, is that there's been a lot of internal upheaval at the highest levels of the FAA right now. Mike Whitaker, the former FAA administration head, resigned 11 days ago under pressure from Elon Musk, actually. And then just yesterday, Trump appointed a new acting head. But again, this is someone who is coming in one day after this accident.
So it's been unclear who was actually running the FAA for a period of around 10 years. I mean, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was sworn in on January 28th. That was one day before this accident. And if you just zoom out further in the post-pandemic era... A lot of airline experts have warned that U.S. air traffic systems are just over capacity right now.
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Chapter 6: What are the latest headlines to note?
There are more flights now than there were in that pre-pandemic period. But a lot of people have retired. There's been a lot of turnover at both on the ground and in operations. So they're saying that this is the nation's air traffic infrastructure is just very stressed right now, is remain very stressed. And this is just potentially a manifestation of that.
There is chronic staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities. In 2023, they found that at the tower at DCA, there were nearly a third of staff below their target levels. The union and the FAA said they wanted 30 at this tower. There are 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023. And I just want to stress, these are the very early innings.
These are big-picture topics about FAA shortages and congested airspace. So we don't know exactly what happened in the skies here, why this helicopter crashed into this regional jet, which both were flying very routine missions. The jet was on its final approach. Nothing seemed off. They were both equipped
with these transponders that should alert each other and communicate with each other about different aircraft in the vicinity. So this investigation is just beginning. New data released yesterday showed the U.S. and European economies going in wildly different directions as America zooms ahead while Europe, unlike its ranks, remains on ice. The U.S.
economy grew at a 2.3% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That was below expectations, but still really, really solid. It caps off a year, 2024, in which GDP rose 2.8%, pretty much on par with growth in 2023 and faster than in 2022.
All those economists who predicted a recession a few years back have been inducted into the freezing cold takes Hall of Fame, a truly resilient economy we've got right now. In Europe, they cannot say the same. Growth in the eurozone, the 20 countries that use the euro, came in
At zero for the final three quarters of the year, economic stagnation prompted the European Central Bank to lower interest rates yesterday for the fifth time in six meetings. Explaining the rate cut, ECB President Christine Lagarde gave the opposite of a halftime pop-up speech, warning that the region's economy was set to remain weak in the near term.
Toby, the split screen could not be more stark. On Wednesday, you had Fed Chair Jerome Powell hold rates steady because the US economy is booming. Not 12 hours later, Europe's central bank cut rates because their economy has hit a wall.
And they're in such an awkward spot right now because how many more times can the European central bank even afford to cut rates because inflation has also risen for the last three months in a row. It's at 2.4%. It's just creating this uncomfortable backdrop to this very stagnant economy because on the one hand, what are you supposed to do? Your economy isn't growing at all.
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