• Markets: Despite its ghoulish reputation, October is actually one of the top months for stock returns and, so far, all three major indexes are in the green this month.
• Stock spotlight: Amazon, down 2.7% over the past month, is looking to jump-start holiday spending with its two-day October Prime Day sales event, beginning tomorrow.

under the hood

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

’Tis the season for leaf peeping and, now that a slew of automakers reported earnings last week, deets peeping. Analysts were especially interested to see what’s happening to the auto industry amid high gas prices.

The big takeaways

Hybrid and passenger vehicles are having a moment. That, in turn, benefited Asian auto manufacturers in the quarter, because Ford, GM, and Stellantis have surrendered those categories:

• In the US market, Kia offers seven hybrid models, Hyundai six, Honda five, and Toyota 18.
• The Detroit automakers only offer two hybrid models: the Ford Maverick midsize pickup and a version of the Chevrolet Corvette.

That’s impacting overall market share. Asian automakers made more than half of the new cars that Americans bought in Q3, according to Cox Automotive, and cars from US manufacturers accounted for a record-low share of ~36%. Hybrid vehicles drove a lot of it:

• Korean automakers: Hyundai’s hybrid sales rose 39% in the third quarter, and Kia’s rose 152%.
• Japanese automakers: Toyota hybrid sales were up 29% for the quarter and Honda’s, 21%.

New record ahead? Korean automakers have never overtaken Ford in US auto sales, but demand for hybrids got them closer than ever last quarter.

• Hyundai and Kia combined sales rose to 506,200 vehicles, while Ford’s quarterly figure fell to 509,764.

Development is slow

That’s true for both manufacturers and consumers. Ford and GM plan to introduce more hybrid models, but automakers need years of on-ramping to bring new and different vehicle types to market.

And the biggest fans of big trucks and SUVs aren’t that quick to look for something more fuel-efficient. Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, told the New York Times that Americans are reacting to high gas prices by driving less or curtailing their spending in other categories, not necessarily swapping vehicles.—HVL

      

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World

Tour de headlines

David Brown/Getty Images

🇬🇧 The US quickly moved bombers out of UK base. US officials told the New York Times that all 12 of the country’s B-1 bombers at the RAF Fairford base were moved over the weekend. The urgent withdrawal was highly unusual, but came in response to new information about an Iran-backed threat, according to the anonymous officials. The Pentagon’s European Command later confirmed that the bombers returned to their home bases but did not provide a reason why. Experts suggested that Fairford might be susceptible to a “gig economy” terrorist attack—the term counterterrorist experts give to small-scale attacks carried out by local proxies outside of the Middle East in response to the Iran war.

💔 Debris from missing medical flight found near Nantucket. The Gulfstream G100 air ambulance registered in Canada was carrying six people from Bermuda to Boston on Saturday when it lost contact with air traffic controllers. The passengers were four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals. Air traffic control audio posted online revealed that the pilot reported electrical problems and an emergency as the craft approached the coast, but then stopped responding. A debris field believed to be from the air ambulance was found later Saturday near Nantucket. An investigation is ongoing. One expert told the Associated Press that the plane may have lost its navigational instruments just as a storm crossed its path.

🤖 President Trump announced members of his “Super Intelligence” task force. The group, to be known as the Super Intelligence Force, will be headed by National Intelligence Director Jay Clayton. Other members include Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson and Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael. The task force reports jointly to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Trump’s bid to rebrand artificial intelligence as “Super Intelligence” got a big endorsement from Elon Musk, who posted to X yesterday morning, “No more AI / SI / It’s better.” He also said he’d rename SpaceXAI, the parent company of SpaceX, X, and other initiatives, SpaceXSI.—HVL

CRUISIN’ FOR A LOSIN’

Tom Cruise and Alejandro González Iñárritu at an event for ‘Digger’ in Mexico. Angel Delgado/Getty Images

As far as debuts go, big-budget comedy Digger looked a lot like The Shockmaster over the weekend, spectacularly crashing and falling on its face. According to Variety, the political satire, directed by Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu:

• Grossed only $8 million domestically and $12 million internationally.
• Finished fifth at the North American box office, losing out to thriller Verity and three holdovers.

With mixed reviews and a break-even point of at least $300 million, the movie could end up losing as much as $200 million, per Variety.

Gross earnings: It’s more bad news for Warner Bros., which already had some spectacular flops this year, including Supergirl ($80 million loss) and Frankenstein flick The Bride! ($100 million loss), Variety reported. According to the New York Times, the studio hasn’t had a single film gross more than $100 million domestically in 2026.

Risky business: Digger is a disappointing swansong for Warner Bros. as a standalone studio, with Paramount set to finally close its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery this week.—BC

      

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calendar

The week ahead

Back in black (robes): Fresh off a summer recess, the US Supreme Court will have to hit the ground running today, kicking off its new term with a major climate change case. Justices will decide whether a lawsuit filed by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, against two oil companies can proceed. Boulder wants Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy to pay damages for events caused by climate change, but the companies argue the lawsuit, filed under state law, should be thrown out because it’s a federal matter. It could have major effects on dozens of similar lawsuits.

Waiting for minutes: This Wednesday, investors should have hours of fun analyzing minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. The notes will offer some insight into the central bank’s decision last month to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years. A second straight hike is looking less likely at this month’s meeting after recent inflation and jobs data came in cooler than expected.

Pulling back the curtain on Windows: Microsoft is hosting a Windows and Surface event on Wednesday to showcase how “local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC.” CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are scheduled to appear at the event, where laptops and agentic AI are expected to be the main focus. Then, if there’s time, they’ll hold a séance to contact the ghost of Clippy.

But wait, there’s more:

• Jeremy Strong’s turn as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning hits theaters this Friday.
• Constellation Brands reports earnings tomorrow, Levi Strauss on Wednesday, Pepsi on Thursday, and Delta on Friday.

BRENDAN’S GOT GOOD NEWS

Breaking records is her sweet spot

Anna Leigh Waters. Bruce Yeung/Getty Images

Mondays are bad enough, so the Brew’s own Brendan Cosgrove scoured the internet for a positive news story to help you start the week off right.

When it comes to pickleball, Anna Leigh Waters is kind of a big dill deal. The 19-year-old sensation—who is the first and only professional pickleballer signed by Nike—is increasingly being considered the sport’s greatest of all time, and for good reason. Yesterday, she notched her 199th Professional Pickleball Association title. (Yes, that’s the most ever.)

Bread and butter: Waters, who turned pro at 12, has multiple brand deals and makes about $2 million a year on the court, according to CNBC. This summer, she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in sports, underscoring pickleball’s meteoric rise to relevance.

What makes Waters so great? For one thing, as she herself once said, she’s willing to “grind and dink forever”—meaning she has the stamina and patience to outlast opponents, whereas we lesser players can’t resist the temptation to swing at anything that looks juicy…and frequently miss.—BC

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News

What else is brewing

• President Trump announced he would give more than 20 million US seniors $90 each to help pay for Medicare premiums.
• A US Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and murdering a Japanese woman on Okinawa.
• A hacker suspected of being a member of ShinyHunters, the group that defaced the FBI’s website last month, has been detained in Jordan and is cooperating with US officials.
• Elon Musk’s xAI successfully persuaded a US federal appeals court to halt Minnesota’s ban on AI-generated fake nude images, which would have been the first in the country.
• Levi’s credited a cultural resurgence of all things ’90s for its recent sales boom.

recs

• How to get out of grudge mode.
• Three tips for not sounding like everyone else in the AI-assisted world.
• Chris Rock explains why show business is like the Olympics.
• Get free shipping when you preorder our 2027 Morning Brew Games Desk Calendar.

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Play

Turntable: Your center letter is T, surrounded by N, A, C, H, R, and L. Can you make 43 words from those? Give it a whirl. Play Turntable here.

Large language trivia

Can you name the top 10 most popular languages studied on Duolingo last year?

Answer

1. English
2. Spanish
3. French
4. Japanese
5. German
6. Korean
7. Italian
8. Chinese
9. Portuguese
10. Hindi

(Source)

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: curtailing, meaning “cutting off.” Thanks to Steve Lewis from Apopka, FL, and the 11 other readers who added the suggestion to our roster. Submit another Word of the Day here.