TRUMP + MUSK SOLIDIFY BRO-MANCE WITH ROCKET LAUNCH, via Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump arrived in Brownsville, Texas, on Tuesday to watch one of Elon Musk ’s companies test its Starship rocket, the latest sign of a deepening bond between the president-elect and the world’s richest man.
Ever since Musk began camping out at Mar-a-Lago after the election, there’s been speculation over when Trump would grow tired of having him hanging around and giving him advice on running the country.
But Tuesday’s outing was a remarkable display of intimacy between the two, one with implications for American politics, the U.S. government, foreign policy and even the possibility of humans reaching Mars.
—> HOW IT PLAYED: Trump in Texas for Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship launch, via Fox Business; Trump to Watch Latest SpaceX Launch With Elon Musk, via New York Times; Gigantic rocket takes flight as Trump watches alongside Elon Musk, via New York Post.
BREAKING NEWS
UKRAINE HITS RUSSIA WITH US ATACMS MISSILES FOR FIRST TIME ON WAR'S 1,000TH DAY, via Reuters: KYIV, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory on Tuesday, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the war's 1,000th day.
Russia said its forces shot down five of six missiles fired at a military facility in the Bryansk region. Debris of one hit the facility, starting a fire that was swiftly put out and caused no casualties or damage, it said.
hello, future. it’s me, kev.
…and this is a dispatch from the digital frontier. Your one-stop shop for markets, tech, and the future. The day is 324. The year is 2024. The planet is Earth. My name is Kevin Cirilli —> LinkedIn.
Today in History: November 19, Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address.
Back to the future...
FUTURES
INVESTORS SHRUG OFF UKRAINE-RUSSIA TENSIONS, via CNBC: “The Nasdaq Composite gained Tuesday, driven by Nvidia shares, as investors shrugged off concerns of mounting geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia. The Nasdaq popped 1.04% to finish at 18,987.47, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to end at 5,916.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 120.66 points, or 0.28%, to settle at 43,268.94.”
SLEEPER STORY —> Donald Trump’s social media group in talks to buy crypto trading venue, via Financial Times.
NVIDIA COOLS OFF CHIPS AS SHARES SOAR, via Business Insider: Nvidia's rollout of its most advanced chip, Blackwell, has sparked excitement but also concerns over design and cooling issues. While CEO Jensen Huang assured that initial design problems are resolved, some customers have raised concerns about overheating in larger configurations. Analyst Dylan Patel notes that cooling remains a critical focus as Blackwell scales, though its design-related cooling issues are reportedly addressed.
NOTABLE —> TRUMP PICKS CANTOR FITZGERALD’S HOWARD LUTNICK AS COMMERCE SECRETARY, via WSJ.
NEXT BIG THING? BLUESKY, via Engadget.com:
Bluesky has passed the 20 million user mark as the app continues its recent surge in growth. The decentralized service, which reached 15 million users less than a week ago, has just about tripled its user base in the last three months.
Though it’s still far smaller than its rivals Threads and X, Bluesky’s current momentum is notable. The app has had several days over the last week where it added a million new users in a single 24-hour period. That’s similar to the growth rate of Threads, which has been getting a million new sign-ups a day for “going on three months,” according to an update last week from Meta’s Adam Mosseri. Threads reached 275 million monthly users earlier this month and has added at least 15 million since the start of November.
We’re not just saying that because we are still locked out of our HACKED ‘X’ account…
ONE MORE THING
BIG DEAL: Jersey Mike’s Founder Is Worth $7 Billion After Blackstone Deal, via Bloomberg.
With gratitude,
Kev
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Source: Variety.