Greetings N2K reader!

Get me your world famous News Haiku^TM competition  entry by noon today — about Nvidia being the world’s first $5 trillion company — and I’ll consider it for inclusion in tomorrow’s poll to pick the winner! Now: The news!

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Conservative Supreme Court justices appear skeptic …

• Wall Street gains ground amid steady flow of earni …

• How anime is outshining Hollywood hits

• How will AI help solve crimes?

• The AI-shopping assistant says ‘you deserve it’

• Poll of the day: Unsurprised, apparently

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 0.37% ) $DJI ( ▲ 0.48% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.65% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

 $NVDA ( ▼ 1.75% )  $GOOGL ( ▲ 2.44% )  $MCD ( ▲ 2.16% )  $IFF ( ▲ 4.08% )  $CMA ( ▲ 1.02% )  

Conservative Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of tariffs

The Supreme Court is taking a close look at the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, introduced under the guise of emergency powers. Several conservative justices, alongside their liberal colleagues, expressed skepticism about Trump's unilateral decision-making yesterday.

Central to the debate is Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imports. While Trump argued this law gave him authority in emergencies, the challengers counter that it doesn’t explicitly allow tariffs, stating, “no president before has used it this way.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett critically asked, “Has there ever been another instance in which a statute has used that language to confer the power?” Meanwhile, Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned if handing taxation powers — constitutionally defined as Congress’s responsibility — to the president undermines the nation’s legal foundation: “Is the constitutional assignment of the taxing power to Congress...just different?”

This case isn’t just about tariffs but broader concerns regarding the limits of executive power. Trump considered showing up for the hearing, but no president has ever done that before. Instead he took to social media to say how important it is for the justices to make a finding in his administration’s favor. It seems that’s unlikely.

Meanwhile it’s an emergency that I buy this $400 jacket I found at the curated vintage store. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Song of the day: Shad, ‘Islands’

Canadian rapper Shad addresses social inequality and hope on this lead single from his new album, “Start Anew,“ which explores themes of renewal after societal and personal challenges. Critics describe the track as a standout. I must say I rather enjoyed it.

Wall Street gains ground amid steady flow of earnings reports

Wall Street saw broad gains on Wednesday, driven primarily by a steady flow of corporate quarterly reports and encouraging private economic updates. Big technology stocks, including Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 1.75% ) and Alphabet $GOOGL ( ▲ 2.44% ) , led the climb, while positive results from companies like McDonald’s $MCD ( ▲ 2.16% ) and International Flavors & Fragrances $IFF ( ▲ 4.08% ) boosted optimism.

These earnings reports have become a crucial source of information for investors, economists, and the Federal Reserve, who are otherwise without a fuller picture of the economy due to the government shutdown suspending updates on inflation and employment.

Private data painted a mixed picture. The services sector, the largest part of the U.S. economy, expanded more than expected in October. Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank $CMA ( ▲ 1.02% ) , wrote that the services survey “provides a reassuring sign that economic growth persisted in October despite the government shutdown.”

However, the job market remains a significant concern, with employment contracting in the services sector. Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group, said: “We are nearing stall speed in the labor market, and that will get the Fed’s attention,” leading him to conclude that a new report on private payrolls “should make it clear that a December rate cut is now in play.” 

Investors currently forecast a 63% chance of another rate cut.

Post of the day: Will watch

Quote of the Day

How anime is outshining Hollywood hits

Anime is no longer a niche market. In the post-summer season it has been "quite amazing to have these anime films topping the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian at CommScore.

The numbers speak for themselves. “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” opened to $71 million domestically and has since earned about $133 million. “Chainsaw Man” added another $30 million. "If you take those two anime films, they've added $163 million in domestic box office to the bottom line. I have to be honest, I wouldn't have predicted that a few months ago," Dergarabedian said.

What is driving this boom? Dergarabedian points to multiple factors, noting a "synergy between the big screen and the small screen." Streaming platforms like Netflix have exposed vast audiences to international content, making them eager to see it theatrically. Furthermore, anime films are "very beautiful...very cinematic," making them a perfect fit for the big screen, especially with Gen Z and Millennials.

It doesn’t help that Hollywood continues making terrible CGI-fueled rubbish that nobody wants to watch, either. I would rather watch traditionally filmed rubbish that nobody wants to watch. Hear?! Although they’re playing “Annie Hall” at our local cinema on the 15th — something about Diane Keaton dying, so they have an excuse to play a film by a canceled director that everybody still loves. I like it!

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Yes, ma’am.

How will AI help solve crimes?

In great news for Agatha Christie fans, AI is quickly becoming the latest essential tool for investigators, speeding up the evidence analysis process and solving cases. So instead of Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule Poirot taking a whole novel’s worth to figure out the butler did it, we won’t even need to bother. The computer will point it out immediately!

At the forefront of this transformation is LongEye, an AI-powered investigative workspace designed for law enforcement. Co-founder and CEO Guillaume Delapine (who sounds like a French detective, to be fair) spoke about the company's mission, which was inspired by "this explosion of evidence" that often leaves detectives with "really tough, difficult data sets to work for hours and hours."

LongEye exists to help investigators with their "worst, heaviest tasks." The AI can analyze mountains of data, such as 12,000 recorded phone calls, and "ranks them all for relevance against the case details" by checking for matches against the entire case, including all people, weapons, and locations. This capability proved its worth in one case in which a confession was found in jail phone calls within "hours," a task that had taken a traditional investigation "weeks."

Note to self: They record your jail phone calls. Got it. Right.

What truly sets LongEye apart is its commitment to the justice system, Guillaume said. The technology is "built for verifiability," ensuring that AI-generated insights are "immediately accompanied by or linked to admissible primary source evidence." Furthermore, in a pledge to balance the playing field, the company offers "free products to public defenders" to help "generate speedier, more truthful trials." This is nice because if they only offered the tools to prosecutors and police, that would also be, er…unconstitutional, I believe, infringing defendants’ Miranda rights.

For Delapine, their focus remains on tackling the data that is "coming after what Search Warrant has been doing," helping detectives with the heavy work that "everybody in society...would want detectives to do." Except for Poirot.

The AI-shopping assistant says ‘you deserve it’

Meet Phoebe Gates (right, above) and Sophia Kianni, the founders of Phia, the AI shopping assistant that's transforming how Gen Z and millennial women approach e-commerce. Born out of a generative AI and entrepreneurship class at Stanford, Phia is rapidly expanding its reach, recently crossing "over 600,000 downloads."

Originally focused on price comparison, the founders quickly realized consumers wanted a more comprehensive tool. As Phoebe explained, "it quickly expanded into being a holistic shopping assistant."

A key differentiator for Phia is its focus on value and sustainability. The app can instantly show "secondhand alternatives and the resale value," a feature no other product offers. Sophia highlighted the underlying consumer desire: "People just want to be smarter shoppers is what we realized...they're actually really excited to understand, ‘am I buying a high quality item that retains its value?’"

With a strong focus on customer feedback, including "inviting women to come and roast our app in the office" every two weeks — Phia is continually adapting.

Of course if you’d like to roast the app any other time, you’re also welcome. Will it tell me it’s an emergency about buying this $400 jacket, though, I wonder? Because honestly I am running out of excuses, and I need to talk to my wife about it soon. Hey, Siri!

Poll of the day: Need any help, there?

Poll of the day: Unsurprised, apparently

We asked: “Were you surprised by last night's election results?”

You said:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes. (56)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No. (659)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes and no. (181)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'm surprised to learn there were elections yesterday! I don't really follow the news. (19)

915 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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