Newsletter Nov 16, 2021

President Biden made it official by signing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Now comes the hard part -- convincing voters it's a good investment.

3 things you must know

Biden finally signs $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill
The worst-kept surprise in Washington has been President Joe Biden's slow roll on signing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that Congress passed last week. On Monday, after a brief political victory lap, he officially enacted the signature piece of legislation in his Build Back Better initiative with limited GOP support.
Now that the paperwork is out of the way, Biden has a hard sell to the American people that it's money well spent. He is continuing a national tour to tout the bill this week, seeking to capitalize on a much-needed political win before the 2022 midterm elections.
The good news politically for Biden is that rebuilding America's crumbling roads, bridges, railways, airports and seaports are popular ideas across party lines. The bad news for Biden is that Democrats remain divided over the second part of his plan -- the near-$2 trillion social spending bill -- and exactly how to pay for it.
SEE OTHER REACTIONS TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

Schumer pushes Biden to tap oil reserves, lower gas prices
It's not very often you hear one of the top Democrats call for using more fossil fuel. But that's exactly what Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is proposing President Biden do to help stop the rising price of gas by tapping into America's oil reserves.
With the average cost of a gallon of gas reaching $3.41 -- $1 more than this time last year -- Schumer wants Biden to open the flow of crude in hopes that the additional supply will drive down prices at the pump for consumers, and provide Dems some much-needed fuel going into the 2022 midterm elections.
WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS OF TAPPING OIL RESERVES

Fighting Inflation: Lightning in a bottle or a flash in the pan?
The Biden administration is looking for creative ways to control inflation, including everything from relaxing tariffs to beefing up the supply chain. The Federal Reserve is trying to manage the crisis via monetary policy, but government can only do so much.
"To the extent that (inflation) is being caused, at least partially, by supply constraints, there's very little the Fed can do about that," one analyst said. "The Fed can't make more computer chips."
Biden is considering several options that, theoretically, could make an impact on inflation, which hit 6.2% last month. If it keeps growing at that rate, the U.S. could be headed for a recession.
FIND OUT WHAT INFLATION-FIGHTING STEPS ARE IN PLAY

Markets

DJIA	36,231.31	0.40%
S&P 500	4,693.88	0.24%
Nasdaq Composite	15,873.48	0.12%
Japan: Nikkei 225	29,808.12	0.11%
UK: FTSE 100	7,328.53	-0.32%
Crude Oil Futures	80.33	-0.68%
Gold Futures	1,864.10	-0.13%
Yen	114.48	0.30%
Euro	1.14	-0.15%
* As of market close

Tesla loses $1 trillion valuation amid tweets

In one of the worst examples of unintentional corporate self-sabotage since the last time Elon Musk went on a misguided tweet storm, the Tesla CEO saw his company lose its newfound $1 trillion valuation status after coming down with another bad case of itchy Twitter finger.

Musk's latest social media escapades have resulted in Tesla's stock value taking a 15% hit over the past week. Precipitating the drop was Musk's Twitter poll in which he let users decide whether he should sell off Tesla shares. The vote prompted him to sell $6.9 billion in stock last week, plunging the price almost as much as his popularity ratings.

To make matters worse, he is currently engaged in a no-holds-barred Twitter battle with Sen. Bernie Sanders over the proposed wealth tax.

FIND OUT THE LATEST IN THE MUSK-SANDERS WAR OF WORDS

Lucid Air debuts as MotorTrend's top pick

Talk about making a good first impression, Lucid Motors rolled its 2022 Lucid Air model off the assembly line and directly onto the front page of MotorTrend as the first debut winner of its prestigious Car of the Year award. Not bad for a startup by a dreamer who used to work for Tesla.

Lucid was founded in 2007 by CEO Peter Rawlinson, who helped engineer the Model S for Tesla. The 2012 model also won the distinction, but Rawlinson has taken the EV concept to the next level with the Lucid Air, which can travel over 500 miles on a single charge.

SEE WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE LUCID AIR

Reese's serves pie-sized peanut butter cup

As if a Thanksgiving feast doesn't already involve packing on pounds of useless calories, the fine folks at Hershey's have given us one more reason to indulge -- the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Thanksgiving Pie. And the title means exactly what it says -- a pie-sized Reese's Cup.

Before your tongue starts beating your brains out, Hershey's is only making 3,000 of the 9-inch holiday treats for friends and family to share for Thanksgiving. At 7,680 calories (that's 160 calories per slice divided 48 ways), it's sure to put provide the perfect transition to a food coma.

FIND OUT HOW TO ORDER YOUR JUMBO-SIZED REESE'S CUP