Good morning, and welcome back. In today’s edition:

• 📝 Unpacking the New Year’s Day attacks
• 📉 Tesla sales fall year over year
• 🤔 Perfect SAT score? Colleges still may reject you

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.72-minute read (1,255 words).

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“Try all things, hold fast that which is good.”

–John Locke (1632-1704)

On New Year’s Day, seven hours and ~1,500 miles apart, America experienced a pair of seemingly isolated public attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas that killed and injured dozens of bystanders.

Here’s what happened: Around 3:15 am CT on January 1, the driver of a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of people on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street, then exited the truck and began shooting before he was killed by return fire from police. As of late yesterday, the official death toll from the attack stood at 14 people (not including the suspect), with 35 others injured.

• Authorities identified the suspected driver as a 42-year-old male US Army veteran who had multiple weapons inside the truck, alongside an Islamic State (ISIS) flag.
• In remarks on Wednesday, President Biden said the suspect “posted videos to social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill."
• The FBI said Thursday they now believe the suspect acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.

The New Orleans attack was soon followed by a car explosion in Vegas. Around 10:40 am CT, a Tesla Cybertruck stuffed with a rudimentary explosive device – made from consumer-grade fireworks, mortars, and aerial shells – was driven into the valet area of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, where it sat for 15-20 seconds before exploding. The driver was killed and seven people nearby sustained minor injuries.

• Authorities identified the driver as a 37-year-old male member of the US Army Special Forces (aka Green Berets), and said he appears to have shot himself in the head before the explosion.

Are the two incidents connected? In a press conference yesterday afternoon, President Biden said there’s currently no evidence of any link between the Vegas explosion and the New Orleans attack hours earlier. Turo, the car-sharing app through which vehicles in both attacks were rented, says it's fully cooperating with authorities.

Looking ahead…Biden said the FBI and DOD are investigating the Vegas explosion suspect’s possible motives, including any potential ties to the New Orleans suspect via the US military or otherwise.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): Do you have any thoughts on the two New Year's Day attacks? The most thoughtful and insightful responses will be featured in Monday’s newsletter.

• Click here to leave a response.

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Tesla yesterday revealed its sales dropped last year for the first time in over a decade.

• The EV-maker delivered 1,789,226 vehicles worldwide during 2024, a slight decline from 1,808,581 in 2023 (~1%).
• Shares fell 6% yesterday on the news.

The Eras Tour: Tesla version

For Tesla, last year was a tale of two eras – pre-Election Day and post-Election Day.

The EV-maker’s shares were effectively the same price at the start of January 2024 and Election Day 2024, after seesawing throughout the year as sales fell amid increased competition.

But ever since America cast its ballots on November 5, shares have been on a tear, hitting a record in mid-December and ending the year up 63%.

Sales have also ticked back up – though largely driven by promotions, such as interest-free financing and free Supercharging. These deals pulled a Greg Jennings and put the team on their back in Q4; the company turned in a record performance, delivering 495,570 vehicles, a 2% jump from the year prior (but still below analysts’ expectations).

💰 The importance of EV sales: Tesla’s future plans, such as Optimus and the Cybercab, will require large investments to come to fruition (a projected $10+ billion this year alone). This capital is largely expected to come from the company’s vehicle sales.

US households shelled out less money for streaming services last year than the year prior, according to a recent survey of 1,000 adults by research firm Reviews. It seems endless content ≠ endless value.

• The average American household spent $42.38/month on streaming services in 2024.
• That represents a 23% decline from 2023, when the average American household spent $55.04/month on streaming services.

The drivers: Per the survey, one big reason for the decline is ~28% of Americans are experiencing “streaming fatigue,” which Reviews defines as the “feeling of being overwhelmed with the increasing number of streaming apps.”

Streamers also continue to raise prices (and lock users out of their high-school ex-girlfriend’s account), leading Americans to increasingly pause/restart subscriptions, or switch to cheaper ad-supported plans or FAST services (free ad-supported streaming TV). A record 43% of streaming subscriptions were ad-supported by the end of Q3, according to Antenna, a market research firm.

Other fun facts: The average American has two streaming subscriptions and watches ~4 hours of content each day, per the survey.

🍿 Zoom out: The media landscape shifted in 2024 – and it could also look a lot different this time next year. See 13 predictions for 2025 from media execs.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Pique LIfe

• 📉 US markets rose in 2024 (S&P: +23%; Dow: +13%; Nasdaq: +29%) but fell yesterday, in the first day of trading in 2025 (S&P: -0.2%; Dow: -0.4%; Nasdaq: -0.2%).
• 💼 US initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 211,000 in the week ended December 28; it’s their lowest level in eight months. | 🏠 The US average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.91% as of January 2, up from 6.85% a week earlier, per Freddie Mac;
• 🤔 Short seller Hindenburg Research revealed a bet against Carvana; claims the user-car retailer's recent turnaround is a “mirage” propped up by unstable loans and accounting manipulation.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 CFB Playoff: Penn State, Texas, Ohio State, and Notre Dame advanced to the semifinals. | ⭐ The 2025 NFL Pro Bowl roster was announced.
• 🙏 Sports broadcasting legend Greg Gumbel died at 78. | 🙏 Lenny Randle, dubbed “the most interesting man in baseball,” died at 75.
• ⚖️ Actor/director Justin Baldoni filed a $250 million lawsuit against the NY Times over a December 21 article it published regarding Baldoni and Blake Lively on the set of It Ends With Us. | 👥 Season 2 of Squid Game set Netflix’s premiere week viewing record, with 68 million views worldwide in the first four days following its release; Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL broadcasts also set a record for the most streamed NFL games ever in the US, with ~65 million viewers.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with “Rate My Friends” from Dyce Games

• ☄️ The ongoing Quadrantid meteor shower is expected to reach peak activity early this morning.
• ⚡⚛️ Constellation Energy signed a 10-year, $840 million deal to supply the US government with enough energy to power ~1 million homes annually; ~40% of the energy supplied will come from nuclear sources.
• 🛰️☀️ NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018, made its closest-ever approach to the Sun, coming within 3.8 million miles of the surface in its eighth and final flyby.

*From our partners: 🤔 How would you rate your friends? Guess, rate, and laugh your way to victory with “Rate My Friends” from Dyce Games. Players draw attribute cards and rate themselves 1-10, then others guess the answers. Get “Rate My Friends” here.

MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥶🇺🇸 A cold wave is expected to bring freezing temperatures up to 20°F colder than normal across the central and eastern US this month, per Commodity Weather Group.
• 🇨🇳 China’s government issued a series of punitive trade measures against dozens of US companies – including Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin – ahead of expected Trump administration tariffs. | 🇰🇷✈️ A passenger jet traveling from Thailand crash-landed in South Korea on Sunday, killing 179 of the 181 passengers onboard.
• 🧑‍⚖️ President-elect Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause a law that would ban TikTok unless its US operations are sold off by Chinese parent ByteDance. | 🏛️ The new House of Representatives will vote for a speaker later today; current speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can only afford one “no” vote from the GOP caucus. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

✈️⏰ Stat of the Day: If punctuality is the gold standard of air travel, then Delta had the Midas touch in 2024, according to aviation analytics platform Cirium’s ranking of the most on-time US and Canadian airlines. Delta placed #1 with 83% of flights on-time in 2024, followed by United (81%), Alaska Airlines (79%), American (78%), and Southwest (78%). Note: Cirium defines “on-time” as arriving or departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

🤔 Did You Know? Stanford University rejected 69% of all applicants with a perfect SAT score between 2008-2013. Sometimes, even perfection isn’t enough.

📰 Worth a Read: 50 years of The Oregon Trail: The hidden controversies of a video game that defined the US → (BBC)

☝️ You’re looking at a ranking of America’s drunkest (red/purple) and driest (green) counties, according to IntoxiStates. See where your county ranks here.

+Clickbait story of the day: Dark Energy May Not Exist: Something Stranger Might Explain The Universe.

Pictured above is a one-in-a-billion occurrence that would make Hercule Poirot jump for joy: a nearly perfectly spherical egg.

• The egg was originally bought at a Scottish supermarket before being donated to the Luventas Foundation, an English charity that supports young people.
• It was then placed up for auction and purchased last month by Ed Pownall, who paid $247 for the egg on impulse after having a few drinks. He told the BBC it was "money well spent."

On December 23, in our most-recent edition, we covered how a record-low 35% of Americans have confidence in the country’s courts and judicial systems following a historically significant decline in recent years, per new Gallup polling.

❓ Our question to you: Do you personally have confidence in America’s judicial system and courts?

• 👍 Yes: 21%
• 👎 No: 79%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,429 votes and 267 longform responses.

📺 Add it to the list: The most-anticipated TV shows and movies of 2025.

🌋 Treasure map: There’s gold in them thar hills volcanoes.

🏈 Learn: What it really means when QBs call out the “Mike” linebacker.

💼✨ Work smarter, not harder: The Assist serves up savvy tips to supercharge your grind – all with the same quirky flair you adore from The DONUT. Because who has time for boring advice? Sign up free.*

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*A message from our partners.

Below are three lists of ingredients. Your job is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Olive oil
• Pickled jalapenos
• Garlic
• Chicken breasts
• Penne pasta
• Bell pepper
• Heavy whipping cream
• Salt
• Parmesan cheese
• Hot sauce

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Eggs
• Yukon gold potatoes
• Green onions
• Olive oil
• Salt

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Rolled oats
• Brown sugar
• Almond flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Ground cinnamon
• Dried apples
• Eggs
• Apple cider
• Milk
• Butter
• Vanilla extract
• Cooking spray
• Soft caramel candies
• Apple
• Caramel sauce

☝️ Recipe #1: Rattlesnake pasta

✌️ Recipe #2: Spanish tortilla

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Caramel apple oatmeal bars