Axios

President-elect Trump will nominate Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary, positioning him as the top economic official representing the nation on the world stage.

Why it matters: The pick caps intense jockeying for the influential role that, at times, spilled out into public view. The process has been closely watched by financial markets for what it might signal about the direction of Trump's economic policy.

Super Micro Computer shares continued their long climb back from the brink today, finishing the week up 78% from where they closed last Friday.

Why it matters: The recently high-flying server maker for the AI elite seems to have staved off a Nasdaq delisting, but it has more work to win back investors.

Catch up quick: Super Micro's problems started in August, when a short seller made a series of allegations, including one about shady accounting.

• The company then delayed its financial reports, which triggered the possible Nasdaq delisting.
• And that all triggered a probe by the DOJ.

Things got really bad last month when EY, the auditor hired to back the company's financial reports, quit, saying it was "unwilling to be associated" with them. The stock fell over 32% that day.

Kendrick Lamar released a new album today, which apparently nobody saw coming.

• Promotion for the new album, "GNX," reportedly consisted of a teaser video by the rapper... posted today.

Zoom in: "GNX" is 12 tracks, and it's Lamar's first full-length studio album since 2022, USA Today notes.

What we're watching: Lamar, best known for "Not Like Us," "HUMBLE." and "All The Stars," will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Did you hear the one about the $6.2 million banana? That's the price a piece of art consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall fetched this week, up from a "mere" $120,000 it sold for five years ago.

Why it matters: It is a fitting metaphor for an exuberant, and frothy, moment in financial markets of all types, one that raises uncomfortable questions about whether Federal Reserve policy is really restraining the economy as much as its leaders believe.

"Comedian" is the most famous artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist who had a retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2011, and whose auction record, set in 2016, stands at $17.2 million.

• In most news reports, however, including this one, it's generally referred to as "a banana," or "the banana."

Why it matters: "Comedian" sold for $6.2 million at auction last week — a ludicrous price for a banana, but a perfectly normal price for a major piece of contemporary art.

The big picture: Comedy has always struggled with being taken seriously, and Cattelan, often referred to as a "prankster," is one of very few major artists who work mostly in a comedic vein.

• If a serious work by Anselm Kiefer or Bill Viola sold for this much, no eyebrows would be raised.
• Partly because of its comic nature, however, "Comedian" seems to invite ridicule.

Where it stands: "Comedian" can be placed in a long line of conceptual artworks where everyday objects are transformed into art.

• Marcel Duchamp started producing his "readymades" 110 years ago, in 1914, when he presented a bottle rack as art. That was followed up with a snow shovel, a urinal, and many others.
• The Tate Gallery in London caused a minor scandal when it acquired "Equivalent VIII," a 1966 Carl Andre work comprising everyday house bricks, in 1972.
• The idea of an artwork that is executed by the owner according to the artist's instructions is more than half a century old, dating back at least to a Sol Lewitt show at Paula Cooper gallery in 1968.

Between the lines: Cattelan is one of the few artists whose artworks have become memes. That, too, is nothing new — the Mona Lisa was a meme that could be remixed by Duchamp more than a century ago.

• Other such works include Andy Warhol's portraits of Marilyn Monroe, one of which sold in 2022 for $195 million, or Shepard Fairey's "OBEY" portrait of Andre the Giant, available in an unlimited edition for just $30.

Zoom in: A lot of attention has been paid to the materials used in "Comedian" — a banana and some duct tape, both of which can be replaced (or even eaten) an unlimited number of times according to the will of the owner.

• Justin Sun, the winning bidder, promised to eat the banana that was on show at Sotheby's. After all, he does own it — and will continue to own it, and be able to exhibit it, whatever happens to this particular fruit.

Zoom out: Over the past few years, memes have often been monetized via NFTs or cryptocurrencies.

• Sun was the underbidder on the Beeple NFT that sold for $69 million in 2021.
• There's a "Comedian" memecoin, known as BAN, which was invented by a Sotheby's staffer and which currently has a market capitalization of about $138 million — a number that rose as high as $343 million before the auction.
• That level of crypto-world interest in the work helps to explain both Sun's involvement in the bidding and the multimillion-dollar final price.

The bottom line: "Comedian" is a legitimate artwork, by a legitimate artist. Its value, while amusing to many, is not particularly difficult to understand.

Upstart social network Bluesky is getting inbound interest for a large new investment round, just weeks after raising $15 million in Series A funding, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Bluesky has become a post-election refuge for millions of Twitter/X users.

Northvolt, a Swedish maker of lithium-ion batteries that once was valued by venture capitalists at nearly $12 billion, has filed for bankruptcy.

Why it matters This is a massive blow to Europe's EV manufacturing goals, as Northvolt was viewed as the best homegrown chance for reducing reliance on China.

A typical Thanksgiving dinner for 10 will cost about $58 this year, a new report finds — down around 5% from last year but up nearly 20% in unadjusted dollars from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why it matters: Grocery prices are a key way Americans experience inflation, and Thanksgiving puts food costs front and center.

The average American thinks a salary of just over $270,000 a year qualifies them as "financially successful," but there are huge disparities between generations, according to a new study.

Why it matters: In an environment where workers are increasingly resentful, the study by financial services company Empower finds younger workers expect double the salary of their older peers to be a success.

Long before Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler announced his decision Thursday to step down, the cryptocurrency industry's had its eyes on the next SEC chair.

Why it matters: Personnel is policy.

Passenger-car market share hit an all-time low of 19% through the first 10 months of 2024, according to data released today by car research site Edmunds.

The big picture: America's SUV obsession is showing no signs of slowing down.

Zoom in: The good news for shoppers is that the average price of a new SUV has flattened out.

• Buyers paid $46,211 on average for a new SUV through October, according to Edmunds.
• That's about flat from 2022's $46,030, though it's still up nearly $10,000 over the last eight years.

Nothing screams crypto bull run quite like Justin Sun's winning bid for a banana duct-taped to a wall.

• Or more specifically, the Tron blockchain creator's decision to eat his new $6.2 million banana as "part of this unique artistic experience."

The bottom line: Good look out there folks.

Go deeper: Banana taped to wall sells at auction for $6.24 million

Automakers are hoping that the big thing holding people back from buying EVs is that they're not freaking big enough.

Why it matters: Many of today's EVs are sedans or crossovers, but American car buyers love big SUVs and trucks.

For the second time in as many years, two big-budget movies with major fanfare will premiere on the same date.

Flashback: 2023's summer double-feature phenomenon called "Barbenheimer" raked in $311 million at the box office in its opening weekend.

Elon Musk's alliance with President-elect Trump shaped the 2024 election and its aftermath — but longtime observers of both men doubt their honeymoon can last.

Why it matters: The Trump-Musk power duo could fall out over appointments, competing interests or just jealousy over sharing a spotlight.

Gary Gensler will step down as chair of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission at noon on Inauguration Day, the agency announced on Thursday.

Why it matters: Gensler has had an aggressive tenure, marked by controversial rulemaking and a combative approach with the cryptocurrency industry.

Economists warn that the tariffs promised by President-elect Trump will be a drag on the economy. For now, attempts to get ahead of tariffs might be a meaningful, if fleeting, boost to growth.

Why it matters: Some companies are pushing through orders sooner to try to beat the clock on the expected harsher trade regime — the type of activity that, if widespread enough, could temporarily jolt GDP.

You might be eager to defy gravity, but please don't sing about it during the new "Wicked" movie releasing this week.

Why it matters: Some movie theaters and loyal fans are warning against belting out the lyrics and singing with Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba — at least until a sing-along version is released later this year.

Tokamak Energy, a British fusion energy developer, raised $125 million jn new funding.

Why it matters: The AI revolution needs more power, and one of its second-order impacts is driving venture investment into nuclear fusion, which remains the holy grail for energy.

Official Black Friday sales are getting off to an early start and will continue throughout Thanksgiving week.

Why it matters: Major retailers will be physically closed Thanksgiving, for the fifth year in a row, a change that started in 2020 with the pandemic.

The stock market hasn't looked this top-heavy since the heyday of the so-called "Nifty Fifty" — a group of stocks that included Polaroid, Sears and Eastman-Kodak and that drove a bull market more than half a century ago.

By the numbers: The market value of the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 makes up nearly 37% of the index's total value, the highest since 1965.

The Magnificent Seven's stock market dominance may be waning, Goldman Sachs suggests in an otherwise optimistic 2025 forecast.

Why it matters: The seven tech stocks — Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — have played a huge role in the S&P 500's fabulous run over the past two years.

Here's what's new on Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and Prime Video.

What we're watching: Another star-studded August Wilson adaptation, a new season of "Based on a True Story," and a docuseries about the tragic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

A Florida man was arrested over an alleged plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange this week, per FBI court documents filed Wednesday.

The big picture: Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, of Coral Springs, Fla., was charged with "attempting to use an improvised explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate or foreign commerce," per the filing in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida.