Episode 496: Neal and Toby chat about LA wildfire evacuees and authorities battling against price gouging that are looking to take advantage of desperate victims. Then, the shift towards strict Return-to-Office policies by companies have led to workers shopping for a new office wardrobe. Also, China announces a trade surplus that has reached nearly $1 trillion. Meanwhile, Toby dives into the trend of ghost jobs that are plaguing job sites and job seekers. Lastly, a roundup of the biggest headlines for the day. Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Checkout public.com/morningbrew for more Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here: https://link.chtbl.com/MBD Watch Morning Brew Daily Here: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC.  Alpha is an AI research tool powered by GPT-4.  Alpha is experimental and may generate inaccurate responses.  Output from Alpha should not be construed as investment research or recommendations, and should not serve as the basis for any investment decision. Public makes no warranties about its accuracy, completeness, quality, or timeliness of any Alpha out. Please independently evaluate and verify any such output for your own use case. APY as of 1/9/25, offered by Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Rate subject to change. 00:00 - ‘Inner Excellence’ Goes Viral  02:40 - LA Price Gouging  07:48 - Retail Boom for RTO  11:40 - China Trade Surplus 17:15 - Toby’s Trends: Ghost Jobs 20:20 - Headlines  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices