MARKETS

About the New Markets Section...

Today, the Brew unveiled a brand new design for our Markets section with some pretty big changes. So before we get into the day's business news, we wanted to provide a little insight into why we made the switch.

From a graphics POV, we got rid of some unnecessary white space so that, with just a quick glance, you can tell if indicators moved up or down.

You also probably noticed that we removed oil and gold. In their place, we added 1) bitcoin and 2) a "flex" spot, which will allow us to showcase any security—whether it's a tech stock, oil, or dogecoin—that made an interesting move the previous day. Today we picked JPMorgan stock because of the turmoil around the banking sector.

As for bitcoin…

After much consideration we believe the time has come to feature it daily at the top of the newsletter. Perhaps you just took a tequila shot out of happiness. Maybe you just chucked your computer out the window in a fit of rage.  

So why'd we do it? Simply put: Its price is noteworthy. Bitcoin, as the flagship cryptocurrency, has grown tremendously as an asset over the last decade, earning wider acceptance among Fortune 500 companies, institutional financial firms, and individual investors alike. We think our Markets section will be more relevant to readers with bitcoin in it.

By the way, this is not an endorsement of bitcoin—we have no opinion on whether you should buy or sell it. It's simply a recognition that finance, just like anything else, is changing, and our newsletter should reflect that.

PUBLIC HEALTH

US Gets a Side Stitch on the Anchor Leg

After a brutal winter surge, Covid-19 cases fell dramatically in late February and managed to sit steady for a month. But now, despite a vaccine campaign that's trounced expectations like a Beeple NFT, numbers are creeping back up. 

The seven-day rolling average for new cases is back above 60,000 and rising, and deaths (which typically lag a couple weeks) are up 3%. 

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is worried. At an emotional press conference yesterday, she warned of "impending doom" from another surge and implored the public to take a page from Prof. Moody and practice some constant vigilance. 

Onto the better news

Over one-third of adults (about 95 million people) have received at least one shot, according to the CDC. Almost 53 million are fully vaccinated. And within three weeks, President Biden says, 90% of adults will be eligible to receive the vaccine within five miles of their home.  

Yesterday, the CDC also reported that the first "real world" study of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed 90% efficacy and that they help prevent asymptomatic infections. 

• The first shot alone confers 80% protection, although experts aren't sure how long that lasts without the second booster shot. 
• But unlike those who promise to "grab lunch soon," vaccine recipients have followed up: Almost 96% of two-shot recipients get their second dose in the recommended time-frame. 

Zoom out: Rising caseloads reinforce that more vaccines doesn't immediately translate to less Covid in the short-term. Yesterday, Biden pleaded with state and local leaders to maintain or reinstate mask mandates as the rollout continues. 

+ While we're here...the latest installment in Covid-19: Origin Story. In a draft report obtained by the AP, WHO researchers investigating the coronavirus said it most likely jumped from bats to another critter to humans. A lab leak was determined to be "extremely unlikely."

SHIPPING

If You Love Something, Let It Float

Well, folks, we did it. With the power of jokes, tugboats, and high tide, the Ever Given was freed from the Suez Canal yesterday after nearly a week of blocking it. While the ship might want to return to the anonymity of container transportation and leave the paparazzi behind, it's not that easy: The backlog of traffic at the Suez could take almost a week to clear and could ultimately create more congestion as ships begin to arrive at their destinations at the same time. 

• The average wait time for a berth at ports in the LA area, the biggest US gateway for goods from Asia, is already about eight days thanks to existing logjams.

Zoom out: The clog blocked more than 10% of global shipping traffic and brought up lots of talk about the fragility of global supply chains. 

SPONSORED BY FUNDRISE

‘THIS TASTES SO GOOD!’—Your Wallet

The 30 Percent Real Estate Diet. If you’re unfamiliar, then pull up a chair, because we’re about to give you some tasty investing knowledge that could leave your wallet feeling nice and full.

A traditional investing portfolio is made up of 60% large-cap stocks and 40% bonds. But Fundrise has introduced a new element into the equation: access to private market real estate investing.

Being able to diversify your portfolio with a historically consistent, low-volatility asset class like real estate has changed the game:

• Over the past 5, 10, 20, and 40 year periods, if you owned an investment portfolio with a 30 percent allocation to private real estate (instead of a portfolio with 60% stocks and 40% bonds), you likely would’ve generated a higher return with more annual income and less volatility compared to a more traditional portfolio.

Mmmm, that 30 Percent Real Estate Diet tastes reeeaalllll good. Start diversifying your portfolio with Fundrise today.

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: 10.7% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 became addicted to marijuana within a year of trying it for the first time, according to a new study published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. That's comparable to the same age group's addiction rate (11.2%) for prescription opioids.

Quote: "It had essentially gorged on more debt than it could handle." 

Bloomberg columnist Tim O'Brien argued that the liquidation of Archegos Capital, an obscure hedge fund that bet big on stocks like ViacomCBS and Discovery and was forced to sell off $20 billion in shares on Friday, is symbolic of a lack of transparency on Wall Street. 

Read: How mRNA technology could change the world. (The Atlantic)

RETAIL

Hell's Hottest Spring Look

Lil Nas X's unofficial “Satan” Nikes sold out of its 666 pairs in under a minute on Monday. The updated Nike Air Max 97s are part of a collab between the “Old Town Road” singer and New York-based art collective MSCHF, which is known for online stunts including chopping up a $30k fine art print last year.

The sneakers allegedly contain a drop of real human blood mixed into the red ink sloshing around inside the air bubble. Nike was quick to say it didn’t create, endorse, or bleed into the sneaker—then it later sued MSCHF for selling “unauthorized Satan Shoes.“ It's worried about the social media blowback: Everyone from South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, to football player Trevor Lawrence tweeted their varying levels of concern about the eternally damned shoes this weekend. 

Zoom out: Lil Nas X timed the sneaker drop with his most recent music video release for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” the steamiest take on going to H-E-L-L we’ve ever seen.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• The Biden administration announced an ambitious plan to boost offshore wind power in the US.
• Petr Kellner, the Czech Republic's richest man, died in a helicopter crash in Alaska along with four others.
• Ark Invest, an investment firm that had an incredible run in 2020, is launching a space exploration exchange-traded fund (ETF) today. 
• Volkswagen accidentally leaked the new name it had chosen for its US operations: Voltswagen. A name so clever you'd think we came up with it. 
• Carbone, the exclusive Italian restaurant with a global reach, now has its own pasta sauce for retail.

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Tech Tip Tuesday: If you use the productivity software Notion (and if not, you should check it out), make sure you peep these templates to help you get even more organized.

Bonus Tech Tip Tuesday: Learn how to make your desktop folders look a lot cooler, or just change the color (Macs only).

AI intrigue: Why did one of the most sophisticated AI advances spark multiple firings at Google and a debate across the AI world? Read Emerging Tech Brew's latest piece to find out.

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GAMES

Trump or Biden?

The New York Times published an entertaining game yesterday that tests your intuition about the 2020 election and the American landscape. You are shown a Google Maps street view of a particular neighborhood, then have to guess which presidential candidate the locals voted for in the last election.

Here's one example. Can you tell whether Biden or Trump won this area? 

ANSWER

Trump won here by 16 points. "Here" is Worth, Illinois, in suburban Chicago. 

✢ A Note From Fundrise

(Here's all the legal jargon we know you love reading.)