ANALYSIS

The One Q1 News Story to Rule Them All

The Brew writers each took a crack at identifying the "biggest business news story of the quarter." Read them all, then let us know who you think is correct. We've got a $200 pool going. 

Jamie says crypto

We'll remember this quarter as the one when crypto caught the attention of major financial institutions, mainstream media outlets (including Morning Brew), and anyone looking to spice up their portfolio. Bitcoin hit a new high, dogecoin gained 1,000%, ether futures made it onto the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and NFTs made everyone's neurons run a six-minute mile. It feels like we're in the early stages of so many emerging crypto applications and I'm excited for what's to come.

Alex says Trump's deplatforming

One of the craziest parts of the Capitol riots (and there were many) was watching Twitter, Facebook/Instagram, YouTube, and even Snapchat deplatform a sitting US president for inciting violence. As private entities, social media platforms aren't bound by First Amendment protections. World leaders have previously gotten exemptions, but the implications of digitally silencing a prominent leader have made even some staunch Trump critics, including Bernie Sanders, uncomfortable. These platforms still have a lot to figure out about handling unruly politicians.

Toby says GameStop

For a few weeks in January and February, you couldn't wander through the mean streets of the internet without bumping into a GameStop meme. To me, that's what made GameStop mania the biggest story of the quarter—the broader financial world was forced to acknowledge social media users' power to move markets. From the mythos surrounding r/WallStreetBets and "Roaring Kitty" to Robinhood's controversial role in empowering the amateur trader, it feels like a new, meme-filled era of stock trading has finally arrived.

Neal says vaccines

Considering how the pandemic battered the economy, the most important business story in my mind is the vaccine rollout. The US has done a really good job—as of today, over 16% of Americans are fully vaccinated and we're on pace to administer 200 million shots in Biden's first 100 days. I'm hopeful that, as the rollout continues, businesses will be able to operate at full throttle and we can tentatively start seeing what this hyped New Normal thing is all about. 

CULTURE

Time Capsule

ECONOMY

Report Card

Last quarter, the US continued its climb out of a historic recession. We graded the comeback across six different metrics.

Alex Hickey

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LONG READS

Top 10

Looking for some good reads? Here are Morning Brew's 10 most popular articles from this quarter. Just scanning the headlines pretty much tells the story of what happened...

1. How to set goals and follow through on them

2. NFTs: Frequently asked questions

3. Morning Brew Style Blog: How to kill your darlings

4. Four theories that explain the GameStopification of the markets

5. The big business of March Madness

6. Brew's Bookshelf: 15 Books for Black History Month

7. Taking a peek at past presidents' personal finances 

8. The growing pet food industry

9. What's the hype around air fryers?

10. Business acronyms you should know 

MARKETS

Not pictured: GameStop, because it would break the chart. The video game retailer has gained 1,027% since the start of the year.

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RECS

The Best of Brew's Bets

In the Brew's Bets section, we give you tips on how to live smarter (with a few viral videos tossed in). Here are the most popular recommendations from the last quarter. 

Moving? Try using this simple room-planning site. 

A video that's pleasing to the eye: How cats walk to reduce noise and maximize stealth.

Tech Tip: How to browse with Google Chrome like a pro. 

Clever logos: Try finding the hidden images in 40 brand logos. 

Exercises: Don't have a home workout routine yet? No problem. This website has compiled every type of exercise known to humans—and instructions to go along with them.

Marco Logo: Test your knowledge of corporate logos with this fun quiz.

FORECASTING

Q2 Predictions

"It's simple to explain what happened, but much harder to predict the future."—Lao Tzu

Okay, he didn't say that but we did, and we're going to prove it with an ask-the-audience game. 

How it works: We'll present you with five questions about the next quarter, then you'll offer your best guess. We'll review the power of Brew readers' crystal balls in the next recap email sent at the end of Q2 on June 30, 2021.  

1. On June 30, will bitcoin be above $75,000? (It's just below $60,000 currently.)
2. The Dow wiped the floor with the Nasdaq this quarter. But will the trend reverse in Q2? Which will have the better quarter: the Nasdaq or the Dow? 
3. On June 30, will the 7-day average number of US Covid-19 cases be below 20,000? (It's just above 60,000 now.) 
4. Will Facebook’s independent Oversight Board reinstate Donald Trump on the platform?
5. The digital artist Beeple sold an NFT of his artwork at auction for $69.3 million. Will an NFT sell for more than that by June 30? 

Vote here.

GAMES

Quizzed and Quartered

The feeling of getting a 10/10 (that's right) on the Brew's Quarterly News Quiz has been compared to getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz.

It's that satisfying. Ace the quiz.