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Good morning. The marketing folks at ESPN are calling this the “Weekend of Champions,” and they’re not wrong. Sports fans will be treated to the Wimbledon finals, Argentina vs. Brazil in the Copa América final, England vs. Italy in the Euro final, an NBA Finals game, and the rubber match of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
See you at the pub  .
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Nasdaq
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14,701.92
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S&P
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4,369.55
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Dow
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34,870.16
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Bitcoin
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$33,872.21
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10-Year
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1.360%
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Biogen
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$358.16
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*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET.
Here's what these numbers mean.
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Markets: After a bumpy Thursday when investors questioned economic growth prospects, stocks rebounded to close at all-time highs. Biogen stock fell after the FDA’s acting head called for a federal investigation into the controversial approval of the company’s Alzhiemer’s drug.
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Covid: The CDC released new guidance around school reopenings this fall. It wants schools to stay open for in-person instruction and said teachers and students who are vaccinated don’t need to wear masks or physically distance.
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Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Tired of Teddy Roosevelt getting all the “trustbuster” recognition in the history books, President Biden signed a beefy executive order yesterday containing 72 measures meant to target big business and promote competition in the US economy.
The order, which is less, “You must do this or else!” and more, “Here’s a guide to what I think,” reflects the Biden administration's focus on slowing corporate consolidation in order to help the US consumer. “In total, higher prices and lower wages caused by lack of competition are now estimated to cost the median American household $5,000 per year,” the White House said.
So what’s the game plan?
The James Harden approach: Take an egregious amount of shots and hope you score some. The executive order mentions everything from shipping fees to over-the-counter hearing aids to banking mergers. Let’s look at some of the most interesting bits:
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Noncompetes: The White House wants to limit employers’ ability to stop their employees from going to rivals, which Biden says would increase worker mobility and wages.
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Transportation: Biden encouraged the Transportation Department to compel airlines to disclose fees and hand out refunds when your bags get lost or delayed.
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Tech mergers: The order calls for “greater scrutiny of mergers, especially by dominant internet platforms...”
Not everyone agrees that Corporate America is too concentrated. For example, the CEO of the Bank Policy Institute said in response to Biden’s order, “Banking is among the most competitive, least concentrated industries in America, as anyone who has shopped for a credit card, mortgage, or deposit account knows.” Republicans generally agree that consolidation isn’t a huge problem (at least outside of Big Tech).
Bottom line: Don’t expect Facebook to spin off Instagram because of this executive order. But it shows where Biden is focusing his attention, and it puts more pressure on Congress to revamp antitrust laws for the 21st century.
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Virgin Galactic (2018)
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If all goes according to plan tomorrow, Richard Branson will win the first leg of the billionaire space race in time for brunch. Branson will be onboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity flight, nine days ahead of Jeff Bezos’s expected launch for Blue Origin on July 20.
VSS Unity isn’t like other spaceships. Instead of a traditional launch, the craft will take off in the air attached to a larger mothership called WhiteNightTwo at an altitude of 50,000 feet.
When the ship reaches peak altitude, Branson and the three other passengers—all Virgin Galactic employees—will feel weightless. The whole trip will last about an hour and a half.
- Peak altitude = 57 miles above the ground, which won’t pass what scientists call the “Kármán line,” or the invisible boundary to outer space.
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Blue Origin bragged on Twitter that it would be taking Bezos past the line at the end of the month.
Big picture: Branson is using this trip to show that space tourism is a legitimate industry, even if it will only be available to the ultra-rich for a while.
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Giphy
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Wyoming became the first US state to officially recognize a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) this week, its latest step to becoming the country’s most crypto-friendly place to live.
To be specific, the Cowboy State announced that the American CryptoFed DAO is now an LLC.
DAO 101: A DAO is any community that uses blockchain to govern itself without the intervention of a central authority. American CryptoFed’s mission, for instance, is to “create and sustain a monetary system with zero inflation, zero deflation, and zero transaction costs.”
If you already knew that…
Wyoming wants you to round up your buddies and settle down in Cody. The state has been writing new legislation to make its Zillow listings stand out to crypto folks, and it’s working: Major crypto companies Ripple and Kraken both set up operations there, as well as about 50 smaller LLCs with “bitcoin” in their names.
- To make things official, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis temporarily added laser eyes to her Twitter profile picture earlier this year.
What’s in it for Wyoming? The US’ No. 1 coal-producing state is looking to crypto as a new means of revenue generation and jobs as it weans itself off Santa’s little punishment rock.
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We can all thank him for bringing the Brew into our lives, but this high-performer also 1) has a life outside of work and 2) is in pretty good shape tbh.
Turns out, Alex Lieberman’s life outside of work includes a killer—and pup-tastic—fitness regimen that helps him tackle his work week as:
- Executive Chairman
- Podcast host
- LinkedIn enthusiast
- Etc. (etc., etc.)
We gotchu a behind the scenes look at what fuels our fave boss-man to rise and grind on the weekdays and unwind on the weekends.
TL;DR: He runs along the most iconic trail in New Jersey when most of us are reading our Brew in bed. Rambo, his pup, demands a healthy dose of hiking. And he only does it in shoes engineered for easy and seriously supportive experiences—like HOKA ONE ONE runners and hikers.
See a different side of the media mogul in Grind and Unwind with Alex Lieberman.
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Jim Watson/Getty Images
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Stat: Zaila Avant-garde not only became the first Black American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night, she also holds three Guinness world records for basketball: most basketballs dribbled simultaneously (six for 30 seconds), most basketball bounces (307 in 30 seconds), and most bounce juggles in 1 minute (255 with four basketballs).
Quote: “Hollywood as we know it is irrelevant. It no longer has any meaning or whatever. Streaming and everything, movies. It’s all really changed, and it no longer has hegemony over anything.”
Media mogul Barry Diller acknowledged at the Allen & Co. conference that the old-guard movie studios no longer have the power to shape culture that they once did.
Read: Great Jones cookware and the illusion of the millennial aesthetic. (New Yorker)
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In this Summer 2021 segment, the Brew’s personal finance writer Ryan Lasker is nose-diving into our inbox to address your personal finance questions. Submit your money woes here.
What are some tips for being patient when saving money? I’m currently doing a good job, but knowing how long it'll take to build up sizeable savings is bothering me.—Zach
Before I get to your question, a story: A few years ago, I had a (free) gym session with a trainer, and knowing my goals was of paramount importance. I told him I had none...which didn’t go over well.
Well, to be fair I had goals, but like you, I thought it’d take too long before I’d see results. I wanted abs, arms, maybe even a nice butt, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there.
You see where I’m headed, Zach. Saving is like hitting the gym in that months and years may pass before you notice results, and consistency and persistence is the key. To stay motivated:
- Maintain your focus by plastering pictures that represent your savings goals somewhere you can see them.
- Periodically look back at how much you’ve saved (kind of like looking at “before” gym pics), because you might surprise yourself to see how far you’ve come from where you started.
Bottom line: Consider the alternatives to saving. If you stopped now and bought a cheaper version of whatever you’re saving for, would you be just as satisfied? The answer is probably no.
P.S.: Later this summer, Ryan will be writing a twice-weekly personal finance newsletter to make you smarter about your money. Become one of the first subscribers.
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Finance ministers are meeting in Venice to finalize their plan to overhaul the global tax system.
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President Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a call that he expects Putin to act to stop ransomware attacks coming from Russia even if they weren’t state-sponsored.
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Chinese regulators ordered the removal of 25 more apps owned by the ride-hailing company Didi.
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The US Anti-Doping Agency wrote a letter to lawmakers basically saying it can’t change the rules that led to the suspension of American track star Sha’Carri Richardson, who tested positive for marijuana.
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Invest in sports gambling tech. Fantasy Sports Co. develops premium analytics and tools to help make sports-betting decisions easier. Sports betting revenue is forecasted to surpass $1B+ in 2021 as more states legalize it—and it only gets legalized once in a lifetime. Invest in Fantasy Sports Co. before the opportunity ends soon.*
‘Holy credit card cannoli.’ That’s what our grandpa who loves great credit card deals would say if he saw this new cash back card, which gives you unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $1,000 on purchases within three months, and more. Apply here.*
Remembering the victims of Surfside: Here is a running list of the missing and the dead from the condo tower collapse in South Florida.
Weekend Conversation Starters:
*This is sponsored advertising content
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If this isn’t the most summer-feeling crossword puzzle we’ve ever encountered...play it here and let the nostalgia flow through your veins.
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