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Good morning. Bear with us while we do the media company equivalent of putting a “My child is an honors student” bumper sticker on our car.
Shoutout to Emerging Tech Brew for reaching 300k subscribers, Morning Brew's TikTok account for reaching 100k followers, and all the drones and ring lights broken along the way.
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Nasdaq
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14,780.53
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S&P
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4,402.66
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Dow
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34,792.67
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Bitcoin
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$39,799.31
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10-Year
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1.197%
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GM
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$52.72
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*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 9:00pm ET.
Here's what these numbers mean.
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Markets: Stocks fell as a report on private sector jobs came in weaker than expected (the much broader jobs report for July hits Friday). GM stock took a hit after whiffing on earnings, though it did introduce two new zero-emission vehicles to its portfolio.
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Covid: The head of the WHO asked countries to stop administering booster shots until the end of September earliest to allow for lower-income countries to get their populations vaccinated. The known global caseload for Covid-19 passed 200 million people yesterday.
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The trading app Robinhood is known for powering the rise of so-called meme stocks—such as GameStop and AMC—that skyrocketed earlier this year, not necessarily because of business fundamentals, but because social media users found them to be amusing.
Even before its IPO last week, investors were wondering: Will Robinhood itself be a meme stock?
So far, the answer appears to be yes. After taking a dip on its first day of trading, Robinhood’s stock has shot up 100% this week, including a 50% gain yesterday. Trading was so vociferous that the stock had to be halted several times yesterday morning for Wall Street to catch its breath.
Are retail investors behind the surge?
For the second time in this story, the answer appears to be yes. Here’s some evidence:
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Total retail volume for Robinhood increased about 10x on Tuesday from the previous day.
- Robinhood was the No. 1 stock mentioned on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, and was also the most traded stock on Fidelity.
- Buy orders for Robinhood have nearly doubled those for another meme stock, AMC.
Another factor: This week, traders could start placing options on Robinhood’s stock, which allows investors to speculate on whether a stock will go up or down rather than buying actual equity in the company. Increased options activity has been a hallmark of meme stock mania, and accounted for 46% of Robinhood’s revenue in 2020.
There might be some method to the madness: Cathie Wood’s investment firm ARK Invest, which has placed bullish bets on Tesla and other high-growth tech companies, increased its position in Robinhood on Tuesday. Analysts think retail traders could be taking their cue from their stock oracle, Cathie.
Bottom line: Robinhood will ride or die with individual traders...in more ways than one.
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Last week, almost 72,000 children under the age of 18 were infected with Covid-19, an 84% jump from the previous week, per the American Academy of Pediatrics. As kids head back to school to learn whatever the newest kind of division is, everyone from the Arkansas governor to pediatric experts is worried about keeping them safe.
Here’s what we know about kids and the virus:
- Roughly 10.9 million of the 25 million US children aged 12–17 have been at least partially vaccinated, per the CDC.
- Kids under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for any of the vaccines authorized in the US. Current trials for young kids won’t finish up until late fall, well after school has started.
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Some states, like Florida, have reported a surge in serious cases among younger patients. But severe illness from Covid is still pretty rare among children, making up about 1.3%–3.5% of hospitalizations during the pandemic.
Looking ahead...Dr. Fauci said that by Q1 2022 we’ll have enough data to begin vaccinating kids of all ages.
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We’re talking labor fights, not tacos, unfortunately.
A coalition of gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart filed a ballot proposal that would keep their drivers classified as “independent contractors” rather than “employees.”
That means gig workers in MA wouldn’t be entitled to minimum wage, overtime, paid sick days, and other standard employee benefits. However, the proposal fills in some of those gaps, promising pre-tip rates of $18 per hour, earned sick days, and more.
Opponents don't think extra toppings make up for sub-par froyo. “It’s going to take away [gig companies’] responsibilities under Massachusetts law and substitute these fake benefits,” labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan told the NYT.
This is basically a rerun of The OC
Gig economies backed a similar measure, Prop 22, in California last year. It passed after the companies spent more than $205 million promoting it—a record sum for a California ballot measure.
Looking ahead...Big Gig has set up lobbying groups in five additional states in the last few months to challenge worker reclassification attempts that threaten their business models.
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Don’t worry, we aren’t here to tell you to go for a run—too humid for that anyway. We’re talking about Active Bond Funds.
Why are we talking about Active Fixed Income products? They can help you add value to your portfolio by offering an opportunity for outperformance. Plus, actively managed fixed income products can help meet your current needs and longer term objectives as part of a balanced portfolio.
Oh, and one more thing. Like when choosing any investments, you should consider the cost of your Active Bond Funds. Vanguard investors are Vanguard’s owners, which means their interests are...your interests. It also means long-term perspective, smart risk-taking, and a focus on lowering investment costs, so you keep more of your returns.
Learn more about Active Fixed Income here.
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
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Stat: Rihanna is officially a billionaire, according to Forbes, and the richest female musician in the world. But only a small percentage of her $1.7 billion fortune can be attributed to your 16,000 plays of “SOS.” An estimated $1.4 billion comes from her makeup company, Fenty Beauty, and $270 million from Savage x Fenty, her lingerie brand. Maybe that’s why she’s in no rush to release R9...
Quote: “Video killed the radio star.”
40 years ago this week, MTV debuted with the iconic hook by The Buggles. Here’s a video of the first two hours of the network, which includes some incredible music.
Read: Beauty and solace in the abandoned worlds of Roblox. (Pioneer Works)
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Gallo Images/Getty Images
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Olympic track stars are running like they’re members of the Cullen family, shattering world records in Tokyo this week. Both the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles are considered among the best races ever run.
So is it the track? It’s definitely bouncy. Mondo, the track maker, took three years to develop it and finished installing the $1.5 million semi-vulcanized masterpiece in November 2019. The track mimics the shock absorption of a trampoline, and running on it has been described by US sprinter Ronnie Baker as “like I’m walking on clouds.”
Speaking of clouds: Some runners are lacing up their controversial Nike “super spikes,” a super light shoe containing super responsive foam. Karsten Warholm, the Norwegian gold medalist and record holder in men’s 400m hurdles, called BS when his opponent Rai Benjamin of the US, who received silver and also broke the previous world record, used the shoes this week.
Bottom line: While the Olympics represent the best of the best, the athletes are running on the right track at the right time with the right shoes.
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Facebook shut down the accounts of two NYU researchers looking into political ads and misinformation on the platform, accusing them of “unauthorized scraping.” In response, some lawmakers criticized the company.
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CVS and Walgreens said they’re seeing a bump in vaccinations after a slowdown in May and June.
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TikTok is testing a Stories-like feature.
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Two words: pasta purse.
Olympics links
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Hold my calls, quick-dry work polos are on the line. As temps rise, your shirt should dry out. Mizzen+Main’s new drirelease Performance Polo actively draws sweat away from your body to keep you dry and lookin’ fly. Use code MORNINGBREW to get $25 off a regularly priced purchase of $125 or more.
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Don’t try this at home: Or do, because it looks like a lot of fun. Here’s our No. 1 choice for the next Olympic sport.
What we’re reading: Peep Brew’s Bookshelf for a list of all the books we’ve recommended to readers over the past year.
Let's get loud: From our friends at the geopolitics newsletter Signal comes a recommendation for the podcast Loud, which charts the history of Reggaeton music.
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Brew Mini: Video may have killed the radio star, but it did not kill crosswords. Play our Mini here.
Three Headlines and a Lie
Three of these news headlines are real and one is as fake as a Dior bag on Canal Street. Can you guess the odd one out?
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"Tech-forward Domino's plans to launch "'Pizza Metaverse'"
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"Visitors to US Titanic museum injured by replica iceberg"
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"Hog heaven: China builds pig hotels for better biosecurity"
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"When a shower door sliced my hands open, I used $23,000 from renters insurance to pay off my student loans—and now I'm debt-free"
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Domino's isn't launching a Pizza Metaverse...yet
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Business podcasts →