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Good Friday morning. Hard to believe it's the final weekend of August...hope it's a great one.
— Neal Freyman, Sherry Qin, Matty Merritt
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Nasdaq
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14,945.81
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S&P
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4,470.00
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Dow
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35,213.12
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Bitcoin
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$47,271.59
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10-Year
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1.357%
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Russell 2000
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2,213.98
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*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET.
Here's what these numbers mean.
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Afghanistan: 13 US troops and at least 90 civilians died during twin blasts near Kabul’s airport yesterday. An Islamic State affiliate known as ISIS-K took responsibility for what is the single deadliest incident for American forces in Afghanistan in a decade.
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Markets: The S&P and Nasdaq broke their 5-day win streaks, but that’s small potatoes compared to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s big speech at the Jackson Hole virtual conference this morning. Investors across the globe will be glued to their screens to hear more about the Fed’s plan to wind down its pandemic-era stimulus measures.
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Eric Baradat/Getty Images
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The Supreme Court put an end to the moratorium that protected renters from being evicted during the pandemic.
In a 6–3 decision last night, the court said that the CDC, which imposed the moratorium, didn’t actually have the legal authority to do that. In practice, that means hundreds of thousands of people in the US could potentially be evicted from their homes now that the protections have been tossed.
There’s a long backstory
So here are the SparkNotes. The original moratorium was introduced by the Trump administration with the goal of keeping renters in their homes as the bottom fell out of the economy. The eviction ban was extended a few times, most recently by the CDC through Oct. 3 for areas where Covid-19 was spreading considerably (more than 90% of US counties).
But because the latest moratorium was authorized by the CDC and not by Congress, it was on legal shaky footing.
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Even President Biden saw the writing on the wall: “The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,” he said earlier this month about the extension.
The ruling is a big victory for landlords, who’ve argued that they still need to pay their bills even while their income from tenants has dried up under the moratorium.
Big picture: The eviction moratorium was just Part 1 of a two-pronged approach by the government to help out renters during the pandemic. Problem is, Part 2 has flopped harder than Quibi. Congress authorized $46.5 billion in rental assistance, but this week we learned that only 11% of the total has been distributed.
Looking ahead...with the federal moratorium scrapped, the Biden administration is asking local and state governments to enact measures of their own to protect renters from a wave of potential evictions. — NF
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Screengrab from Peloton's infamous holiday commercial
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Not even Cody Rigsby could cheer up Peloton after its latest earnings report.
The fitness company said its losses widened during the latest quarter and warned that revenue for the current quarter won’t hit targets. It also reported a “material weakness” in its accounting processes that spooked investors—shares fell more than 6% after hours.
There is good news for anyone who wants to flex on their coworkers with a Peloton in their Zoom background, but balked at the price. The company is slashing the cost of its OG Bike by about 20%, down to $1,495. “We know price remains a barrier,” the company wrote to investors.
Big picture: Peloton’s fortunes soared in 2020 when quarantineers found that curling milk jugs just wasn’t scratching that fitness itch. This year has been a different story, as the company faces safety concerns over its Tread product and increased competition from the likes of Tonal, Mirror, and actual gyms.
After gaining more than 440% last year, shares have fallen more than 25% year-to-date...before yesterday’s tumble. — NF
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KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images
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Last June, US corporations pledged to give a historic sum of money to projects addressing racial inequality following George Floyd’s murder. The country's 50 biggest public companies, including Amazon, Apple, and JPMorgan, collectively committed at least $49.5 billion to racial injustice initiatives, a Washington Post analysis shows.
14 months later, where and how has the money been spent? According to the Post...
- $45.2 billion—more than 90% of the commitment—are loans and investments that went to support Black-owned banks, expand Black home ownership, and grow Black-owned businesses.
- Most of the outright grants ($4.2 billion worth) went to groups focusing on economic equality, education, and health. Only $70 million went to organizations working on criminal justice reform specifically.
Remember, these are just pledges, so it is difficult to track whether the corporations have actually written the checks. So far, 37 companies have confirmed disbursing at least $1.7 billion.
Big picture: While financial muscle from Corporate America is welcome, some experts argue that policy, not philanthropy, is the most effective tactic to combat racial inequality. – SQ
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SPONSORED BY WEBEX BY CISCO
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There’s fast-paced work environments, and then there’s the blazing-around-a-track-at-200-MPH kind of work environments.
While most of us can’t say our jobs move at the same speed as the McLaren Formula 1 team, there is one thing we do share in common: Hybrid work is here to stay.
McLaren counts on Webex to help keep their foot on the gas in this new hybrid work reality, ensuring real-time communication and seamless collaboration on and off the track.
It’s all made possible with the Webex Suite—a unified experience for calling, meeting, messaging, events, and polling. In other words, you can shift gears about as fast as Lando right up there.
Learn more about how the Webex Suite is driving hybrid work.
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Alex Haney
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Stat: Throw your “New York City is dead” takes in the East River with all the other junk. NYC has passed San Francisco as the most expensive rental market in the US, according to a report from Zumper. The median rent for a 1-bedroom in NYC is $2,810, compared to San Francisco’s $2,800.
Quote: “Their security is awful.”
John Brins, a 21-year-old American who’s claimed responsibility for hacking T-Mobile, told the WSJ that breaching the company’s cyber defenses was not particularly difficult. Last week’s hack compromised the personal info of more than 50 million people.
Read: How water shortages are brewing wars. (BBC Future)
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The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to when someone cancels a meeting on your calendar.
It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.
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Apple made several concessions in its App Store policies as part of a proposed settlement for a class-action lawsuit brought by developers.
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Axel Springer, a German media behemoth, agreed to buy politics news site Politico for more than $1 billion. Welcome to the fam.
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CVS is restricting the number of over-the-counter rapid Covid-19 tests customers can buy due to elevated demand.
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The Education Department is forgiving $1.1 billion in student loans for people who attended colleges in the ITT Tech chain, which closed down in 2016.
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South Korea became the first major economy in Asia to raise interest rates since the pandemic began.
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Mmm, money pie. M1 Finance makes investing easy as pie, and that’s also what M1 calls your portfolio. Build your Pie with the stocks and ETFs you want, share your Pie with your friends, and more. Earn $30 when you invest $1,000 during your first 14 days.*
Metabolism on  . Sakara’s super powder that eliminates bloat and boosts metabolism is finally back in stock. But as you’d expect from a tasty powder that can break your sugar habit, supplies are already low. Get 20% quick with code AUGBREW.*
Jerry World: You don’t have to like the Dallas Cowboys (and we don't) to take a breathtaking drone ride through their stadium.
Unstuck your career: Founder’s Journal kicked off an awesome podcast miniseries called “Accelerate Your Career” filled with useful advice on becoming a top performer, learning how to learn, and more. Listen here.
Follow Friday: This TikTok account makes surreal videos using payphones as a prop.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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It's a question you've probably asked your friends in a group chat, or thought about when work is especially slow.
It's also a question we can't totally answer for you. But what we can do is round up all the best resources, expert opinions, and context to help you on your crypto investing journey.
So we did, and the result is the Crypto Crash Course, where you'll find everything you need to make an informed decision about crypto. Check it out here.
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Below is a list of five countries with all the vowels removed. Can you name them?
- LGR
- CRT
- THP
- CDR
- ND
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We are hours away from closing the books on our August giveaway, so it's now or never to send your referral link around the company Slack. Here are the details:
- Refer 5 people to the Brew by the end of today and you'll receive a limited edition Morning Brew backpack.
- At the same time, we’re raffling off free NUGGS (hugely popular plant-based chicken nuggets) for an entire year to 10 readers who share this week. You need at least 1 referral to be entered into the raffle.
Time is ticking: Secure your free backpack today, because it won't be available tomorrow.
*See terms and conditions here and here for the giveaway.
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1) Algeria
2) Croatia
3) Ethiopia
4) Ecuador
5) India
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Business podcasts →