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Good morning. Tuesday after a long weekend is always the hardest. Let the Venmo requests start rolling in.
— Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt, Sherry Qin
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Nasdaq
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15,363.52
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S&P
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4,535.43
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Dow
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35,369.09
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Bitcoin
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$52,628.26
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10-Year
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1.344%
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NVIDIA
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$228.43
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*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 1:00am ET.
Here's what these numbers mean.
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Markets: Investors head back to work today hoping to avoid a repeat of last September, when the S&P 500 fell 3.9% after five straight months of gains. Today's stock spotlight is tech giant Nvidia, which has had one of the best performances of any company in the S&P this year.
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Covid: While overall cases appear to have plateaued in the US, deaths have continued to climb, hitting a 7-day average of 1,500 per day on Friday (they were in the low 200s in early July). In Kentucky, where hospitalizations and new cases are increasing at the fastest pace since the pandemic began, the governor said the situation was “dire.”
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Marvin Recinos/Getty Images
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Welcome to El Salvador, where the pupusas are warm and the bitcoin is tender.
Today, the Central American nation will become the first sovereign state to make bitcoin “legal tender,” meaning it’s now an official currency alongside the US dollar. In theory, El Salvadorans can now pay for anything—a haircut, house, or even taxes—using bitcoin.
The initiative is the brainchild of President Nayib Bukele, a 40-year-old populist whose approval rating of around 90% has emboldened him to reshape the country in his vision.
Why do this?
- One-quarter of El Salvador’s GDP comes from remittances—money sent back to the country from people working abroad. Bitcoin could reduce fees on those cross-border transactions.
- It’s an attempt to bring more Salvarodans into the economic fold, the majority of whom don’t have a bank account.
- Bukele also thinks that, by being an early adopter, the country could become a destination for foreign investment in bitcoin mining. He wants to use geothermal energy from El Salvador’s volcanoes to power the energy-intensive mining process.
Like all experiments, this one could backfire
Despite all the buzz around crypto, bitcoin hasn’t been used as an actual currency at scale before. As a business, it’s important to accept payment in currency that won’t plummet in value in the future. Bitcoin, however, has been known to be extremely volatile.
And because bitcoin by definition skirts traditional financial institutions that promote stability, the International Monetary Fund is concerned that El Salvador’s adoption of the crypto could create serious risks for the country’s economy. As a result, it downgraded El Salvador’s debt further into junk territory.
Other critics say the bitcoin move is a PR play to distract from Bukele’s increasingly authoritarian tactics. After his recent calls to “purge” the government’s judicial branch, his allies recently passed a law to remove one-third of the country’s judges and prosecutors.
Bottom line: However this shakes out (and no one knows how it will), expect a lot of “I told you so”s from both sides of the debate. — NF
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When Americans were all winding down from their second Saturday, Weibo—China’s version of Twitter—suspended at least 21 fan accounts for K-pop bands like BTS and Blackpink. In a statement that felt like the rules change ceremony in Wife Swap, the platform said it scrubbed the accounts to curb “irrational star-chasing behavior.”
The purge began Sunday, when Weibo banned a BTS fan club with 1.1 million followers from posting for 60 days after it crowdsourced a birthday gift for Jimin (the cutest BTS member, keep up).
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According to Weibo, collecting donations to customize an airplane for your fav vocalist contributes to the “chaos of fan clubs” that China wants to quell.
Later that day, Weibo said it would ban a number of other celebrity accounts in an effort to “purify” its platform. It cited a government notice from last Thursday about banning “vulgar internet celebrities” and feminine-looking men on TV.
Big picture: China’s entertainment industry has recently had to confront spikes in online censorship as the government cracks down on internet culture, which it considers unhealthy. Just last week, China limited online video game playing to three hours a week for kids under 18. – MM
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Robert Alexander/Getty Images
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Leading up to the anniversary of the September 11 attacks this Saturday, we’ll feature stories that explore the economic impact of 9/11, 20 years later.
Up today: air travel. After hijackers commandeered four planes the morning of September 11, 2001, the US revamped its process for airport security screening to prevent similar attacks. Here are some important things to know.
The TSA is born: Pre-9/11, the US relied on private companies to screen passengers before flights. Only in November 2001 did the government create the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to handle security at airports.
New security measures: Over the years, TSA responded to new threats by adding new restrictions. In 2006, it limited the amounts of liquids, gels, and aerosols you could bring on a plane, boosting the mini toothpaste tube industry. In 2010, TSA began installing full body scanners after the “underwear bomber” tried to detonate a device hidden under his clothing.
Airlines took a hit: Airline revenue for domestic US flights fell by $10 billion/year from 2001–2006. But that’s nothing compared to the financial hurt from the Covid-19 pandemic, when global airlines lost $126.4 billion in 2020.
Zoom out: Beefed-up airport screening has created more hassle for passengers, but has also largely rooted out potential attacks. Now, a privacy debate is unfolding over how “trusted traveler” programs like PreCheck collect and protect the sensitive personal info of Americans. — NF
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In good times and in hard times, we lean on our rocks: those great people in our lives who give us strength when life throws us curveballs, and also the motivation to achieve our goals when life is good.
When it comes to your finances, Prudential doesn’t just have financial professionals who can help—they can be your rock. You can rely on Prudential to tackle obstacles and help strengthen your financial future and reach new heights.
In addition to offering life insurance solutions, Prudential can be a source for financial planning and investing so you can weather tricky times and reach your goals.
What kind of strength do we mean? The kind that’s backed by over 90 years of investing experience and over $1.7 trillion in assets* under management.
Your mom and your best friend are great rocks too, but they (probably) don’t do investing or financial planning like Prudential.
Learn more about Prudential here.
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Stat: Aluminum prices hit their highest level in 10 years following a military coup in Guinea. The West African nation is the world’s largest exporter of bauxite, the raw material needed to produce alumina, which is used to make aluminum, and investors are concerned about supply shortages.
Quote: “You should be prepared to lose all your money.”
Charles Randell, head of the UK’s financial regulator, warned consumers about investing in speculative cryptocurrencies pushed by celebrities, specifically pointing to Kim Kardashian’s paid promotion for ethereum max to her 200+ million Instagram followers. “It may have been the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history,” Randell said.
Read: How did ham and cheese lead to hardcover books? This thread explains. (Incunabula)
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Waiting to hear back for a job interview? Your résumé might never have gotten into human hands. Popular software used by companies to screen job applicants has filtered out more than 10 million potential employees, new Harvard Business School research shows.
How does the tech work? An automatic screener largely relies on “negative” logic to reduce the size of the applicant pool. Résumés—even those of well-qualified candidates—can get lost in a black hole because of things like a gap in the applicant’s employment history, a lack of certain credentials, or keywords that don’t match up with the job description.
- Some of those keywords might not seem obvious. Hospitals set “computer programming” as a keyword when they look for registered nurses who can enter patient data into a computer, Joseph Fuller, Harvard’s lead researcher for the study, explained to the WSJ.
Why it matters: 99% of Fortune 500 companies and 75% of the US employers Harvard surveyed use an automated scanner to initially filter applicants. While there are 10 million job openings in the US that employers desperately want to fill, automated hiring systems are excluding viable candidates. – SQ
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The DOJ said it would protect abortion seekers in Texas under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which shields those seeking reproductive health services from intimidation or attacks.
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A shortage of materials and labor is delaying rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Ida.
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Sony moved up the theatrical release date for the Venom sequel by two weeks after the fantastic weekend box office haul for Shang-Chi.
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Michael K. Williams, the actor best known for playing Omar Little in The Wire, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment Sunday. He was 54.
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Where to invest $100,000 right now. The world’s foremost financial experts say art. In fact, 86% of wealth managers recommend art. That’s like, everyone. Hundreds of the Brew Crew already cashed in 32% on a Banksy painting. First 500 clicks get priority access.*
Get fit like a fitfluencer. Celebs and influencers are joining Sakara’s 10-day Metabolism Super Powder challenge to recommit to nourishing their bodies. This powder can banish bloat, reduce sugar cravings, and get back to feeling your best—join the challenge with promo SEPTBREW here.*
Something fishy is happening in video game collecting: If you have 50 minutes to spare, watch this fascinating deep dive into video game fraud.
Tech Tip Tuesday: Find yourself a good password manager—it’s literally a life-changer. Here are some other password manager recs from Sidekick.
Just for fun: Find the hearts.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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Brew Mini: Jim Cramer, Jason Bourne, and Tom Hiddleston all make an appearance in today's puzzle, so you know it's going to be good. Play it right here.
Currency Quiz
Given El Salvador's move to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, it only makes sense to test your knowledge of the world's currencies. Can you name the countries that use the following currencies?
- Baht
- Forint
- Dong
- Rand
- Quetzal
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- Thailand
- Hungary
- Vietnam
- South Africa
- Guatemala
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✢ A Note From Prudential
*As of 6/30/21
Investment Products: Not FDIC-insured * No Bank Guarantee * May Lose Value
©2021 The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark NJ
1051967-00001-00
✤ A Note From Masterworks
*See important information
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Written by
Matty Merritt, Neal Freyman, and Sherry Qin
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