| Good morning. We begin today's newsletter with a shoutout to Charlotte, a ninth-grade Brew reader in Washington State. She told us she's using Morning Brew as a case study for her sales presentation in the Future Business Leaders of America competition. Charlotte, we look forward to working for you someday. You got this! | | | |  | NASDAQ | 13,543.06 | + 5.08% | | | | S&P | 3,841.47 | + 2.27% | | | | DOW | 30,996.98 | + 1.28% | |  | GOLD | 1,856.90 | - 2.35% | | | | 10-YR | 1.086% | + 16.70 bps | | | | OIL | 52.11 | + 7.62% | | | *As of market close | - Vaccine tracker: More than 65 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been administered globally, according to Bloomberg. The US has been averaging 1.16 million doses a day over the past week—at this rate, we can hit the Biden administration's goal of 100 million shots in the new president's first 100 days.
- Markets: As earnings season hits its crescendo, the major US equities indexes are at or near all-time highs. Bullish trades known as "call options" reached their highest level on record earlier this month, per the WSJ.
| |  Giphy | Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) were undoubtedly the Silly Bandz of 2020. In total, 242 SPACs were launched last year, accounting for nearly half the money raised via public offerings. - The SPAC club includes billionaire investors like Bill Ackman and Chamath Palihapitiya, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, and even Shaq.
Unlike Silly Bandz, SPACs may have some staying power. So far in 2021, an average of five new SPACs has been launched every business day, attracting nearly $20 billion from investors. That already exceeds 2019's total. Let's SPAC up for a minute Like the word "erudite," SPAC might be a term that you hear frequently without fully understanding what it means. A SPAC is a publicly traded shell company whose single purpose in life is to merge with another company, taking them public in the process. Investors buy shares in the "blank-check" company, trusting the people behind the SPAC to identify a promising target to acquire. SPACs typically have two years to secure a deal before they are contractually obligated to return any money raised to investors. - Some notable companies that went public via SPACs are DraftKings, Virgin Galactic, and essentially the entire electric vehicle industry—26 companies tied to mobility and technology went public via SPAC last year, with five more already on the docket for 2021.
So why SPAC? For one, they're quicker than a traditional IPO process. Hims, a telehealth startup, negotiated with SPAC Oaktree Acquisition Corp. for just four months before agreeing to a deal that would take it public. A traditional IPO would have taken 12 to 18 months, the company's CEO told the WSJ. Wall Street sees icebergs ahead Goldman Sachs was the third most active underwriter of SPAC IPOs last year, but CEO David Solomon said in last week's earnings call that they "need to be pulled back or rebalanced in some way." His main concern? SPACs have become way overhyped. - One example: The SPAC SoftBank launched last year is currently trading 34% higher than its initial price...but it hasn't even announced an acquisition target.
Looking ahead...down the road SPACs may be less popular than they are now, replaced by other creative ways to go public. We're clearly not close to that point yet. | |  Stringer/Getty Images. Wuhan on February 3rd. | On Saturday, the Chinese city of Wuhan marked the first anniversary of its infamous "lockdown," when 11 million people were simultaneously put into strict quarantine to stop the coronavirus from spreading across the country. - The lockdown lasted 76 days, from late January until April.
At the time, the world was stunned that a government would enforce such harsh restrictions on the movement of people and the ability of businesses to operate. Little did we know that Lockdown Lite was coming to countries and cities around the world in the subsequent months. So what's it like in Wuhan now? The Chinese have largely managed to stamp out Covid-19, so life is almost "normal." But a recent uptick in new cases in other regions of China has muffled local business activity, according to NPR. Zoom out: China was the only major economy to grow last year. It's recorded fewer than 100,000 coronavirus cases and about 4,800 deaths in total (some experts question these numbers). Looking ahead...the upcoming Lunar New Year will put China's Covid response to the test. About 200 million people are expected to travel in what's referred to as humanity's largest annual migration. | | | Clubhouse, the audio-based social media platform, confirmed it closed another round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz over the weekend. The valuation wasn't disclosed, but a few days before, The Information reported investors were eyeing a $1 billion price tag, 10x higher than Clubhouse's previous round. - The app, which allows users to join virtual rooms to eavesdrop on other people's conversations (it's not as creepy as it sounds), has managed to attract 2 million users, including stars like John Mayer, Oprah Winfrey, and Meek Mill, since launching back in April 2020.
While Clubhouse has been successful in building a diverse user base that spans from tech to hip-hop, it hasn't yet given its creators the option to monetize their followings. The latest round of funding will go toward developing a creators fund aimed at supporting the app's most popular users. Zoom out: Creator funds are becoming a staple of platforms trying to attract and hold onto talent. TikTok launched a $200 million fund to compensate creators last year, while Snapchat has also been handing out millions of dollars a week to attract people to its TikTok-esque video platform, Spotlight. | |  | Just when we felt confident enough to talk about crypto in public, we learned that people buy, sell, and trade crypto (!?), which is why we turned to the crypto know-it-alls at eToro to take the mystery out of investing in cryptocurrency. eToro is the world's leading social trading platform. It lets you build a diversified portfolio by buying and selling over a dozen cryptocurrencies. Their intuitive platform is perfect for those just starting to tiptoe into crypto and has advanced features for expert crypto connoisseurs. And if you still find this "invest in crypto thing" a little ~cryptic~, eToro lets you copy the moves of top-performing traders with CopyTrader™. So if you see traders who look like they know their crypto, you can allocate funds to copy them in real time. When you sign up for an eToro account and purchase $5K of crypto, they'll give you a $500 bonus free. Get started with eToro today. | |  Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images | The iconic TV host Larry King died on Saturday at 87. Having racked up more than 30,000 interviews during his TV and radio career, he gained a lot of wisdom. Here's one of our favorite Larry lessons: "I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening. I never learned anything while I was talking." + For more Larry: Here are some legendary moments. | |  Miguel Medina/Getty Images | Quiet Davos: The annual World Economic Forum summit, which had been scheduled to start today, is moving from the Swiss Alps to cyberspace. World leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will call for global cooperation to address the pandemic. Busy earnings: It's going to feel like the first weekend of March Madness over the next few days, with more than 20% of S&P companies releasing their financial stats from last quarter. The No. 1 seeds are Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla. Economic check-up: On Thursday, we'll get a first look at fourth-quarter GDP, which is projected to have increased 4.7%. That would mean the economy shrank by 3.5% in 2020. The Fed also meets this Wednesday, but it's not expected to make any drastic announcements. Everything else: - The Senate will vote on Janet Yellen's confirmation as Treasury secretary today.
- The 2021 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on Tuesday.
- The Sundance Film Festival (smaller schedule, more virtual) begins Thursday.
| | - A SpaceX rocket launched 143 small satellites into orbit, and if that sounds like a lot...it is. 143 payloads is a new record for a single rocket.
- China topped the US as a destination for foreign direct investment last year, the first time in decades the US hasn't held the top spot.
- All University of Michigan sports are shutting down for two weeks after student athletes were infected with the new, highly contagious B117 strain of the coronavirus.
- Tens of thousands of Russians protested Saturday (some in bone-numbing temperatures) to demand the release of top Putin opponent Alexei Navalny.
- Recreational cannabis sales began in Arizona on Friday. It's the 15th state to broadly legalize marijuana.
| | SPONSORED BY ASCENT PROTEIN |  | Work hard, recover light. Wherever and however you're working out, the right recovery drink will help set you up for success and results you're proud of. And—you guessed it—we found one for you. Ascent just dropped Recovery Water, a game-changing post-workout recovery drink packed with 20g of clean protein and electrolytes for hydration. Use the code ASCENTBREW for 10% off. | | | One and done in 2021. SimpliSafe is one system to protect your entire home. Their expert security team looks out for your home 24/7 in case of an emergency. Set up SimpliSafe in a matter of minutes today.* 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. Great read: The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class. New HBO doc: Fake Famous, a documentary about an experiment to transform normal people into social media influencers, premieres February 2. Watch the trailer. *This is sponsored advertising content | |  It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Let us help (it's literally our job). Here is a blank form—ask any question you want about business, markets, and the economy, and we'll select a few to answer in the newsletter. Examples of questions you might have: - What does it mean to have a "parent" company?
- Why is bitcoin so volatile?
- How do I start a SPAC?
Rule of thumb: If you are confused about something, a bunch of other people are probably confused about the same exact thing. So here's a 100% no-judgement way to learn more about the world. Ask your question here. | | | On February 7, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. We went 50% on our game prediction—think you can beat that on this quiz? Here's how it works: We'll give you a prompt, and you'll have to choose whether the answer is Tampa Bay or Kansas City. - Larger population (metro area)
- Higher elevation
- Greater share of Biden votes in the 2020 election
- Closer to NYC (as the crow flies)
- Greater number of professional sports championships
| | | You only need 5 more referrals to receive Morning Brew stickers. If there's one thing we know about laptops, it's that they hate being naked. Get your comp some fresh Morning Brew stickers. 
Hit the button below to learn more and access your rewards hub. Click to ShareOr copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=8386977e | | - Larger population (metro area): Tampa Bay
- Higher elevation: Kansas City
- Greater share of Biden votes in the 2020 election: Kansas City
- Closer to NYC: It's realllllly close—Tampa Bay has a slight edge at just over 1,000 miles
- Greater number of professional sports championships: Kansas City
| | | ** A Note From eToro eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal. Terms and conditions apply. | | | Written by Neal Freyman and Toby Howell Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. | ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP
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