| Good morning. Yesterday, Netflix dropped a slate of 71 movies for 2021—that's more than one per week. It's like they know we completely forgot how to socialize... | | | |  | NASDAQ | 13,072.43 | + 0.28% | | | | S&P | 3,801.19 | + 0.04% | | | | DOW | 31,068.69 | + 0.19% | | | | GOLD | 1,854.80 | + 0.22% | |  | 10-YR | 1.134% | - 1.10 bps | | | | OIL | 53.29 | + 1.99% | | | *As of market close | - Government: The House will hold an impeachment vote today to charge President Trump with inciting violence against the US. In his first public remarks since last Wednesday's attack on the Capitol, President Trump defended the speech he gave before the riot as "totally appropriate." He also criticized Big Tech, which has largely removed Trump from their platforms, as "dividing and divisive."
- Markets: The major indexes did a whole bunch of nothing ahead of earnings season, which begins on Friday. Small caps, though, rose to a record high.
| |  Francis Scialabba | To kickstart a lagging vaccination rollout, the US government yesterday recommended that states make Covid-19 vaccines available to anyone over the age of 65 and to people of any age with pre-existing conditions. Officials hope the new guidelines will help simplify what has been a mind-numbingly complex, fragmented, and tedious process. In another shift in strategy, the US will make second doses available. Remember, last week we explained that the administration was holding about half of the vaccine supply in storage to make sure that second doses were available when needed. That plan was criticized as being unnecessarily cautious, and the Trump administration has come around. - "We now believe that our manufacturing is predictable enough that we can ensure second doses are available to people from ongoing production. So everything is now available to our states and our healthcare providers," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on ABC yesterday.
But where to deliver the shots? Since vaccination is America's new national pastime, there's only one answer: NYC will convert the home of the New York Mets, Citi Field, into a 24/7 coronavirus vaccination site by the end of the month, Mayor de Blasio said yesterday. - The announcement was made jointly with Steve Cohen, the billionaire hedge fund manager who recently bought the Mets.
- The goal is to administer between 5,000 and 7,000 shots per day. Yankees fans will be admitted.
Southern California, whose hospitals are filled with Covid patients, is following a similar gameplan. It's turning Disneyland into a mass-vaccination site by the end of the week. Dodger Stadium, which is the biggest Covid testing site in the country, is undergoing a similar makeover. Zoom out: The country's largest entertainment venues have shape-shifted over the past year to fill a variety of crisis-era roles, including field hospitals, voting sites, and testing centers. The sooner they start selling hot dogs again, the better for the economy. After a disastrous 2020, vaccines could unleash booming economic growth this year, Fed officials say. | | | On Day 2 of consumer tech show CES, GM launched the next phase of Operation Beat Tesla: an electric delivery and logistics arm, BrightDrop. This year, BrightDrop will roll out... - EP1: an electric pallet that lugs packages from warehouses to delivery vans and delivery vans to your doorstep.
- EV600: an electric delivery van with a 250-mile range. The first vehicles should be delivered by the end of 2021, with 500 destined for a FedEx route near you.
- BrightDrop will also offer delivery software and services, including location tracking, remote lock, and predictive maintenance.
The announcement revved investors and sent GM shares up as much as 8.8% to a record high. Zoom out: GM's in the middle of a $27 billion pivot to electric vehicles and plans on unveiling 30 new models by 2025. In the delivery market, it's now competing with Mercedes-Benz, Ford, and buzzy startups including Rivian (which is working with Amazon), Deliver-E, and Canoo. One more thing...GM is preparing for our Jetsons future with this Cadillac-branded electric air taxi. 
GM | |  Mandel Ngan/Getty Images | Late Monday night, casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson died due to complications related to his treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his company Las Vegas Sands Corp announced. Tycoon might be an understatement. Adelson ran the world's largest casino empire and was among the wealthiest people on Earth. - After a hardscrabble upbringing in Boston, Adelson started a computer trade show called Comdex, which he sold in 1995 for almost $900 million. He then muscled his way into the casino biz.
- His company's crown jewels include several casinos in Macau, Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, and Las Vegas's Venetian, which at 8,000 suites and rooms is really a small town with gondolas.
For decades, if you had conservative political ambitions, you wanted Adelson on your side. He contributed huge sums to right-wing candidates and causes in the US and Israel, eventually becoming a make-or-break donor for Republican hopefuls. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were the largest publicly disclosed donors in the 2020 race, per the Center for Responsive Politics. | |  | Now that you've said "Ta Ta!" to 2020, you're probably finalizing your resolutions for 2021. And since you're so mature and smart, you're no doubt focusing on financial goals. Well lucky for you, Fundrise can help with those investing goals. They bring diversification to just about any portfolio with real estate assets that are uncorrelated to the stock market. Typically real estate investing has been the playground for the rich, but Fundrise brings you accessibility (no need for a present from a wealthy aunt), stability (they're all about long-term investing), and technology (the platform is intuitive and easy). And let us just give this its own paragraph: You can invest with Fundrise for as little as $500. Hmm, could be a good way to use Nana's holiday check. Make 2021 the year you diversify your portfolio. Get started with Fundrise. (Here's all the legal jargon we know you love reading.) | |  Francis Scialabba | Between the fallout from the 737 Max scandal and a pandemic that smushed airline travel, 2020 was harder for Boeing to stomach than economy class ratatouille. The company delivered just 157 planes (the fewest since 1984), logged its worst year of net sales, experienced ~650 order cancellations, and slashed production rates and staff. - One ray of hope: After regulators lifted a 20-month ban on the 737 Max in November, Boeing squeezed in 80+ orders for the plane as carriers including Ryanair and Alaska Airlines went "bargain hunting."
Still, these numbers mean Airbus, a 50-year rival, will retain the No. 1 aircraft maker title it wrestled from Boeing's grip in 2019. Last year, Airbus delivered 566 planes, 34% fewer than in 2019, and sold just 268 planes after cancellations. One challenge for Airbus: After failing to patch a 16-year dispute with the EU over government aircraft subsidies, the US government enacted 15% duties on imported German and French aircraft parts yesterday. Down the line, this could affect Airbus production, which was expected to pick back up. | |  Giphy | Some bitcoin holders are experiencing that feeling when you can't find your car keys, panic, and turn your apartment upside down looking for them—but in this case, there are millions of dollars in the backseat. As their digital wallets soar in value, some investors can't cash in because they forgot their passwords, according to a NYT report. - One programmer in SF has two password guesses left to access a wallet containing 7,002 bitcoin, or ~$220 million.
- Of the 18.5 million bitcoin in existence, about 20%—$140 billion worth—seems to be lost or abandoned, per crypto data company Chainalysis.
It's not a good time to not be able to access your bitcoin. Despite a recent dip, the crypto is still up about 335% in the past year. Relatedly, inquiries to Wallet Recovery Services, a business that helps crypto holders find their keys, have tripled in the past month. Zoom out: These frustrations flip the much-touted benefits of crypto. Only the person who creates a wallet has access to the key, which is great for privacy and freedom from regulation, but terrible if you lose it—you have no recourse. | | - Visa and fintech platform Plaid have called off Visa's $5.3 billion acquisition due to DOJ opposition.
- Twitter has suspended over 70,000 accounts that shared content tied to QAnon conspiracy theories. The app is increasing enforcement of its content rules ahead of the inauguration.
- President-elect Joe Biden reportedly picked Gary Gensler, a leading financial regulator under the Obama administration, as SEC chair.
- The CDC will require all international travelers headed to the US to test negative for Covid-19 before departure.
- Zoom is planning to raise $1.5 billion through a new stock sale.
| | | You deserve a bonus. This card offers incredible cash back rates across spending categories every quarter, along with a $200 bonus after you spend $500 in your first three months—all with no annual fee. Check it out here.* Loooonnnnggggg lassshhheessss, nooooo exxxttennssiionnns. This mascara actually strengthens your lashes at the root, creating longer and healthier looking lashes—without artificial extensions. Lengthen your lash game for 15% off here.* Productivity: 40 tips, all wrapped up into one (or sometimes two) sentences each. On a boat: If you like sea shanty TikTok, then you'll love this satellite-powered cargo ship tracker. Going green: The Champs-Élysées in Paris is getting a $305 million makeover. See its transformation into an "extraordinary garden" here. *This is sponsored advertising content | | | This game is simple. We'll give you a company, and you have to figure out whether they were profitable or not (made money or lost money) in Q3 2020, the latest data we have available. - Tesla
- Spotify
- Lyft
- Palantir
- Airbnb
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morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=8386977e | | | 1. Tesla - yes profitable
2. Spotify - not profitable
3. Lyft - not profitable
4. Palantir - not profitable
5. Airbnb - profitable | | |
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