| Good morning. The one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album previously owned by "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli has been sold by the US government to an anonymous buyer as part of Shkreli's $7.4 million forfeiture judgment. Before you ask, yes, it was us. To be fair, we thought it was an NFT. | | | |  | Nasdaq | 14,660.58 | | | | | S&P | 4,401.46 | | | | | Dow | 35,058.52 | | |  | Bitcoin | $38,320.29 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.247% | | | | | UPS | $195.19 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: Big Tech dragged stocks lower during the trading day before crushing earnings estimates after the bell rang. UPS stock took a dive after the company reported lower shipping volume than a year ago, when much of the world was at home getting everything delivered.
- Covid: In a U-turn from its previous guidance two months ago, the CDC advised that vaccinated people living in Covid hotspots should mask up in indoor settings; the same goes for everyone in K–12 schools. Most major metro areas fall under the indoor mask advisory.
| | | Francis Scialabba | In March, the US government provided an additional $300/week to unemployed workers through September to blunt the impact of the economic downturn. Many states chose to end those benefits this summer, arguing they were a major contributor to the widespread labor shortage. Did cutting those benefits boost hiring? Economists are scrambling to figure it out, and yesterday we got a preliminary answer that's just as nuanced as the question: Extra unemployment insurance (UI) didn't impact overall job growth, but it did cause a reshuffling of the type of people who were working. That comes from a report from the payroll processor Gusto, which compared hiring trends in the 20 states that cut the extra unemployment (UI) payments in June with those in states that kept them around for longer. The takeaways - In states that ended extra UI early, hiring for adult workers 25 or older increased the week governors said they were cutting benefits, but it returned to typical levels once the benefits actually expired.
- At the same time, the hiring of teenagers 15–19 jumped in states that didn't cut the extra benefits.
- Overall, employment growth in states that ended enhanced UI early and states that are keeping it until September has been roughly equal.
What does it mean? Extra UI payments played a role in keeping some adult workers from coming back to work. The spike in teen hiring in states with extra UI shows that when employers couldn't find adults to hire, they brought on younger workers with less experience—and who may not qualify for unemployment. The takeaway of the takeaways Because overall employment growth didn't change based on whether a state had cut off the extra benefits, "Ending unemployment insurance is not the silver bullet" to a speedier economic recovery, Gusto Economist Luke Pardue said. He suggested that alleviating childcare burdens and getting more people vaccinated were the keys to unlocking greater job growth. | | | Apple, Microsoft, and Google approached analysts' expectations the way Joey Chestnut approaches a plate of three hot dogs. Here's a rundown of the earnings demolition in 130 words. Apple, the world's most valuable public company, said profits nearly doubled last quarter, iPhone sales jumped an impressive 50%, and revenue for every major product line grew at least 12% annually. Microsoft had its most profitable quarter ever thanks to greater demand for its cloud-computing services and workplace software. CEO Satya Nadella said the words "enterprise metaverse" on the earnings call and not even he knew what it meant. Alphabet, Google's parent company, said ad revenue increased 69% [redacted joke]. The real highlight was YouTube—with $7 billion in quarterly revenue it's oh so close to eclipsing Netflix's sales numbers ($7.3 billion). | | | Fred Lee/Getty Images | Simone Biles, US Olympic gymnastics team member and the greatest gymnast of all time, pulled out of the team finals in Tokyo yesterday, saying she wasn't in the right state of mind and feared she'd "do something dumb and get hurt." In a post-competition press conference, she told reporters that she was inspired to prioritize her mental health by Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open this year. What happened: After a rocky vault routine, the 24-year-old, four-time Olympic gold medalist left the floor, and teammate Jordan Chiles subbed in on the uneven bars. Team USA ultimately took silver. - On Monday, Biles posted on Instagram that sometimes it feels like she has the "weight of the world" on her shoulders.
Zoom out: Biles's decision is part of a larger trend of athletes, especially in this year's Olympics, opening up about the emotional struggles that come with intense competition and scrutiny. This year's Games mark the first time the Olympics introduced guidelines for athletes and coaches on how to screen for and address mental health concerns. Looking ahead...Biles said she wasn't sure whether she'd compete in the individual competition that begins Thursday. | | SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL | | Maybe you've been spending the better part of the summer working to get cheese-grater abs (like the guy up there). Well here's some news for you: you could also be investing in stocks potentially hotter—and way more attainable—than abs of steel with The Motley Fool. You can think of The Motley Fool as the trainer that can help you to get your investment portfolio in shape. They just released three "Double Down" Picks for 2021, which gives a chance for investors who missed the boat on some potentially great stocks to get in again…and a chance for investors who did buy to add to their gains (pun intended). Their previous 'Double Down' picks include: - Netflix, up 28,805%
- Amazon, up 1,994%
- Apple, up 2,596%
Check out The Motley Fool's stock picks today. [Returns as of 7/19/2021] | | | Stat: Just 25% of applicants passed the Charter Financial Analyst Level I Exam administered in May, the lowest since testing began in 1963 and down from the 44% pass rate for the test administered in February. The CFA Institute said that the "stop-start" nature of candidates' studies due to the pandemic could be to blame. Quote: "Abhorrent and insulting." More than 2,000 Activision Blizzard employees signed an open letter Monday bashing the company's response to a recent lawsuit, which alleged that female employees were routinely discriminated against. Employees are staging a walkout today to demand changes in the ways women and other marginalized groups are treated at the company. Read: Who will pay to protect tech giants from rising seas? (NPR) | | | Giphy | You haven't lived until you've bought a Bluetooth keyboard from a TikTok influencer's recommendation. And if there's any time to be hawking trendy electronics from your social account, it's right now, because influencer marketing spending is expected to grow more than 30% this year to top $3 billion, per eMarketer. What happened: Marketers reduced influencer ad spend early in the pandemic, but with the economy roaring back and travel influencers able to do their yoga-pose-on-a-mountain thing once again, the sector is poised to grow fast—especially thanks to new trends like social commerce and short video. Big picture: Influencer marketing is still a relatively small line item for most companies. It will only make up a sliver of the $59 billion expected to be spent on social media advertising in 2021. | | - Home prices grew at their fastest pace on record in May.
- Instagram rolled out new safety features for teenage users.
- Oklahoma and Texas, currently of the Big 12 conference, informed the SEC they want in beginning July 1, 2025.
- Walmart said it will pay college tuition and textbook costs for employees at select schools.
Olympics links | | | Wanna feel warm and fuzzy on the inside? Finally get the life insurance coverage you've been putting off with Policygenius. You could save 50% or more when you compare quotes from over a dozen top insurers—all in one place. Get your warm fuzzies today.* One-stop crypto. Bitwise equips long-term investors with the products, education, and relationships they need to access crypto opportunities. Bitwise's product suite includes the world's largest crypto index fund (OTCQX: BITW) and the index behind the first crypto industry ETF. Risk disclosures at bitwiseinvestments.com.* A+ curation: Here's a list of the most "unforgettable" Reddit posts that everyone should read. Spruce up your walls: Our sister newsletter Sidekick told us about this site with limited edition, museum quality pieces from emerging artists...but at a fraction of the price. *This is sponsored advertising content | | | Word Search: Of course this week's puzzle is Olympics-themed. Go for gold here. Style and Substance Every month, the WSJ stylebook editors compile a list of errors published in the newspaper. Can you spot the grammatical mistakes in the following sentences? - Many workers who furnished their home offices later in the pandemic say the key to avoiding buyer's remorse is going slow.
- Mr. Boyer and his wife Elaine set up trusts for their five grandchildren with gifts of $25,000 each, an amount they plan to give annually for at least a decade.
- The group has sought in recent months to present themselves as a responsible state actor to regional powers and the West.
- When the last season ended and preparations for the next one started, teams were staring down a reality that none of them prepared for.
| | | | When you share the Brew with your family, friends, and coworkers today, you'll be entered into a raffle to win one of three MacBook Pro laptops (yes, the ones with the new M1 chip). The details: Each time you refer someone to the Brew, you'll receive one "ticket" to the raffle. Which means the more people you get to sign up, the better chance you have of winning a laptop. The giveaway runs through tomorrow, but why wait until then? Share to win. *US winners only. Not affiliated with Apple. For more rules, see terms and conditions here. | | - Because it's an adverb "slow" should be "slowly"
- You need commas around Elaine ("Mr. Boyer and his wife, Elaine,") or else one might conclude Mr. Boyer has multiple wives
- The word "group" is a singular noun in the US, so it should read "to present itself"
- None of them had prepared for
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