Good morning. Here are two wild stats to help break the ice in meetings today: - Denver entered December without any snow for the first time on record. In fact, there's been no measurable snowfall in Denver for 224 consecutive days and counting.
- The Memphis Grizzlies thrashed the Oklahoma City Thunder 152–79 last night. The 73-point margin of victory is the biggest in NBA history.
—Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, Matty Merritt | | | READ THIS TO REMAIN A SUBSCRIBER Want to keep receiving Morning Brew? Clicking on newsletter links is the only way for us to know you are reading (and enjoying) Morning Brew. If you don't click by next month, you will stop receiving this newsletter. Click here to let us know that you're still an active subscriber. Thanks! | | | |  | Nasdaq | 15,381.32 | | | | | S&P | 4,577.10 | | | | | Dow | 34,639.79 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.447% | | | | | Bitcoin | $56,954.94 | | | | | Delta | $36.64 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: On today's episode of Stocks Gone Wild, the major indexes all bounced back from a bruising Wednesday, led by travel and hospitality stocks. Omicron has the markets looking like a sine wave this week.
- Other updates: Congress passed a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown this weekend. Plus, it's jobs report day. Economists expect a meaty gain of 550,000 jobs in November, which would be the biggest number since July.
| | | Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch Ray Dalio is the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, so when he opens his mouth, people listen. And in the case of Dalio's recent remarks about China, some people listened...then went, "Well that was weird." On Wednesday, Dalio was asked during a CNBC appearance how he could square his firm's investments in China with the government's alleged human rights abuses and the sudden disappearances of people from public life. Dalio offered an extremely evasive response, saying he "can't be an expert in those types of things." He added, "As a top-down country what they are doing is they behave like a strict parent." Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who said he was a friend of the "brilliant" Dalio, scolded his pal on Twitter yesterday. Dalio's "feigned ignorance of China's horrific abuses and rationalization of complicit investments there is a sad moral lapse," Romney said. Some background on Bridgewater's recent Chinese investments: - Dalio is a longtime China bull, and Bridgewater just raised $1.25 billion for its third fund in the country, according to the WSJ.
- It's a tiny amount relative to Bridgewater's $150 billion in assets, but the fund is one of the biggest from any foreign private-fund manager in China, the Journal wrote.
Of course, Bridgewater is one of many US firms being challenged recently about their business ventures in China, especially with the Beijing Winter Olympics just two months out. Airbnb, a top Olympics sponsor, lists a dozen homes for rent on land owned by a US government-sanctioned organization in the Xinjiang region, Axios found. - The Women's Tennis Association has been an outlier in its confrontational response to Chinese government's actions, announcing this week it'll suspend tournaments in China following the treatment of star Peng Shuai.
Zoom out: When asked whether the Olympics should be moved out of China, major Olympics sponsors like Coca-Cola, Visa, and Allianz channeled their inner Dalio, saying they'll continue to support the Games no matter where they're hosted. + While we're here: The Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange and go public in Hong Kong following a cybersecurity probe by the Chinese government.—NF | | | Giphy To make sure Omicron doesn't interfere with everyone's buckwild holiday schedule of cookie exchanges and sitting silently in your grandma's living room, President Biden revealed a new winter Covid plan yesterday. The goal is to tame the new variant while keeping the country open for business. Travel: All travelers entering the US will need to show a negative Covid test within 24 hours of their flight, regardless of their vaccination status. American citizens can still fly domestically and internationally without any proof of vaccination. - The Biden administration also extended the federal mask mandate for airplanes, trains, and buses through March.
At-home tests: To grease the Covid testing wheels, Biden said private insurers must reimburse the costs of at-home tests, which only sounds great if you've never tried to navigate a Blue Cross portal. The government will also double the originally pledged number of 25 million free tests to 50 million for community and rural health clinics. What else? The 9-pronged plan also involves ramping up booster shot access and vaccinating more young people. The president said that as of yesterday more than 4 million 5-to-11 year olds and 15 million adolescents have been vaccinated.—MM | | | Francis Scialabba The Federal Trade Commission checked their list and decided Nvidia shouldn't get a present this year. The agency sued to block Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of British chip designer Arm from SoftBank on Thursday. This deal, which would be the largest in semiconductor history, has been heavily scrutinized globally on antitrust grounds since it was first announced in September 2020. The FTC suit is the biggest roadblock so far, and puts the deal in serious jeopardy. Arm serves as both a supplier and a licenser to semiconductor companies like Nvidia and, according to the FTC, receives access to competitive information by working with them. The FTC voted 4–0 in favor of blocking the merger, with a trial set for August 2022. Zoom out: This is Biden-appointed FTC Chair Lina Khan's first attempt to block a major merger, and it likely won't be her last. Khan, an antitrust scholar, is a longtime critic of large tech mergers, and both Amazon and Facebook were rattled by her appointment. In recent months, the agency, along with regulators in the UK and Australia, have become increasingly hostile toward tech deals like Nvidia's.—MK | | | | Long lines. Inconvenient prescription pickup times. Outdated tech. Sheesh—seems like retail pharmacy could use a revamp. NowRx agrees. That's why they're paving the way for a more convenient, affordable, and hassle-free future with their proprietary pharmacy software and robotics that provide free, same-day medication delivery. The company's "QuickFill" software and robotics integration automates prescription dispensing in under 30 seconds—all while dramatically reducing errors commonly seen in pharmacy. Oh, and they operate at a fraction of the cost of major retail chains—talk about efficiency! In 2020, the company saw revenue grow nearly 90% YoY and this year they're on pace to surpass more than $22M in revenue. With their newest Telehealth product growing 73% MoM and over $9M raised in the last two months, this is an investment opportunity you don't wanna miss. Get in on this rapidly growing startup and learn how you can invest today. | | | Ford Stat: Ford's F-Series pickup is the bestselling vehicle in the US for the 40th consecutive year, the company said, chip shortage be darned. But supply chain snags could knock the Chevy Silverado from the No. 2 spot and give it to the Ram pickup truck. Quote: "The trigger wasn't pulled, I didn't pull the trigger." Last night on ABC, Alec Baldwin gave his first interview since the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin said he doesn't know how live ammunition ended up on the Rust film set, nor how the gun fired as he held it. Read: The 100 best songs of 2021. (NPR) | | | The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz has been compared to going to the bathroom after holding it in for an uncomfortably long time. It's that satisfying. Ace the quiz. | | - 45% of US households say they're being hurt by price increases, per a new Gallup poll.
- OPEC+ decided to continue its plans to gradually boost output each month, despite Omicron denting oil prices.
- Grab went public on the Nasdaq at a valuation of nearly $40 billion; it's the largest SPAC deal in history.
- Germany announced severe restrictions on unvaccinated people, banning them from nonessential stores, recreational venues, and more.
| | | Bond funds focused on your interests: Vanguard's Active Fixed Income products can add value to your portfolio by giving you the opportunity for outperformance. They can also help you to earn income without excessive risk-taking or overly complicated strategies. And because Vanguard is owned by its investors, there are no conflicting loyalties getting in the way of your interests. That's the value of ownership. Learn more about Vanguard's AFI products here. | | | Upgrade your morning with the Founder's Journal podcast and get smarter, faster for free. Start with some of our favorite episodes: This editorial content is supported by American Express. | | | Using your best intuition, can you estimate how many people (Homo sapiens) have ever been born on Earth? | | | Day 5 of our 12 Days of Giveaways has us where we started: giving away $2,000 in cold, floppy cash. There isn't a whole lot more to say—it's two grand, and that's a lot of money. When you share the Brew before midnight (ET), you and a person you refer will have a chance to win $2,000 each. And every confirmed referral is one entry to win. So the more you refer, the more entries you get. Share to Win*Disclaimer: Only readers with US addresses are eligible to participate. Check out the terms and conditions. | | | Researchers put it at 117 billion. | | HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER? | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, and Matty Merritt Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - Emerging Tech Brew: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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