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Claim your swag today—Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt | | | |  | Nasdaq | 14,490.37 | | | | | S&P | 4,587.18 | | | | | Dow | 35,768.06 | | |  | 10-Year | 1.947% | | | | | Bitcoin | $44,354.46 | | | | | Chipotle | $1,608.74 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: Whatever your routine has been this week, don't change a thing because stocks have staged a nice rally in recent days. Yesterday, in fact, was the S&P's and Nasdaq's best trading day of the month. Investors were hungry for Chipotle shares after the company said higher prices weren't denting demand for burritos.
- Economy: Economists don't have to wait for the Super Bowl—their main event arrives this morning with the highly anticipated release of January inflation data. US consumer prices are expected to have skyrocketed 7.2% annually (the biggest jump since 1982).
| | Saturday Night Live/NBC via Giphy We're about to find out how many of you have been slacking with the toothbrush during the pandemic. New York is scrapping its indoor mask mandate for businesses today, joining a wave of other states that have recently announced plans to lift mask requirements in indoor settings or schools. - Oregon, California, Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey all said this week that masks can soon come off in a variety of places, due to a plunge in new Covid cases.
Notice a pattern? All these states are Democratic strongholds, which throughout the pandemic have introduced more aggressive Covid policies than their red-state counterparts. It shows that more leaders are resigned to the fact that Covid is here to stay—but thanks to a mix of vaccinations, prior infections, and effective treatments it hopefully can be kept at manageable levels without requiring significant interventions. "This is not a declaration of victory as much as an acknowledgment that we can responsibly live with this thing," NJ Gov. Phil Murphy said. Now, Covid gets local As states lift mask mandates, more of the power around Covid restrictions will shift to local governments, which will need to decide what's best for their communities. - New York City, for example, is keeping its vaccination requirement for indoor settings in place for now.
- Los Angeles County is keeping its mask mandate, despite the state's move to lift it.
And that reflects where this whole thing is going. As the country moves out of the "full blown" phase of the pandemic, "decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated," Dr. Fauci told the FT this week. Speaking of central decisions…health officials at the federal level are being more cautious than individual states, citing still-high death rates and feeling burned from the emergence of new variants when we thought Covid was done and dusted.—NF | | Saul Loeb/Getty Images  Nancy Pelosi backed a stock trading ban in Congress. The House speaker, who had previously defended members of Congress trading individual stocks, said she'd now be open to a ban after getting heat on the issue from other Democrats. What that law will eventually look like is unclear, but Pelosi said she wanted trading restrictions to extend to the Supreme Court, along with the executive branch.
 Disney rode high last quarter, in no small part thanks to Disney adults chugging Jedi Mind Tricks at Oga's Cantina. Disney's parks have rebounded in a big way, raking in $7.2 billion in revenue compared to $3.6 billion the year before. In even more promising news, Disney+ added more subscribers than expected, despite execs warning that the best original content won't arrive until later this year. Disney's stock shot up 8% after the report.
 A big step forward in fusion energy. UK scientists said they were able to generate 59 megajoules of fusion energy in a period of five seconds, and if that sounds like a lot, it is—it smashed the previous record by nearly 2x. Not to be confused with nuclear fission (which splits atoms and is used in existing nuclear plants), nuclear fusion smashes atoms together, potentially giving humans a nearly limitless clean power source.—NF, JW
| | Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images It wouldn't be Olympic figure skating without a tinge of scandal. The Russian skaters who placed first in the team event Monday have yet to receive their gold medals after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said there was a "legal issue" that could affect the final podium. Russian media sites and US outlets like USA Today report the issue is a positive drug test from one of the Russian team members, potentially 15-year-old Kamila Valieva—who made history this weekend for becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics. - Neither the Russian presidential spokesman nor the IOC have confirmed the rumors.
Russia is already on thin ice. In 2019, the country was banned from international competition for four years after carrying out one of the biggest doping scandals in sports history. Russian athletes are allowed to compete in the Games, but only as the "Russian Olympic Committee" (ROC). While that gets sorted out…here's what else is going down in Beijing: - Nathan Chen became the first American to win gold in individual figure skating since 2010.
- Chloe Kim defended her halfpipe gold medal with a dominating performance.
- The Olympics breakout star: a fluffy panda mascot named Bing Dwen Dwen, which roughly translates to "ice chubster."—MM
| | TOGETHER WITH FACET WEALTH | | Your entire life isn't just about saving for retirement and following investment strategies. There's also planning for that tropical vacay you've been dreaming about, or figuring out which employee benefits will, ya know, benefit you the most. What you need is Facet Wealth—one of the fastest-growing financial services companies redefining financial planning. They offer an unbiased, human-plus-tech approach that takes your entire life into account, not just your assets. We're talkin' everything from buying real estate to career changes and more. (On top of your retirement + investment strategies, of course.) Facet connects you to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional who will work with you virtually, one-on-one. You'll get all of this for a fixed price based on your needs, not how much $$ you have in your brokerage account. Get started with Facet Wealth here. | | Francis Scialabba Not the sexiest way to do a roast, but the Treasury Department released a 63-page doc yesterday calling out the alcohol industry for anti-competitive practices. For one, the Treasury said that mergers and acquisitions need to be scrutinized more before getting the green light from regulators. In the beer space in particular, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors control about 65% of the market by revenue, per the report. The Treasury also called out how Prohibition-era rules have distorted free-market pricing: - "Post-and-hold" laws require alcohol companies to post their prices and hold them for a period of time ranging from seven days to a year.
- In many states, suppliers are required to go through distributors, instead of being allowed to sell direct. Smaller sellers argue distributors favor major brands for prime shelf space.
Why is the Treasury beefing? Limited competition could be jacking up the price of your favorite nanobrewery's IPA. And rising prices are a key concern for President Biden, who signed an executive order in July to fight "excess consolidation" across industries, from meatpacking to tech. Zoom out: For all the concerns about anti-competitive practices, anyone who's been to a Whole Foods recently can speak to the explosion of smaller breweries. 6,400 breweries currently operate in the US, up from 89 in the late 1970s.—JW | | Francis Scialabba Stat: When the product management software firm Productboard announced a funding round last week, little did it know it was making startup history as the 1,000th unicorn (startup valued at at least $1 billion) in the world, according to CB Insights. There were only 39 unicorns identified in 2013. Now, unicorns are collectively worth nearly $3.3 trillion. Quote: "We believe women's breasts in all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort. Which is why our new sports bra range contains 43 styles, so everyone can find the right fit for them." Adidas highlighted its new collection of sports bras by tweeting a photo grid of 25 different pairs of bare boobs, earning both praise and pushback across the internet. In response to criticism, the company defended the post by arguing, "It's important to normalize the human body," and since this is the first time we've used the word "boobs" in the newsletter, guess it worked. Read: The older we get, the more we need our friends—and the harder it is to keep them. (The Atlantic) | | - Tesla was sued by California's civil rights regulator over alleged racial discrimination at its CA facilities.
- Microsoft announced a set of measures to open up its gaming marketplace. It's a bid to win over regulators who are scrutinizing its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, and EatingWell are among the six magazines owned by Dotdash Meredith that will stop being published in print.
- Susan M. Collins, a University of Michigan economist, was selected to lead the Boston Fed, becoming the first Black woman to lead a regional reserve bank.
| | Whole-plant medicine, whole-mind healing. Your next investment could help people suffering from mental illness. Ei.Ventures and Mycotopia's $360 million merger brings them together to explore the promise of psychedelic medicine. Invest by March 22 to join the movement.* Short and oh-so-sweet. The short version of Vuori's bestselling Sunday Performance Jogger will keep you comfy whether you're working out or takin' it easy. The fit, function, and feel make these a wardrobe staple. Get 20% off your first purchase here.* Bubble tea lovers, this one's for you: Your complete guide to crafting the most pearl-fect drink. Remember Ask Jeeves? The Google that wasn't? Watch this video to learn why investing in gimmicks might not be the best business practice.
Thread: The 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees as scenes with Muppets. *This is sponsored advertising content | | Brew Mini: Continuing our Super Bowl-themed week of puzzles, try out today's Mini…which comes with a Super-sized twist. Three headlines and a lie Three of these news headlines are real and one is faker than pretending you're not excited for the Futurama revival. Can you guess the odd one out? - I lost my mom to QAnon. Wordle is bringing her back
- Gucci wants to hire a new "Head of Ugly Shoes"
- Jennifer Coolidge turned down a hot dog commercial after Legally Blonde 2
- Wandering hen taken into custody at Pentagon security area
| | | We made up the Gucci one. | | | ✢ A Note From Facet Wealth Disclosure: Facet Wealth is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. This is not an offer to sell securities or the solicitation of an offer to purchase securities. This is not investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, 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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