Good morning. The upcoming Super Bowl has us thinking about seven-layer dip—a classic side dish that, while delectable in its own right, could probably be improved upon. Here's what we're thinking: Swap out the salsa for cheese, and the avocado for cheese. Swap out the cheese for twice the cheese and then swap out the beans for cheese also. Finally, swap out the rest of the ingredients for pasta. Now you've got yourself a meal! —Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, Matty Merritt | | | |  | Nasdaq | 14,185.64 | | | | | S&P | 4,504.08 | | | | | Dow | 35,241.59 | | |  | 10-Year | 2.033% | | | | | Bitcoin | $43,975.06 | | | | | Affirm | $58.68 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: Stocks responded to a white-hot inflation report like anyone responds to being told to "calm down," with all three indexes moving substantially lower in anticipation of aggressive rate hikes. Affirm, the buy now, pay later giant, plunged after it mistakenly released its (not good) Q4 earnings hours ahead of schedule in a now-deleted tweet.
- Economy: Borrowing costs are rising across the board. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 3.69% this week—its highest level since before the pandemic.
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As streaming giants continue to duke it out, The Motley Fool just issued an "Ultimate Buy" stock alert for a behind-the-scenes company they believe has the potential to be the next big thing. Find it here. | | Netflix At the current rate of inflation, we might need to start charging for this newsletter. The consumer price index, which is used to measure inflation in the US economy, popped 7.5% in January for its fastest annual growth rate in 40 years. Inflation also showed no signs of letting up, increasing 0.6% on a monthly basis—the same rate as in December. Both readings came in higher than forecasts. What's getting more expensive? Everything, really. - The usual suspects: Energy, goods related to vehicles, and services tied to the pandemic (airfares, event admissions) accounted for about half of January's price increases.
- And the other half? Food prices grew at their fastest pace since 1981, apparel prices jumped 5.3%, and, as anyone who's recently surfed Zillow knows, shelter prices also soared, gaining 4.4%.
This rate of inflation is uncomfortably high While many Americans have gotten a big pay increase over the last year, wage gains in January (5.7%) came in far below the rate of inflation, so higher prices are hitting Americans' wallets in a bad way. The average US household is spending an extra $276/month due to inflation, according to a Moody's analysis. What can be done? The strategy of simply waiting until supply chain bottlenecks get resolved is not cutting it, and many economists argue that aggressive action is required (if not way past due). - The Federal Reserve seems to have gotten the memo: It's rapidly winding down its pandemic-era stimulus measures and it's planning to begin a series of rate hikes starting next month in an attempt to cool down prices.
- With upcoming rate hikes a near-certainty, the questions now are: How many hikes and how sharp will they be?
Good luck to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on figuring that out. He'll face the daunting task of bringing down price growth to more normal levels without slamming the brakes on a booming economy. The last time inflation was this high, in the early 1980s, Fed Chair Paul Volcker cranked up interest rates—which calmed inflation but also led to a recession.—NF | | Loren Elliott/Getty Images  Elon gave a Starship update. The massive, fully reusable spacecraft—which Elon Musk has called "the holy grail of space technology"—could lower launch costs to less than $10 million within two to three years, the SpaceX CEO said yesterday (the company charges $60–$65 million per launch currently). Starship is expected to be a workhorse for the space industry; NASA wants to use it to bring astronauts to the moon in 2025, and Musk wants to use it for colonizing Mars...sometime after that.
 Anti-vaccine protesters are causing real damage to supply chains. Toyota, Ford, and GM are suspending or scaling back production at several plants as Freedom Convoy protests continue to disrupt a vital trade route along the US–Canada border. Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security warned that brewing copycat protests in the US could threaten the Super Bowl this weekend.
 Zillow on the comeback trail? First, the bad news: The company lost a whopping $881 million on its algorithmic home-buying business last year (which it closed down in November). Now, the better news: It's offloading its homes faster than expected, and also announced plans to build a "housing super app" that will drive revenue growth. Its battered stock surged 16% after the report.—NF
| | Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images The Senate passed a landmark bill yesterday that bans companies from using forced arbitration to handle sexual assault and harassment cases. The measure is a signature victory for the #MeToo movement, since it makes it much easier for women to speak out against harassment in the workplace. The backstory: 60 million workers in the US are required by their contracts to settle any sexual misconduct case in private arbitration rather than taking it to court. The arbitration process has no jury, no judge, and typically protects companies and offenders. It's also touted as a less expensive resolution option for employers. The legislation, expected to be signed by President Biden ASAP, would give employees—as well as any consumers and even nursing home patients in similar situations—a choice to pursue sexual misconduct cases through arbitration or court. It also nullifies any current clauses in effect. The last thing with this much bipartisan support was Stephen Breyer's 60th birthday card. In 2017, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the bill together. And since the bill was so popular on both sides of the aisle, the chamber used a voice vote (i.e., say "yea" in favor, "nay" if against) instead of a more traditional roll call vote.—MM | | | Climate change continues to demand our attention, and GE recognizes how serious the challenges facing our planet are. That's why they've been working on a more sustainable path forward themselves. When GE released their 2020 Sustainability Report last summer, they announced their ambition to become a net zero company by 2050, including Scope 3 emissions from the use of sold products. That's all in addition to their commitment to make their own operations carbon neutral by 2030. But GE is doing more than driving down their own emissions. Their tech is helping customers move towards decarbonization, and they're developing innovative new technology that's playing a role in some of the biggest energy trends anticipated to make a difference in the future. Check out GE's latest Energy Transition story for five energy trends to watch in 2022, and keep an eye out for GE's 2021 Annual Report to be released this morning on GE.com. Sign up for GE newsletters here so you're always up-to-date. | | Photo Illustration: Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Sources: Getty Images Right now, the most cutting-edge version of a highway rest stop is one that has both a toilet and a Subway. But upgrades all across the country may be on their way: The Biden administration on Thursday laid out plans for a $5 billion network of interstate highway electric vehicle (EV) chargers. The initiative, announced by the Departments of Energy and Transportation, will see the money doled out to states over the next five years. The goals: standardize charging systems and reach Biden's target of 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030 (there are currently about 116,000, highly concentrated in California). To qualify for funding, the interstate stations will have to: - Be installed every 50 miles.
- Be located less than a mile off a given interstate.
- Offer charging ports for at least four vehicles, with a minimum of 150 kilowatts at each port (i.e., 30–45 minutes of charging time to top up).
Zoom out: A recent survey found that one-in-five EV owners have made the switch back to gas due to the hassle of finding charging access.—MK | | Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images Stat: The number of abortions performed in Texas fell by 60% in the first month after a new, restrictive law was introduced by the state government. The data, released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, offers the first glimpse of how that Texas law—the strictest in the US in decades—has impacted abortions. Quote: Returns on owning an MLB club are "below what you'd expect to get in the stock market, with a lot more risk." What baseball hater would claim such a thing? None other than MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred himself, who said he hired an investment banker to determine the ROI of owning a professional team. Manfred is trying to downplay the wealth of MLB bigwigs as he looks to end a lockout that could encroach on the beginning of the season. Read: The new Peloton CEO's letter to employees this week is an interesting study in crisis management. (Internal Tech Emails) | | The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz has been compared to pouring a pitcher of beer perfectly in front of new friends. It's that satisfying. Ace the quiz. | | - Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, Olympics anti-doping officials confirmed yesterday. Her team's gold medal is now in doubt.
- Binance, the world's leading crypto exchange, is taking a $200 million stake in the 104-year-old media brand Forbes.
- Apple is making moves to address stalking and unwanted tracking through its AirTag product.
- MoviePass is coming back this summer, now "powered by web3 technology."
| | | Market swings and inflation got you feeling sideways? Find your balance with PrizePool. Their guaranteed high yield savings app has an APY more than 6x the national average at 0.3%. Plus, they'll automatically enter you into a weekly drawing where you can win cash prizes up to $10,000. No fees, minimums, or risks. Get rewarded for saving today. | | Improved movie outros: This website shows why the Dire Straits's "Walk of Life" should accompany all film endings. AI stories: Input two random words and a computer will try to connect them in a reasonably plausible story—pretty impressive. Check it out. Get worldly: Nothing is Foreign is a new weekly podcast that shows there's no such thing as foreign—it just depends on your point of view. See the world from a different perspective. | | This one looks like it should break your brain, but it is in fact solvable by a normal person. We think. Q1. Which is the first question where c) is the correct answer? a) Q3 b) Q4 c) Q1 d) Q2 Q2. Which is the first question where a) is the correct answer? a) Q4 b) Q2 c) Q3 d) Q1 Q3. Which is the first question where d) is the correct answer? a) Q1 b) Q2 c) Q4 d) Q3 Q4. Which is the first question where b) is the correct answer? a) Q2 b) Q4 c) Q3 d) Q1 | | | 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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