Good morning. It's great to be back in the inbox after a short break, though I did commit the cardinal long weekend sin of forgetting to turn off my alarm clock for Monday morning. Making a mental note that July 4 is on a Monday, too. —Neal Freyman | | | |  | Nasdaq | 12,131.13 | | | | | S&P | 4,158.24 | | | | | Dow | 33,212.96 | | |  | 10-Year | 2.745% | | | | | Bitcoin | $31,808.78 | | | | | Oil | $119.40 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 8:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: Whatever change you made to your routine last week, stick with it. All three major indexes broke long weekly losing streaks, and the S&P and Dow posted their best weeks since November 2020. Investors got a dopamine rush when retailers posted strong earnings and an inflation report showed price growth easing up a little.
- But not energy: Oil prices rose to a two-month high over the weekend, while the average cost of a gallon of gas in the US hit a record of $4.62. Recognizing that American voters may not be too pleased about that, President Biden has invited Fed Chair Jerome Powell for a rare Oval Office meeting on Tuesday to discuss the economy.
| | | | The Sandlot/20th Century Studios via Giphy The great American tradition of watching an obnoxious teen holler "cannonball" before drenching your towel with over-chlorinated pool water is in jeopardy. Due to an extreme lifeguard shortage, many public swimming pools that were slated to welcome swimmers Memorial Day weekend have delayed their openings. And a lack of lifeguards could prevent one-third of the 300,000+ public pools in the US from opening this summer, the American Lifeguard Association warned. - In Phoenix, where pools are vital to beat the heat, less than half are opening, the WSJ reports. Even after dangling a $2,500 incentive, the city can't find enough staff.
Those labor challenges are being mirrored by employers across summer-related industries, which, for the second year in a row, are being forced to reduce hours or close up shop because they don't have sufficient staffing to match frenzied demand. Just look at restaurants. On the one hand, Americans are basically done with home-cooked meals. - The restaurant booking service Resy said that April was its busiest month in its eight years of existence.
- Restaurant empire Union Square Hospitality Group reported a 30% increase in calls to its reservation lines from January to April.
On the other hand, there are still 6.4% fewer jobs (or 794,000 fewer positions) in the restaurant industry than before the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. Zoom out to the wider economy, and the picture remains the same: Consumer spending has jumped 15.4% over pre-Covid times, but employment is still 0.8% lower, the Atlantic's Derek Thompson points out. How to explain it? Many of the constraints that contributed to last summer's labor shortage have stuck around for summer 2022: US job openings are outnumbering unemployed people by a 2:1 ratio, and empowered workers are ditching some jobs for better pay and treatment at others (especially in low-wage and seasonal industries). On top of that, critics say that the Biden administration has not moved quickly enough to bring in more seasonal foreign workers through the H-2B visa program, which can help employers staff up to cope with the summer rush. Teens to the rescue? If you're a high schooler hoping to build forearm muscle scooping ice cream this summer, there's probably a dairy looking to hire you. Given the shortage of workers in other age cohorts, more teens are working now than they have since the 2008–09 financial crisis. | | | Home security should be, well, secure—especially against intruders. But with power outages, broken systems, and pesky hackers, home security can sometimes feel a lot more susceptible than safe. That's why SimpliSafe is committed to being intruder-proof. If someone cuts off your power, SimpliSafe has backup batteries and a cellular connection to keep your home security online. And if they destroy your system, SimpliSafe *automatically* sends for help. Plus, monitoring plans with SimpliSafe cost less than $1 a day—so you're getting intruder-proof home security at a wallet-friendly price. Order today to save 40% on your SimpliSafe security system. | | Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images  US launches investigation into Uvalde police response. The Justice Department will investigate law enforcement's response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas. That response has been heavily criticized, since more than a dozen officers were at the elementary school for the majority of the time the gunman was there, but did not act. Meanwhile, the president and first lady traveled to Uvalde this weekend, their second visit to a mass shooting site in less than two weeks.
 The EU agrees to ban Russian oil imports…with exceptions. European leaders ramped up their economic fight against Russia by agreeing to an embargo on Russian oil and petroleum imports—costing Russia $10 billion annually in lost export revenue, per Bloomberg. But in a bid to win the approval of Hungary, which warned of catastrophic costs to its economy under a full ban, it carved out a temporary exemption for oil delivered by Russian pipelines.
 Gen X loves Tom Cruise. Top Gun: Maverick pulled in an estimated $156 million during the long Memorial Day weekend, fueled by middle-aged Americans hoping to relive their '80s childhoods: About 55% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35. Maverick also had the best opening on a Memorial Day weekend ever—a sign that movie theaters' long Covid nightmare might be over.
| | Li Yang/China News Service via Getty Images The "Mona Lisa" is protected by bulletproof glass, and yesterday we found out that it's properly shielded against cake, too. A man who disguised himself as an elderly woman in a wheelchair smeared cake on the iconic painting's glass case at the Louvre yesterday in what appeared to be a climate protest. As the man was being escorted away by security, he told about 100 onlookers, in French, "Think about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth…this is why I did this," videos posted on social media showed. Good news is that Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, probably the most recognizable painting in the world, was not damaged by the caking. Big picture: Something about the "Mona Lisa" gets people riled up, and yesterday's attack was not the first time the portrait's been messed with… - It was stolen by three Italian handymen in 1911, which actually helped boost its status.
- A visitor threw a stone at the Mona Lisa in 1956, which caused a chip of paint to fall off. "I had a stone in my pocket and suddenly the idea to throw it came to my mind," he said, according to police.
- In 2009, a woman hurled a ceramic cup at it, but it shattered upon contact with the glass casing.
It was a bad weekend to be an iconic piece of art. A $2 million, solid-gold tabernacle at Brooklyn's St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church was apparently stolen, and the altar on which it stood was vandalized. | | English Heritage The UK throws Elizabeth II a party. A four-day jubilee commemorating the Queen's 70 years on the throne will kick off on Thursday, but some landmarks, like Stonehenge, have already started pregaming the celebration. Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning British monarch in the nearly 1,000 years the title's existed. Jobs report: Nothing is certain except death, taxes, and the government dropping employment stats on the first Friday of the month. US employers are projected to have added 325,000 new jobs in May in what would be another strong month for the labor market. Ukraine war milestone: Saturday will mark 100 days since Russia first invaded Ukraine. After being repelled by Ukrainian forces in central Ukraine, Russia is now focused on taking territory in the eastern Donbas region. Everything else: - June (and Pride Month) begins on Wednesday.
- The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors will face off in the NBA Finals beginning on Thursday. Our prediction: Warriors in six.
| | Matthias Hangst/Getty Images Stat: About 70% of tickets presented by Liverpool fans ahead of the Champions League final in Paris were fake, the French interior ministry said, accusing the club's supporters of ticket fraud on an "industrial scale." The game, played on Sunday between Liverpool and Real Madrid, was delayed for more than 30 minutes as Liverpool fans waited in long, dangerously cramped lines to enter the stadium—and some were tear-gassed by French police. English and French officials are trading attacks over the root cause of the chaotic pre-match environment. Quote: "Look, I have opposed a ban, you know, fairly recently. I think I'm open to a ban now." GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois told CNN he had maybe changed his mind on a federal ban on AR-15 weapons following the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, that killed 21, including 19 children. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, another Republican, said there was an "urgency that maybe we didn't feel before" regarding legislation that restricts gun access. Read: Our excrement is a natural, renewable, and sustainable resource—if only we can overcome our visceral disgust of it. (Aeon) | | Dive back into the week: Grilling szn: Here are some guides to becoming the ultimate grillmaster. A pop culture newsletter that goes way beyond the headlines: Cap off your day with the Webby Award-winning Bustle newsletter—it's like having dinner with your too-online best friend. Sign up for free. Because vacations shouldn't be stressful. Travel mishaps happen (read this article about some of our doozies), but you can safeguard your trips with travel insurance from battleface. Now, sit back, relax, and delete (temporarily, sigh) those work apps from your phone.* One for you, one for someone in need too  . For every item you purchase from Bombas—super-comfy socks, underwear, a new T-shirt—they'll donate another specially designed item to a person in need. Shop (and give) here.* *This is sponsored advertising content. | | - The FDA is investigating two brands of organic strawberries that could be linked to an outbreak of hepatitis A. The strawberries have been sold at chains including Trader Joe's, Walmart, and Aldi.
- The WHO's monkeypox lead said that the organization isn't concerned the recent outbreak of the disease will turn into a global pandemic, but also admitted that many questions about how and why it's spreading remain unanswered.
- Sign of the times: The Ukrainian band that won Eurovision sold its trophy to a cryptocurrency exchange for $900,000 and used the proceeds to buy drones for the country's army.
- Hurricane Agatha is lashing Mexico's western coastline as the strongest May storm to hit the eastern Pacific on record.
| | Time is running out to apply for Leadership Accelerator's founding cohort. This eight-week virtual program, which kicks off June 13, is unlike any leadership course out there. You'll grow as a leader, build authentic relationships, and gain access to alumni benefits so your professional growth won't stop at graduation. Apply now before it fills up. | | Brew mini: "Harry Styles 2022 album Harry's ____" (five letters) is your sample clue for today's puzzle. Play it here. Name the artist With the "Mona Lisa" in the news, let's see how closely you paid attention during art history class. We'll give you a famous piece of art, and you have to identify the artist. - "Girl with a Pearl Earring"
- "Girl With Balloon"
- The Thinker
- "Black Iris"
- "The Garden of Earthly Delights"
- "The Broken Column"
| | - Johannes Vermeer
- Banksy
- Auguste Rodin
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- Hieronymus Bosch
- Frida Kahlo
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