Good morning and welcome to March. A spicy "unwritten societal rules" debate is raging after President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden recently ordered the same rigatoni dish at a restaurant. Do you think it's ever OK to order the same entrée as the person you went out to eat with? Sound off in our inbox or have a "started funny but got awkwardly intense" discussion with your coworkers today. —Sam Klebanov, Matty Merritt, Max Knoblauch, Neal Freyman | | | |  | Nasdaq | 11,455.54 | | | | | S&P | 3,970.15 | | | | | Dow | 32,656.70 | | |  | 10-Year | 3.924% | | | | | Bitcoin | $23,140.38 | | | | | Goldman | $351.65 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The stock market took two steps forward in January but one step back in February. After a sizzling start to the year, the three major indexes closed lower last month when inflation stopped falling as dramatically as it had been. Goldman Sachs earned a thumbs down from investors, and we'll explain why in 3…2…1…
| | | | Paul Morigi/Getty Images Goldman Sachs is beginning to admit it's more comfortable on Wall Street than Main Street. During the bank's high-stakes investor day yesterday, CEO David Solomon said the company is "considering strategic alternatives" for its consumer business, which includes credit cards and a specialty lending platform. Solomon and other executives also hinted at a potential sale of Goldman's struggling retail banking assets. It was a cringey episode The bank's foray into consumer finance has been about as successful as Michael Jordan's baseball career, and its flop has put Solomon—the initiative's main cheerleader—in the hot seat. The company launched its consumer bank, Marcus, in 2016 and scored some early wins, but its focus on regular people has ultimately been a major drain. - Goldman recently said it lost $3 billion since 2020 on parts of its consumer lending push.
- Its credit card issuing business has struggled to nab major partnerships. After the splashy rollout of a joint card with Apple in 2019, it only managed to snag another deal with GM.
The buck stops with Solomon Some Goldman insiders blame the lackluster results on missteps by its part-time DJ CEO, according to CNBC. A few months ago, Solomon tried to soothe critics by reorganizing Goldman's Main Street business, scrapping personal loans, and suspending a costly checking-account project. But any good vibes from that reorg. have worn off, as yesterday's unclear messaging failed to win over investors. Zoom out: Goldman's consumer push was a daring attempt to replicate the success of rival banking giants JPMorgan and Bank of America that diversified revenue away from trading and investment banking. Instead, this clunker of a consumer bet only weighed down profits at a time when its investment banking business slowed dramatically. To trim costs, the bank announced plans to cut up to 3,200 jobs earlier this year in one of its biggest rounds of job cuts ever.—SK | | | Life is ever-changing, so financial plans and big life decisions should always be under review rather than something you just set and forget. (A one-and-done financial plan? Now that's really  madness .) That's where Facet comes into play. It's like a gym membership for your wallet, with ongoing access to a best-in-class financial coach (aka CFP® professional, the highest possible certification) to guide you through those financial decisions with a full-court press. Schedule an intro call today to work on a game plan that's sure to be a slam dunk. You can also take Facet's free Financial Wellness quiz and see how your stats stack up. Your score will give you an overall picture of your financial health. | | Jemal Countess/Getty Images  SCOTUS could scrap student loan debt forgiveness. On the first day of arguments over the Biden administration's plan to wipe out some student debt, members of the Supreme Court's conservative majority were skeptical that Biden had the authority to cancel debt without the authorization of Congress. It appears that the debt forgiveness plan's only chance for survival is if SCOTUS finds the states and individuals challenging the program didn't have the legal standing to sue in the first place.
 Chips money comes with strings attached. Yesterday, the Commerce Department began inviting chipmakers to apply for $39 billion in funding through the CHIPS and Science Act, which they can use for expanding production in the US. But it's not a blank check: The companies must follow rules, including sharing excess profits with the government, providing affordable childcare for workers, and curbing stock buybacks and dividends.
 Tobacco giant wants to move on from Juul. Altria, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes and a major investor in Juul, is in talks to buy e-cigarette brand NJOY for $2.75 billion, the WSJ reported. While Altria goes after NJOY, it also wants to sell its 35% stake in Juul, which might go down as one of the worst corporate investments ever. Juul was worth $38 billion when Altria bought its stake, but following a regulatory crackdown, Juul is now valued at ~$700 million. | | Nur Photo/Getty Images The city known for making pizza that needs a fork will get a new mayor. In Chicago's election yesterday, Lori Lightfoot became the first mayor of Chicago to lose a reelection bid in 40 years. But Chicago doesn't have a new leader...yet. Brandon Johnson will face Paul Vallas in a runoff on April 4. Whoever gets elected will be tasked with stemming a corporate exodus. In the last several years, major companies headquartered in Chicago have been ditching it for places that don't even have a giant bean statue. - Manufacturing powerhouses Caterpillar and Boeing are moving their HQs out of the city. Boeing had been based in Chicago since 2001.
- The richest man in Illinois, Ken Griffin, announced last summer that he was moving—himself, his hedge fund Citadel, and his hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropic donations and tax payments—to Miami.
Big picture: Even before he left town, Griffin said that downtown crime was preventing the firm from attracting top talent. Crime was the biggest issue in the mayoral election for 57% of voters, ahead of inflation.—MM | | Illustration: Dianna "Mick" McDougall, Source: Getty Images There are plans for long-term human habitation on the moon and we need to figure out when exactly the party starts. So, the European Space Agency (ESA) this week called for establishing a new moon time zone. If you've never considered what time it is on the moon, don't feel bad: You don't know anyone who lives there and it doesn't really have a "time" anyway. Until now, every mission to the moon has used its own timescale linked to Coordinated Universal Time (or UTC, the time standard that's used to set global time zones). Why moon time is necessary: An increase in lunar activity from a diverse collection of agencies will require coordination, and agreeing on what time it is will certainly help with that. Plus, there are plans to create a satellite navigation system (essentially GPS) for the moon, and such systems require precise time calculations to work correctly. But it won't be easy. A "day" on the moon can last as long as 29.5 Earth days. And, according to the ESA, clocks on the moon run 56 microseconds faster per day than on Earth. Plus, clocks on the moon's surface run at different rates than those in lunar orbit. While it might take an Earth minute to reach an agreement, the ESA said that a joint international effort is being set up to figure it out.—MK | | TOGETHER WITH THRIVE CAUSEMETICS | | It's time to come clean. The real secret to eyes that pop? Thrive Causemetics products. They're made from clean, 100% cruelty-free ingredients that'll make mornings quicker and looks last longer, all without parabens, sulfates, and phthalates. Get their trifecta of bestselling eye products with an exclusive 15% off your first order. | | Peter Parks/Getty Images Stat: One of the world's longest Covid mask mandates is ending today. After 945 days, Hong Kong will scrap its requirement that people wear masks in public spaces—or get fined up to $1,275. The goal, according to Hong Kong leader John Lee, is to get the city's economic engine humming again. "We are completely returning to normalcy. This year and the next year, we will focus on the economy and development," he said. Quote: "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident." For the first time, FBI Director Christopher Wray publicly acknowledged that his agency believes the most likely cause of Covid-19 spreading to humans was a mistake at a Chinese lab. This week, the Energy Department joined the FBI in assessing that a lab leak was the most probable origin of the pandemic, though other US agencies believe it began through transmission from an animal. Watch: How South Koreans got so much taller. (Vox on YouTube) | | - A JetBlue pilot took "evasive action" on Monday to avoid an aircraft crossing a runway at Boston's Logan International Airport in another close call between planes at US airports.
- Former FTX exec Nishad Singh became the third member of Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle to plead guilty over the crypto exchange's collapse.
- Tesla has committed to building a plant in Monterrey, Mexico, according to Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
- Novak Djokovic broke the record for the longest time spent as the No. 1 player in tennis, passing Steffi Graf with 378 weeks as the top dog.
- The pilot of an EasyJet flight from Iceland to England made a 360-degree turn over the North Sea to let passengers on both sides of the plane see an "amazing display" of the northern lights.
| |  Chart of the week: The MPAA ratings of top movies, 1980–2022.
Data analysis: The greatest unexpected NBA performances. (YouTube) For the medically curious but squeamish: Check out this "Playdough Surgery" series. Question for you: What's your favorite way to drink a Coke? How do you resolve difficult situations? Have a difficult conversation. Learn how to become a pro at professional conflict with the Brew's one-week online course Difficult Conversations at Work. It's back by popular demand, so reserve your spot before they fill up. Meet LiquidPiston's X-Engine™: Delivering up to 10x the power-to-weight ratio of legacy engines with up to 30% more fuel efficiency, it's no wonder they've secured $30m in contracts and 82 patents (granted + pending). Invest here.* *This is sponsored advertising content. | | Word search: Head down to MLB spring training for today's Word Search. Play it here. Map quest In this map of the world, can you guess what the size of the countries correlates to?  | |  You'll look back at March 1, 2023, as the first day of your personal finance journey. Subscribe to Money Scoop here (it's free).
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