Monday, June 26, 2023

☕ What just happened?

Russia was on the brink of civil war...
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Morning Brew

CIT Bank

Good morning. To kick off the week, I want to give a shoutout to my coworker Macy, who's been running a viral TikTok series investigating NYC storefronts that make you go "How does that place stay open?" when you pass them. Here are her videos on a rubber stamp-maker and a guy named Michael Scott (really) who sells pigeons.

In today's newsletter, we'll go over what in Rasputin's name just happened in Russia and give you a peachy stat to drop in your meetings today. Plus: MrBeast's close call, the ugliest dog in the world, and Rick Astley being a boss.

Neal Freyman

MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE

Nasdaq

13,492.52

S&P

4,348.33

Dow

33,727.43

10-Year

3.741%

Bitcoin

$30,450.00

Netflix

$424.02

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 12:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Markets: Last week, the Nasdaq snapped its eight-week winning streak, but it's still on pace for its best H1 ever and has nearly erased its total losses from 2022. Over in the media world, everyone (Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global) is on the struggle bus except Netflix.
 

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GEOPOLITICS

What the heck just happened in Russia?

Mr. Krabs SpongeBob SquarePants/Paramount Global

In 36 hours this weekend, a private Russian mercenary army denounced the country's leadership, caravaned toward Moscow in an act of open revolt, then agreed to a truce that ended the hostilities almost as quickly as they began.

"This coup could have been an email," one Twitter user quipped. And while it was shorter than a test cricket match, the mutiny will leave a long-term stain on Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule, exposing him to threats he had never faced before in more than 20 years leading Russia.

The tl;dr (too long; didn't revolt)

  • On Friday, the businessman who leads the Wagner private army for Russia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, dramatically escalated his long-simmering feud with the country's military leadership, posting messages on Telegram that accused Russia's defense minister of bombing his troops. He announced a "march for justice" against the Russian defense system.
  • As Prigozhin and his Wagner army marched toward Moscow, Russia charged him with mounting an open rebellion. Bizarre scenes of everyday life comingling with an armed revolt in the major Russian city of Rostov-on-Don spread across social media.
  • Leaders in Ukraine and the West, unsure of which thug (Prigozhin or Putin) they'd rather have in control of Russia's stacked nuclear arsenal, looked on and grabbed the popcorn.
  • After being on the cusp of civil war on Saturday, the two sides agreed to a truce that would send Prigozhin to Belarus in exchange for amnesty, and Wagner troops would stand down from their march on Moscow.

Who is Prigozhin and what is the Wagner Group? Nicknamed "Putin's chef," Prigozhin is a one-time catering tycoon who founded the Wagner Group, a network of soldiers-for-hire that Russia has used to expand its influence in places like Syria and Africa through ruthless tactics. In the current war, Russia has relied heavily on Wagner's mercenaries to fight against Ukraine.

Looking ahead

You will find no shortage of essays discussing what the Wagner uprising means for Russia and the rest of the world, but the main theme is that Prigozhin exposed glaring weaknesses in Putin's authority that other domestic opponents could exploit (not necessarily to the benefit of the West). But here's one alternate take.

     

TOGETHER WITH CIT BANK

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

A freight train that collapsed into the Yellowstone River Stillwater County DES

Train cars with hazardous materials plunged into a Montana river. Because US infrastructure can't get back-to-back wins, a bridge collapsed over the Yellowstone River on Saturday morning, causing at least seven train cars carrying hazardous materials to fall into the water. Authorities said the worst-case scenario (sodium hydro sulfate leaking into the river) was averted but that cars carrying asphalt and molten sulfur had been "compromised," so they're testing the water quality. The collapse also severed the main fiber-optic cable that runs through Montana, hampering internet access for Global Net customers.

NYC, San Francisco headline a big day of Pride parades. Revelers flocked to the West Village for New York's annual Pride parade, which occurs on the last Sunday in June to mark the anniversary of the 1969 uprising at the Stonewall gay bar. San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, and other major North American cities also held Pride parades yesterday that focused on affirming trans rights at a time when states are pushing to restrict gender-affirming care for children. A letter from more than 50 Pride organizations globally stated, "We are under threat."

Fatal accidents at airport, amusement park. A ramp worker at San Antonio International Airport died after being "ingested" into a Delta plane engine that was taxiing toward the gate, the National Transportation Safety Board said. A similar incident involving a ground crew worker in Montgomery, Alabama, happened at the end of last year. Over in Sweden, one person was killed and nine injured when a roller coaster train car derailed in Stockholm. The park will be closed for seven days to allow for an investigation.

AGRICULTURE

Southern fruit harvests were this year

Damaged peaches on the vine Getty Images

Is having a fruit on your license plate the new Sports Illustrated cover jinx?

Florida (oranges) and Georgia (peaches) are both experiencing the lowest production of their big-name fruits in decades, which could drive prices for products like OJ even higher than they are now.

Let's start in Florida, where the citrus harvest this season could be its smallest since 1928: 18 million boxes, compared to a peak of 250 million boxes in the '90s and early 2000s, according to the Washington Post. Nasty weather in the fall and winter compounded longer-term challenges like greening disease to devastate Florida's famous citrus groves. And if you do get your hands on fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice, don't expect it to be the religious experience you're used to: Orange trees affected with greening disease (which is virtually all of them) produce more bitter fruit.

Moving to the other side of the Florida–Georgia line…Justin Bieber will have to get his peaches from somewhere else because Georgia peaches have been almost completely wiped out this year. Warm winter weather followed by a cold snap in March have destroyed 95% of the crop, which farmers say is the worst harvest since 1955.

Bottom line: Florida is far more dependent on its citrus harvest than Georgia is on its peaches. In Florida, the citrus industry is worth $6.9 billion, per the University of Florida, while peaches are mostly symbolic for Georgia: They brought in $34 million in revenue last year, compared to $1.4 billion for cotton.

     

CALENDAR

The week ahead

supreme court image with purple colored background showing a mix of red and blue hues Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

SCOTUS in the spotlight: The Supreme Court will wrap up its term this week with major rulings on student loan debt forgiveness, race-conscious college admissions policies, and LGBTQ rights.

The first half of the year concludes: Your company's accounting department will be hella busy tying up all the loose ends as H1 of 2023 winds down on Friday, June 30.

Coming to screens: a new season of The Bachelorette today, The Witcher Season 3 on Thursday, and the final Indiana Jones movie of Harrison Ford's career on Friday.

Everything else…

  • LSU and Florida will duke it out for the College World Series in a winner-take-all game tonight.
  • The highly anticipated International African American Museum opens in Charleston, SC, tomorrow.
  • The Tour de France starts on Saturday.
  • Hollywood actors could strike if a labor deal isn't reached by Saturday.

TOGETHER WITH SLACK

Slack

Say hi to AI. Meet the tech that powers some of the most productive teams. Slack, together with Qualtrics, uncovered some eyebrow-raising trends in their latest State of Work report. Get a look at the shifts and possibilities emerging in the future of work when you download your copy.

GRAB BAG

Key performance indicators

Toronto skyline Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Stat: Everyone and their dog are running for mayor of Toronto—literally. A record 102 names are on the ballot for Toronto's mayoral election today, including a man running on behalf of his dog, Molly. What's going on in Toronto? The previous mayor of North America's fourth-largest city resigned following a scandal, leaving a leadership void to tackle Toronto's mounting problems, including skyrocketing housing prices and quality-of-life issues. And getting your name on the Toronto mayoral ballot is easy: All you need to do is pay $189 and get 25 signatures.

Quote: "I was invited earlier this month to ride the titanic submarine, I said no. Kind of scary that I could have been on it"

MrBeast, the YouTuber known for his viral stunts, revealed on Twitter that he was offered a trip on the doomed Titan submersible voyage that killed five people last week. Further evidence that it's OK to just say, "No, I'm too busy."

Read: The case against travel. (New Yorker)

NEWS

What else is brewing

  • A tweet by NBA reporter Shams Charania during the draft is coming under scrutiny because it moved betting lines, and he has a partnership with FanDuel.
  • Hollywood power broker Arnon Milchan testified in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial.
  • Human remains were found in the California wilderness area where British actor Julian Sands went missing in January.
  • Headline of the year? "Harvard professor who studies honesty accused of falsifying data in studies."
  • Scooter, a Chinese crested, was crowned the world's ugliest dog in California.
  • Barbiecore (e.g., hot pink) is the latest design trend ahead of the movie's release in July.

RECS

Monday to-do list image

Some epic visuals here: The best drone photos of the year.

Life wisdom: 40 lessons for living better.

No Rickrolling here: Just Rick Astley shocking everyone with his musical skills at the Glastonbury music festival.

Online trivia games: Here's one for business nerds and another for baseball nerds.

Earn $200 after spending $500: That's like 40% cash rewards on your first $500 in spend. Plus, enjoy unlimited rewards on purchases. Start racking up huge cash rewards.*

Thus spoke CD: We partnered with CD Valet and interviewed a real-life certificate of deposit. Okay, maybe not an actual CD, but read the article to learn how they can grow your savings.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

FROM THE CREW

Learn how to make the clearest dashboards

a dashboard on a car Getty Images

Data is all around us. Don't get lost in the thick of it: Our Business Dashboards online course (just one week long) will help you use data to tell the most impactful stories for your team, your business, or personal life. Dashboard building begins July 24—snag your seat today.

GAMES

The puzzle section

Turntable: Today's Turntable is a challenge, with only 31 words that can be formed by the seven available letters. See how many you can find here.

NCAA colors

Below are six seemingly random colors. But they are not random—they're the main colors associated with collegiate sports teams. Can you identify the US universities that use each color for their teams?

Six different colors for a quiz that asks which college sports team is affiliated with which color

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AROUND THE BREW

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Unexpected expenses? Emergency funds are your secret weapon. Learn more about why you need one and how to make one.

ANSWER

  1. Alabama Crimson from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide)
  2. Carolina Blue from the University of North Carolina
  3. Green from Michigan State University
  4. Northwestern Purple from Northwestern University
  5. This could only be the University of Texas's Burnt Orange
  6. Powderkeg Blue from UCLA

✢ A Note From CIT Bank

1Platinum Savings is a tiered interest rate account. Interest is paid on the entire account balance based on the interest rate and APY in effect that day for the balance tier associated with the end-of-day account balance. APYs — Annual Percentage Yields are accurate as of June 16, 2023: 0.25% APY on balances of $0.01 to $4,999.99; 4.95% APY on balances of $5,000.00 or more. Interest Rates for the Platinum Savings account are variable and may change at any time without notice. The minimum to open a Platinum Savings account is $100.

2Based on comparison to the national average Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on savings accounts as published in the FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps, accurate as of May 15, 2023.

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Written by Neal Freyman

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