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Canadian woman killed by dog while taking it for walk, authorities say
TOGETHER WITHGood morning. If you find yourself digging the Brew...you can always forward it to a friend who might also enjoy it.Are you that friend? Make sure you get the Brew every day by signing up here.MARKETS
NASDAQ10,020.35+ 0.67%S&P3,190.14- 0.53%DJIA26,989.99- 1.04%GOLD1,746.30+ 1.42%10-YR0.725%- 10.40 bpsOIL39.07+ 0.33%*As of market close- Markets: The S&P and Dow fell for a second straight day. This is a weird feeling.
- Inflation: Consumer prices, a measure of inflation, fell for the third straight month in May. The OECD projected in its Economic Outlook report that inflation in advanced countries is likely to remain low in 2020 and 2021.
ECONOMY
Economists Search for Meaning
Francis ScialabbaEconomists typically rely on government data from previous months to understand the health of the current economy. But when life a few months ago bears the same resemblance to the current day as a P90X “before and after” photo, economists have been forced to look elsewhere to piece together a picture of a broken economy.Like a John Candy film
Plane, train, and automobile data have been important indicators of the economy’s pace of recovery.- Planes: After processing a low of fewer than 90,000 travelers on April 14, TSA says more than 440,000 people passed through its airport checkpoints last Sunday. That's progress—but still represents just 17% of last year's number.
- Trains: Some railroad categories have had a "heartening" increase in traffic over last year, according to Association of American Railroads exec John Gray.
- And automobiles: The four-week moving average of petroleum demand has rebounded off its April low, while Apple’s mobility datasets show more people are approaching their pre-pandemic driving levels.
Say “Ahhhhh”
It’s weird, but dentist offices are excellent indicators of economic as well as gum health.- “If you look at your typical dentist office, nothing went wrong with their business model,” Betsey Stevenson, an economics professor at the University of Michigan told the NYT. “It’s just coronavirus that happened.”
Therefore, dentistry employment figures give a good sense of how fast the economy is bouncing back from the pandemic.- And it's bouncing: Data gathered by the American Dental Association showed that 45% of dentists had laid off their entire staffs by mid-April. But after the first week of June, 77% of dentist offices have rehired their full staff.
What’s it all mean?
This “alternative” data for economists is kinda like Tom Brady’s successor in New England...way less reliable. But increased movement of goods and people coupled with the revival of previously shuttered offices shows that things are at least trending in a positive direction.ECONOMY
Fed: This Could Take Awhile
GiphyDespite that encouraging activity, the Fed concluded its meeting yesterday by acknowledging we have a loooooooong way to go.First things first: The central bank did not move interest rates, and in fact does not intend to hike them through 2022.- The Fed raises and lowers interest rates (aka borrowing costs) to prevent the U.S. economy from either overheating or slowing down too much.
- In March, the Fed dropped rates to near 0 as the pandemic began to whack the U.S. That they’ll stay there for years means this recovery will take...years.
GDP projections: The Fed predicts GDP will fall 6.5% in 2020, followed by a 5% gain in 2021.Zoom out: If you’re looking for a reason the market has bounced back like a boomerang, you might want to focus less on Robinhood day traders and more on the Fed, which stepped in with extraordinary measures to keep markets functioning properly—which it made clear it will continue.Bottom line: This does not look like a “V” shaped recovery.TECH
Headlines About Head Lines
In a blog post yesterday, Amazon said it will stop giving law enforcement access to its facial recognition technology, Rekognition, for one year. The company says the moratorium will give Congress time to figure out more oversight over this powerful but controversial tool.Set the scene: The move comes during a time of greater awareness of state surveillance and systemic racism following the killing of George Floyd. And Rekognition fits squarely between those two issues.- After it was revealed Amazon pitched the tool to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the ACLU thrashed the company for its role in "automating mass surveillance."
- Last year, researchers at the MIT Media Lab concluded that Rekognition exhibits "gender and racial bias for gender classification." Amazon said researchers ran flawed tests and weren't using the most up-to-date versions of the tech.
Bottom line: Amazon is still bullish on facial recognition tech, but it realizes now may not be the best time politically to pitch it to law enforcement. Earlier this week IBM said it was exiting the facial recognition business entirely.SPONSORED BY THE ASCENT
Did Somebody Say $1,148?
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- 0% APR: Transfer your current balance to this card and pay down your total without accruing any interest into mid-2021
- No annual fee: That’s unheard of for a card with this much cash back potential
The siren song of savings has entranced us again.SPORTS
NASCAR Makes a Change
Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesNASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from its events and properties.- "The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry," the organization said ahead of last night's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Zoom out: Bubba Wallace, the circuit's only full-time black driver (shown above), called on NASCAR to remove the Confederate flag this week, saying "it's time for change." He drove in a Chevy outfitted with a special #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme last night.FOOD DELIVERY
Your Grubhub Purchase Is Here
Yesterday, Dutch delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway agreed to acquire U.S. delivery regular-sized person Grubhub for $7.3 billion.Just Eat Takeaway knows its way around a Styrofoam box. It has delivery operations in 10 European countries plus Israel. Its approach is best summed up by CEO Jitse Groen’s 2018 comment to Bloomberg: “The most value is in being the largest, by far.”We know one ride-hailing company that’s less than pleased. Uber had been making eyes at Grubhub for months...but U.S. lawmakers sicced the DOJ and FTC on the deal, arguing it would reduce competition.Big picture: Despite a boost in demand from lockdown restrictions, Grubhub has struggled to protect its 23% U.S. market share from Uber Eats and DoorDash. It also has yet to turn a profit (it lost $33 million in Q1), which likely turned up the pressure to find a buyer. Now, it's Just Eat's ticket to the U.S. market.TECH
Plagiarism Is a Zynn
Chinese video app Zynn is lighting up Turnitin.com. Google removed the TikTok lookalike from its Play Store yesterday after some TikTok creators saw clones of their profiles appear on Zynn without their consent.Zynn is the Mary-Kate to TikTok’s Ashley
With one key difference. Zynn actually pays people to watch videos and recruit other users to the app, a tactic that propelled Zynn to the top of the free app charts in May—even beating out TikTok. If that sounds too good to be true, you might be right.- Common Sense Media has labeled Zynn a “pyramid scheme,” while some users have reported issues receiving the money they earned.
Zoom out: The U.S. isn't exactly laying out the red carpet. Earlier this week, lawmakers reopened their TikTok playbook, calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Zynn as potentially empowering Chinese leadership to “pry into the private affairs of Americans.”WHAT ELSE IS BREWING
- Tesla stock hit $1,000 for the first time.
- Texas reported its third straight day of record hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
- Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario is stepping down, per Fast Company.
- Simon Property Group backed out of its acquisition of fellow mall owner Taubman Centers because of the coronavirus.
- Reddit appointed Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel to its board following the departure of cofounder Alexis Ohanian. Ohanian asked the company to replace him with a black candidate.
- HBO Max has removed Gone With the Wind from its library, citing “racist depictions.”
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Survey: As we mentioned in the lead story, economists are relying on different types of data to gauge the status of reopening. We'll try our hand at it, too. We put together a five-question survey to see how "active" readers have been over the past few weeks, from eating out at an actual restaurant to getting a haircut. You can take the survey here.Brew U: Morning Brew is thinking of launching business education courses. Sign up if you’d like to join the waitlist—you’ll hear updates over the next few months and have first dibs to join. Click here to opt-in.WORLD RECORD TRIVIA
Today’s trivia is dedicated to the Guinness World Records—because we all tried to break a record at age 12 and gave up a half an hour later. We’ll give you the category, you have to determine the record.- We’ll be generous, so throw yourself some partial credit if you get close.
- Heaviest carrot (in pounds)
- Most wins of the FIFA World Cup by a player (name + number of wins for full credit)
- Tallest dog ever (in inches)
- Youngest Nobel Prize winner (name + age)
- Largest bubble gum bubble blown by diameter (in inches)
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WORLD RECORD TRIVIA ANSWER
- Heaviest carrot = 22.44 lbs
- Most wins of the FIFA World Cup by a player = Pelé has won three times with Brazil
- Tallest dog ever = 44 inches
- Youngest Nobel Prize winner = Malala Yousafzai at age 17
- Largest bubble gum bubble blown by diameter = 20 inches
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