BREW AND HEADLINES

July 28, 2020 View Online | Sign Up TOGETHER WITH Good morning. You know what we haven’t done in a while? Give away free computers.  The Brew’s MacBook Pro giveaway is back and better than ever, which is to say the same as ever, which is to say stop with the theatrics and just give us the laptops already. How it works:  When you share the Brew today using your unique referral link, you get entered into a raffle to win a MacBook Pro. If you win a computer, we'll select someone you referred to win one, too. And the more you share, the better chance you have (1 referral = 1 ticket). Start sharing here. MARKETS NASDAQ 10,536.27 + 1.67% S&P 3,239.51 + 0.74% DJIA 26,586.15 + 0.44% GOLD 1,930.90 + 1.76% 10-YR 0.604% + 1.30 bps OIL 41.61 + 0.78% *As of market close Economy: Senate Republicans released their $1 trillion emergency relief package, and since you have to brand everything these days, they called it the HEALS Act. It contains another round of $1,200 in direct payments and reduced additional unemployment benefits from the current $600/week. Keep in mind, it’s just a starting point for negotiations with Democrats.  Coronavirus: Infections appear to be slowing in a few key states that have experienced major outbreaks: California, Florida, and Arizona. Currency: The U.S. dollar fell to a two-year low yesterday. It’s tough to know what to make of that relative to stocks, which have been gaining as the dollar has dropped, but it likely means investors are less bullish on the U.S. economy than other countries. TECH Google’s Gonna Give It a Year

Francis Scialabba Google is letting employees remain remote until July 2021, a decision that will affect ~200,000 full-time and contract workers.  Besides saving a small fortune on KIND Bars, CEO Sundar Pichai wanted to provide flexibility for working parents who may need to provide childcare this fall, and relocating employees who want to sign full-year leases in their mountain/beach town of choice.  Twitter and Facebook committed to a more permanent remote workforce months ago, but Google is the first major company to extend its WFH timeline due to the resurgence in cases. And it won’t be the last.  Bad news for business districts While NYC reopened offices for nonessential workers a month ago, fewer than 10% of Manhattan button-ups are back, per the WSJ. That emptiness feels especially profound in districts like Midtown, where offices that once welcomed 8,000 people/day now host just 500. And when workers are home...they’re not spending money at Potbelly after giving up on the Sweetgreen line.  About a fourth of New York's office employers plan on reducing their office footprint by 20% or more, according to a Partnership for New York City study. Big cities’ losses could be a gain for small cities that have historically taken longer to recover from downturns.  Still, don’t bank on a mass exodus. Most office leases are 8+ years, and many employers are trying hybrid approaches where employees still come in a couple days a week. A tempting alternative: According to the WSJ, video communications company OpenExchange is renting a house in the English countryside for its European employees to live and work out of.  Cracks in the remote model While many companies went remote relatively smoothly, some execs are feeling cool about it long-term.   Hiring and onboarding are more choppy. Company values are harder to instill remotely. Young employees are missing out on development and mentorship. And Justin has completely given up on hiding his pen during Zoom meetings. Remote work also makes it more difficult for employers to root out bad behavior and ensure client confidentiality. Looking ahead…other companies’ decisions could turn on the status of school reopenings and how quickly the recent spike in COVID-19 cases subsides.

GRAB BAG What’s Up, What’s Down Up Operation Warp Speed: Yesterday, biotech company Moderna and the National Institutes of Health began one of the first large studies of a coronavirus vaccine in the U.S. They plan to eventually enroll 30,000 people at nearly 100 sites; the results could come by November.  Precious metals: Gold futures hit an all-time high and silver notched its highest level in seven years. What’s it mean? Not clear, because stocks are also gaining (and gold is considered a safe haven from riskier assets like stocks).  Down  House protection: Under Armour said it received a “Wells notice” from the Securities and Exchange Commission. That is not a get well card—it means the regulator plans to bring enforcement action against the company for its accounting and sales practices from 2015–2016, which are already under investigation. Toy stories: Hasbro reported a 29% decrease in revenue last quarter due to store closures, the delay of blockbuster movie releases, and other coronavirus-related challenges.

SPORTS Baseball Makes an Error

Hunter Martin/Getty Images The Miami Marlins’ home opener, slated to be played last night, was postponed after at least 13 players and staff were infected with COVID-19. The Phillies/Yankees game was also postponed.  What happened: Before the Marlins played the Phillies in Philadelphia on Sunday, a few Marlins players tested positive for COVID-19. Instead of canceling the rest of the series, Marlins players decided via a text group chat to play their upcoming game.  Sounds like something that would be against the rules, but the MLB’s 113-page operations manual actually leaves it up to the teams to decide what to do in the event of multiple positive tests.  The consequences  Best case scenario: The infected Marlins personnel enter quarantine and prevent a league-wide health crisis. Worst case scenario: The virus jumps from team to team (or has already) and the MLB is forced to cancel the season. Which could put Nap Lajoie's single-season record of a .426 batting average in serious jeopardy.  Bottom line: Unlike the NBA, NWSL, and other leagues, MLB rejected the idea of playing in a self-contained “bubble.” The NFL, which is expected to adopt a similar approach to MLB, will be watching baseball’s next steps very closely.

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COVID-19 Gym Owners vs. New Jersey Ends in Cuffs

Mark Makela/Getty Images The anti-work-out-from-home New Jersey gym owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti were arrested yesterday after violating Governor Phil Murphy’s measures limiting the operations of certain nonessential businesses like gyms.   There's a reason we're writing about this particular location. Smith and Trumbetti have become national figures in the battle between some small business owners and state officials over lockdown measures. They’ve made multiple appearances on Fox News to defend their decision to operate their gym despite restrictions.  “Welcome to America 2020, where feeding your family and standing up for your constitutional rights is illegal,” a Facebook post from the gym read yesterday.  Zoom out: The state of the fitness industry = not very fit. Subscription fitness platform Classpass said it lost 95% of its revenue in April, while iconic franchises Gold’s Gym and 24 Hour Fitness filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic. Governor Murphy recently allowed one-on-one training and some classes including pilates and yoga to resume, but is still keeping gyms closed.

ANTITRUST Facebook’s Social Media Stronghold

Francis Scialabba The Brew is previewing tomorrow's antitrust hearing by profiling each Big Tech company at the table. Last but not least... Company: Facebook Volunteered as tribute: CEO Mark Zuckerberg The charges: Among many, regulators are concerned that Facebook’s repeated acquire-or-copy approach to up-and-comers in the social media space is stifling competition and limiting consumer choice.  The rebuttal: You're going after the wrong social media company, Congress. Facebook is actually a true American success story and the real threat is encroaching Chinese tech firms (see: ByteDance's TikTok).  Read the full story of Zuck vs. antitrust regulators.

GIVEAWAY Time For a New Computer?

Giphy

 You better watch this Bill O’Reilly’s money message before it’s too late.

One network flat out told us they refuse to run it because of its “conservative nature.” 
Wouldn’t you agree – that’s a direct violation of freedom of speech?
What we fear now is that other networks might piggyback on this ban…
So we’re doing all we can to get O’Reilly’s message to you… before it gets silenced altogether.
I urge you to watch it closely… and take notes.
You’ll discover the truth about the economy… and what it takes to dramatically build your wealth in the current markets.

Regards,
George Rayburn
Executive Vice President, The Oxford Club
P.S. You can walk away from with several great gifts in hand (including O’Reilly’s newest book that just sold 100k copies in its first six days). 

  SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY

FEATURED EVENT 1914 Beginning of World War I READ MORE FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis READ MORE   July 28

1929 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis American first lady 1954 Hugo Chávez president of Venezuela 1887 Marcel Duchamp French artist 1902 Karl Popper British philosopher 1635 Robert Hooke British scientist 1866 Beatrix Potter British author

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2005: The Irish Republican Army announced that it had ended its armed campaign and instead would pursue only peaceful means to achieve its objectives.

1991: Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain won his first of five consecutive Tour de France titles. [Sort fact from fiction in our Tour de France quiz.]

1976: An earthquake in the industrial city of Tangshan, China, killed more than 240,000 people. [Test your knowledge of natural disasters.]

1954: The classic film On the Waterfront—directed by Elia Kazan and featuring one of Marlon Brando's most iconic performances—was released in the United States. [ How much do you know about movies?]

1932: The first feature-length zombie film, White Zombie—inspired by the book and by a stage play called Zombie—was released in New York City; it starred Bela Lugosi. [ Take our film buff quiz.]

1868: The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution—which granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the Civil War —entered into force. [Test your knowledge of amendments to the U.S. Constitution.]

SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY

Columnists We've Reached A New Level of Idiocy From the Liberal Media With These Leftist Riots Matt Vespa Closed Schools and Open Borders are a Dangerous Combination Rep. David Brat The NRCC Fails To Silence Conservatives Like it Fails At Everything Else Kurt Schlichter To Hell With Professional Sports Derek Hunter Anti-Americanism: The New Anti-Semitism Dennis Prager America's Mindset Recovered From Spanish Flu for One Reason: Unity Salena Zito Paying People Not to Work Is Not an Economic Stimulus Stephen Moore Equal Accountability Needed for All Firms Listed on U.S. Exchanges Ken Blackwell American 'Stormtroopers': A Bright, Shining Lie Pat Buchanan ADVERTISEMENT Brady's Latest Effort Is Not About the Troops, It's About Control Mark Oliva Fear of Speech is Replacing Freedom of Speech Jeff Jacoby Street Mobs and Democrats Bill Murchison Trading In Our Heritage – or Pushing Back Robert Knight Why Masks? Why Lockdowns? Elliot Resnick Rioters Should Remember Their French Predecessors Mark Overstreet Rioters are Seditionists, Not Protesters Cal Thomas Leave it to Evers: Tough-talking Tony’s False Bravado M.D. Kittle Crushing Debt Is a Threat to Democracy Erica Rogers Video Gov. Evers: Saying Abortionists 'Execute Babies' Is 'Blasphemy' Trump blasts Schiff as 'political hack' Pelosi's condescension offers some laughs Pelosi open to border infrastructure INVESTING The Great Reopening Trade 2.0 - Bryan Perry Democratic Socialism Doesn’t Work Any Better Than Totalitarian Socialism What Really Matters To BLM? An Analysis Of Their Own Web Content Microsoft President Responds To Cavuto Question About Treatment Of Conservatives I Was Wrong About Jerry Falwell, Liberty U, And COVID-19 New York Real Estate, Largest Decline In 30 Years

Tipsheet The One Issue Bernie Delegates Want on the Party Platform... Or Else Beth Baumann Caller Threatens Trump Supporters on a CSPAN Show... and the Host Is Silent Beth Baumann Kaepernick, Fauci Receive Human Rights Award Madeline Peltzer Judge Orders Police to Hand Over Private Information About Gun Owners Beth Baumann Here's What's in the Senate GOP's New COVID Relief Plan Cortney O'Brien MLB Season Could Be Threatened Due to New COVID-19 Outbreak Alex Corey VIP Gold Chat: Townhall Media's Julio Rosas, Ed Morrissey & Cam Edwards - Wednesday, 12:30 PM ET Townhall.com Staff Iran Confirms Death Penalty for Five More Protesters Micaela Burrow Chinese 'Researchers' Charged with Visa Fraud Katie Pavlich Bernie Sanders Campaign Co-chair Explains What Voting for Biden Will Feel Like Cortney O'Brien ADVERTISEMENT Political Cartoons Bearing Arms Do Americans Need A "Gun Rights Champion?" | Tom Knighton Both Sides Arming Up In Utah Protests | Cam Edwards Seattle Pushes To "Abolish Prisons" | Tom Knighton The Unraveling States of America: Violence At Protests Up Sharply | Cam Edwards Police Investigate Political Motive Behind Murder Of Black Trump Backer | Tom Knighton

 

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Yale Epidemiology Professor Touts Hydroxychloroquine Against COVID-19

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