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TOGETHER WITH
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Good morning. How
are everyone's New Year's resolutions going so far? This might be a
fireable offense at a company called Morning Brew but...some writers
here are trying to ditch the coffee habit. Trust us, writing this
newsletter every single day gives you plenty of adrenaline.
See also: tea.
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NASDAQ
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12,683.26
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- 1.59%
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S&P
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3,693.73
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- 1.66%
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DOW
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30,137.99
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- 1.53%
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GOLD
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1,944.40
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+ 2.60%
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10-YR
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0.916%
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- 0.30 bps
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OIL
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47.52
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- 2.06%
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*As of market close
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Markets: Stocks pulled back from their record highs yesterday, the first trading day of 2021.
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Senate: The massively important Georgia runoff elections
that will determine control of the Senate are being held today. GOP
Sen. David Perdue is facing Democrat Jon Ossoff, and GOP Sen. Kelly
Loeffler is facing Democrat Raphael Warnock.
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Francis Scialabba
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A union. The
rift between Google employees and management continued to escalate
Monday, when 226 workers revealed they had formed the Alphabet Workers Union, a reference to Google's parent company.
- The group will be supported by the Communications Workers of America, which operates in the IT and telecom industries.
Why it matters: In
Silicon Valley, unions are rarer than personal style. Salaries aren't
particularly contentious because they're already quite high, and the
tech industry's globally scattered workforces are hard to organize, per the NYT. So this development is...a major development.
But it's not surprising
For years,
Google employees have criticized management for their approach to issues
including sexual harassment in the workplace, the company's work with
the Pentagon, and treatment of contract workers. A few examples:
- In 2018, more than 20,000 Googlers walked out of work to protest the company's handling of sexual assault claims.
- That same year, thousands of employees signed a petition
protesting Google's work with Project Maven, a Defense Department
initiative that could theoretically improve the precision of drone
strikes. Google discontinued the contract.
- The most recent flashpoint was the December 2020 firing of leading AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who said Google dismissed her because she was fighting bias in algorithms.
In response
to the new union, Google's Director of People Operations Kara
Silverstein said, "We've always worked hard to create a supportive and
rewarding workplace for our workforce. Of course, our employees have
protected labor rights that we support. But as we've always done, we'll
continue engaging directly with all our employees."
Zoom out: Other
labor organizing efforts in tech are in the works. Kickstarter workers
unionized last year, and Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama will likely vote in a few weeks on whether to form the company's first U.S. union.
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Yesterday, Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway confirmed they're disbanding Haven, their high-profile, would-be healthcare disruptor.
Investors
were more excited for the joint venture's arrival in January 2018 than
Bachelor nation was for last night's premiere. Haven's premature demise
is a reminder that the U.S. healthcare sector is incredibly resistant to makeovers, even with three iconic American corporations working together.
What went wrong?
A big part
of the problem, CNBC reports, was that each company was also running
separate healthcare projects, which sort of defeated the point of
working together to tackle rising employee healthcare costs.
- After two years, Haven's biggest announcements were 1) its name and 2) no-deductible plans with wellness incentives for employees of Amazon, JPMorgan, and some Berkshire companies.
- The joint venture also faced departures from several high-profile execs, including CEO Atul Gawande last May.
Looking ahead...even without Haven, Amazon has big healthcare plans,
including the wearable health tracker Amazon Halo, virtual and
in-person Amazon Care clinics for employees, new Alexa features, and
prescription deliveries through its digital Amazon Pharmacy.
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Wang HE/Getty Images
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It's a question many in the business world have been asking this week.
The billionaire founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba and its fintech affiliate, Ant Group, has not made a public appearance since he gave a controversial speech at a Chinese economic forum in late October.
- In that surprisingly
aggressive speech, Ma criticized Chinese regulators for throwing a wet
blanket on innovation in the financial sector.
He got sent to the principal's office
On November
2, a few days after the speech, Ma was called in by authorities for
questioning. Ant's IPO, which was expected to be the largest in history,
was nixed the next day. And after Ma missed an appearance as a judge on his own Shark Tank-esque TV show last week, raised eyebrows turned into raised alarms.
Zoom out: Ma
could be sipping Mai Tai's on a secluded beach for all we know, but
given his recent run-ins with Chinese authorities, investors are starting to get antsy. Alibaba's stock fell a little over 3% yesterday.
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Giphy
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If 2020's
focus was the healthcare response to the pandemic, 2021 "will
overwhelmingly be about economic responses to Covid-19's lingering
symptoms and scar tissue (debt burdens and misaligned politics),"
Eurasia Group wrote in its 2021 political risk report, published yesterday.
More than 7
billion people need to be vaccinated. Countries are facing higher
unemployment, rising debt loads, and unequal recoveries.
That's not even the No. 1 risk
So what's scarier than Covid-19? The U.S. government.
Specifically,
a Joe Biden presidency hindered by a split Congress, growing political
polarization, and unfounded allegations of a fraudulent election by
outgoing President Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers.
- Fearing another "America
First" president come 2024, foreign leaders may hesitate to coordinate
action with the U.S. as they have following previous crises.
Other risks identified by Eurasia Group: The
challenge of executing net-zero emissions plans without global
coordination. Ongoing U.S.-China tensions. The departure of German
chancellor (and Europe's de facto leader) Angela Merkel. More
cyberattacks. The collapse in oil demand weighing on energy-producing
countries. And growing calls to rein in cross-border data flows.
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Especially
when it comes to safety protocols for large sporting events involving
tall humans and squeaky shoes. Yesterday, the NCAA announced it will be
adopting an NBA-esque bubble approach to hosting its men's postseason basketball tournament, aka March Madness.
- Basketball-lovin’
Indiana is the locale of choice, with the majority of games taking place
in multiple venues across Indianapolis.
Economically, it's a mixed bag
The Division I men's tournament generates around $868 million annually
from television and marketing rights alone. That's the vast majority of
the NCAA's annual revenue, so putting on a tournament at all after last
year's cancellation would be a Hoosiers-level victory.
Still, the
13 metro areas that typically host opening-round matchups will miss out
on the economic activity generated by UMBC fans hitting the town to
celebrate an upset win.
Zoom out: While
the NBA's bubble experiment for the 2020 season provided a blueprint
for the NCAA, March Madness is a much bigger logistical challenge. Only
22 NBA teams entered the Orlando bubble, but 68 will arrive in Indiana
this March.
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The New York Stock Exchange reversed its decision to delist three major Chinese telecom companies.
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British PM Boris Johnson
ordered a nationwide lockdown until mid-February to combat the spread
of the highly contagious new coronavirus variant. Schools and all
nonessential retail must close.
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That new variant has been found in infected people in several U.S. states, including New York.
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Top business leaders pressed lawmakers to certify Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election when they convene tomorrow.
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Slack suffered a major outage for several hours yesterday morning, disrupting WFH operations across the globe.
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SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci's hedge fund, is launching a bitcoin-focused fund. SkyBridge is down 7.5% on the year.
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Important fast food updates: McDonald's is launching new chicken sandwiches and Chipotle added cauliflower rice for a limited time.
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A new year calls for a new (and delicious) morning ritual. Sakara’s Metabolism Super Powder controls cravings and eliminates bloat while firing up your metabolism and boosting energy. Get 20% off Sakara’s plant-based Super Powder using code BREW2021.*
They got you covered. Policygenius
will help you cross “get life insurance” off your 2021 to-do list. By
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50% on life insurance. That could be $1,300 or more per year! Yowza! Get covered today.*
Tech Tip Tuesday: Learn all about the hidden tricks behind "user experience" (UX) with this exclusive deep dive into Spotify's new Group Sessions feature.
Career advice: a Twitter thread that will make you think differently. And more wisdom from Charlie Munger.
Air frying a hot dog for 120 minutes: Don't try this at home.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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Something named "Stellantis" was in the news yesterday. What is it?
- The name of SpaceX's next-gen rocket
- A small cryptocurrency that gained 500% in one day after it was endorsed by three former Treasury secretaries
- A virtual reality unicorn that just raised $150 million from SoftBank
- The new auto company created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA
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Enjoying the Brew? Consider sharing it with a friend.
When
you do, we don’t just give you a pat on the back and say, “Well done
old sport.” You earn rewards like our classic coffee mug or T-shirt.
Hit the button below to start sharing the Brew.
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It's the new automaker. Pretty cool name, honestly.
Did Mail-In Voting Change the Results of the 2020 Election?
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January 05
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| FEATURED BIOGRAPHY
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| Umberto Eco
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| FEATURED EVENT
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| 1933
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| Golden Gate Bridge construction begun
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Today's Top Stories
| Biden's Tax Plan Is A "Raw New Deal" For Retirees. Here's Why... |
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Joe Biden has a long history of screwing over retirees.
It started in 1983, when he voted to slap income taxes on 50% of Social Security income, income that had previously been tax-free.
In 1994, he voted to up the amount of Social Security benefits subject to taxation, to 85%.
In 2000, he turned his attention to estate taxes, voting AGAINST the Estate Tax Elimination Act that would have phased out certain estate taxes by 2010.
Now, he wants to raise over $3.3 TRILLION in taxes...
And he's got his eye on America's nest eggs...
His plan?
He wants to expand estate taxes and "equalize" benefits across
tax brackets.
Now that word "equalize"...
It's not the same as "fair"...
"Equalize" means some will come out ahead... while others will
end up with less.
What will happen to you?
What will you LET happen to you?
It's worth considering.
Are you prepared to accept the worst... the potential for higher
taxes, fewer benefits, less money overall for yourself...
Or do you want to do something about it -- BEFORE Joe Biden
takes office and changes the tax laws?
Right now -- but potentially not for much longer -- there's a
unique IRS loophole that could protect your IRA, 401(k), pension, TSP, or savings account from Joe Biden's "Raw New Deal".
You could protect your money 100% tax- and penalty-free, too.
For now.
All the details are laid out for you in this FREE GUIDE to protecting your wealth and retirement savings.
But you'll want to act fast. Joe Biden has a lot of plans for
"Day One" in office.
Don't let his plans ruin yours...
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>> CLICK HERE <<
Get A FREE Copy Of My Special Report
"Can Your Retirement Survive" Today!
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| ADVERTISEMENT |
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