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TOGETHER WITH
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Good morning. In the latest edition of #brandfails, Volkswagen said it wasn’t changing
the name of its US division to “Voltswagen” after all, admitting that
its Tuesday announcement was just an April Fools' joke to promote its
new SUV, even though everyone believed it.
The lesson? April Fools' isn’t like Halloween or your most popular friend’s birthday...it doesn’t last an entire week.
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MARKETS 1-DAY PERFORMANCE
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*Stock data as of market close, crypto as of 8pm ET.
Here's what these numbers mean.
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Markets: The 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level
in more than a year, and if you’ve been reading the Brew in 2021 you
know exactly what’s coming next: Big Tech stocks tumbled. The good news
is that the fallout from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management has
not vibrated across the markets as feared.
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Economy: Consumer confidence hit a one-year high
in March with help from the most recent round of $1,400 stimulus checks
and vaccines. Over 37% of US adults have now received at least one
dose.
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Cameo
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Getting
Gilbert Gottfried to roast your friends is priceless. Cameo, the
platform that allows users to do just that, is not. Cameo is now valued
at $1 billion after raising $100 million in Series C funding yesterday.
It's
cantering with a growing herd of unicorns that focus on getting content
from creators → fans with the least amount of friction possible. That
herd really picked up the pace yesterday, because in addition to Cameo…
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Substack, a paid newsletter platform, is raising $65 million from venture capital firms at a valuation nearing $650 million, according to Axios.
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Unsplash, a site full of fledgling photographers' stock images, was acquired by Getty Images, its bigger and more expensive rival.
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Betty Labs, which runs a Clubhouse-for-sports live audio platform called Locker Room, was acquired by Spotify.
What's causing the "creator economy" to swell?
Platforms
like Cameo and Substack were already getting more popular as fans sought
out a more direct connection with creators, but the pandemic made
backstage content = all content. Deprived of new movies and bored of
baking sourdough, more people gravitated online to connect with their
increasingly accessible idols.
And as the financials for these companies show, cutting out the legacy media middleman means more money for everyone else...
- Patreon, which lets fans pay for bespoke creator content, became a unicorn last year.
- Also in 2020, the similar-but-significantly-more-NSFW platform OnlyFans made $300 million in profit on $400 million in revenue, per The Information.
- Cameo
said it made $100 million in gross revenue last year and left a lot more
than chump change on the table for creators, 150+ of whom made more
than $100,000.
Looking ahead...this
story could only culminate in crypto land. Dapper Labs, the company
that created the NFT marketplace NBA Top Shot, wrapped up a $305 million
financing round yesterday, raising its valuation to $2.6 billion. The
company's success represents yet another trendy way for creators, like
artists or musicians, to monetize their work—by minting it as an NFT
(non-fungible token).
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There's a close race to follow in Bessemer, AL, that decides whether or not 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers unionize. But like "election night" 2020, the count may take several days.
The country is watching
Organizers
want the Bessemer workers to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department
Store Union, which helps members bargain for better pay and working
conditions. High-profile figures ranging from NFL athletes to the president have voiced support.
- Organizers
have tied the rhetoric of their campaign to the civil rights movement.
An estimated 80% of the warehouse's workers are Black.
Amazon's response: It
raised its minimum wage to $15/hour—twice the minimum required in
Alabama—a couple years ago. Plus, workers already get healthcare,
vision, and dental benefits without paying union dues.
Both sides
can challenge whether the vote was conducted fairly. Union organizers
may bring up Amazon's anti-union messaging campaign at the warehouse,
which even followed workers into the bathroom.
Big picture:
This isn't about just one Amazon warehouse. After decades of waning
union participation, organizers hope this vote sparks "an explosion of
union organizing across the country."
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Francis Scialabba
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Americans have made good on their New Year's resolutions to finally get their own place. A little too good.
US home prices soared
11.2% annually in January—the biggest annual gain since 2006, according
to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national index. Phoenix (+15.8%),
Seattle (+14.3%), and San Diego (+14.2%) led the cities surveyed.
It's not so buyers can make it in time for mulching season
The pandemic
and low borrowing costs are still pushing buyers out of urban
apartments and into the suburbs. But as the pool of would-be buyers has
grown, supply's gotten tighter than a Lower East Side kitchen: In
February, available homes fell by nearly a third to just over 1
million.
Some experts
think rising mortgage rates could cool the market. As Treasury yields
move higher, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is now at
3.2%, up from historic lows last year.
Big picture: At
some point the market will slow down...but experts aren't sure when.
Until that happens, we're quitting the newsletter biz and going to build
some houses.
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Try it. Walk around this world feeling a little more casual, a bit more confident, and a lot more like yourself.
It’s a feeling achieved while wearing SeaVees.
They’ve been
mastering the art of casual confidence longer than we’ve been writing
electronic newsletters (and before email was a thing). Since 1964, SeaVees has been creating kicks that are intentionally simple, purposefully timeless, consciously crafted, and are sure to make you one confidently chill human being.
And if you’ve been spending quarantine getting way too acquainted with your TV, SeaVees has something for you. Their Hawthorne Magnum shoes are back in stock for the summer featuring two iconic prints of '80s television fame.
Now you can
enjoy the comfort of a modern sneaker with timeless style and have the
perfect excuse to show off your taste in classic TV.
Embrace your chill confidence and get 20% off your SeaVees with code MORNINGBREW20.
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Stat: Last
year, almost 65% of Google searches ended without a click to another
web property, according to a study by SimilarWeb. The numbers provide more ammo
to critics of Google's ability to control search results, but it also
reflects the rise in mobile browsing, where clicking out is less common.
Quote: "As far as WHO is concerned, all hypotheses remain on the table."
WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said an investigation into
Covid-19's origins (conducted by the WHO, by the way) did not
sufficiently look into the possibility of the virus being leaked by a
lab. The US and 13 other countries have also bashed the report, which concluded that bat → another animal → humans was the likeliest cause of the initial outbreak.
Read: The therapy-app fantasy. (The Cut)
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Only the best animated movie ever, The Emperor's New Groove
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Jane from Seattle's Q: I've been hearing the word "leverage" in this story about the hedge fund that blew up. Can you explain what that is?
The Brew's A: The concept of leverage in finance is similar to the concept of leverage outside
of finance. Their origins lie in the lever, a machine that requires you
to only apply a little effort to generate a lot of force. Levers in the
physical world include scissors, bottle openers, and baseball bats.
In the
financial world, investors use the term "leverage" to refer to debt
that's used to fund transactions. The idea is to borrow money to make
purchases that, over time, can make you far more money than your initial
capital could. In other words, if you want to hit a ball 300 yards, you
need a golf club instead of a soup spoon.
But while
leverage can increase your reward, it can also increase risk, which is
where the story of this hedge fund, Archegos Capital Management, comes
in. Archegos used a tool called "swaps" to build large positions in
stocks without providing lots of money up-front. Last week, that
strategy backfired in spectacular fashion when those stock prices fell,
and the banks that lent Archegos the money sold tens of billions worth
of shares, deepening the pain.
For more on this saga, our video guy Dan Toomey put together a hilarious clip explaining what happened.
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President Biden will unveil his big infrastructure and manufacturing plan today in Pittsburgh.
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NFL owners approved a plan to extend the league's schedule by one game, to 17.
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Here's a good overview of office reopenings around the country.
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Virgin Galactic's got a cool-looking new spaceship.
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George RR Martin is helping write a stage adaptation of Game of Thrones. Makes sense, but a Lin-Manuel Miranda version is also hilarious to think about.
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Chipotle's National Burrito Day promotion lets customers enter for a chance to win a free burrito or up to $25,000 in Bitcoin.
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People, use protection. For your house, geeze. SimpliSafe
protects your home with 24/7 monitoring by real, empathetic humans
ready to dispatch whatever you need. It’s like a big cozy blanket
that’ll also terrify robbers. Get your SimpliSafe security system here.*
Crypto isn’t just about coins. The Motley Fool
has found a small company with potential to be at the heart of crypto
trading—and investors could possibly make money regardless of how the
coins are moving. Motley Fool Stock Advisor members can get all the info now.*
Secrets don't make friends: But they do make Frappuccinos. Starbucks's 50th birthday was yesterday, so here are all the secret menu items you can annoy baristas with by ordering.
Ferocious: Listen to the “sonorous war cry” of a very angry frog here.
Tech Tip...Wednesday? Google Maps's new indoor feature.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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On Monday, we said this would be a ginormous week for the Brew. We dropped our new Markets design yesterday, and today…
...we’re letting you know that we have a new newsletter: Sunday Edition.
Well, it’s
not completely new. If you’re signed up for the Brew, you’re signed up
for Sunday Edition, so you don’t need to do anything to get it. Just
make it through this week and on Sunday, April 4, it’ll pop into your
inbox like an old friend.
But Sunday Edition will
be different than the Monday–Saturday editions in many (great) ways.
Over the next few days, we’ll give you a peek behind the curtain into
what it's all about, then you can open on Sunday to see the real deal.
Until then?  .
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A poll by Vox and Data for Progress
examined the popularity of billionaires in the US. We covered up the
names of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk with
black rectangles in the chart below. Can you match the billionaire to
their favorability rating?
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When you share the Brew with your network, you earn free swag like our classic Morning Brew t-shirt.
Are
you one of those people who is always going places? Then you probably
need a shirt. Might as well be this bad boy with the Morning Brew logo
plastered across the chest.
Hit the button below to learn more and access your rewards hub.
Click to ShareOr copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a17a7110
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A = Bill Gates
B = Elon Musk
C = Jeff Bezos
D = Mark Zuckerberg
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| ADVERTISEMENT |
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SE
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March 31
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| FEATURED BIOGRAPHY
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| Zaha Hadid
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| FEATURED EVENT
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| 1889
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| Eiffel Tower inaugurated
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E ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY
| ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY
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Al Gore
vice president of United States
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Rep.
Matt Gaetz a ‘Subject’ in DOJ Sex Trafficking Case
GOP
Governors Ignore Biden’s Plea for Extended Mask Mandates
SPECIAL: You’ll
Never Believe Who’s Calling Trump the Worst President of All Time
Biden’s
$3T Infrastructure Bill Funded by Big Tax Hikes on Business
House
Upholds $5K Fine on Rep. Gohmert for Refusing Metal Detector
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March 31st, 2021
| Do you want to carry a gun? | | Because
of a legal loophole you can still download a certification for
America's top CCW gun permit from this website. (And you don't have to
leave your house to do it).
Read More › |
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