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Good morning. After a one-year absence due to the pandemic, the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals return tonight, but with an entirely new slate of judges: iPhones that autocorrect to "ducking," the red squiggly line, and people who end relationships over the wrong use of "your." Good luck to the contestants!

MARKETS Nasdaq 14,665.06 +0.01% S&P 4,358.13 +0.34% Dow 34,681.79 +0.30% Bitcoin $34,240.35 +0.25% 10-Year 1.319% -3.3 bps Apple $144.57 +1.80% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. Markets: After taking a one-day breather, the S&P once again closed at a record thanks to a push by Big Tech names like Apple (which also hit a record). World: Haiti’s interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, declared a “state of siege” and called for calm after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by gunmen early Wednesday morning, causing an already unstable situation in the country to deteriorate further.

TECH The Great Chinese Tech Spanking of 2021 NYC-listed, Beijing-based companies have been thrown on a bucking bronco by the Chinese government this year. And the g-forces have only been ramping up this week as China seeks to curtail its tech giants’ power and get a tighter grip on the data they hold. The crackdown has fully spooked investors: More than $800 billion of market value has been wiped from Chinese tech giants since a February peak; ride-hailing company Didi has lost more than $17 billion in value since Monday.  A brief timeline  In April, China blocked Jack Ma’s Ant Group from going public (it was on track to be the biggest IPO...ever) and forced the company to restructure. One month later, China’s Cyberspace Administration called out 105 apps, including ByteDance-owned Douyin (better known as TikTok in the US), for collecting and illegally accessing user data. Then last month, Chinese regulators reportedly tried to delay ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing’s IPO. When Didi decided to go public anyway last week, the government halted new app downloads and user signups in China.  The latest: The China Securities Regulatory Commission is planning to close a legal loophole that has long been used by major Chinese companies, including Alibaba and Tencent, to go public in the US. The change would force companies classified under a certain corporate structure (known as the Variable Interest Entity model if you want to sound smart af) to seek the government’s approval before listing shares in the US or Hong Kong.  Looking ahead...all this could lead to a possible techxodus of up to $2 trillion worth of shares from US markets to China. Hong Kong could soon become the only place for non-Chinese investors to buy stakes in Chinese tech companies as regulators throttle firms listed in the US.  If you don’t believe us, the Hong Kong stock exchange’s holding company, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, jumped as much as 6.2% yesterday.

REAL ESTATE When Downtowns Turn Into Ghost Towns If there’s no one to buy a $15 Sweetgreen salad and bring it back to their desk to eat all alone, does downtown even exist?  A jump in remote/hybrid work post-Covid could threaten central business districts in places like Boston and San Francisco, where office space makes up 70%–80% of downtown real estate, per a new study from the NYT’s Upshot with CoStar.  The threat is real:  Even as some large banks push employees back into NYC skyscrapers, 74% of Fortune 500 CEOs around the country are looking to cut office space.  In downtown DC, daytime population took a nosedive, dropping 82% from February 2020 to February 2021. The takeaway: Not all US downtowns are equally vulnerable to a tumbleweed-rolling-across-the-street future. Cities like San Diego and Nashville that have a more balanced makeup of residential, retail, and office space in their central districts could be more resilient coming out of the pandemic. But cities that aren’t as balanced will need to get creative in repurposing office space to avoid widespread vacancies and lower property tax revenue.

ENERGY What's Behind the Oil Squabble in the Gulf? Francis Scialabba You might’ve seen recent headlines mentioning an unusual dispute among OPEC members that’s causing major uncertainty in the oil market, especially as gas prices continue to tick up in the US. What’s going on: The United Arab Emirates blocked a plan introduced by its friend and neighbor, Saudi Arabia, that would boost oil output in stages. The UAE wants to increase its own production by more than the Saudi plan allows for, so talks fell apart and oil prices hit a six-year high earlier this week. The UAE’s strategy: The country is envisioning a future with more renewable energy and stricter climate-focused policies. It wants to pump (and sell) as much oil as it can now to snag as much market share as possible when demand hits its peak, estimated to be around 2030.  Looking ahead...the UAE and Saudi Arabia have brought riches to the Gulf through the extraction of oil; they want to use that wealth to prepare for a time when fossil fuels won’t be as lucrative—and divergent strategies are leading them to butt heads.

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GRAB BAG Key Performance Indicators Stat: Sotheby’s is auctioning a gigantic pear-shaped 101.38-carat diamond this Friday, but there’s a decentralized twist: the auction house will accept bitcoin or ether as payment. With an expected sale price of as much as $15 million, it would be the most expensive physical object ever publicly offered for purchase using crypto. Quote: A “very beautiful development.” That’s how President Trump described his class-action lawsuit against Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as most of their chief executives, for allegedly violating his free speech rights. Experts say the challenge is a Hail Mary, but either way Trump began to send fundraising emails off of it immediately.  Read: Some misunderstandings around the Sha’Carri Richardson saga. (The Range Report)

SHIPPING Whatever Refloats Your Boat Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images More than three months after the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal—and our hearts—the 1,300-foot container ship was released from boat jail yesterday following an investigation into whose fault the whole fiasco really was.  Ever Given’s blockage of a crucial trade route for six days in March racked up almost $1 billion in delays and rescue costs. So as soon as the ship was refloated, Egyptian officials seized it and said, “Somebody’s gotta pay for this.” The ship owner’s lawyers argued that the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) shouldn’t have allowed the ship into the canal in the first place because of the impending sandstorm that eventually caused the ship to run aground. In the end, Ever Given’s owner and insurers paid the SCA an undisclosed amount—some Egyptian media reported $550 million and a “we’re sorry” tugboat—and the ship carrying goods worth hundreds of millions continued its much-delayed journey to the Netherlands.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING The Delta variant is now the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the US, according to the CDC. Melinda Gates will resign from the foundation she and her ex-husband Bill founded if they find they can’t work together successfully over the next two years, per the foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman. Google was hit by an antitrust lawsuit from dozens of states targeting its Google Play store. Chobani filed confidentially to go public, and it could be worth as much as $10 billion when it rings the bell. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the NHL's Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.

SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL The future is unpredictable...ish. Some people, like the smarties behind The Motley Fool Stock Advisor,  seem to have a pretty good pulse on potential stock earners. For instance, if you had bought Tesla when they recommended it back in 2012, you’d be up 9,649% today. They are always finding potential portfolio performers and giving them right to you. Score their latest picks—and 50% off your Stock Advisor subscription—when new members sign up today. [Returns as of 7/1/2021] *Based on $199/year list price. Introductory promotion for new members only.

BREW'S BETS “What do you think?” You probably won’t ever say that again once you read this guide to asking useful questions. Kitchen essentials: If you’re planning on spending a few weeks at an Airbnb this summer, check out this vacation rental kitchen checklist. Refresh your thinking on deadlines by going inside the mind of a master procrastinator.

GAMES The Puzzle Section Brew Mini: Completed by the Brew Crew in a record 32 seconds. Beat that!  Three Headlines and a Lie  Can you spot the fake headline hidden among the three real news stories?  Mayor of Texas town accidentally sells high school for $790,000 Teletubbies announce they have received Covid-19 vaccines and prompt hilarious reactions World’s first elderly sex robot with ‘wrinkles and silver hair’ created by RealDoll Cop played Taylor Swift song hoping YouTube’s copyright system would block BLM protestor’s video, ploy backfires

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ANSWER No Texas schools were accidentally sold in the making of this newsletter

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Look What Happened America needs this >> Look What They Just Gave Jen Psaki - Absolutely Disgraceful This is wrong! >>   Meghan McCain DEMOLISHES Disgraced Olympian for Turning her Back on the Flag [Yes or No] Trump Delivered on the Promises He Made to America (sponsor) MSNBC’s Scarborough Melts Down As Democrat Infrastructure Deal Faces Doom Is it too late to get to the bottom of COVID origins in China? Kamala Harris allegedly keeps a list of ‘enemy’ journalists Ron DeSantis Just AXED IT - It's Over!   Read This Alert >>> - AD CONTENT - Bill Gates Launches DISTURBING New Scheme... Too Far?   Read This Alert >>> Ocasio-Cortez Just Did Something DISGUSTING - Remove Her Now!   Read This Alert >>> Mitt Romney Gets HUMILIATING News - Exactly What He Deserves!   Read This Alert >>> BIG Donald Trump News Rocks GOP - Media In Panic!   Read This Alert >>> - AD CONTENT - July 08 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Kim Il-Sung READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1497 Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India READ MORE SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1839 John D. Rockefeller American industrialist 1970 Beck American singer-songwriter 1944 Jeffrey Tambor American actor 1951 Anjelica Huston American actress 1908 Nelson Rockefeller vice president of United States 1593 Artemisia Gentileschi Italian painter MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2011: The orbiter Atlantis was launched on the last space shuttle mission. [Sort fact from fiction in our space exploration quiz.] 1996: The British pop band the Spice Girls released their debut single, Wannabe, which helped make them an international sensation. [Test your knowledge of musical groups.] 1950: Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War. [ Take our history of war quiz.] 1906: Philip Johnson, an architect and critic known for his promotion of the International Style and, later, for his role in defining postmodernist architecture, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. [Take our history of architecture quiz.] 1896: William Jennings Bryan delivered his “ Cross of Gold” speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. [Test your knowledge of U.S. presidential elections.] 1889: Journalist Charles Henry Dow published the first issue of The Wall Street Journal . SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY