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Good morning. Despite spending every day together, we realized we know basically nothing about you except your email address (shoutout to everyone still clinging to AOL). That’s a problem because having just a little more info would allow us to make our content better for you. For example, if 90% of our audience lived in California we’d probably write “the” before mentioning interstate highways so you wouldn’t be confused.  That’s a silly joke, but in all seriousness, we’d be grateful if you filled out this short form to allow us to get to know you better. If you need an extra push, we’re also giving away $50 Amazon gift cards to 10 readers who complete the survey.* Thanks in advance. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Sherry Qin

MARKETS Nasdaq 14,656.18 -0.93% S&P 4,448.08 -0.71% Dow 35,343.28 -0.79% Bitcoin $44,790.78 -2.62% 10-Year 1.264% -1.2 bps Home Depot $320.70 -5.39% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. Markets: Retail and Big Tech were the ankle weights that slowed down the stock market yesterday. Home Depot’s Q2 results showed that there are only so many decks one homeowner can possibly build; the pandemic-era DIY boom is effectively over. Covid: Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who's been tussling with local officials over his banning of mask mandates in schools, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The TSA also extended its mask requirement on flights, buses, and trains through Jan. 18.

RETAIL Can Kids Revive Retail? Big Mouth They may roll their eyes, have cooties, and never admit they started it, but kids are really good at making you buy them things—and that may be key to jumpstarting a stagnant retail industry. With the return to in-person education, total back-to-school spending in the US will hit a record $37.1 billion this year, up from $33.9 billion in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $848.90 on school supplies, a $59 increase over last year. Stores could use the youthful energy Retail sales fell more than expected (-1.1%) in July, the Commerce Department said yesterday. That dip can likely be explained by skittishness over the Delta variant, as well as a broader shift in spending from goods to services during the summer. Walmart and Home Depot, which both reported earnings yesterday, revealed a slowdown in sales growth from earlier this year.  And remember, consumer sentiment plunged to its lowest level since 2011 last month. Plus, we’re in a pandemic And that means things cost more and there’s not enough of them. With inflation on the rise, consumers should expect to pay 10%–15% more compared to last year for apparel, according to USA Today.  Chalk, wooden block sets, and dry-erase markers are in short supply due to shipping delays and other supply chain hiccups, according to the Washington Post. Even worse, a Cincinnati-area Walmart ran out of all Disney backpacks. On the bright side...if Walmart is any indication (it is), the back-to-school shopping season has started off with a bang. The retailer said its stores were busy with parents buying backpacks, lunch boxes, and other school supplies for their kids, and even raised its revenue outlook for the year. — NF

COVID Booster Shots: A Matter of When, Not If Hope you have enough storage in your phone for one more vaccine selfie: The White House is expected to announce this week that most Americans will need a Covid booster shot eight months after their second doses. After the FDA authorized Pfizer’s and Moderna’s boosters for some Americans last week, the third dose could be available for your arm as early as mid-September, per the NYT.  Why booster shots? Growing case numbers in highly vaccinated countries show that vaccine effectiveness may wear off over time, particularly against the Delta variant. Israel reported that the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against severe disease has fallen to as low as 55% for elderly people who received their second shots in January or February.  Nearly 1 million Israelis have already received booster shots. NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said the data from Israel prompted US health officials to rethink their position on dose No. 3.   Zoom out: Wealthy countries are full-steam ahead with their booster programs, despite the WHO calling on them to share vaccines with lower-income nations first. – SQ

CREATOR ECONOMY OnlyFans Goes SFW OFTV We still don’t recommend scrolling through OnlyFans at work, but the company’s latest product—a new app for Android and iOS—is much closer to PG. Until now, the platform known for connecting fans with their favorite NSFW creators has been barred from appearing on Google's and Apple’s app stores. The workaround: a new product called OFTV that contains a library of over 800 videos featuring the same creators from its site...but with more clothing. For instance, OFTV users can watch the original series Unlocked, which features candid chats with famous OnlyFans creators including Mia Khalifa and Bella Thorne. OFTV won’t make any money At least not directly. Instead, the app will act as a marketing vehicle for the main website experience. And while OFTV won’t ditch the creators who helped drive OnlyFans revenue 553% higher last year, the app will also feature chefs, pilates instructors, and podcasters. Why? The OFTV app is part of OnlyFans’s ongoing push to more closely align itself with other fan-fueled platforms like Substack and Patreon, rather than PornHub Premium, as it eyes a unicorn valuation. — JW

SPONSORED BY DROP We’re Calling It Quits on Unrequited Love And you should, too. So when you spend money with brands and show them all the feels, it's about time you started getting some xoxo right back. Which is exactly what you get with Drop. It’s the app that lets you spend money on your favorite things and get points back everytime you shop at over 500 top brands. Then you can redeem your points for free gift cards (yes, free). All you have to do is link your credit and/or debit card when you sign up and start shopping at the places you already are spending your moola—like Apple, Amazon, Uber, and more. Brew readers can even use this extra special link for 10,000 points (aka: $10) once you earn your first 1,000 points on the app. Even better—Drop’s birthday is next week, and they’re celebrating with the best offers and millions of points to giveaways. There's never been a better time to get started with Drop.

GRAB BAG Key Performance Indicators Stat: More than a month ago, college athletes were granted the ability to earn $$$ off their name, image, and likeness (NIL). So how much are they making? A D1 athlete earned $471 on average in July, with football players capturing 79% of all NIL market share, per the marketing platform Opendorse. The most popular way to make money was via social media promotions (46% of all NIL money earned). Quote: “This is an extraordinary time, and I believe that it will result in an extraordinary generation. You will see the world differently than your predecessors. You have been forced, sooner than most people, to consider what in life is truly important.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell talked about the pandemic’s effect on students at a town hall meeting yesterday.  Read: The 21 most exciting young musicians on planet Earth. (GQ)

STRATEGY Palantir Loads Up on Physical Bitcoin

Palantir, the data analytics software company cofounded by Peter Thiel, revealed in a filing that it bought $50.7 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars. Why? “You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events,” COO Shyam Sankar told Bloomberg. A black swan event is a potentially devastating economic crisis that no one sees coming—like, say, Covid-19. Where? The gold will be stored in a secure location in the northeastern US, so...nowhere near a New York bar's coatrack.  Gold is considered a safe-haven asset that offers protection against inflation. However, it is down about 7% this year even as consumer prices have surged. Why it matters: A small but growing number of public companies have put their cash to work by buying bitcoin (most famously, Tesla). But Palantir is putting its own spin on the genre, investing in gold bars and pouring $250 million into startups that use Palantir software. As for putting bitcoin on its balance sheet, “The short answer is yes, we’re thinking about it,” finance chief Dave Glazer said in May. — NF

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING The Taliban, in their first news conference since taking over power in Afghanistan, said women will be allowed to work "within the framework of Islamic law." What that means in practice is unclear. The New Zealand dollar fell when the country announced a three-day lockdown (at minimum) after detecting a single coronavirus case. Poly Network, the DeFi platform that was hacked to the tune of $600 million worth of tokens, is now asking the hacker to become a security advisor to the company. Most of the money has been returned. Star investor Cathie Wood defended her innovation-focused strategy after Michael Burry, of The Big Short fame, made a nearly $31 million bet against her firm. Google’s new Pixel phone, reviewed.

SPONSORED BY PAYCOM Your people want the power. Employee-driven payroll is the next great HR revolution, and you can be ahead of the curve. How? By reading the article we put together with our pals at Paycom. In it, you’ll learn how putting payroll in the hands of the people can reduce employer liability and increase transparency. Oh, and there’s even a pretty nifty piece of tech in there called Beti you might want to get acquainted with. All the details are here in our latest article with the HR pros at Paycom. Read it here.

BREW'S BETS New Boston Dynamics vid: Something tells us this kind of robot parkour might be an Olympic sport not too long from now...or used to annihilate the human race. One or the other. We're never gonna give you up: Which is why it’s important that you dive into the visual history of Rickrolling. High steaks: Step inside the largest cast iron pan factory to see how these kitchen marvels are made.

GAMES The Puzzle Section Word Search: All you need is a ball and a hoop to complete today's puzzle. Play it here. For the Gram  Can you spot the grammar errors in the following WSJ sentences?  The hackers all met in an online forum called OGUsers, where access to a variety of gaming, social media and other types of accounts are bought and sold, investigators say. The case shone a light on the security practices of a company that is facing pressure from many fronts. Continental voters would be loathe to scrap the EU, but they increasingly want to change it. The traders took turns driving coffles of heavily shackled, ill-clad, barely fed chattel as many as 1,000 miles on foot.

FROM THE CREW Enroll In Brew U Are you still in college? Cherish it. And think about becoming a Brew U ambassador this fall. It's a program designed for ambitious college students who are looking to spread the Brew on your campus—and learn a ton about the business world while doing it. What you'll get:  Direct marketing experience A network of like-minded students from across the country Potentially some   if your team comes out on top Plus, if you ever pursue a diplomatic job overseas, you can say you've worked as an ambassador What we'll get: Invited to your house parties. Ha, no, totally kidding...unless?  The deadline to apply is in less than a week—August 23. Gather up your team and sign up here.

ANSWER 1. Access is bought and sold, not “are” 2. The past tense of shine is shined when the verb has an object 3. Loathe is to hate something; the correct spelling of this word, meaning reluctant, is “loath” 4. It should be “as much as” or “as long as” 1,000 miles on foot because it’s a measurement.   UN Official ‘Optimistic’ About Taliban Takeover Biden State Dept. Begs Taliban to Guarantee Women's Rights SPECIAL: New Retirement Time Bomb Could Take 50% of Your Savings Lapdog Media Turn on Biden over Afghanistan ‘Catastrophe’ Fired Tenn. Vax Official May Have Staged ‘Hate’ Hoax Top Biden Admin Official Admits They Didn’t See Afghanistan Disaster Coming Biden Must Answer For The Disaster In Kabul Taliban Fighters with Helicopter Filled with Weapons Take Ride Over Afghanistan Former Tennessee Vaccine Chief Faked Threat By Mailing Dog Muzzle To Her Own Office [DEVELOPING] - Horrific Kidnapping Confirmed - Details Released READ THIS ALERT >> JUST IN: Russian Military CONFIRMS Terrifying News - Oh No READ THE ALERT >> [ALERT] - LOCKED Up For 2 YEARS... Terrifying Discovery Sets Him Free READ THIS ALERT >> Today's News Articles White House OFFICIALS Break Down - Finally Admit The Truth...   Read This Alert >>> Taliban Orders Joe Biden To Remove U.S. Troops By 9/11 Here's What We Know >> RECENTLY FEATURED

NEW Jan. 6 Emails Uncovered; Biden Pentagon Sued for Info on Targeting Conservatives Rubio: Biden Administration ‘Arrogantly’ Ignored Warnings on Afghanistan Biden on Afghanistan: ‘I stand squarely behind my decision’ Biden’s Genius: Withdrawas 2,500 Troops from Afghanistan, Deploy Thousands More   August 18 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Born On This Day Virginia Dare English colonist READ MORE FEATURED EVENT 1920 Nineteenth Amendment ratified READ MORE MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2008: Facing possible impeachment, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf resigned from office. [Test your knowledge of world governments and their leaders.] 1992: American basketball player Larry Bird—who led the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time—announced his retirement. [How much do you know about basketball?] 1969: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair—a legendary rock festival near Bethel, New York, that attracted some 400,000 fans—ended. [Test your knowledge of rock and roll.] 1958: Russian-born American author Vladimir Nabokov published his controversial novel Lolita, about a middle-aged man who becomes obsessed with a 12-year-old girl. [Take our quiz about famous novels.] 1936: American actor and director Robert Redford, who was known for the diversity of his screen characterizations as well as his commitment to environmental and political causes, was born. [Test your knowledge of actors and acting.] 1936: Federico García Lorca, who is widely considered the most important Spanish poet and playwright of the 20th century, was murdered (this day or August 19) by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. [Take our theatre quiz.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1952 Patrick Swayze American actor and dancer 1933 Roman Polanski Polish film director 1936 Robert Redford American actor and director 1969 Edward Norton American actor 1830 Franz Joseph emperor of Austria-Hungary 1750 Antonio Salieri Italian composer SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY     BREAKING: Gavin Newsom RECALL Shocker - GOP Is Celebrating Read the details... Columnists Jimmy Carter II Kurt Schlichter Finally, CNN Allows the Taliban to Tell Their Side of the Story Brad Slager Coronavirus Censorship John Stossel Why 2020 was Unique Byron York Hunter Biden: Bane of the 'Mainstream' Press Tim Graham Debacle in Afghanistan Symptom of Confusion at Home Star Parker Biden's Dithering Doomed Afghanis Betsy McCaughey The Tragedy in Kabul Terry Jeffrey Biden's Afghanistan Disaster Didn't Have To Happen Austin Bay Tipsheet Why Kamala Harris Will Have a Very Hard Time Selling Her Pre-planned Message for Asia Trip Leah Barkoukis Why One Ex-CIA Agent Says We Could Enter One of the Most Dangerous Times in History Post-Afghanistan Matt Vespa 'We Are No Longer Respected': Donald Trump Blasts Biden in Hannity Exclusive Spencer Brown Twitter Says the Taliban is Allowed to Remain on its Platform as Long as Rules are Followed Landon Mion House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Calls on Tony Blinken, Lloyd Austin to Testify on Afghanistan Landon Mion 'Squad' Member Rashida Tlaib Made Thousands in Rental Income Despite Advocating for Cancelling Rent Landon Mion Biden Admin Vows to Crackdown on States Banning Biological Males from Girls' Sports Landon Mion ADVERTISEMENT Have We Reached the End of Reason in Policymaking? Young Voices Contributors Western Leaders Taking Cues on Oppression from the Taliban Rachel Marsden Is Face Mask Skepticism Beyond the Pale? Jacob Sullum Washington Isn’t Learning the Real Lesson of Afghanistan Willis Krumholz Biden’s 'America Last' Retreat in Afghanistan is the Opposite of How We Took on ISIS Matt Mowers Biden’s Treatment of Crypto Resembles China’s Crackdown on the Industry Bryan Bashur Oh SNAP, the Biden Administration Increases Food Stamp Benefits Chris Talgo Progressives’ Last Stand in Afghanistan John and Andy Schlafly The Fight Over Identity Ben Shapiro JUUL Gets Hosed for Providing Research, Michael Bloomberg Does It All the Time Lindsey Stroud House Democrat Shreds Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal: ‘This is a Catastrophe’ Madeline Leesman Colorado Congressman Takes on Twitter’s Taliban Double Standards Carson Swick Cori Bush Lands $100,000 Book Deal, Approved by House Ethics Committee Carson Swick Political Cartoons Bearing Arms Grandmother's Experience Illustrates Importance Of Guns | Tom Knighton Third Circuit Delivers Win For Second Amendment In Gun Range Case | Cam Edwards Police Say Students Knew About Gun In School Shooting | Tom Knighton Ammo Inc. Announces First Profitable Quarter | Tom Knighton Polling On Afghanistan Should Give Biden Second Thoughts About His Gun Ban Plans | Cam Edwards ADVERTISEMENT   1 big thing: What Biden knew Taliban fighters patrol Kabul today. Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP   You saw this one coming: The more talk of an intelligence failure, the more likely that intel world would strike back. Sure enough, we now have a spate of leaks asserting that the intelligence agencies provided prescient reads on Afghanistan. "Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted an increasingly grim picture of the prospect of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and warned of the rapid collapse of the Afghan military," The New York Times reports (subscription). The front-page headline: "Contradicting Biden, Reports Warned of Rapid Collapse." "By July," The Times adds, "many intelligence reports grew more pessimistic, questioning whether any Afghan security forces would muster serious resistance and whether the government could hold on." And it's not just the intel agencies. "Generals and diplomats" gave similar warnings, reports a Wall Street Journal front-pager ("Biden Knew Risks of a Hasty Withdrawal"): Biden's "decision to bring home U.S. troops ... was made against the recommendations of his top military generals and many diplomats, who warned that a hasty withdrawal would undermine security in Afghanistan, several administration and defense officials said." "In a series of meetings leading up to his decision," The Journal continues, "military and intelligence officials told Mr. Biden that security was deteriorating in Afghanistan, and they expressed concerns both about the capabilities of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s likely ability to take over major Afghan cities." What's next: National security adviser Jake Sullivan promised at a White House briefing yesterday that there'll be an after-action: "[W]e will conduct an extensive 'hotwash,' as we say," Sullivan said. "We will take a look at every aspect of this from top to bottom. But sitting here today, I'm spending every hour I have focused on ... getting all of these people out." The "hotwash" results will be public: "[O]f course, we intend, after we’ve had the opportunity to run that analysis, to share that with people." The bottom line ... As President John F. Kennedy said at a news conference four days after the botched Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in Cuba in 1961: "[V]ictory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan." Get the latest: Afghanistan on edge.     2. 20 years of getting Afghanistan all wrong Satellite view shows crowds lining Kabul airport's runway on Monday. Photo: Maxar Technologies via Reuters   When I saw that the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction had released (by coincidence) a new "Lessons Learned" report, I thought: Great! I'll scan the list and find an illuminating one to write about. My heart sank when I read the seven takeaways in "What We Need to Learn: Lessons from Twenty Years of Afghanistan Reconstruction." (The 11th in a series, BTW.) It's like we never knew or learned anything: "The U.S. government continuously struggled to develop and implement a coherent strategy for what it hoped to achieve." "The U.S. government consistently underestimated the amount of time required to rebuild Afghanistan, and created unrealistic timelines and expectations that prioritized spending quickly." "Many of the institutions and infrastructure projects the United States built were not sustainable." "Counterproductive civilian and military personnel policies and practices thwarted the effort." "Persistent insecurity severely undermined reconstruction efforts." "The U.S. government did not understand the Afghan context and therefore failed to tailor its efforts accordingly." "U.S. government agencies rarely conducted sufficient monitoring and evaluation to understand the impact of their efforts." Go deeper: Interactive version ... Read the 140-page report.     3. Stock-mentum: S&P doubles in 17 months Date: FactSet. Chart: Axios Visuals The S&P 500 closed at 4,479.71 on Monday, marking a 100% gain from its March 23, 2020 closing low of 2,237.40, Sam Ro writes in Axios Markets. The doubling of the S&P in 353 trading days is the fastest that the market has gone up twofold since World War II. The S&P closed at all-time highs on 49 days this year — the most since 1995.     A message from Facebook Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up     Facebook supports updated regulations, including four areas where lawmakers can make quick progress: Reforming Section 230. Preventing foreign interference in our elections. Passing federal privacy law. Setting rules that allow people to safely transfer data between services.     4. The future will be swipeless Photo: Mastercard   Mastercard is banishing the decades-old magnetic stripe, Courtenay Brown writes in Axios Closer. Why it matters: Mastercard will be the first major payments network to completely eliminate the ability to swipe your card at checkout — and instead will emphasize chips, which are more secure, and contactless payments. The transition will begin in Europe in 2024 and the U.S. in 2027, when banks are no longer required to issue cards with stripes.     5. Why we're zoning out at the wheel Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   If you haven't bought a new car lately, you'll be surprised how many driving tasks are now automated — speed control, braking, lane-keeping and even changing lanes, Axios' Joann Muller writes from Detroit. Why it matters: Carmakers keep adding more automated features in the name of safety. But now authorities fear assisted-driving technology itself is dangerous by making it too easy for us to zone out. Federal regulators have taken a mostly hands-off approach to automated vehicle technologies. Now the Biden administration is stepping up scrutiny. This week, NHTSA opened a formal investigation into Tesla Autopilot after a series of crashes involving emergency vehicles. The bottom line: Fully autonomous vehicles are years away. Share this story.     6. Scoop: Pelosi, Biden officials plot infrastructure path Speaker Pelosi headlines a press event on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program in San Francisco last week. Photo: Nick Otto/AP Speaker Pelosi and top West Wing officials met for 90 minutes yesterday to strategize on winning passage of major infrastructure spending, Axios' Sarah Mucha reports. Why it matters: President Biden's top legislative priority is facing sudden resistance from a divided House Democratic caucus. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, counselor Steve Ricchetti and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell joined the Zoom with Pelosi, back in her San Francisco district for the August recess. Keep reading.     7. Fleeing Texas Dems can be arrested Texas House Democrats hold a press conference in Washington on Aug. 6. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images   The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Democrats who skipped town to block Republican voting restrictions can be arrested under the state's constitution, Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes. The GOP-led Texas House hasn't had a quorum in more than a month. The state House speaker signed 52 civil arrest warrants for absent Democrats last week. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has fought aggressively against mask and vaccine mandates, tested positive for COVID yesterday. His office said he was not experiencing symptoms and is fully vaccinated. The news came one day after Abbott attended a packed, mostly maskless meeting of the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch.     8. Charted: 8 of 10 worst California wildfires were in past 5 years ... Data: CalFire. Chart: Will Chase/Axios ... including all of the top 5. See California's top 20 fires.     9. NASA's delayed lunar dreams Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   NASA's plans to land people on the surface of the Moon by 2024 are essentially out of reach, after an agency watchdog said spacesuits won't be ready "until April 2025 at the earliest," Axios Space author Miriam Kramer writes. The Trump administration had moved up the deadline for a new Moon landing from 2028 to 2024, so that it would happen by the end of a notional Trump second term. The Biden administration kept the timeline in place, but experts never believed it was realistic. Keep reading.     10. 1 for the road: NFL nation Data: Sports Business Journal. Chart: Axios Visuals 22 of the 25 most-watched TV broadcasts this year were sports — and 18 were football games, Kendall Baker writes in Axios Sports. 15 were NFL games, three were college football games and four were Olympics, Sports Business Journal's Austin Karp reports (subscription).     A message from Facebook Why Facebook supports reforming Section 230     The internet has changed a lot in the last 25 years — the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed. Facebook supports updated regulations — like reforming Section 230, to set standards for the way larger tech companies enforce rules about content.