Good morning. Exactly one year ago, UK grandmother Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. In the 365 days since… - More than 8.2 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries.
- 60% of the US population is fully vaccinated.
- But only 6.3% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.
—Max Knoblauch, Jamie Wilde, Neal Freyman | | | READ THIS TO REMAIN A SUBSCRIBER Want to keep receiving Morning Brew? Clicking on newsletter links is the only way for us to know you are reading (and enjoying) Morning Brew. If you don't click by next month, you will stop receiving this newsletter. Click here to let us know that you're still an active subscriber. Thanks! | | | |  | Nasdaq | 15,686.92 | | | | | S&P | 4,686.75 | | | | | Dow | 35,719.43 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.476% | | |  | Bitcoin | $50,268.70 | | | | | Nvidia | $324.27 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: Omicron who? Fed tapering what? Stocks continued to roar back from their post-Thanksgiving hangover, with tech shares leading the way. The Nasdaq had its best day since March.
- Covid: Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine is less effective, but still provides some protection, against the Omicron variant, an early study from South Africa showed.
- US government: Congress had a busy evening. Lawmakers reached a deal to raise the country's debt ceiling, and the House passed a $768 billion defense policy bill that increases pay for servicemembers.
| | Francis Scialabba The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected Starbucks's bid on Tuesday to delay a union election at three Buffalo-area locations. On the bright side for the company, the NLRB spelled their name correctly. With the last-ditch effort to pause the election unsuccessful, Starbucks will now await the results of Thursday's union vote count. Ballots are due today for all three locations—each store will have its own election. Those separate "store-by-store" elections were the subject of Starbucks's request to delay. The company argued that a union vote should be regional and involve all 20 chain locations in the area—a move that would favor Starbucks, as union organizers would have to secure a much larger number of votes. All eyes on blustery Buffalo Although the organizing campaign concerns just three stores (with about 100 employees total), it's become the focus of national attention. High profile supporters including Sen. Bernie Sanders on labor's side and dozens of Starbucks corporate executives on management's side have waded into the union drive. If any of the three elections are successful, the location would be the first corporate-run Starbucks store in the US to unionize. (Name idea: Steamsters. Just throwing it out there.) For a chain with 9,000 US corporate-owned locations, Starbucks has poured a trenta amount of energy on stopping the union drive. - President of Starbucks North America, Rossann Williams, visited a Buffalo location in September and began sweeping floors there.
- Former CEO Howard Schultz gave a strange talk to Buffalo-area employees four days before ballots were mailed out.
- Starbucks transferred several voting-eligible employees to two of the Buffalo locations. One store, which in August had about 20 eligible employees unanimously in support of unionizing, now has 46 eligible employees, according to Starbucks.
Zoom out: Just 10.8% of the US workforce belonged to a union in 2020, and corporations would prefer it that way (or less). Kellogg's, one of several US companies to face a strike from unionized employees in recent months, said on Tuesday that it would permanently replace its striking workers.—MK | | President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin chatted for more than two hours yesterday in a high-stakes meeting over the future of Ukraine. Russia, you see, has amassed ~100,000 troops at the Ukraine border, and Western countries are worried Putin is planning to invade his neighbor to the west in early 2022. It's not entirely clear what Russia's ultimate goal is, but the show of force is concerning to Western governments that want to maintain stability in Europe. - Russia and Ukraine have a history. Ukraine was a Soviet republic until it gained independence in 1991, and in 2014 Russia annexed the country's Crimean Peninsula.
- More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict since.
How will the West punch back? In the event of an invasion, it will do to Russia's economy what Michigan did to Ohio State. Punishments could include putting sanctions on Russia's banks, making it harder for Russia to convert roubles to dollars, and pressuring Germany to block a pipeline that would allow Russia to sell more gas to Europe. Bottom line: Stress levels are high along the Eastern front. Don't believe us? Here's what Ukraine's official Twitter account posted yesterday.  | | Giphy But they mean it in a Ross and Rachel kind of way. Yesterday, Instagram announced new safety features for teens, including a pop-up reminder to "take a break" from the app when they've been scrolling too long. The announcement comes just one day ahead of when CEO Adam Mosseri will testify before Congress on the effects of Instagram on teens' mental health. Here's what else is new: - Users will be restricted from tagging and mentioning teens who don't follow them.
- Teens will be "nudged" when they've spent too much time "dwelling" on one topic.
- Parents and guardians will be able to view (and limit) how much time their teenage kids spend on Instagram.
Some of these features are already rolling out, while others are set to hit the app in January. Zoom out: Teens have ghosted Instagram from the get-go, and we mean that literally because their favorite social media platform is Snapchat, followed by TikTok, per a survey by Piper Sandler. That's despite Instagram's best efforts to win them over: It copied Stories from Snapchat in 2016, and since 2018 it has reportedly spent nearly its entire marketing budget targeting teens, per the NYT.—JW | | | Even if it's your dream job—something as stellar as, say, being an astronaut. The first time that rocket thrusts you into space, it's probably pretty sweet, but by your 10th mission...yeah, that's a lot of freeze-dried astronaut food. It's important to start planning for the future you want to live in—instead of settling for one you feel stuck with. E*TRADE can help you get your finances in order, so you can pursue new goals, dream in new ways, and maybe retire somewhere warmer than the moon one day. With E*TRADE, you get access to easy-to-use tools, no account minimums, and $0 commissions—not to mention financial tips to help you along the way. Whether you're done collecting moon rocks, want to buy a new house, or need a vacation in the new year, your finances are where change begins. Stop waiting and start investing with E*TRADE. *Paid Advertisement | | Giphy Stat: The top 0.01% of individuals own 11% of global wealth, according to the new World Inequality Report 2022, up from 10% last year. That top 0.01% includes 520,000 adults with household wealth of at least $19 million. Quote: "OH-mee-kraan" Some of y'all don't know how to pronounce certain variants and it shows. The US Captioning Company released its list of the most mispronounced words for this year, which includes cheugy (CHOO-gee), ethereum (ih-THEE-ree-um) and the Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas). Read: I'm the TikTok couch guy. Here's what it was like being investigated on the internet. (Slate) | | 2022 could be the year you finally buy that Dyson vacuum cleaner, because companies plan to fatten up paychecks more than they have in over a decade, according to a Conference Board survey previewed by the WSJ yesterday. They're setting aside an average of 3.9% of next year's total payroll for wage increases. It's a sign that salaries will continue to rise in 2022, like they have been doing all year: - Private-sector hourly pay rose 4.8% last month compared to Nov. 2020, the fifth straight month wages have risen more than 4%, the Labor Department reported Friday.
- Compensation including wages and benefits rose faster in the third quarter of this year than at any other point on record.
Why now? Due to the ongoing labor shortage, employers are paying up to attract and retain the best and brightest. Plus, the cost of living is increasing: Almost four-in-ten of the companies surveyed said they factored inflation into their decisions to increase pay. But beware of the "wage–price spiral." When companies raise wages to combat inflation, they're often forced to raise prices on consumers, which leads to even more inflation.—JW | | - A major outage on some Amazon Web Services servers caused headaches for sites across the internet and for the company's delivery workers.
- Olaf Scholz will take office today as Germany's chancellor, ending Angela Merkel's 16-year run leading Europe's largest economy.
- The UAE is switching to a 4.5-day work week to better align itself with global financial markets and attract expats.
- Apple will produce Bad Blood, a feature film from Adam McKay that will star Jennifer Lawrence as Elizabeth Holmes.
| | | Today is a good day to dream. You've probably got a lot flying around right now in the way of finances, including holiday spending, budgeting for the new year, and goal setting. With a full range of investment choices, easy-to-use tools, and $0 commissions, E*TRADE can help you get a handle on your finances and start investing for the future—whatever your dreams might be. Start investing with E*TRADE today. *Paid Advertisement | | Get planning: 2022 is less than a month away. Tomorrow, Marketing Brew is hosting an event that'll recap the biggest trends of 2021 and help you set your organization up for success next year. Register here. Hollywood circa 2022: Try to find the movie that's not a sequel. GatesNotes: Bill Gates reflects on "the most unusual and difficult year" of his life in his 2021 recap. | | There's a reason Bill Belichick wears hoodies in freezing temps: They're warm, stylish, and provide an air of dominance. Make sure you snag a Morning Brew hoodie (or a crewneck, if that's more of your vibe) as the winter weather creeps in. We're partial to the black-on-black, but we know you'll find a sweatshirt you'll love across our wide selection. Shop now | | Word Search: Take a walk along Canal Street and see how many of these luxury logos you can identify. Parental Advisory We'll give you a brand, and you have to name its parent company. - Blue Bottle Coffee
- Banana Republic
- Burt's Bees
- Skittles
- Scotch Tape
- Tylenol
- Shazam
| | People often ask us, "What's the secret to writing the Morning Brew newsletter?" Well, we'll tell you: It's noise-canceling headphones. Nothing blocks out distractions and lets you focus quite like these ear pillows. Want a pair? Now's your chance. Refer a friend to the Brew before midnight (ET) tonight and you'll both have a chance to win Bose's wireless, noise-canceling headphones. Plus, every confirmed referral is one entry to win. So the more you refer, the more entries you get. Share to win*Disclaimer: Only readers with US addresses are eligible to participate. Here are the terms and conditions. | | | 1. Blue Bottle Coffee = Nestlé
2. Banana Republic = Gap Inc.
3. Burt's Bees = Clorox
4. Skittles = Mars
5. Scotch Tape = 3M
6. Tylenol = Johnson & Johnson
7. Shazam = Apple | | HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER? | | | ✳︎ A Note From E*TRADE No commissions on online stock, options and ETF trades. Exclusions and other fees may apply. For more information on pricing, visit etrade.com/pricing. | | | Written by Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, and Jamie Wilde Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → Accelerate Your Career → - MB/A: virtual 8-week program designed to broaden your skill set
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