Good morning. If you need a distraction from Covid variants and canceled holiday plans, try watching a movie...on cable...with commercials. Oddly comforting. —Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt | | | 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 | 15,169.68 | | | | | S&P | 4,620.64 | | | | | Dow | 35,365.44 | | | | | 10-Year | 1.407% | | | | | Bitcoin | $46,351.83 | | | | | Rivian | $97.70 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: All three indexes closed lower in a week that was defined by the Fed's pivot to raise interest rates next year. Shares of EV darling Rivian touched a record low after the company warned it wouldn't hit production goals this year.
- Covid: A federal appeals court reinstated President Biden's vaccine and testing mandate for large employers, overturning another ruling that had blocked it. The plan's likely next stop is the Supreme Court. And NY State reported its highest daily case total since the pandemic began.
| | Are you mildly athletic and free this weekend? Your local sports team might need you to strap on some pads. Covid cases are rippling through professional sports leagues on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing back memories of 2020 and causing major scheduling headaches for the industry. For the first time this season, the NFL postponed games: The Raiders-Browns game has been moved from Saturday to Monday, and the Seahawks-Rams and WFT-Eagles games have been moved from Sunday to Tuesday. (On the bright side for fans, that means eight out of the next 10 days will have NFL games.) But the NFL is not the only league forced to juggle Delta, Omicron, and keeping seasons on track. - The NHL is postponing games for three teams (the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers) for the next several days.
- Multiple college basketball games, including Ohio State vs. Kentucky, were canceled this weekend.
- 47 of the 63 NBA players who've entered Covid protocols this season have done so in December.
- The English Premier League has postponed five games this weekend after a spike in positive cases. The UK reported 93,045 new Covid cases on Friday, the third straight day it's set a daily record.
The Covid surge has affected sports-adjacent industries, too, like gambling. Sportsbooks have had to make dramatic adjustments to their game lines following reports of impactful players testing positive. So where do we go from here? Despite calls from some fans to pause seasons altogether, there is little appetite among leagues to do so given the potential financial hit. But they also don't want to return to a circus-like situation where enough players test positive that a wide receiver has to fill in as quarterback, which is what happened to the Denver Broncos last season. - In a bid to prevent even more disruptions, the NFL tightened its Covid protocols this week. And the Canadian province of Ontario has reduced stadium capacity to 50% amid a surge in cases there.
Looking ahead…this Covid spike couldn't have come at a worse time. Just like in many other sectors, late December is a crucial period for sports, with college football Bowl games, marquee NBA matchups on Christmas, an extra-busy Premier League slate, and the NFL playoff race all on tap.—NF | | Schools around the US beefed up security, sent warning letters to parents, and even canceled classes yesterday after unsubstantiated threats of violence traveled around TikTok and other social media platforms this week. The most popular post about the potential danger wasn't a threat, though, just a user saying they'd heard about threats, TikTok said. In essence, it was just a really ugly and viral game of telephone. That didn't stop administrators from taking extra precautions. School districts in Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas all canceled classes Friday. - Officials in New York City and New Jersey didn't close schools, but sent emails encouraging parents to talk to their children about how serious threats of violence are.
TikTok brings in the fact-checkers. The company that would prefer to have its name in the news for almost anything else said it will be removing "alarmist warnings" and called out local media for amplifying rumors that could "end up inspiring real world harm."—MM | | Dianna "Mick" McDougall; Getty Images/elenabs With 101 cargo ships backed up in the Pacific Ocean, more gift-givers this holiday season are skipping the physical supply chain altogether and handing their friends and family virtual goods instead. If surveys and a proliferation of gift guides are any indication, there will be a big jump in the number of NFTs and crypto investments sitting under the Christmas tree this year. Here's what's on 2021 wish lists: - Crypto. You can send friends and family crypto for the holidays on the platforms Coinbase or Binance, and then help them set up their account and learn how to manage their digital wallet.
- NFTs. Virtual art, avatars, and even digital clothes are all options. Adidas released a collection of NFTs yesterday that grant owners access to streetwear drops and "digital and physical" experiences.
- An Ethereum Name Service domain. A ".eth'' domain is the equivalent of a ".com" address, but for the Ethereum blockchain. You can personalize the address with your recipient's name or troll them by using their AIM screen name.
Zoom out: Hype around cryptocurrency, NFTs, and all-things-metaverse exploded this year, and 65% of those surveyed by Lending Tree last month said they'd like to receive an investment for the holidays—preferably crypto.—JW | | | We know it's aggressive, but what else can we do to tell you about an unlimited cash back credit card that involves a significant cash rewards sign-up bonus? This credit card has perks that will make you perkier than when the third cup of coffee hits (which was, clearly, about 30 seconds ago for us). Besides having no annual fee, you also get: - Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with no activation required
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And if you aren't sold on this unlimited cash back card yet, click right here and you will be. | | Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Stat: Canada's corporate behemoths are more dinosaurs than unicorns. The median age of its fifteen largest public companies is 122 years. By comparison, the median age for US corporate titans is 45. Quote: "I may be the only investor to make money off of Theranos when all is said and done." Marc Ostrofsky lost all $150,000 of his initial investment in Theranos when the company went bust. Now, he's trying to make some of that back by auctioning off his Series A stock certificate as an NFT. The top bid for the NFT yesterday was $7,800. Read: The Harvard job offer no one at Harvard ever heard of. (New York Times) | | - Southwest CEO Gary Kelly tested positive for Covid, just days after attending a Senate hearing with other airline execs on Wednesday.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home earned an impressive $50 million at the box office in Thursday night previews, a hopeful sign for what will surely be a record-breaking opening weekend during the pandemic.
- JPMorgan was fined $200 million to settle charges that it allowed employees to send messages on personal devices to avoid oversight by regulators.
- The Rockettes are canceling their Christmas Spectacular show through the end of the year, citing Covid.
- Actor LeVar Burton, who publicly lobbied to be the next Jeopardy! host, was chosen as the new host of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
| | | A morning in the life of the Lieb man. We don't actually call him that, but our cofounder and executive chairman, Alex Lieberman, does have one heck of a morning routine we think you'll find inspiring. Together with Braun (because the man does appreciate a good shave), we wrote a piece unveiling all the habits Alex relies on each morning to bring you the Brew. Read on here. | | | Sadly, this is one of our last crossword puzzles of the year. Play it here and marvel at your progress. | | | Written by Neal Freyman Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. WANT MORE BREW? Industry news, with a sense of humor → - Emerging Tech Brew: AI, crypto, space, autonomous vehicles, and more
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