New year, new Covid Barbie
[Advertisement] August 06, 2021 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( [Daily Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [Monogram]( Good morning. Took a short break from writing the newsletter yesterday to watch the Olympic sport of speed walking. Before you snicker, listen to this: Italyâs Massimo Stano won gold in the menâs 20km race walk with a time of 1:21:05, meaning he averaged 9.2 mph. For context, that's a 6:31-mile pace. Olympians. They're not like us. MARKETS Nasdaq 14,895.12 +0.78% S&P 4,429.10 +0.60% Dow 35,064.25 +0.78% Bitcoin $40,960.96 +3.24% 10-Year 1.219% +3.5 bps Ethereum $2,807.30 +3.24% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean](. - Markets: The S&P 500 hit a [record closing high](, with travel and energy stocks leading the way. Ethereum bounced after it activated a [software upgrade]( known as the âLondon hard fork.â
- Economy: The $1 trillion infrastructure bill [doesnât pay for itself](, as its supporters have argued, according to the number crunchers at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It would increase federal budget deficits by $256 billion over 10 years, per the CBO. AUTO [How to Overhaul an Industry in Less Than a Decade](
[Electric vehicules are seen in the background as US President Joe Biden ...]( Jim Watson/Getty Images American roads are about to get a whole lot quieter. Half of new cars sold in the US by 2030 should be all-electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen-powered, President Biden [announced yesterday]( via a non-binding executive order. At the same time, the EPA proposed tougher fuel-efficiency standards for automakers, which would reverse a Trump-era order that relaxed them. Why it matters: This is like the government telling McDonaldâs and Chick-fil-A they need to convert half their sales to veggie burgers in nine years. Producing electric vehicles requires seismic investments and buy-in from automakers, which must replace the guts of their cars with entirely new technology. In total, the industry will spend [$330 billion]( on electrification by 2025, per estimates from the consulting firm AlixPartners. But theyâre not doing it reluctantly Case in point: The CEOs of the countryâs [three largest automakers]( were in attendance as Biden gave his speech. In a show of solidarity with the White House, the automakers pledged to make electric vehicle sales 40%â50% of their total by 2030...provided the government helps them out with consumer incentives, and by establishing a nationwide charging network. Still, the US is behind the global EV curve: - Electric cars currently make up [just 2%]( of new auto sales in the US, compared to 6% in China and 10% in Europe.Â
- And Bidenâs order isnât as tough as those laid out by other governments. The EU has effectively banned sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.  Whatâs the point of all this? Just that existential threat scientists like to call climate change. Bidenâs goal is to cut emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade, and to do that heâs targeting transportation, the industry accounting for 29% of all US emissions.    mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Biden%20Calls%20Pushes%20Auto%20Industry%20Toward%20Electrification%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F08%2F05%2Fbiden-calls-pushes-auto-industry-toward-electrification%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A WORK [Every Company Memo Yesterday](
[Salt-N-Pepa singing "Push it"]( Giphy BlackRock and Wells Fargo [pushed back]( return-to-office plans to early October, while Amazon [told]( corporate employees they wouldnât be back until January of next year. Big picture: With average Covid case counts hitting their highest levels since February, it might be a hot minute before employees are back to cutting smaller and smaller slices of office donuts. - Google and Apple [moved]( their office return to October and Google said that all employees who want to come in will need to be vaccinated.
- After reopening at 50% capacity last month, Twitter [closed]( its doors faster than you can say, âWhy does Jack Dorsey look like he brews his own kombucha?â The company paused its office reopening indefinitely.
- Lyft wants folks to invest in a good WFH setup, because employees wonât be back in the office until February 2022. Uber delayed its return to late October. On the other hand...JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are taking a different approach to handling Delta concerns: blinders. Both banks brought employees back to the office earlier this summer and said this week that they havenât changed their return-to-work policies. Â Â Â mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=BlackRock%2C%20Wells%20Fargo%2C%20and%20Amazon%20Latest%20Companies%20to%20Push%20Back%20Office%20Reopenings%20Due%20to%20Delta%20Surge%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F08%2F05%2Fblackrock-wells-fargo-amazon-latest-companies-push-back-office-reopenings-due-delta-surge%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A TOYS [Covid Heroes Are Now Barbie Dolls](
[Barbie, health workers lineup] Mattel What does Covid-19 vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert have in common with Beyoncé and Marilyn Monroe? They all have Barbie dolls in their likenesses. Toy company Mattel debuted [Barbie dolls]( modeled after six female health workers fighting on the frontlines during the pandemic. Why it matters: Mattel had been criticized for depicting an unrealistic portrait of womanhood with its original white, blonde doll, which turned 60 in 2019. It now offers dolls themed around careers such as firefighter, doctor, and astronautâin a range of skin tones. - âMy wish is that my doll will show children careers they may not be aware of, like a vaccinologist,â Gilbert, who works at the University of Oxford, told BBC. Some other female role models across industries Mattel has honored include: - Civil rights pioneer Rosa ParksÂ
- Mexican feminist artist Frida KahloÂ
- Tennis player Naomi Osaka Zoom out: Sales of Barbie dolls rose to a six-year high last year as parents tried to distract their kids from interrupting important Zoom calls. Â Â Â mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Mattel%20Debuts%20Barbies%20in%20Likenesses%20of%20Frontline%20Health%20Workers%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F08%2F05%2Fmattel-debuts-barbies-likenesses-frontline-health-workers%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A SPONSORED BY MONOGRAM [Knee-Jerk Reaction: Good Investment](#)
[Monogram]( Knee and hip replacements keep joints functioning for lots of peeps. The problem? Complications will cause 10-15% of knee and hip replacements to fail this year. But the solutionâs coming. Wait for it. [Monogram Orthopedics](. They combine 3D printing, specially crafted surgical robotics, and AI to facilitate custom implants unique to individuals. And right now, you can [invest in Monogram](. The joint replacement market is about $19.6 billion right now, with over a million knee replacements per year. Monogram is poised to help overhaul the industry. Itâs not every day that a company comes along with this sort of a leg up on the competition. Learn more about Monogram and [donât miss your chance to invest here](. GRAB BAG [Key Performance Indicators](
[Demonstrators hold posters reading "Journalism is the insurance of democ...]( Ozan Kose/Getty Images Stat: More journalists were in jail last year than ever before, and the number of media workers killed increased by a third over 2019, [Bloomberg reports](. China is the biggest jailer of journalists, followed by Turkey. Quote: âIf it rains, it rains. If it doesn't, it doesn't. If it's hot, it's hot. If it's not, then that's what it is.â New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick unintentionally dished some profound [life advice]( after a wet practice yesterday. Read: The three-or-four-hours rule for getting creative work done. ([Oliver Burkeman]() Â Â Â mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20Morning%20Brew%21&body=Key%20Performance%20Indicators%3A%20August%206%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fstories%2F2021%2F08%2F05%2Fkey-performance-indicators-august-6%0A%0AWant%20more%20great%20content%3F%20Subscribe%20to%20Daily%20Brew%20%E2%80%94%20Delivering%20the%20latest%20business%20news%20from%20Wall%20St.%20to%20Silicon%20Valley%2C%20daily.%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fr%2F%3Fkid%3D4904f90a%26utm_source%3Demail_share%0A QUIZ [The All-Electric Quiz](#)
[Weekly news quiz]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brewâs Weekly News Quiz has been compared to perfectly filling every waffle square with syrup. Itâs that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. WHAT ELSE IS BREWING - [CNN]( fired three employees who came to work unvaccinated, violating company policy.
- [Lionel Messi]( is leaving soccer club Barcelona after the two sides faced âfinancial and structural problemsâ in moving forward with a new contract, shocking the soccer world but leaving us with [epic videos like this]( that recap his legendary tenure at Barca.
- [Apple]( plans to scan iPhones for images of child sexual abuse, raising alarms from some privacy experts.
- [South Park]( creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker signed a mammoth $900 million deal with ViacomCBS to extend the series through 2027 and produce 14 movies.
- [Richard Trumka](, longtime president of the 12.5-million-member labor union AFL-CIO, died of a heart attack at age 72 yesterday.
- [Dr. Bronner's]( is leveraging its expertise in soap to make...chocolate? Olympics links - [The US]( will face France in the men's basketball gold medal game at 10:30pm ET tonight.
- [Watch]( a 14-year-old Chinese diver score a bunch of perfect 10s.
- [Helluva photo](. SPONSORED BY ALLY Getcha head in the game. Investing is a mental game; donât let your brain get in the way of your strategy. [Ally Investâs]( senior investment strategist, Callie Cox, is here to help prep you for a lively fall investing season. To read her five fall-focused mental hacks to help you tame your feelings and level up your investing game, [click here](. FROM THE CREW [Crypto Investing 101](#)
[Illustration for Crypto Crash Course]( Investing in crypto is a lot like ordering from a menu at a New Jersey dinerâwhere to even start? And should you even be there in the first place? To help, weâve launched a [Crash Course on Crypto]( to give you the context, tools, and resources to help you figure out where crypto fits in your investment portfolio. Because itâs a lot more complicated than scraping Elonâs tweets for mentions of dogecoin. [Give it a read here](. BREW'S BETS Follow Friday: Youâll learn that Mark Zuckerberg doesnât bother including subject lines on his emails, among other things, by following [Internal Tech Emails]( on Twitter. Cool visualizations: Whatâs [inside the infrastructure bill](, what [makes people happy](, and [whatâs inside pro bowling balls](. GAMES [Friday Puzzle](#) Change one letter in each of the following words to make new words that are all linked by a common theme. Flat
Scab
Lord
Lodge
Mine
Kit
Quick
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[morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( ANSWER They're all car brands: Fiat
Saab
Ford
Dodge
Mini
Kia
Buick
Jeep             Written by [Matty Merritt](, [Neal Freyman](, and [Sherry Qin]( Illustrations & graphics by [Francis Scialabba]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. WANT MORE BREW?  Retail newsletter â [Retail Brew](  Tech newsletter â [Emerging Tech Brew](  Marketing newsletter â [Marketing Brew](  Recommendations newsletter â [Sidekick](  Business podcasts â [Business Casual]( and [Founder's Journal]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](.
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