☕ Super Monday

More objects are shot down above North America... February 13, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley]( Good morning. Welp. The Kansas City Chiefs narrowly beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a high-scoring Super Bowl that’ll be remembered (at least in Philly) for a tough penalty near the end. It’s the second time since November that Philadelphia sports teams have lost a championship. On the plus side: Pitchers and catchers report to MLB spring training this week. —Neal Freyman MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE Nasdaq 11,718.12 +12.82% S&P 4,090.46 +6.96% Dow 33,869.27 +2.21% 10-Year 3.682% -19.8 bps Bitcoin $21,783.05 +31.74% Oil $79.51 -0.93% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: After a scorching start to the year, stocks took a dip last week over rate-hike jitters and an earnings season that has so far been a flop. One of the few assets that’s on the up is US crude oil, which posted its best week since October.  SPORTS [Everything that happened at the Super Bowl]( [Rihanna performing at the Super Bowl]( Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation Because the day after the Super Bowl is not a national holiday (yet), you’re probably going to encounter a lot of small talk about the game at work today. Here’s a quick recap of everything that happened other than the football action. The return of Rihanna. Of the 100+ million people who watched the game in the US, a large chunk tuned in for one reason: Rihanna. In the most highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show in recent memory, the pop star cranked through a medley of her hits on a moving platform that resembled a Super Smash Bros. stage. Two things we learned about Rihanna last night: She’s a) not afraid of heights and b) [pregnant](. Advertisers kept it light. The telecast was chock-full of commercials targeting Americans’ most cherished pastimes: “booze, betting and bingeing,” as Axios [put it](. Celebrities were everywhere, Tubi played a [remote-control prank]( on viewers (it worked on me), and [The Farmer’s Dog]( made everyone tear up like Nick Sirianni. Here’s a [review]( of the ads. Spotted at the game: Elon Musk, [sitting]( next to Rupert Murdoch. So. Much. Betting. A projected 50.4 million Americans were expected to wager $16 billion on the Super Bowl, way up from the $7 billion bet on last year’s game, according to the American Gaming Association. For those keeping track of the major prop bets, Chris Stapleon went over on the national anthem (2:01), the coin flip landed on tails, and Rihanna’s first song was “B---- Better Have My Money.” Looking ahead…the NFL will solidify its embrace of gambling at next year’s Super Bowl, which is being played in Las Vegas for the first time. Vegas is a hotspot for the Super Bowl even when the game isn’t being played in the city, so it should be a spectacle. �  �  �  WORLD Tour de headlines [A Turkish soldier walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay]Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images Turkey rounds up building contractors. Turkish officials [arrested]( more than 100 people linked to collapsed buildings as anger grows around the government’s response to the earthquakes that devastated areas of Turkey and Syria. The death toll from the quakes rose to more than 33,000 on Sunday, and the window to find survivors in the destruction is just about over. But there have been some miracles: A mother and daughter were pulled out of the rubble 129 hours after the quake, and a four-year-old was found alive 132 hours after, Turkish media reported. Israel’s president warns the country’s “on the brink.” In a primetime address, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the country was “on the brink of constitutional and social collapse” over the right-wing government’s [planned judicial overhaul](. Tens of thousands of Israelis have protested the proposed changes, which former central bankers and tech executives have warned could harm Israel’s business environment. Herzog, who is mostly a figurehead, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to find a compromise. Residents wary of returning to town after toxic train derailment. Last week, authorities told evacuated residents of East Palestine, Ohio, it was safe to return home after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire on Feb. 3. But in interviews with the Washington Post, residents say they’re [hesitant]( to come back and haven’t been provided with sufficient information about the contaminants that were released in their area. Another resident told Newsweek that his exotic pets are [suffering]( after exposure to the chemicals. TOGETHER WITH E*TRADE FROM MORGAN STANLEY [Retirement can’t rely on a Hail Mary pass]( [E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley]( Immediate priorities like buying a house or building an emergency fund can easily take the starting spot in your investing game plan. But retirement is like the kicker on a football team. You might not use it in every play, but when the time comes, [you’ll need it in a biiiig way](. [E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley]( can help you build and manage your retirement playbook. They offer IRAs with no annual fees*, no account minimums, and the option to draft from a deep roster of stocks, bonds, options, ETFs, and mutual funds. Need some extra motivation? [You can earn up to $600 when you open an eligible E*TRADE account](. Start heading to the end zone with some clarity—and a li’l sign-on bonus. *Transaction fees, fund expenses, brokerage commissions, and services fees may apply. *Paid advertisement. DEFENSE [More drama unfolds above the clouds]( [F-22 Raptor]( Joe McNally/Getty Images Either Tom Cruise is filming Top Gun 3 without telling anyone, or something really weird is going on in the North American skies. US fighter jets [shot down]( two more high-altitude objects this weekend—one over the Yukon in Canada on Saturday, and the other over Lake Huron in Michigan yesterday. They mark the fourth time in eight days that the US has brought down aircraft over North America. On Friday, the US took out an object the size of a small car over remote Alaska. What’s going on? We know the first object shot down by the US last Saturday is a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that could likely intercept communications. But US defense officials aren’t sure what the other three are. The object shot down on Saturday was probably a balloon, they said, but the one taken out yesterday likely wasn’t. Big picture: Lawmakers are demanding answers from the Biden administration about the flurry of inflatables that has been floating above the continent in recent weeks. Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester said yesterday that these aerial intrusions have been “nothing short of craziness,” and Schumer admitted it was “wild” that the US wasn’t aware of China’s spy balloon program until recently. �  �  �  TOGETHER WITH E*TRADE FROM MORGAN STANLEY [E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley]( Smart money plays. Balancing short- + long-term financial goals can feel like trying to catch one ball while throwing another. But opening an IRA with [E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley]( can help you prioritize investing for retirement without losing focus on more immediate financial needs. Get $0 commissions on US stocks, options, ETFs, and (now including) mutual funds. [Learn more](. *Transaction fees, fund expenses, brokerage commissions, and services fees may apply. *Paid advertisement. CALENDAR The week ahead [Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene]Lady and the Tramp/Disney via Giphy Love on the brain: Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, so if you forgot to make a dinner reservation for you and your sweetie…you might want to pivot to a romantic night in. And Galentine’s Day—the Parks and Rec-derived holiday that celebrates platonic relationships—is today. Inflation going back up? The big economic data release of the week is Tuesday’s consumer price index report. It probably won’t be cause for celebration, because inflation is expected to have ticked back up in January. If so, it’ll fan more fears that the economy is heating up when the Fed wants it to keep cooling down. The next MCU phase begins. When Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits US theaters this Friday, it’ll kick off [Phase 5]( of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While still incredibly popular, Marvel is facing some doubters over its ability to crank out blockbusters. Last year, no Marvel film made more than $1 billion at the box office. Everything else… - The Daytona 500 is on Sunday. - According to SpongeBob, Wednesday is Annoy Squidward Day. GRAB BAG Key performance indicators [Three screenshots of Matty's BeReal photos]Matty Merritt's boring BeReal Stat: For everyone wondering whether BeReal will be the next social media app to break through…it’s not looking good. New downloads for the app have fallen 95% from their peak last year, according to a [tweet]( from VC Sasha Kaletsky. Kaletsky warned against writing a BeReal obituary, though, since daily user counts are staying strong and social media apps typically see more activity in the summer. Quote: “You may lose your wife, you may lose your dog, your mother may hate you. None of those things matter. What matters is that you achieve success and become free. Then you can do whatever you like.” Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful” on Shark Tank, got roasted after he [tweeted]( this perplexing advice about how great your life will be if you just work hard and avoid investing in meaningful relationships. Read: ChatGPT is a blurry JPEG of the web. ([New Yorker]() NEWS What else is brewing - [A plane]( that was being towed at LAX collided with a shuttle bus Friday night, injuring five people. There were no passengers onboard the plane. - [The mayor of Toronto](, John Tory, stepped down after disclosing a relationship with a former staffer. - [More than half]( of the top 1,000 advertisers on Twitter stopped spending money on the platform in the first weeks of January, per CNN. - [New Mexico State]( shut down its men’s basketball team for the remainder of the season due to hazing allegations. RECS [Monday to-do list image] Charted: The [rise and fall]( of “stay safe” in email signoffs. Create nonsense words: Not sure how this [gibberish generator]( will be useful in your life, but you’ll find a way. Reading recs: If they gave out Oscars to [books]( instead of movies. What to cook: This [beef stew](, first published in 1994, remains the most popular recipe in the New York Times Cooking database. GAMES The puzzle section Turntable: With no football to watch until the fall, might as well get really good at word games. [Play today’s puzzle here](. Fictional holiday trivia On one fictional holiday (Galentine’s Day), let’s see how well you know other fictional celebrations. We’ll give you a made-up holiday, and you have to name the fictional work (TV show, book) that created or popularized it. - Festivus - Durin’s Day - Merlinpeen - Chrismukkah - Denzel Crocker Day AROUND THE BREW [The clock is ticking]( [The clock is ticking]( 300/Warner Bros. Pictures Our one-week online Data Storytelling course kicks off today and teaches you how to create dashboards to convey the story of your team, your business, or even yourself. [Sign up before 12pm ET]( to grab one of the last spots. Corporate finance pros need to understand the cash conversion cycle to evaluate how quickly investments can turn into sales. [Learn all about it here](. It’s never been more important to stay up to date on tech trends. Join the 350k people who get their tech updates from Tech Brew. [Sign up here](. SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( ANSWER - Festivus = Seinfeld - Durin’s Day = The Hobbit - Merlinpeen = 30 Rock - Chrismukkah = The OC (The term was around before the show, but The OC popularized it.) - Denzel Crocker Day = this one is a deep cut from The Fairly OddParents � � � � � Written by [Neal Freyman]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Take The Brew to work - Marketers: [Marketing Brew](  [Future Social]( - Corporate: [CFO Brew](  [HR Brew]( - Tech: [IT Brew](  [Tech Brew]( - Retailers: [Retail Brew]( - Healthcare: [Healthcare Brew]( Get smarter in just 5 minutes - Money & Career: [Money Scoop](  [Money With Katie]( Business education without the BS - Programs in [Business Essentials](, [Analytics](, and [Leadership]( Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. 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