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This year's Derby drama isn't about the winner... May 06, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( SPONSORED BY [Remi]( Good morning. Thought experiment: You have this weekend completely free, a PJ on call, and a very cute outfit. Which VIP event would you go to? Separate question: Posting a photo from which event would get you the most social media clout? - London for the coronation + parties - Louisville for the Derby - Miami for the F1 Grand Prix —Matty Merritt, Sam Klebanov, Molly Liebergall, Neal Freyman, Abby Rubenstein MARKETS Nasdaq 12,235.41 +2.25% S&P 4,136.25 +1.85% Dow 33,674.38 +1.65% 10-Year 3.440% +5.5 bps Bitcoin $29,585.98 +2.74% PacWest $5.76 +81.70% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 2:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks [soared]( yesterday, snapping four-day losing streaks for the Dow and the S&P 500—though both indexes still had their worst weeks since March. The rally was spurred by a rebound in regional bank shares as some investors began to see their earlier dip as an overreaction, and a nine-month high for Apple.  SPORTS [Horse deaths cloud this year’s Kentucky Derby]( [Horse running.]( Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images There’s a pretty big shadow cast over today’s Kentucky Derby, and it’s not even from all the big hats. This year the drama started long before any of the horses lined up to run the one-and-a-quarter-mile track at Churchill Downs: Five horses [died]( in the week leading up to the Run for the Roses. Three horses were euthanized after suffering “musculoskeletal injuries” on the grounds, according to the racetrack. And while this news is devastating to anyone who grew up watching Secretariat, such injuries are relatively common in the racing world. But things start to get really weird when you consider the other two horses. - Chasing Artie and Parents Pride, both trained by Saffie Joseph, collapsed after races in a 72-hour window at Churchill Downs this week and later died. Officials are still trying to figure out what happened. - On Thursday, Churchill Downs suspended Joseph indefinitely and pulled his horse, Lord Miles, from the Derby, saying, “We have reasonable concerns about the condition of his horses.” Joseph responded by saying he felt that he was “the scapegoat” for the abundance of deaths leading up to this year’s event. This isn’t the first time the Derby has felt shady The (brief) 2021 Kentucky Derby champion, Medina Spirit, had his title stripped after failing a post-race drug test. Bob Baffert, his trainer and one of the most well-known people in the sport, received a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs after the incident. Baffert’s horses have failed a whopping 30 drug tests over the last 40 years, but he [claims]( differing rules state-to-state regarding medications is the real problem. Big picture: Despite the excitement surrounding today’s race, the overall state of the ponies isn’t looking great. In 1989, there were 74,000+ horse races, but by 2022 there were just 33,453, according to the Economist. Aside from doping scandals and animal welfare concerns, the industry is getting left behind by the explosive rise of other legal sports betting.—MM   SPONSORED BY REMI [A different kind of #grindset]( [Remi]( Look, we know you know how to stay on your professional grind—and that’s great. But there’s a different kind of grindin’ you may be doing that’s not so good. We’re talkin’ about bruxism. What’s that? The medical term for grinding or clenching your teeth while you’re catchin’ some zzz’s. Bruxism affects 25%–40% of adults in the US and can cause some real damage, such as chipped and cracked teeth. Fortunately, [Remi’s here to make your molars a li’l merrier](. They offer dental-grade, BPA-free custom night guards that are waaaaay better than the uncomfortable ones sold in drugstores. Oh, and they cost 80% less than the guards you get from dentists. (That’s an average $700 savings, btw.) Best of all? [Morning Brew readers can get 25% off their order with code MB25](. Say goodbye to waking up with headaches, ear pain, or jaw pain. [Be kind to your teeth](. WORLD Tour de headlines [an image of a trashcan with a "Please Stand 6 ft" sign, a "Mask" sign, a "No Mask" sign, and masks and medical gloves inside of it]Francis Scialabba Covid is no longer an emergency. Yesterday, the World Health Organization [declared]( an end to the global Covid health emergency it instituted in January 2020. The agency’s decision won’t change much about how most countries handle the virus since Covid restrictions have already eased, but it does mark a major symbolic milestone for the pandemic (though maybe not as big for some of us as the first time we ate inside a restaurant again). The US plans to terminate its own Covid emergency next week, which will likely make some services more expensive and less available. Russia’s mercenaries are not happy. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private Russian military company Wagner, which has been leading Russia’s siege of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, [released videos]( in which he raged at the nation’s military leaders and threatened to pull his troops if they don’t get more ammunition. Surrounded by bodies he claimed were Wagner soldiers killed that day, Prigozhin cursed at Russia’s generals and denounced them as “fat cats.” Despite the vitriol, Ukrainian officials told the WSJ it’s unlikely he’ll follow through on his threat to withdraw. “Woodstock for Capitalists” is happening today. Warren Buffett will preside over Berkshire Hathaway’s 59th [annual shareholders meeting]( today—an event expected to draw a large crowd to Omaha, Nebraska. Everyone will be watching to see what Buffett has to say about the economy, the state of the banking sector, his big bet on Apple, and his struggling “favorite child,” Geico. Shareholders will also vote on six proposals on climate change, political advocacy, and the firm’s leadership, all of which Buffett opposes. ECONOMY [Black unemployment falls to historic low]( [Black unemployment rate historical graph ]( Black unemployment hit a record low for the second consecutive month in April, as the labor market stayed red hot and defied all those recession predictions. Last month, just 4.7% of Black workers in the US didn’t have a job and were looking for one, according to [data]( the Bureau of Labor Statistics released yesterday. Black unemployment has been on a steady downward trajectory since peaking at 16.8% during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. But the latest figure also reflects the fact that the Black labor force shrank last month, as some workers dropped out of it and therefore weren’t included in the calculation. Those who remained in the workforce, though, benefited from an economy that just refuses to quit. The US added 253,000 jobs in April (more than expected), despite persistent interest rate hikes and the recent bank meltdowns. - The overall unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.4%, putting it on par with January’s, which was the lowest since 1969. - Wages were up 4.4% compared with a year earlier, exceeding analyst estimates. Yeah, but…this latest labor market thermometer reading could tempt the Fed to keep cranking up the AC (or at least hold off on dialing it down): Jerome Powell & Co. want the labor market to chill out a bit to help curb inflation.—SK   TOGETHER WITH CALIBER [Caliber]( Gains on (capital) gains of $100k+. Interested in tax-free growth potential? There are now very attractive ways to keep your capital working for you while immediately unlocking rare IRS tax breaks. (Yep, you read that right.) Grab Caliber’s [free special investor guide]( to learn more. CULTURE [Desperately seeking marinara sauce]( [Desperately seeking marinara sauce]( Nina Jochnowitz New Jerseyans need to keep a couple of things in mind when hiking: Watch out for two kinds of venomous snakes and—wait, whose pasta is that? The internet went macaroni this week over photos of what one state official called “15 wheelbarrow loads” of dry pasta dumped in the woods in central New Jersey. Citizen detectives, jokesters, and Italians all wondered who could do something like that to so much spaghetti. - One [tweet]( that garnered more than 5 million views read, “someone very mysteriously dumped 3-400 pounds of pasta in the woods in old bridge, nj …… i need to know everything.” The author has since changed her profile name to “pasta girl.” - “Italian grandmas: why would someone dump four servings of pasta in the woods like that?” was one of the [top comments]( on the Reddit thread tagged “Weird NJ.” By yesterday, Ring camera footage appeared to solve the mystery of who gave Olive Garden’s never-ending pasta bowl a run for its money: The culprit was a guy cleaning out his mom’s house. No matter where the pasta came from…you’ll need to find somewhere else to stick your fork, because the town has already cleaned up the Strega Nona-level mess.—ML   GRAB BAG Key performance indicators [Adidas logo over Kanye ]Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: Angela Weiss/ Getty Images Stat: Spring cleaning season has arrived, but Adidas still doesn’t know what to do with the $1.3 billion worth of [Yeezy merch]( it got stuck with after breaking up with rapper Ye in October over his antisemitic and racist antics. Yesterday, the sportswear company said it expects to take a €700 million ($773 million) loss this year if it has to write off all its Yeezy inventory. While Adidas is getting closer to deciding what to do with the Yeezy stock, its CEO said it hasn’t made a choice yet because there are “so many interested parties.” Quote: “Sorry about that! ” Rock bands seldom apologize, but the Pixies did this week after reports surfaced that the spoken “stop!” at the beginning of their track “Where Is My Mind?” has been [shutting off alarms]( on fans’ phones. Turns out, a feature on Google Pixel phones that allows users to turn their alarm off by saying “stop” or “snooze” picks up the word from the tune even though it’s sophisticated enough not to do so in other songs where there’s music under the words. Read: Aubrey Plaza enters the milk wars. ([Vox]( NEWS What else is brewing - [The SEC]( is investigating stock trades that First Republic Bank executives made just before the lender was seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan. - [The Supreme Court]( blocked the execution of Richard Glossip, who was convicted of murder in 1997, after Oklahoma’s attorney general acknowledged that there was reasonable doubt about his guilt. - [At least eight “fake electors”]( who falsely certified that Donald Trump had won in Georgia have been granted immunity in an ongoing criminal investigation into the former president in the state. - [Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic]( introduced new gun control measures and promised “an almost complete disarming” of the country after it suffered from two mass shootings in two days. RECS [Saturday To-Do List graphic] A bike of bees: Find out what to call a group with this [collection of collective nouns](. What do VCs do besides tweet? Our [video team]( investigates. Humans are still better at some things: Here’s what it looks like when [AI reimagines NFL mascots](. That’s big: This [NASA video]( explains what puts the “super” in supermassive black holes. Smarter spending: A free app for earning cash back on gas, dining, and groceries, with frequent users earning an average of $340/year? Yep, please. Download [Upside]( and get an [extra 25¢/gal with promo DailyBrew2]( *This is sponsored advertising content. GAMES The puzzle section Brew crossword: Hopper, O’Keeffe, and other iconic artists take center stage in today’s crossword. Grab your paintbrush, don your beret, and [play the puzzle here](. Open House Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that would know where to set the book. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price. [12,000 square foot apartment in New York City.]Coldwell Banker Homes Today’s [home]( is a 12,000-square-foot, seven-floor limestone and marble house most famously known as Miranda Priestly’s residence in The Devil Wears Prada. It’s a “Neo-Italian Renaissance-style” townhouse…on the Upper East Side? Groundbreaking. Amenities include: - 7 beds, 6 baths, 4 half-baths - Indoor basketball court with a glass roof - Winding staircase How much for the home of the fictional queen? AROUND THE BREW [Join the Brew Crew]( [Join the Brew Crew]( Want some Brew swag that even referrals can’t get you? Our best-selling crew neck is back, and it’s the perfect loungewear. [Shop now](. Discover Tech Brew’s tracker of AI-related lawsuits and keep up with the latest issues affecting our future. [Check it out](. 🛒 Want to build a loyal customer base? Retail Brew’s guide reveals how top DTC brands increase engagement and retention. [Download now](. 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