Weekend edition—GameStop’s reckoning, Yellen’s toughest test, happy home s

Plus: We’re obsessed with preprints. [Quartz]( Good morning, Quartz readers! The GameStop short squeeze has been described as a [revolt against financial capitalism]( or [the realization of Occupy Wall Street](. This is like calling the movie Air Bud a critique of basketball because a golden retriever proved surprisingly good at the game. That an [investing influencer]( collaborated with like-minded speculators on Reddit forums to identify an arbitrage and put the squeeze on ostensibly sophisticated hedge funds is nothing short of impressive—and a testament to the accessibility of the markets. Some big players saw real losses, but so far the markets have not crashed, and the financial industry is not shook. Indeed, some of the biggest profiteers from this week’s market action are asset managers like [BlackRock]( market-making hedge funds like [Citadel]( and the private equity giant [Silver Lake](. Other [big investors quickly followed]( Robinhood users into the GameStop trade, along with many new small-time day traders. How all these various players exit the trade—and whether they do so at a profit—will shape whatever response regulators may offer to the situation. After some brokerages suspended trading in GameStop and other hot stocks, conspiracy theories quickly spread that “[suits]( intervened to keep small investors from playing the market. Some populist politicians joined the conspiratorial social media pile-on. The more prosaic reality is that online brokers swamped in new business [had to raise money]( to meet capital requirements, imposed by regulators to protect investors of all stripes. Populism this ain’t. Occupy Wall Street did not speak with a single voice, but after the 2008 financial crisis, the “99%” were clearly fed up with speculation. Some of the demands that emerged from that movement included universal basic income, debt relief—and a financial transactions tax to curb short-term investing. A decade later, is the dream really unfettered access to leveraged options trades? Make no mistake: The “suits” would love to see this pivot—some call it neoliberalism. —Tim Fernholz SHARE AND WIN Referrals for relaxation! [Share the Quartz Daily Brief]( with friends, family, and co-workers to be automatically entered to win a wellness package from us! The package, valued at $500, includes a subscription to Headspace 🧠, Sony noise canceling headphones 🎧 , and a super comfy Brooklinen robe 🧸 . Sweepstakes ends on February 1st. [Refer to win]( Five things from Quartz we especially liked A signal in the GameStop noise. Amid the hoopla of this week’s GameStop news, Samanth Subramanian [showcases a single voice]( thoughtful, Minecraft-loving engineering school student and member of Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets channel, who explains how linking arms with his fellow amateur day traders to ambush Wall Street short-sellers began as a small adventure for “a bunch of schmucks who’re having fun” and snowballed into the current history-making “mother of all short squeezes.” —Lila MacLellan, senior reporter Unease in China over rare earth minerals. Mary Hui decodes government documents that show China is [worried about preserving its role]( as the world’s main rare earths supplier as the US looks to decouple supply chains. There are other structural issues with China’s rare earth mining industry too; and they’re coming to a head just as Beijing faces a growing backlash in the West. —Annabelle Timsit, geopolitics reporter Yellen’s toughest test. The new US treasury secretary’s résumé arguably makes her the most qualified person to ever take the job, writes Roya Wolverson. But more than her previous titles, it’s the [mistakes she made along the way]( stifling the 2008 financial crisis recovery by prematurely raising rates—that will prove most valuable as she navigates one of the most politically and economically fraught periods in recent memory. —Ana Campoy, finance and economics editor The global financial system took a big step toward pricing in climate risks. Central banks in the US and EU announced this week they’ll begin analyzing the threats climate change poses to banks and the broader financial system. Michael Coren explains how [greater scrutiny from the regulators]( who oversee more than 30% of the world’s GDP, combined with voluntary efforts by banks and asset managers, is pushing the economy to brace itself for massive changes in the coming decades. —Nicolás Rivero, reporter All sports, all the time. I’ve always watched a lot of soccer. But ever since the English Premier League returned after lockdown, every single game is now televised and streamed, and my viewing habits are out of control. I rarely enjoy watching my own team, Liverpool, because it’s too stressful. But as Adam Epstein reports, the point is that TV sports will completely [give way to the stream]( very soon, and there’ll be no escape. —Hasit Shah, news editor One membership thing that made us ☀️ [This week’s field guide]( took an expansive view of what makes us happy in our homes, but one of the most surprising elements is how we power them. [Tim McDonnell explains]( how—and why—rooftop solar is finally within reach for homeowners. —Alex Ossola, deputy membership editor ✦ Want another hot tip? [Try a Quartz membership free for seven days](. We’re obsessed with preprints Settle in for some armchair science. In 2020, scientists published more than 200,000 studies related to Covid-19, accounting for about 4% of the world’s total scientific output. Pandemic urgency played a part, but so did a long-simmering shift in research standards. Instead of waiting months or years to have their experimental results reviewed by peers and published in a prestigious academic journal, a growing number of scientists now just cut to the chase and put their work online as soon as it’s done. These so-called preprints—uploaded to open platforms where other scientists (and non-scientists, too!) can read and respond for free—exploded in popularity during the pandemic. Not everyone thinks that’s a good thing. [The Quartz Weekly Obsession was reviewed by peers.]( Get the Weekly Obsession email sent to your inbox, for free! [⚡ Sign me up!]( Subscribe with one click. Five things from elsewhere that made us smarter An insidious cancer on the rise. Oncologists are picking up on the hints of an alarming trend: An uptick in lung cancers among people who have never smoked—especially women. For STAT, Sharon Begley writes on [the factors that could contribute to this trend]( and how doctors are weighing their options to catch and treat these cases. Sadly, the topic was one close to Sharon’s heart: The veteran journalist, who never smoked, passed away from lung cancer earlier this month. —Katherine Ellen Foley, health and science reporter To leave or to stay? On Sunday, Britain formally opens a new path to citizenship for up to 3 million Hong Kongers. But already, thousands have settled in the UK since July, when Beijing imposed a harsh security law on Hong Kong. One of those who has left is H., a frontline protester who fled fearing persecution. In this [BBC audio documentary]( we hear an intimate portrait of H.’s difficult decision to go into exile—and why a fellow protester decided to stay. —Mary Hui, reporter Turning the tables on scammers. Phone scams are an all-too-common irritation in the US, but also a real threat, exploiting their vulnerable targets for $3.5 billion in 2019. For the New York Times Magazine, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee [lived out the fantasy]( of finding and confronting the voice on the other end of the line with the help of a white-hat hacker. The business of call-center cons exposes what happens when the interconnection of the global economy meets its deep inequality. —Tim Fernholz, senior reporter A higher level of supply chain management. Amazon has become an even greater e-commerce powerhouse during the pandemic, but delays can still be a challenge for deliveries. For The Information, Paris Martineau digs deep into how the company has [secretly built up a fleet]( of 130 trucking companies around the world through exclusive contracts. It’s a considerable amount of power and indicates how the freight program fits into the company’s long-term vision of an “all-inclusive transportation network.” —Karen K. Ho, global finance and economics reporter The golden age of cringe. If you’ve paid attention to social media in the last four years, you’ve probably taken some pleasure in the shared horror of hagiographic paintings of Donald Trump, showing the former POTUS in various heroic scenarios. But as Sonny Bunch notes in the Washington Post, these are [bipartisan crimes against aesthetics]( and for every glowing Trump painting, there’s a meme of RBG as a superhero. Our country would be better off if we treated all political figures less as icons and more like public servants accountable to the rest of us. —Oliver Staley, business and culture editor One workshop that made us skeptical Your “yes” culture is overrated. Forget about artificial harmony. To facilitate real progress at your company, you need a productive skeptic—the person who shoots for excellence and holds his or her colleagues to a high standard. Register for [our free virtual workshop]( on how to be a productive skeptic at work, and we’ll see you on Feb. 4 from 11am-12pm US eastern time. Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, non-stressful sport streams, and un-cringeworthy political art to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by [downloading our app]( and [becoming a member](. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Tim Fernholz and Liz Webber. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? 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