Hey Snackers,
Hasbro's iconic Mr. Potato Head has a new, gender-neutral name: Potato Head.
Tech stocks dragged down the market yesterday. The Nasdaq had its biggest sell-off since October, plunging 3.5%. Investors were spooked about rising interest rates: the 10-year Treasury yield spiked, settling at its highest level in a year.
President Biden wants to fix the US supply chain (it's not just a chip problem)
Signed, sealed, delivered... On Wednesday, Biden signed an exec order to address critical shortages, ordering a 100-day review of the US supply chain. ICYMI: The Great Chip Shortage is causing widespread production issues, especially for tech companies and car makers. All that WFH'ing has eaten up all the chips, so GM and Ford have had to shut down car plants. Tesla briefly closed its Fremont factory due to shortages. But...
- Chips aren't the only issue: The review will assess supply chain weak spots for other critical items (Grape-Nuts not included). Think: medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, raw materials, and EV batteries.
- The US is the world's largest importer. In 2019, the US imported $617B more worth of goods than it exported to other countries. The pandemic made everyone more isolated. Now American industry is suffering from a lack of self-sufficiency.
Worse than the TP shortage... The pandemic highlighted the US’ reliance on other countries (especially China) for crucial supplies… and exposed the limits of globalization. "Crisis mode" demonstrated how harmful that reliance can be:
- In March, the US suffered a serious shortage of masks and ventilators. The US had to import at least half of its PPE from China, and it still wasn't enough.
- Now, there's this chip shortage. But more than 80% of chip production happens in Asia, with China leading the charge. The US is also heavily reliant on China for drug ingredients, electronic components, and "rare-earth elements" used in hundreds of tech products.
The US has entered a Cold Trade War... To prevent future shortages, the Biden admin is trying to shore up domestic supply chains and trade with friendlier countries — instead of introducing new China tariffs like the Trump administration (don't forget the French wine). While Biden isn't rushing to remove Trump's China tariffs, he’s taking a softer approach. Either way, this exec order isn't a golden fix: assessing supply chain issues is easy, but actually reducing foreign dependence will be one of America’s biggest long-term challenges over the next decade.
The pandemic effect: the health and economic impact on Black Americans
The stats speak for themselves… Minorities in America have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, from both economic and health standpoints. Black Americans are 1.9X more likely to die from COVID than white Americans, and 2.9X more likely to be hospitalized. For Hispanics and American Indians, the rates are even higher. In the first half of 2020, Black men suffered the largest decline in life expectancy, which dropped by three years. A few key factors help explain the higher risk:
- Essential work: Black workers are overrepresented in essential roles, like food service and public transportation, increasing the risk of infection.
- Other major factors: Crowded housing, inconsistent access to healthcare, and chronic health conditions that increase Covid complications. Also: a history of discrimination and mistreatment in healthcare has contributed to distrust in the medical system for many Black Americans.
On the financial side… The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Black business owners. Pre-pandemic, Black businesses were growing 2X as fast as overall businesses in the US. From February to April last year, the number of active US business owners dropped a record 22%. Black businesses owners took the hardest hit, dropping 41% in those three months.
Why?... Geography and access to capital are key factors. Black-owned businesses are heavily concentrated in Covid hotspots, and entered the pandemic with weaker financials and less access to capital. The financial health of businesses and individuals connects back to the massive wealth gap: the typical white family has 8X the wealth of the typical Black family.
Equitable vaccine access is key… to helping alleviate the impact on minority groups. But so far, the rollout hasn’t been proportional: of the people of known race who have been vaccinated, 64% have been white. Just 9% were Hispanic, 6% were Black, and 5% were Asian — and less than 2% were American Indian. Some positive efforts are underway to change this distribution: All 32 NFL teams have offered their stadiums as mass vaccine sites, many of which are close to large Black urban populations. Uber and Walgreens have teamed up to offer free rides to vax appointments for people in underserved communities. And last week, Lyft announced it’s doing the same with CVS.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Staycay: Airbnb reported a big $3.9B loss in its first earnings as a public company, but beat on sales expectations.
- Meh: DoorDash shares plunged after-hours, after it revealed a large quarterly loss in its first public earnings.
- RT: Twitter shares spiked after it announced plans to double sales by 2023. It's also launching a subscription service for creators (name: Super Follows).
- Uncryptic: Crypto exchange Coinbase filed to go public, revealing a first-ever annual profit of $322M and $1.2B in 2020 revenue.
- Werk: US jobless claims fell more than expected last week to the lowest level since November, suggesting that layoffs are starting to slow.
- Beyonder: Beyond Meat struck plant-based deals with McDonald's and KFC-owner Yum Brands, but shares fell on disappointing earnings.
Friday
Earnings expected from Foot Locker
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