- __1.9M:__ Global Covid deaths from January to June, already [higher](https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-deaths-this-year-have-already-eclipsed-2020s-toll-11623350773) than 2020's toll.
- __57%:__ Percentage of US adults who have been fully vaccinated.
- __~$2.5K:__ The [average](https://www.wsj.com/articles/millions-are-unemployed-why-cant-companies-find-workers-11620302440?mod=hp_lead_pos1) monthly unemployment payout with boosted benefits, extended until September. 
- __-20%:__ Fall in the stock price of the 50 biggest SPACs this year.
- __5,000%:__ Surge in the price of Dogecoin this year so far. 


Numbers

The Numbers: five big numbers that defined the first half

Snacks

What percentage of teens had summer jobs last year?

US adults consumed ~1.9 pounds of _______ per capita in 2025.

How many record-breaking performances were there in the Enhanced Games, where athletes were permitted to take performance-enhancing drugs and supplements?

Which company became the 12th US company to join the $1 trillion market cap club?

Which of the following cities has the highest number of Airbnb listings that have been completely unoccupied for the last 12 months?

Which product category accounts for the largest portion of Kraft Heinz’s sales?

How many consecutive hours were Figure 03 robots able to sort packages?

Sentiment seems to be shifting about , ’s perpetual preferred equity instrument, which launched in J...

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

Contributing Reporter

Crypto

The  blockchain is stalled again on early Friday, with the last transaction occurring more than two ...

Sage D. Young

Crypto Reporter

 and   both hit fresh all-time highs in early trading after Susquehanna bestowed new Wall Street-hig...

Luke Kawa

Markets Editor

Markets

 shares are surging in early trading Friday after the identity security provider posted Q1 fiscal 20...

Helena Cheng

Markets Reporter

 announced Wednesday that its 15 million members can now use its stablecoin, SoFiUSD, marking the fi...

Tesla has just 42 unsupervised Robotaxis on the road in Texas. Alphabet’s Waymo has 577.

Rani Molla

Tech

 and  shares are surging in premarket trading, getting a big boost from rival ’s strong Q1 results. ...

Employers have spent years fighting return-to-office battles, wondering who’s actually present in ca...

Hyunsoo Rim

Data Reporter

Culture

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Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, t...

Tom Jones

Business

Shares of  plunged as much as 15% before the bell on Friday after a Blue Origin rocket exploded yest...

Claire Yubin Oh

Data Journalist

At first, it looked like another case of a software company selling off despite reporting strong res...

Paige Oamek

Wall Street is giving it less than five big booms.   shares were effectively flat in after-hours tra...

 is holding onto its eye-watering gains, up nearly 40% in the early trading action on Friday, after ...

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all closed at new record highs following reports that the ...

Tasha Matsumoto

Editorial Operations Manager

Anthropic announced it has raised $65 billion in a series H fundraising round, with a staggering val...

Jon Keegan

Tech Reporter

 is spiking on elevated call demand amid the company’s push to show it’s part of the chip-smuggling ...

When Drake dropped a trio of studio albums without warning on May 15, he’d already made music histor...

Millie Giles

 wants to fight its way back into the AI coding field by releasing a new model next week at its annu...

Study after study tells us that stock picking is incredibly difficult, with the lion’s share of acti...

1. __America's booming recovery...__ Cue the "[revenge spending](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/2lFqgJt0AfN3zJsbqdxm7m/articles/17MF35F4AhEUwPGvF1qKzt/)." The US economy is roaring back to life and is expected to grow [6.5%](https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-u-s-economy-roars-back-life-in-many-poor-countries-gets-worse-11617874201) this year, its highest rate since the '80s. Thank the US' massive stockpile of Covid vaccines for the glow-up — oh, and *$5.3T* worth of gov't stimulus. This year, Americans are spending more on restaurants, flights, and *non*-stretchy clothes (pajamas are about to enter a recession). US plane traveler volume is back to three-quarters of 2019 levels, up from 25% a year ago. But the reopening economy has also been driving inflation and shortages. And while the US recovers, poorer nations are falling [further](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/64VKtgKZkaaZZmAmaD67OM/articles/4D1D5CUdIwzesT1nTfvvJM/) behind. 

2. __The rise of alt-coins...__ This year, crypto mainstreamification is going far beyond Bitcoin: we call it "[coin crowding](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/dLcrQb1mMJkJggNDpsdYE/articles/2ZsEiE2UH2RHJdVHispio6/)." In January, BTC made up 70% of total crypto value — now, it makes up 45%. Alt-coins like Ethereum and Doge have picked up crypto market share, dimming BTC's spotlight. Smaller coins like DigiByte, VeChain and SafeMoon have also gained traction – and then there's [influencer coins](https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/04/20747194/how-bitclout-aims-to-let-people-bet-on-twitter-influencers-using-creator-coins).  As BTC's environmental impact comes under scrutiny, "green" alternatives like Chia are getting attention, too.  Coin crowding is a new phenomenon with high volatility risk, and the long-term outcomes are still unclear.

3. __Big Tech's antitrust problems...__ have gotten a whole lot anti-er. This year, regulators are bringing real heat. Since the Apple-Epic [trial](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/5mrz8IgUB1Bjuc9ILsHQOj/articles/4GARoezVkzR6VmTXvlwEa1/) in May, the temp has gone from steam room to sauna. Just last week, a House committee [advanced](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/5tRYnsRgn3rJ4caqG3lXnl/articles/1RLuAoU5YouPqt1GL30lzZ/) major legislation to curb Big Tech's dominance. The headliner: a bill that would prohibit tech companies from playing favorites with their own products (think: Apple apps on App Store, Basics on Amazon). Meanwhile, newly confirmed FTC leader Lina Khan is a Big Tech critic who could expand the scope of antitrust enforcement. Blocked acquisition and even tech breakups seem more plausible.

_Inflation has been #trending — here's where some of the price jumps happened (source: BLS)_

Themes

The Big Picture: three key themes that defined the first half

1. __Inflation's effect on stocks...__ Will it have one? If the first half of the year were a hashtag, it would be #flated. For most of the year, investors worried that the Fed would raise interest rates sooner than expected to tamp down rising prices as the economy revved up (see: our chart above). This month, the Fed suggested it would do just that (ETA: 2023). Higher interest rates can make stocks less attractive compared to less risky assets like bonds and savings accounts. Despite the #flated sitch, stocks are at records highs. But if inflation starts to look like a trend rather than a one-time reopening blip, that could change. 

2. __Big tax hikes for corporations...__ Will they actually happen? This month, G7 countries came to a historic [agreement](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/1vHKAgE3hJdaCFv0cdJNIm/articles/6v5vQpqDdzXIWNmx3Oc9VL/): multinational companies should pay a minimum tax rate of at least 15% in each country in which they operate. That could hurt Big Tech companies like __Google__ and __Amazon__, who've  been plopping their international HQs in countries with low corporate tax rates. Meanwhile, President Biden wants to [raise](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/2FGYY02td4t3rp9KjKvLQM/articles/1d7eiIZp8iwgUI9aKXGIQZ/) the corporate tax rate in the US to 28% from 21% to fund trillions worth of proposals. Neither of these tax hikes have passed yet, and they'll likely get pushback — but they've become  more likely.

3. __Economic competition with China...__ Can the US stay #1? With its tech power and growing international influence, China’s becoming a bigger economic threat to the US economy. This month, the Senate approved a $250B bill to subsidize Made In USA  R&D for key industries of the future (think: tech, chips). The bipartisan goal: *keep the US competitive against China*. Then, G7 countries announced “Build Back Better World”: a Biden-inspired partnership to rival China's "Belt and Road" initiative by financing infrastructure projects in developing countries. 

The Numbers: five big numbers that defined the first half

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