🌞 Offensive Salads – July 01 2022

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00am ET. 

The Lead: Supreme Court Goes To The Beach

credit: ap

The Supreme Court is now officially on recess but what a doozy of a session it’s had! The court expanded gun ownership rights, abolished the federal right to abortion and just yesterday curbed the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions. All in a week's work! 

The court ruled that the EPA does not have the authority to shift the U.S. away from coal. That power, the court says, “rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.” With Congress? We think they’re going to agree on that? 

In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said that Congress already did this by empowering the EPA. It’s a chicken-or-egg argument but the majority opinion says that Congress must lay a new egg if it wants to shift towards clean energy because the EPA cannot develop its own “regulatory scheme.” 

Crypto Winter in Summer

credit: giphy

What the heck is going on with Bitcoin? It has plunged 58% this year and is on track for the worst quarter in over a decade. It broke below $20,000 per Bitcoin this week, a threshold investors have been dreading. 

Why???

That is the question every investor is asking themselves. 

Is it because the entire global economy is circling the drain? Is it because Bitcoin was always a wild speculation? Is it because, as Deutsche Bank says, it is too complex? Is it because global leaders are operating in the shadows to make sure Bitcoin does not emerge as a solution to global uncertainty? (That last one is my own conspiracy theory but a number of central bankers have echoed those sentiments.) 

Whatever the reason, Deutsche Bank predicts that Bitcoin will stabilize by the end of the year at around $28,000 per Bitcoin. That’s probably not all that comforting to those who bought in at $60,000 but you know the saying: It’s not about timing the market. It’s about time in the market. 

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Introducing Mr. Phil A. Buster

credit: wbai

President Biden has been hesitant to make changes to filibuster rules in order to pass his party’s legislation. But that might change given all the laws the left has lost as of late. (Like that alliteration?) 

The current filibuster rules allow Congress to block legislation. On Thursday, the President said he would support changes to the filibuster in order to set new laws that reinstate abortion rights, voting rights and other things on the Democratic agenda.

But could he do that? His party would need to hold on to a majority in the House and gain two seats in the Senate and that is not a sure thing. Democrats will face a hard fight in this year’s midterm elections and are not expected to maintain control of Congress. It’s high-stakes politics folks. As if you didn’t already know that. 

And The Winner Is… 

credit: grammys.com

Do do do doodoo do doot. Can you name that tune? Super Mario Brothers theme of course!! 

Now that little medley will be eligible for its very own GRAMMY with a new video game music category called Best Video Game Soundtrack. 

Anyone who plays games knows that game soundtracks have the artistry of their own. In the past, notable scores had to be entered into other categories but no more! This new category will be included in the 2023 GRAMMYs next January. 

News By The Numbers

130 days. That is how long Australia’s bushfire season is now. That is 11 days longer than it was in the late 1970s. 

1970. That was the last time the S&P 500 saw this dramatic of a percentage decline in the first half of a calendar year. Until 2022.  

30%. That is how much shares of Russian gas company Gazprom are down on news that the company will not pay dividends on last year’s results due to the current global conflict. 

96.71 million. That is how many people are members of the Chinese Communist Party, a 3.7% increase from 2020.

144. That is how many prisoners Russia and Ukraine swapped, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. 

What's Trending?

credit: pink floyd

Pink Floyd is trending on news that the band will reissue its 1977 album Animals in a new deluxe set on September 16th. (This is the first CD I ever bought) 

Elliot Page is trending because the transgender actor had what is known as top surgery to remove breasts. A YouTube personality was suspended on Twitter for what is called deadnaming, or using a person’s former name, in a Tweet about this. 

USC and UCLA are trending on news that both schools are planning to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten Conference. Sports ball. 

Earthquake S.C. is trending because a 3.5 magnitude earthquake hit South Carolina, which doesn’t normally have earthquakes but has had a few already this year.