Technological doping

MARKETS

• U.S. markets: We only mention stocks up here when they had an especially good or an especially bad day. Well, yesterday was especially horrible. The S&P had its worst trading session since October and the major indexes sank to their worst week in half a year. Analysts named disappointing economic data and the coronavirus outbreak as the culprits.
• Commodities: Copper fell 9.8% in January for its worst month since 2015, and you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out why. China accounts for about 50% of global demand for base metals.

APPAREL

Pretty Vaporfly for a Banned Guy

Following the trajectory of every great athlete—years of training, daily Wheaties, and approval from the world governing body for track and field—Nike’s Vaporfly sneakers will appear at the Tokyo Olympics this summer after all.

The backstory: The $250 high-tech shoes were criticized starting in October after one marathoner broke the two-hour barrier and another shattered the women’s world record by 81 seconds (forever in competitive marathoning), both while wearing Vaporflys.

• Critics called the Vaporfly advantage “technological doping.”

Yesterday, the World Athletics federation issued modifications designed to “protect the integrity of the sport” but punted on making an official ruling.

• Beginning April 30, shoes looking to get foot time in high-stakes competitions like the Olympics must be available for sale on the open retail market for at least four months.
• World Athletics is also regulating design specs like sole thickness.

That means the current Vaporfly model isn’t banned at the elite level, at least for now.

Why can't we all just switch to Velcro?

Because Vaporfly isn’t your average sneaker (or tennis shoe). It uses a carbon plate designed to literally put a spring in your step.

• Over the last 13 months, runners wearing Vaporfly shoes have recorded the five fastest marathon times ever.
• The number of Adidas-sponsored runners winning major marathons has been chopped in half since the Vaporfly launched.

Big picture: Nike and its rivals are locked in an arms race to roll out the highest-tech gear for elite athletes and earn screen time at mega-events like the Olympics.

Looking ahead...any brand hoping to top Vaporfly’s promise of a 4% increase in efficiency before the Tokyo Olympics better hop to—the games begin July 24.

TRAVEL

The Pacific Crossing Is Getting Lonely

As fears of the coronavirus spread, U.S.-China travel is grinding to a halt. Three major U.S. airlines—United, American, and Delta—are canceling flights between the two countries, and not just for this weekend.

• United and American will restart service in late March. But you can’t fly Delta to China until May 1 the earliest.
• Airline stocks took a hit yesterday, but then again...so did most stocks.

Zoom out: On Thursday, the State Department issued its highest-level warning—a Level 4—advising Americans not to travel to China. Then, pilots and flight attendants asked, “so why are we still traveling to China?” and demanded airlines cancel flights.

Other transportation-related coronavirus news

• The CDC has issued a quarantine for 195 Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, as a preventative measure. It’s the agency’s first mandatory quarantine order in more than 50 years.
• The virus is hammering a global freight industry that relies on China. Shipping rates for the massive ships that carry raw materials have dropped more than 90% since a September peak.

2020

Politics in Super Bowl Ads? Is Nothing Sacred?

Your inner monologue at kickoff: Finally, I can stop pretending to care about Iowa.

Your inner monologue at halftime: I wonder who would win in an arm-wrestling match, President Trump or Mike Bloomberg.

Tomorrow night, national politics will take over the Super Bowl thanks to President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg.

• The two have spent at least $10 million each on commercials during the Super Bowl, which expects about 100 million viewers (the year’s largest TV audience) when it airs on Fox tomorrow evening.

30-second spots for this year’s game have sold for up to $5.6 million, Fox divulged. Pocket change for Trump (net worth: $3.1 billion) and don’t pick it up off the sidewalk change for Bloomberg ($61.5 billion).

Big picture: Most brands are doing all they can to avoid politics in their ads tomorrow night. But with Iowa caucuses the day after the Super Bowl, candidates need all the airtime they can get.

+ Want to learn more about the business of the Super Bowl? Check out the most recent episode of our Business Casual podcast with NFL legend Michael Lombardi. Listen: Apple / Spotify / everywhere else

FOOD

Avocados Fell in With the Wrong Crowd

We know avocados aren’t typically considered a “dangerous” fruit (like peaches). But we’ve got some news...

Avocado crime is on the rise. Mexican criminal gangs facing a lull in the drug business have turned to avocado theft, the FT reports. Their main target: the dozen trucks an hour leaving Mexico’s avocado belt for the U.S.

Zoom out: The Mexican avocado industry is growing at a healthy clip. Sales to the U.S., the largest importer of Mexican avocados, bring in almost $2 billion annually.

• Avo demand spikes right before the Super Bowl. The Hass Avocado Board said we’ll consume 153 million pounds of the good fat during tomorrow’s game.
• Two weeks ago, Mexican avocado exports to the U.S. had their best week ever.

+ Bonus avocado content: The WSJ explores the rise of “avocado-hand,” the act of stabbing or slicing yourself while de-pitting an avocado. More than half of the 50,413 reported avocado-related injuries from 1998–2017 have happened since 2013.

MEDIA

So That's...Bitmoji TV?

Correct. The first season of Bitmoji TV—a new series that stars your very own Bitmoji avatar—premieres this morning on Snapchat. Variety says it's either "the vanguard of a new wave of personalized entertainment" or "a one-off gimmick."

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Mike Bloomberg's campaign spent more than $188 million on his presidential bid in Q4 2019.
• Exxon Mobil and Chevron posted downbeat earnings as they faced tough conditions in the energy sector last quarter.
• WWE stock fell more than 21% a day after CEO Vince McMahon booted two execs.
• Airbus will pay up to $4 billion to settle corruption probes from three countries.
• Anne Cox Chambers, heiress to the Cox Enterprises newspaper empire and one of the country’s richest women, died yesterday at 100 years old.
• Black History Month starts today.

SATURDAY HEADLINES

"God Bless Saturday"—Kid Rock, big fan of Saturday Headlines. We'll give you three real stories from the week's news, and one story that just popped into our head. Can you spot the odd one out?

1. “New census question will ask whether Americans can identify Ukraine on a map”
2. “Need a loo fast? Book a ‘mobile toilet’ trailer on your smartphone”
3. “Elon Musk hits music studio, releases EDM single ‘Don’t Doubt ur Vibe’”
4. “Miami’s streets are awash with 5G debris ahead of the Super Bowl”

SATURDAY HEADLINES ANSWER