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Quote of the Day

Crypto is Libertarian and AI is Communist."

Market Snapshot

• Indexes held on to their three-day winning streak.
• European markets fell—inflation remained steady in the U.K.
• The dollar sank to a five-month low against the yen.
• Oil is in "correction territory."

Google AMP Swipes a Page from Snapchat's Story

Google’s AMP—or Accelerated Mobile Pages, if you’re not into energized acronyms—is getting an interactive makeover with new features for media publishers to create “Stories” á la Snapchat. If a picture is worth a thousand words, we can’t wait to tap into 13 GIFs of investigative journalism.

With an audience of “readers” primed for swipeable videos and photos (thanks, social media), publishers hope to expand their content in a post-text era. And invariably compete with Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

Swipe up for more

Beginning next week, publishers will be able to preview AMP stories in Google search. And we’d show you what that looks like but our developer invitation must’ve gotten lost in the email. The lucky early adopters include outlets like Mic, Wired, Vox, and Mashable.

Swipe up for backstory

The original AMP project allows publishers to create web pages that load much faster than conventional mobile web pages. On a scale of “Google Search” to “I’m Feeling Lucky,” reactions have been mixed. Some publishers love it for the additional traffic it generates. Others think it’s too plain Jane (read: light on ads) and reduces revenue. Speaking of...

Swipe up for ads...eventually

According to product manager Rudy Galfi: “[AMP] wants to provide as much opportunity for monetization as possible. The format should be able to accommodate great ads.” Keyword “should.” For now, publishers won’t generate ad revenue from the format, BUT Google is building support for ads. Rollout TBD.

Swipe up for another feature

Google also announced AMP for Email (okay, this snub hurts) with which developers can make messages dynamic and actionable. Imagine setting a meeting time on an interactive calendar instead of trading 14 emails back and forth or referring a friend to the Brew without having to go to another website.

We’re cracking our knuckles at the possibilities.

CPI Overview: Inflation and Interest Rate Hikes

The Fed, investors, and daily business newsletters are holding their breath as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.

The reason? Inflation.

Markets just brushed off their worst week in two years and any sign of faster inflation would likely send them into another fit. Here’s why: it’ll only quicken the Fed’s timeline of interest rate hikes. Higher rates = less borrowing = less spending = less future economic growth = frantic traders on Wall Street.

And fresh-faced Fed chair Jerome Powell made it clear at his swearing-in ceremony this was part of the Fed’s plan.

Zoom out: Unemployment is at 17-year lows and hourly wages grew 2.9% YoY in January—the most since mid-2009. While definitely good news, these trends could also lead to rising prices (more money for consumers = more consumer demand = companies can charge higher prices).

Tell your friends: The economy is in great shape, but higher inflation will likely keep this ship rocking.

Chipotle Picks Up a New CEO on Taco Tuesday

Chipotle (+12.01% after hours) is well aware it’s never too late to ring the Bell, looking to Taco Bell chief Brian Niccol as its next CEO. He’ll replace Steve Ells, who founded the chain in 1993.

We (somehow) got a copy of Brian’s resume, and it’s impressive:

School: MBA from the University of Chicago.

Experience: CEO of Taco Bell since 2015. Previously, he was in management at P&G and CMO of Pizza Hut.

Skills: Making old-school chains feel young again. He revamped Taco Bell’s digital operations, making the brand appealing to a social media-savvy generation—you can also thank him for that taco emoji you always use.

LinkedIn endorsements: Bill Ackman, more than 10% owner of Chipotle, said, “He is the right leader to reinvigorate the company.”...and “he’s great with PowerPoint.”

So far it’s looked like no amount of queso could turn things around for Chipotle. But hopefully Brian’s expertise in branding, technology, and customer experience could be just what the company needs.

After all, he is the guy that brought you the Quesalupa.

Hungry for Meal Kit News?

Main course: The Trump administration seeks to revamp the food stamp program

On Monday, the White House proposed replacing half of SNAP benefits with shipping “Blue Apron-type” boxes of non-perishable food to 16.4 million households.

The radical departure from the current food stamp model is meant to save the government money ($130 billion over 10 years), reduce fraud, and encourage healthy eating. But so far, industry experts aren’t impressed:

Pre-packaged items reduce choice
What about people with specialized diets?
Shipping and logistics are expensive (sometimes one-third of the price per box)

Side dish: Blue Apron is still struggling to retain customers

The No. 1 meal kit company in the U.S. reported Q4 earnings, and it’s more of the same: a shrinking customer base (down 15% YoY) and increased competition (hello HelloFresh!).

On the bright side, Blue Apron lost less money than expected and its stock price shot up 8.5% early in the day. You can thank a smaller marketing budget—$25.2 million, compared to $37.1 million last year.

What Else Is Happening…

• We got a peek into Uber’s Q4 financials: quarterly revenue increased to $2.22 billion (61%), while losses shrank 26% to $1.1 billion. Dara seems to have the ride-hailer on the right track.
• Ahead of its big meeting with Qualcomm (+0.06%) today, Broadcom (+0.60%) agreed to nominate only six members to Qualcomm’s board instead of 11.
• At Apple's (+1.00%) annual meeting, Tim Cook told shareholders to expect dividend hikes.
• Blackstone COO Tony James is being replaced by Jon Gray. James will become an executive vice chairman

Economic Calendar

• Monday     Earnings: Heineken (+/-), Restaurant Brands International (-)

                    Economic Events: Treasury Budget (+/-)

• Tuesday    Earnings: PepsiCo (+)

                  Economic Events: Small Business Optimism Index (+)

• Wednesday    Earnings: Cisco, Marriott, Credit Suisse

                        Economic Events: CPI, Retail Sales, Business Inventories

• Thursday   Earnings: No Events

                   Economic Events: PPI, Industrial Production

• Friday       Earnings: Allianz, Kraft Heinz

                 Economic Events: Consumer Sentiment

From the Crew: Valentine’s Day Goals from Bill and Melinda Gates

Thirty-two years ago, Bill Gates coded the perfect algorithm to Melinda’s heart. And after years of picnics, drive-in theaters, and passionate...uh...machine learning, they founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. Since then, the foundation has raised $40.3 billion—Warren Buffett has personally guaranteed $31 billion as well—and spends ~$4.5 billion on philanthropic causes each year.

The highlights from this year’s annual letter:

On why they don’t give more in the U.S.: “We don’t compare different people’s suffering. All suffering is a terrible tragedy. We do, however, assess our ability to help prevent different kinds of suffering. When we studied the global health landscape, we realized that our resources could have a disproportionate impact. We knew we could help save literally millions of lives. So that’s what we’ve tried to do.”—Melinda

On why they work closely with corporations: “Companies have to make a return on their investments, which means they have little incentive to work on problems that mainly affect the world’s poorest people. We’re trying to change that—to encourage companies to focus a bit of their expertise on the problems of the poor without asking them to lose money along the way” —Bill

On why they donate so much: “It’s not because we think about how we’ll be remembered. We would be delighted if someday diseases like polio and malaria are a distant memory, and the fact that we worked on them is too.”—Bill

The Breakroom

Question of the Day

What is the longest pair of English words that are pronounced exactly the same but share no letter in common?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Business Trivia

Which tech CEO funded a team that searched the Atlantic Ocean for discarded NASA rockets?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Stat of the Day

8 million—How many watches Apple sold during the holiday quarter last year, outselling the entire Swiss watch industry. Rolex, Omega, and Swatch better step up their step-tracker game.

Breakroom Answers

Question of the Day: Ewe and You

Business Trivia: Jeff Bezos