In case you’ve been snoozing through this escalating war of words, here’s a quick recap:
- WAIT, can he really do that? Probably not. My colleague Brian Fung talked to some lawyers who say the White House is quickly going to stumble over some First Amendment roadblocks.
- Meanwhile, the knives came out between Twitter and Facebook. CEOs Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg traded criticism in public appearances, and several former employees posted their own jabs on social media.
- Shares of both Twitter (TWTR) and Facebook (FB) were down on Thursday as investors anxiously awaited Trump’s order.
WHAT’S NEXT? We’re still parsing the order itself, but you can expect to see a lot of constitutional law scholars on TV in the next few days, plus (presumably) more trash talk between Zuck and Jack and the president of the United States.
BULLS ARE READY TO RUN
TOPPLING KING COAL
Here’s a spot of sunny news: The United States consumed more energy last year from renewable sources like solar and wind than from coal. That hasn’t happened since the ’80s — the 1880s.
BEWARE THE BANKRUPTCY BARGAIN
With all the bankruptcy headlines in the news, you might find yourself wondering whether now’s the time to go bargain shopping for stocks and pray that those companies can emerge like phoenixes from the ashes of Chapter 11.
EVIDENCE WE’VE ALL STOPPED CARING
At the start of this quarantine, those of us who were able to stay home couldn’t help Instagramming our homemade sourdoughs and hand-churned butter. We all became contestants in our very own reality cooking show called “Your Fridge is Overflowing With Corona-Panic Perishables.”
But Americans’ pantry stocks have dwindled. Our excitement about phrases like “let it prove” and “feed the starter” has fallen flatter than my failed focaccia.
The test of time has shown that underneath our amateur chef hat is a dejected, unskilled human who, if they’re being honest, really likes junk food, hates yoga and doesn’t know the difference between baking soda and baking powder (Don’t bother explaining it to me; I’ll never remember and I do not care).
IN OTHER NEWS
- After exchanging some cheeky messages on social media, Adidas and Allbirds are linking up.
- Amazon says it’s keeping most of the jobs it created in the pandemic.
- Plummeting demand for travel is forcing Delta and American to gut their workforces.
- Nissan is cutting production capacity by 20% after suffering its worst year since 2009.