| TOGETHER WITH |  | | Good morning. Morning Brew turns five on Saturday, and we're celebrating with our craziest giveaway yet. Keeping reading for details. | | | |  | NASDAQ | 8,575.62 | - 4.42% | | | | S&P | 2,972.37 | - 8.00% | | | | DJIA | 25,864.78 | - 9.37% | |  | GOLD | 1,674.20 | + 10.14% | | | | 10-YR | 0.767% | - 115.30 bps | | | | OIL | 41.57 | - 32.09% | | | *As of market close | - U.S. markets: Finally, a reason to sing happy birthday that has nothing to do with hand washing. The longest-ever U.S. bull market in stocks turns 11 today, but the coronavirus presents an existential threat no one saw coming.
- Energy: Oil futures fell an incredible 30% last night in their biggest plunge since the Gulf War in 1991. We're going to dive into why that happened in 5...4...3...2...
| |  Giphy | Tonight's finale of Peter's Bachelor journey will be drier than 2am PBS paid programming compared to this gnarly spectacle in the oil markets. You might call it the most dramatic OPEC+ meeting yet. What happened On Friday, OPEC ally Russia opted out of a Saudi-spearheaded proposal to deepen crude production cuts. With coronavirus tanking demand, Saudi producers wanted to cap supply to prop up oil prices. Russia was unbothered. Allegedly tired of 1) production cuts favoring U.S. shale producers and 2) holding back energy investments because of the cuts, the Kremlin decided enough was enough. What that means Katy bar the door. Saudi Arabia announced hours after the disastrous meeting that it's majorly boosting oil output next month. It also slashed prices for its crude the most in more than 30 years—essentially declaring an all-out price war. - Lowering prices = sweetening Saudi crude for refiners in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.
Big picture The buy-Saudi-it's-cheap strategy could immediately force Russia and other producers to rejoin negotiations. One downside: Shares of Saudi Aramco fell below their IPO price for the first time yesterday. - For Saudi Arabia...low oil prices are a blow to an economy heavily dependent on energy. Some experts say oil could fall to $20 this year, but the Saudis need about $80/barrel to finance government spending.
- For Russia...it can handle lower prices thanks to a far more diversified economy. The country's breakeven price is about $42, plus it's been squirreling away billions for rainy days like this one.
Bottom line: OPEC's alliance with Russia is crumbling like a Nature Valley bar, and that's brutalizing oil markets. But it also jeopardizes the diplomatic inroads Saudi Arabia and Russia spent the last several years cultivating. | |  Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images | In the wee hours of Sunday morning, the Italian government announced the most drastic response to the coronavirus outside China: It's locking down roughly 16 million people in its northern region. What that means: - Essentially no one can enter or leave the region of Lombardy and 14 other provinces. Many of the country's famed museums, ski resorts, and theaters will close.
- Entrée spying will get more difficult. Restaurants can stay open as long as customers are seated at a one-meter distance from each other.
Zoom out: This could be economically devastating. Anchored by Milan, the north is Italy's economic crown jewel, with Lombardy accounting for one-fifth of the country's GDP. Italy itself is the third-largest economy in the EU. But the government thinks the lockdown is a necessary sacrifice considering the alarming spread of coronavirus. Italy has recorded nearly 6,000 cases, at least 233 have died, and hospitals are overrun. - "One of the best health systems in the world, in Lombardy is a step away from collapse," said the head of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit.
Looking ahead...the restrictions will be in place until at least April 3. | |  Giphy | Twelve years ago, SpaceX won a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to send supplies to the International Space Station. Friday night, in super windy conditions at Cape Canaveral, SpaceX launched the 20th and final delivery using its Dragon capsule under that original contract. Starting in October, it'll substitute the Dragon with the next-generation Dragon 2, which is bigger and built for human crews. - As is always the case with SpaceX, it's less about the launch and more about the landing. The company landed its rocket booster for the 50th time in five years.
- Reusing rockets is key to SpaceX's mission of making space travel more affordable.
Also pretty cool: Along with ISS cargo, the mission took dozens of mini science experiments to space, some funded by private companies. - Adidas sent up foam particles from its Boost shoe line to see how they'd behave in microgravity.
- Delta Faucet Company will be observing how water droplets form in space—apparently, that'll help it improve one of its showerheads.
- Luxembourg startup Space Cargo Unlimited sent up 320 snippets of grapevines.
| | | The Fed's cuttin' interest rates, which means our friends at CommonBond are too, which means if you're waiting for a sign to finally refinance your student loans, this is it. Rates are at historic lows; your student loan stress should be, too. By refinancing with CommonBond, you can say goodbye to your old student debt and replace it with a smarter, simpler, and more affordable loan. So if you were sitting on the front porch in your rocking chair, plucking at your banjo, and waiting for a good time to refinance your student loans, put that steel-stringed twanger aside and head over to CommonBond. These low rates may not last. Now is the time to knock out your student debt. See what's possible with CommonBond. | | | Two pieces we read this weekend reminded us that if kids really are the future, we're in good hands. The first, from the London Review of Books: With school suspended until further notice, kids in Wuhan, China, couldn't believe their luck. That is, until an app called DingTalk entered the equation, allowing teachers to assign homework and conduct online classes. This surely could not stand, so what did the kids do? - They knew that if DingTalk got enough one-star reviews, it would get kicked out of the App Store. So they hammered it.
- Overnight, DingTalk's rating fell from 4.9 to 1.4 stars. The app pleaded on social media, "I'm only five years old myself, please don't kill me."
The second, from the New York Times: Kids on TikTok are becoming literal overnight sensations by live-streaming themselves sleeping. They're even making money, too. - One 18-year-old set up his phone camera, went to bed, and woke up with over 6,000 new followers.
- On TikTok's Chinese counterpart, up to 18.5 million viewers watched one man sleep on Feb. 9.
| |  NASA | Extra grateful to have celebrations like Purim and Holi on the calendar this week. Monday: Earnings (Stitch Fix); Purim begins; SUPERMOON
Tuesday: Earnings (Dick's Sporting Goods); Holi Wednesday: Consumer price index Thursday: Earnings (Gap, Slack, Adobe, Broadcom, Ulta Beauty); producer price index; National Book Critics Circle Awards Friday: Consumer sentiment | |  | The Brew turns 5 years old on Saturday. So—like every business newsletter before us—we are celebrating our fifth birthday by honoring a hallowed, well-known, and real newsletter tradition: We are giving away Brew socks and $5,000. Here's how it works... All you have to do is refer 5 friends to the Brew this week using your unique referral link, and you'll receive a pair of the beautiful, blue foot huggers pictured above. But—and here's where it really gets exciting—we sneakily put a golden ticket into one package of socks. This golden ticket means one lucky reader will win $5,000 in cash.* Knock out your 5 referrals today. Share to WinOr copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=5e25388f | | | Today's What Else is Brewing is brought to you by coronavirus. - The Grand Princess, a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, will dock at the Port of Oakland today.
- Facebook said it will ban ads for medical face masks to prevent people from exploiting its platform to incite coronavirus hysteria.
- Salesforce joined the growing list of tech companies encouraging California employees to work from home to avoid coronavirus risks.
- Lufthansa, which cut capacity by 50% last week, is seeking the German government's help to avoid laying off workers.
- Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who tore his predecessor to shreds in a NYT interview last week, said he is "embarrassed and regretful about the article."
| |  | We don't tiptoe from one season to the next. At the Brew, our Cariuma kicks let us stride into spring like we're speed walking in our mom's fitness collective on Sundays. They're sustainably made, provide all-day comfort, and come in spring-ready colors like rose, red, yellow, and classic white. Take 15% off and spring for a pair before they sell out. | |  Neal Freyman | Down
2. Jack Dorsey terrorizer
3. Ridgeline maker
4. Joe endorser Across
1. Jack named Fortune's "Manager of the Century"
5. Northeast corridor train
6. Huawei rival
7. Canceled arts festival's city | | | Down
2. Jack Dorsey terrorizer = Elliott
3. Ridgeline maker = Honda
4. Joe endorser = Kamala Across
1. Jack named Fortune's "Manager of the Century" = Welch
5. Northeast corridor train = Acela
6. Huawei rival = Nokia
7. Canceled arts festival's city = Austin | | |
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