Tumbling Stocks, EPA Loss, and a Wanted Cryptoqueen

Your Daily Brief

July 1st, 2022

Good morning, and welcome to the first day of July! Today is International Joke Day (anyone got a knock-knock joke out there?), and here’s what we have for you:

Today’s Highlights

S&P 500 closes out its worst first half of a year since 1970
Supreme Court rules that EPA can’t set standards on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
FBI adds “Cryptoqueen” to its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List

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S&P 500 closes out its worst first half of a year since 1970

Stocks fell further yesterday to extend losses, with the S&P 500 index posting its worst-performing first half of a year since 1970.

Investors sent the S&P 500 trading down on concerns around inflation and continued rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, lowered consumer spending, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, and supply-chain issues stemming from Covid-19 lockdowns in China. The index–which is considered a benchmark for the overall stock market because of the diversity of companies it tracks–has fallen 20.6% in the first six months of 2022.

Other major indexes have followed similar paths. At the end of yesterday’s trading activity, the Dow Jones Industrial Index suffered its worst loss in the first half of a year since 1962, and has dropped 15.2% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite has lost over 20% of its value over the past three months, marking the worst-performing stretch in the tech-heavy index since 2008.

All three major indexes in the US (Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500) have now declined for two consecutive quarters. 2015 was the last time such an decline happened for the S&P 500 and the Dow, while the last time it occurred in the Nasdaq was 2016.

Supreme Court rules that EPA can’t set standards on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

In the case known as West Virginia vs. EPA–which stemmed from a 2015 EPA directive for power plants to reduce fossil fuel production or subsidize alternate energy sources–the court voted 6-3 that only Congress has the power to create regulations to limit emissions from existing power plants, and not the EPA.

The high court’s decision strikes down a years-long effort from the EPA to steer the country away from greenhouse gas emissions and towards renewable energy sources. It also marks a setback to President Biden’s goal to remove all greenhouse gas emissions from factories by 2035 and to cut the country’s total emissions in half by 2100, which he announced at the beginning of his presidential term.

Power plants that rely on fossil fuels are the second-largest source of pollution in the United States behind transportation, according to the EPA, who also states that the U.S. is the second-largest greenhouse gas producer in the world, following China.

FBI adds “Cryptoqueen” to its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has added Dr. Ruja Ignatova, a woman accused of leading one of the biggest cryptocurrency frauds in the world, to the agency’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Ignatova–the self-proclaimed “cryptoqueen”–is wanted for her role in promoting OneCoin, a Bulgarian-based cryptocurrency which prosecutors claim was fake and lacked any blockchain infrastructure behind it, unlike Bitcoin. Ignatova allegedly used OneCoin to front a worldwide cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, offering buyers a commission if they sold the currency on to more people.

The FBI wrote that Ignatova “allegedly instructed victims to transmit investment funds to OneCoin accounts in order to purchase OneCoin packages, causing victims to send wire transfers representing these investments.” The agency also wrote that through her role in promoting OneCoin, Ignatova is believed to “have defrauded victims out of more than $4 billion” over three years.

Missing since 2017, Ignatova is believed to travel with armed guards, according to the FBI, and may have undergone plastic surgery to alter her appearance. Ignatova is the only woman on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, and the agency is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.

Around the Globe

Chinese President Xi Jinping officiated the swearing-in ceremony of new Hong Kong leader John Lee on the 25th anniversary of the territory’s return to Chinese rule after being a part of the British empire since 1841
Indigenous leaders in Ecuador have ended more than two weeks of protests after signing an agreement with the government; the country’s government will lower the cost of fuel by 15 cents per gallon as part of the agreement
Barry Callebaut’s production facility in the Belgian town of Wieze–which the Swiss company says is the largest chocolate factory in the world–has shut down due to a salmonella outbreak

On the Homefront

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to the Supreme Court, replacing retiring Justice Stephen Breyer and becoming the first Black female in the court’s history
President Biden said that he would support changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to codify abortion rights into law
Florida circuit judge John Cooper blocked a state law signed in April by Governor Ron DeSantis that bans abortions after 15 weeks; the law was set to take effect tomorrow

Glitz and Games

Beyoncé shares artwork from her upcoming album Renaissance, a portrait of herself sitting atop a holographic horse
USC and UCLA have been accepted to join the Big Ten conference; the schools announced their departures from the Pac-12 in 2024
Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman pledged $4 million to her alma mater Brandeis University to establish financial support for teachers and scholars of African and African American studies

Money Moves

Major indexes in the stock market ended the second quarter of 2022 in the red (Dow -0.82%, Nasdaq -1.33%, S&P 500 -0.88%)
Bitcoin experienced its worst-performing month in terms of percentage decline, losing over 38% of its value in June as of yesterday
BlockFi is nearing a deal to be sold to cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX in a fire sale and was also approached by digital asset financial services firm Ledn, according to sources familiar with the matter

Tip & Tricks

Bump This: Charli XCX and Tiësto have teamed up on the short-and-sweet dance track “Hot in It” - listen to it on Apple Music and Spotify
Chow Down: Taco Bell has introduced the “Big Cheez-It Tostada” and the “Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme,” which look pretty much exactly how they sound
Cash Grab: Delta Airlines reportedly offered $10,000 in cash each for up to eight passengers to get off an oversold flight from Michigan to Minnesota
Nerd Out: Check out this concept video of a nuclear-powered “flying hotel” that can stay airborne for years
Say What: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” Beyoncé wrote in an Instagram post referencing her new album, due July 29th
Hot Goss: Actor Ezra Miller has been accused of harrassing a woman in Germany, while a woman whom the actor choked in Iceland in 2020 has spoken out and provided details of the incident
Life Hack: Leaving your car keys in a bowl or on a hook by your front door can help you keep track of them

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Looking Back…

On July 1st, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg began; it claimed over an estimated 50,000 casualties between the Union and Confederate armies, and is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War.