Tip News Daily Brief

Your Daily Brief

February 8th, 2023

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! In case you’d like to check it out, the U.S. Navy yesterday released photos of its recovery effort of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was downed last Saturday over the Atlantic Ocean. As the photos show, it was outfitted with way more tech and hardware than the balloons you’ll find in aisle five at your local Party City.

In Today’s Brief

Middle East: Earthquake death toll rises
Super Bowl: Record bets expected
La La Land: Coming to Broadway
Microsoft: Launches Bing with ChatGPT

...and more

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Top Tips

State of the Union

President Biden delivered his second State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol last night.

Biden’s address came as the unemployment rate sits at a 50-year low of 3.4% and on the heels of the U.S. adding 517K jobs in January. After presenting those statistics, the president cited the passing of the CHIPS and Science Act as well as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, saying, “All construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects must be made in America.”

Along with urging Congress to “finish the job” on several pieces of legislation, the president addressed the death of Tyre Nichols along with risks undertaken by police officers, gun violence, student debt, the coronavirus pandemic, rising opioid deaths, and the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Biden added that the U.S. will stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes” and ended his address at 10:23 PM ET with the remark: “The state of the union is strong.”

Zoom layoffs & cutbacks

Remote communications company Zoom will lay off about 1.3K workers, or roughly 15% of its staff, according to founder and CEO Eric Yuan.

In his message to employees, Yuan said that Zoom “grew 3x in size” during the pandemic, but that the company “didn’t take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably.” He disclosed that he’s reducing his salary by 98% for 2023, and said that neither he nor his executive leadership team will take a bonus this year. Yuan added that those in executive leadership will reduce their base salaries by 20%.

Shares of the company’s stock (NASDAQ: ZM) closed 9.85% higher on the news. At its 2020 peak, Zoom stock traded at $559 per share. As of last night, the stock is trading at $84. Other tech companies such as Meta, Google, Shopify, and more have cited overhiring practices during the pandemic as the reason for recent layoffs.

LeBron makes history

LeBron James broke the record for most points ever scored in the NBA during last night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

James scored the 38,388th point of his career yesterday at LA’s Crypto.com arena during the third quarter. The feat places him higher than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who broke Wilt Chamberlain’s previous all-time scoring record in 1984 while also playing for the Lakers. According to ticket resale company StubHub, ticket prices surged to see the Lakers in the days leading up to last night’s game. Over the last two weeks, they sold as many tickets as the next three teams–the Knicks, Warriors, and Celtics–combined.

A four-time NBA champion, James was drafted into the NBA in 2003 and has averaged 30 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game this season (his 20th). Abdul-Jabbar scored a total of 38,387 points in his career and broke Chamberlain’s record eight months before James was born.

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Quick Tips

Around the Globe

Death toll from earthquakes in southern Turkey rises to more than 7.8K people between Turkey and Syria; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a three-month state of emergency in 10 affected provinces (More)
Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark’s Olympic committees have joined calls for the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes to be upheld for the Paris 2024 Games; their stance sees them join Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland on upholding the ban (More)
Ukraine is promised at least 100 Leopard 1 tanks from Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, along with training and support for the tanks, per remarks from German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a visit to Kyiv (More)

On the Homefront

A record 50.4M U.S. adults are expected to bet a combined $16B on Super Bowl LVII, according to survey results released yesterday by the American Gaming Association (More)
Eight additional Memphis police officers will be receiving statements of charges by the end of the week in an internal police department investigation following the death of Tyre Nichols, according to Memphis City Attorney Jennifer Sink (More)
Naturalized U.S. citizen Ruslan Maratovich Asainov was convicted yesterday of providing material support to ISIS; per the DOJ, Asainov became a sniper and weapons instructor for ISIS and fought in multiple battles in Syria (More)

Glitz & Games

‘La La Land’ is being adapted into a musical and will debut on Broadway at an undetermined date, according to the 2016 film’s producer Mark Platt (More)
Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel will leave his post in 2026 to become the music director of the New York Philharmonic, both orchestras announced yesterday (More)
Michael Jackson’s estate is reportedly in process of selling 50% of its stake in the singer’s publishing and recorded music catalog in a deal valued at between $800-900M, per multiple sources familiar with the matter (More)

Business & Markets

Stocks closed higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank expects the U.S. to see “significant” declines in inflation in 2023 (Dow +0.78%, Nasdaq +1.90%, S&P 500 +1.29%)
Bed Bath & Beyond announced an equity offering to raise as much as $1.025B that it plans to use to pay down outstanding debt, according to a company press release (More)
Microsoft launched a new version of its search engine Bing, powered by an upgraded version of the same AI technology that underpins OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT (More)

Tips & Tricks

Feel Good: Meet Charles Foreman, an ice cream parlor owner in Washington, D.C., who started giving away free ice cream to those who couldn’t afford to pay…and sparked a chain of giving in the community as a result
Sneak Peek: See Christoph Waltz freak people out as a sociopathic boss at a video game company in Prime Video’s official trailer for The Consultant, due out February 24th
Bump This: Get your daily dose of classic songwriting with the new single “I’ll Be By Your Side” from New York-based guitar slinger Patrick Droney - listen on Apple Music and Spotify
Chow Down: If you’re in the mood for something sweet and delectable, try out this recipe for raspberry lava cake that’s perfect for both normal and special occasions (or, you know…Valentine’s Day, which is right around the corner)
Go Deep: Learn about the science behind the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria and why strike-slip quakes–where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally–can cause so much damage
Hot Goss: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he will embark on a darkness retreat lasting four days and four nights after this Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII to consider his future in the NFL (ever heard of a good old-fashioned coin toss, man?)
Life Hack: Stress is a normal and healthy reaction to challenges we face in our lives, but certain foods can exacerbate anxiety via the gut-brain connection - here are six foods to consider avoiding that may reduce anxiety as a result

Tip-Offs

Mapping out of the cost of used cars in America.

How Panera Bread’s baguette inspired a new purse.

Netflix’s top 20 romantic comedies.

A look at how NYC’s No. 1 ranked pizzeria makes its dough.

See a toddler musical prodigy rip a drum solo.

…and this close-up photo of a volcanic eruption.

Determining whether wine or beer pairs better with cheese.

How the human body would respond to living on Mars.

Looking Back…

On February 8th: Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle (1587); the U.S. passes the Dawes General Allotment Act, providing for the distribution of Native American reservation land among indigenous peoples (1887); Martin Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver has its world premiere (1976); American actor James Dean is born (1931).

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