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Hereâs what you need to know
OPEC+ will respond if the US leads an oil supply effort. The US, China, India, Japan, and South Korea are coordinating plans to release strategic reserves, and reduce prices for consumers, to the big producersâ dismay.
Jerome Powell is set for a second term as Fed chair. US president Joe Biden nominated Powell againâand the next couple of years could be even more difficult than the last two.
Elizabeth Holmes testified for a second day. The Theranos founder, accused of fraud, talked about how her defunct companyâs technology developed. She denies the charges.
Uber is planning to make weed deliveries in Canada. The company has partnered with cannabis supplier Tokyo Smoke, although third-party delivery is not yet legal.
Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon are reportedly feuding. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Tesla and JPMorgan CEOs donât get along at all, and the bankâs lawsuit against the car maker last week means their private battle is out in the open.
The Waukesha suspect was out on $1,000 bail. Darrell Brooks allegedly killed five people and injured dozens more with his SUV at a Christmas parade in the city.
What to watch for
For a year, Amazon has stalled a $3.4 billion deal between Reliance Retail and Future Group, Indiaâs largest and second largest retailers, respectively. Today is the final supreme court hearing on the matter.
August 2020: Reliance Retail announces it will buy retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing assets from Future Group.
October 2020: Amazon, which has a 49% stake in promoter entity Future Coupons (translating to a 10% stake in Future Retail), blocks the deal by obtaining an emergency order from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). Reliance and Future try to ignore the stay.
November 2020: The Competition Commission of India approves the deal.
January 2021: The Security and Exchanges Board of India gives its OK.
August 2021: Indiaâs supreme court upholds SIACâs emergency order.
November 2021: The court asks Future Retail to stop pursuing the matter in all other forums. If the deal falls through, Future may be out of options.
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The excitement over options trading
Retail investors are moving from stocks to options, which offer a cheap way for traders to bet on a stock going up or down in price without having to actually purchase the shares.
The boom in options could be making financial markets more volatile, but itâs possible to overstate their influence. While trading in options linked to GameStop skyrocketed in early 2021, a report by the US Securities and Exchange Commission found no evidence it had unintended consequences on the share price from market makers racing to hedge the options activity. Quartz came to a similar conclusion when reporting on Robinhood options.
When youâre excited about your (job) options
So youâve decided, like so many other people, that itâs time to quit your job. But that doesnât mean you want to burn a bridge.
Youâll almost certainly be asked to submit a resignation letter after you announce your intention to leave. Paul McDonald, senior executive director at Robert Half, says its best to keep it simple:
- Start by succinctly stating that you have accepted another position, and are resigning.
- In a sentence or two, express your gratitude for the opportunities and experience the organization has provided you.
- Close by stating the final date youâll be on the job, and offer to help transition your duties and responsibilities to your replacement.
Read more on how to handle conversations with your current employer before and after writing that email in How to send a resignation letter, our latest in a weekly series of member-exclusive emails for navigating everyday challenges in work and life.
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Surprising discoveries
A fake hitman-for-hire site traps murderers. The siteâs astonished creator has been sitting back and watching the requests come in since 2005.
Octopuses, crabs, and lobsters are getting more rights. The UK is expanding their protections after a report showed they experience pain and distress like other animals.
El Salvador is building a âbitcoin city.â If that sentence werenât weird enough, please know that the tax-free metropolis will be powered by a volcano.
NASA is sending a spacecraft to blow up an asteroid. Itâs a test to see if humans can actually prevent an apocalyptic collision in the future, instead of just writing movies about it.
Kudzu didnât have a natural predator in the US until the 21st century. Unfortunately, the âkudzu bugâ is now also considered an invasive species, since it discovered soybean crops are also tasty. The kudzu episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast digs into how humans tend to let a single mistake turn into acres and acres of them.
đ§ Listen to all this seasonâs episodes on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, helpful bugs, and happy cephalopods to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Hasit Shah, Ananya Bhattacharya, John Detrixhe, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber.