Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. They say that timing is everything… so if you got into NFTs last August, we feel for ya. Daily NFT sales have fallen 91% since then, according to data service NonFungible.com.

In other news, the Bored DONUT Yacht Club launches tomorrow. (Dibs on the Boston Creme!!)

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.07 minutes to read.

Biden’s controversial Fed nominee – who withdrew her name from consideration yesterday – is named Sarah Bloom Raskin, not Gaskin. (Our editor blew a 'gaskin' when they saw this mistake.😉)

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

–Helen Keller (1880-1968)

🇺🇦 The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday, where the mayor instituted a 36-hour curfew as Russian shelling continues to hit the city.

• Delegations from Ukraine and Russia resumed peace negotiations that had been cut off prematurely the night before, but both sides failed to make any tangible progress.
• Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed in Ukraine yesterday in the same attack that hospitalized Fox correspondent Benjamin Hall, according to the network.
• Over 3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, according to the UN (☝️). That’s nearly 7% of the country’s entire population.
• President Biden signed into law a $1.5 trillion government spending bill yesterday that provides $13.6 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine.

How the invasion is impacting…

🌎 International Relations: Russia sanctioned senior officials from the US and Canada yesterday, banning President Biden, former Sec. of State Hilary Clinton, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and others from entering the country.

• The White House announced that President Biden will meet with the European Council and other NATO leaders in Belgium next week to address the Ukraine situation.

📈📉 Markets: Oil declined more than 6% yesterday to close below $100 per barrel, while US stocks jumped across the board. (Dow: +1.8%| S&P: +2.1% | Nasdaq: +2.9%)

Starting today, prepare to pay a little extra for Ubers and UberEats orders.

🚘 Driving the move (lol)… High gas prices. As of Monday, the average cost of a gallon of regular fuel had reached $4.325, per AAA; up 26 cents over the past week. Around this time last year, the average price was $2.859 per gallon.👇

📋 More deets…

• Based on location, the surcharge for an Uber trip is either 45 cents or 55 cents; for an Uber Eats order, it's either 35 cents or 45 cents.
• The extra fees will be in effect for the next two months, and 100% of them will go to the drivers, according to the company.

📸 The big picture: Lyft also plans to add a temporary fuel surcharge to fares for drivers to pocket, the company said on Monday. So it’s probably not unreasonable to expect DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, etc. to follow suit… but we’ll pay attention and let you know.😬

​​Rideshare prices are 15-20% higher on average than last January, per research firm YipitData, as companies are dealing with a labor shortage and pressure from Wall Street to turn/stay profitable.

Thanks to the American Kennel Club’s annual list of top dog breeds in the country – released yesterday – we now have an answer to that question.

🏅 The top five… The AKC’s rankings are drawn from the more than 800,000 purebred puppies and older pooches that joined the nation’s oldest canine registry last year.

1. Labs (who’ve been in the top spot for an unprecedented 31 straight years)
2. French Bulldogs
3. Golden Retrievers
4. German Shepherds
5. Poodles (their first appearance in the top five since 1997)

🐶 Zoom out: More than 23 million American households – nearly 1 in 5 nationwide – adopted a pet during the pandemic, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

• Pre-pandemic, roughly two million dogs were adopted from shelters each year.

+Fun fact: Poodles were the top dog (lol) in America from 1960 to 1982.

+Dig deeper: See the full rankings.

Women’s History Month is an opportunity to highlight the often-overlooked achievements and contributions of women. However, it’s clear there’s still work to be done.

🔢 By the numbers…

• Looking at earnings in their entirety, women earn ~82 cents for every dollar a man earns. The gap is even wider for women of color.
• Despite making up nearly half of the US workforce, only 27% of women work in STEM.
• By age 5, young girls start to develop self-limiting beliefs, thinking they’re not as capable as boys.

That’s why lifestyle brand Piccolina is celebrating and introducing our kids to barrier-breaking women, and inspiring young girls and boys to blaze their own paths. 🙌

🚺🥳 And when Piccolina says they celebrate women, they mean it:

• They’re women-owned and operated by an all-female team
• They donate 1% of all sales to non-profit partners who support women and children
• They collaborate with a diverse group of women artists from across the globe

Piccolina's mission and initiative are exactly why they were named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things. 🏆

🚨 BOGO alert!… Piccolina knows grown-ups want in on the fun, too, and is excited to offer Buy-One-Get-One on adult-sized tees!

All eyes will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank's headquarters in D.C. this afternoon, where he’s expected to announce an interest rate increase to try and curb historic levels of inflation.

But what gives the Federal Reserve the power to determine how fast prices can increase? And what are the main goals the central bank is trying to achieve?

🇺🇸 Background: In 1907, the US experienced a financial crisis that saw the NYSE fall nearly 50% from a recent peak during an ongoing period of recession. The resulting run on banks and trust companies forced many banks and businesses to declare bankruptcy.

The crisis might have deepened were it not for the efforts of banker J.P. Morgan, who pledged large sums of his own money and convinced others to do the same to alleviate the situation.

• The fact that the US owed its economic survival to a private banker eventually led Congress to approve the 1913 Federal Reserve Act.

🏦 Conflicts of interest… The act created an independent central bank responsible for managing the country’s money supply, and ordered it to maximize employment and keep inflation low. 

Put simply, it accomplishes this by controlling interest rates:

• When the Fed lowers interest rates, it makes corporate credit easier to obtain, encouraging businesses to expand and create jobs, which lowers unemployment. But it also increases inflation.
• When the Fed raises interest rates, it slows down inflation – but it also slows down the rest of the economy, leading to increased unemployment and higher chance of a recession.

❓ The big question: The Fed is expected to raise rates today, but by how much?

Under current Chair Jerome Powell, interest rates were cut to essentially zero at the onset of the Covid pandemic and have remained there ever since. Last year saw historic one-year jumps in GDP and inflation, while the unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 3.9%.

• ☝️ Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee at Russian state TV station Channel One, interrupted its evening newscast carrying a sign that read: “Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They’re lying to you”; she was arrested and could face up to 15 years in prison under a new Russian law.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🛢️💴 Saudi Arabia is in active talks with Beijing to price some of its oil sales to China in yuan, per the WSJ; the kingdom has traded oil exclusively in US dollars since 1974.
• 📈🚘 Tesla increased prices on all of its models by at least $2,000; CEO Elon Musk said the company is facing inflation pressure in raw materials and logistics.
• 🍿 AMC announced an investment in gold-and-silver mining company Hycroft Mining; shares of the theater chain rose 7% yesterday but are still down almost 70% since November.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🤼 WWE Hall-of-Famer Scott Hall, aka Razor Ramon, passed away at 63 from complications due to hip surgery.
• ⚖️ Convicted con artist Anna Sorokin, aka Delvey, the subject of Netflix’s Inventing Anna, is being deported back to Germany.
• 🎤 The first slate of performers for the 2022 Grammys were announced, including BTS, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🛰️ A group of scientists are using NASA’s Astrobees – cube-shaped robots that fly through space using air thrusters – to test algorithms for refueling defunct satellites so they can safely deorbit.
• 💉 Pfizer is asking the FDA to approve a second booster shot of its vaccine for people 65 and older.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 👮 A suspect was arrested in connection with the serial shooting of five homeless men in NYC and DC earlier this month.
• 🏛️ The White House will resume public tours next month, more than two years after the tradition came to a halt due to Covid.
• ☀️⏰ The Senate unanimously approved a measure that would keep the US on permanent daylight-saving time. (Read more | The 360º View on Daylight-Saving Time)

💬 Quoted… “Everyone wants to go home, but we know we need to stay.”

A group of 210 Ukrainian technicians and support staff at Chernobyl have been trapped since their shift began three weeks ago. They’re keeping the abandoned nuclear power plant safe while being held at Russian gunpoint.

💰 Stat of the Day: More than 50% of Gen Zers and millennials say they’ve missed at least one BNPL payment.

🤯 Did You Know?... Migraine headaches affect three times more women than men.

📖 Worth a Read: For College Students, LinkedIn FOMO Is Real—These Tips Will Help → (WSJ)

📜 Background: In Monday’s Dose of Discussion, we explored the history behind daylight-saving time in the US, and the pending legislation that would change how we currently do things.

❓ Our question to you: Which system of keeping time would you prefer?

Permanent standard time; more sunshine in the morning year-round

Permanent Daylight-Saving Time; more daylight in the evening year-round

I like the current system how it is; a mixture of both depending on the season

Unsure/other; out-of-the-box ideas encouraged – the wilder, the better😉

+Note: A written response isn't required – all you need to do is click one of the links above and your vote is recorded. Poll results and the best comments for each response will be featured in tomorrow's newsletter.

Four-year-old Everly "Evie" Backe spent the first year of her life in and out of the hospital. 

• Born with a congenital heart defect, the Illinois girl has already had three open-heart surgeries – which left her with a large scar along her chest.  

As Evie has grown older, she's started to take notice of the scar more and more. Her family lovingly calls it her "zipper," as it's what doctors used to open her up and fix her heart. 

❤️ Seeing double... After noticing his daughter's insecurity starting to grow about the scar, Evie's dad Matt decided to take action. 

• He went to the closest tattoo parlor and had a replica scar inked onto his own chest. The two now lovingly call each other "zipper buddies."  

💬 The bottom line: "He didn't want me to be alone," shared the adorable Evie. "He wanted to be special like me."

❓🍽 The Great Recipe Game, aka Hungry Hungry DONUT… For those who missed it the first two go-rounds, here’s how the game works: 

We give you a list of ingredients. You give us the completed dish they make. (Whatever you do, don’t imagine Gordon Ramsay waiting in the wings to berate your wrong answers.😉)

Recipe #1:

• Sweet Italian sausage
• Ground beef
• Parmesan cheese
• Minced onion
• Crushed garlic cloves
• Crushed tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• Canned tomato sauce
• Water
• White sugar
• Dried basil leaves
• Mozzarella cheese
• Fennel seeds
• Italian seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley
• Olive oil
• All-purpose flour
• Ricotta cheese
• Eggs

Recipe #2:

• Graham crackers
• Unsalted butter, melted
• Sugar
• Cream cheese, room temperature
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Fresh lemon juice
• Vanilla extract

Recipe #3: (Hint: this is an ingredients list before add-ins…)

• Pie Crust
• Heavy Cream
• Milk
• Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper

keep scrolling for the answers

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Here’s your unique link to copy & send to anyone you think would like the DONUT:

#1: Apparently, it’s the world’s best lasagna

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