Axios

Amazon plans to start vaccinating frontline employees in the next few weeks, starting with fulfillment centers in Missouri, Nevada and Kansas.

Why it matters: Amazon and its subsidiary Whole Foods employed more than 1.3 million frontline workers in the U.S. between March and September last year. About 1.4% of those employees, more than 19,800, tested or were presumed positive, as of October 2020. 

Temporary limits on dividend payments and stock buybacks are expected to wrap up for most banks after June 30, once annual stress tests are completed, the Federal Reserve announced Thursday.

Why it matters: It's the latest example of pandemic-era restrictions — and breaks on regulatory requirements — getting rolled back as the worst of the economic crisis passes.

Audio chat app Clubhouse celebrated its one-year anniversary last week despite still requiring an invite to use — and yet, a cottage industry of tools and self-proclaimed experts, has sprung up.

Why it matters: Audio has seen a boom during the pandemic, with people stuck at home amid mass adoption of wireless headphones and smart devices.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have been mixing political activism with business since they launched their eponymous ice cream company more than 30 years ago. Now they're watching other companies start to follow their blueprint.

Axios Re:Cap asks Ben and Jerry about their legacy, the rise of corporate social activism and, of course, their favorite flavors.

The economic crash was bad, but it turned out not to be nearly as bad as many economists feared.

Flashback: A year ago this week, economist Nouriel Roubini published a column in which he speculated that we could be entering a "Greater Depression" even harsher than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The first-ever NFT was minted by artist Kevin McCoy in 2014 — you can see his presentation with technologist Anil Dash here.

Why it matters: While NFTs are regularly talked about as "digital art," few if any of them have much in the way of serious art world credentials.

Washington, D.C. is about to take center stage for the deal-making business, as both legislators and regulators are eyeing major changes.

Driving the news: The key issue is taxes, with President Biden expected to push for a corporate rate increase to 28%.

News Corp announced Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Investor's Business Daily for $275 million.

Why it matters: News Corp. says the deal "will expand Dow Jones's offering with the addition of proprietary data and tools for professional and retail investors to help them identify top-performing stocks."

On Deck, a San Francisco-based company best known for its tech entrepreneur programs, has raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by Founders Fund at a $250 million post-money valuation, sources told Axios.

Why it matters: Since its start in 2016 as a way for tech employees and startup founders to meet peers, On Deck has expanded to several other similar programs designed around a specific industry or skill, such as writing, venture capital, podcasts and fintech.

Activists in Georgia are calling for a statewide boycott of Coca-Cola until the company speaks out against measures moving through the state legislature that would restrict voting access, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Driving the news: The massive Atlanta-based company said in a statement that it supports a "balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session," adding: "The ultimate goal should be fair, secure elections where access to voting is broad-based and inclusive."

Workplace messaging service Slack on Wednesday turned on a feature allowing users to send messages to others who work for different companies or organizations. However, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva and Ina Fried report, the long-planned move quickly hit a speed bump, as users pointed out ways the system could be easily abused.

The big picture: Slack's long-term goal is to be a better alternative to email. But as it tries to expand its service it risks losing the qualities that made it appealing in the first place.

An online tool from data analytics startup Watershed enables users to input various kinds of info to help gauge whether changing remote work policies will increase or decrease emissions — and by approximately how much.

How it works: Right now the public calculator from Watershed — whose clients include Shopify and Stripe — models five regions: San Francisco, New York City, Houston, London and Toronto.

Bitcoin's rise won't cook the planet and avoiding car commutes by working from home won't save it. But both trends still matter.

Driving the news: There's connective tissue between two pieces of news.

Some Capitol Hill Democrats are pressing President Biden to re-instate Obama-era carbon emissions and mileage rules for passenger cars — and then go much further.

Driving the news: 10 Senate Democrats and dozens of House Democrats, in letters yesterday, call for standards through 2025 that at least match prior rules weakened under President Trump.

Caesars Entertainment is nearing a deal that will make the betting house the naming rights sponsor of the Superdome for the next 20 years, The Athletic reports.

Why it matters: This would be the first gaming-related naming rights deal in the NFL, which only recently loosened restrictions on teams aligning with betting companies.

A portrait of the Fyre Media logo held by rapper Ja Rule sold at auction for $122,000 through the rapper’s NFT venture Flipkick painting, Ja Rule said on Twitter.

Why it matters: Because markets are efficient.

Fitness centers are in trouble, especially in the U.S., according to a new report that surveyed nearly 12,000 gym members.

What we're hearing: "The data over the past year is clear, the situation hasn’t improved," Nick Rizzo, fitness research director at RunRepeat, says in an email.

Money flows into equity funds have gone on a record-setting streak in recent weeks, as investors' mindsets have moved from fearing a downturn in the market to fear of missing out on big returns.

What happened: Record sums of cash have flown into equity funds over the last month and a half with the No. 1 and No. 2 largest inflows to stock funds ever both occurring since the start of February.

A survey from data firm CivicScience provided first to Axios shows more than three-quarters of American consumers are concerned about inflation.

Between the lines: 42% of those respondents said they were "very concerned," which was more than double the share (17%) that said they were "not at all concerned."

A skyscraper-sized container ship wedged in the Suez Canal could take weeks to unblock, wreaking further havoc on global oil markets and trade, the Financial Times reports.

Background: The 220,000-ton and quarter-mile-long Ever Given container ship, one of the largest in the world, has been stuck in the canal since it was caught in poor visibility and high winds from a sandstorm Tuesday as it was headed from China to the Netherlands.

If you're happy with your retirement plan, there's a very good chance you're a federal employee. Now there's a bipartisan proposal to extend that excellent service to the people who need it most — middle- and low-income households who don't have any retirement savings at all.

Why it matters: The federal government currently spends about $250 billion per year on tax incentives for richer Americans to pay into 401(k) accounts and IRAs. The new proposal, from the Economic Innovation Group think tank, would add about $50 billion more to help most of the bottom 50% of the population.

New Zealand's Parliament unanimously passed on Wednesday a law enabling parents who experience a miscarriage or stillbirth to take three days' paid bereavement leave. 

Why it matters: Ginny Andersen, the Member of Parliament from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party who drafted the bill, noted NZ "may well be the first country" to pass such legislation, with the law applicable at any time of a pregnancy, per the New York Times.

Retail chain H&M is facing a potential boycott in China for refusing to use cotton from Xinjiang over concerns about the human rights abuse of Uyghur Muslims in the region.

Driving the news: Influential groups with ties to the ruling Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday led an outcry on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, over a statement on the retail giant's website that states it's "deeply concerned" by abuse reports, per Bloomberg. Nike was also attacked on the site for expressing similar concerns, the New York Times notes.