Axios

Three major economic gauges are suddenly marching in the right direction, giving President Biden's campaign a sunny opening after months of gloom.

Why it matters: While Biden promoted big-picture benefits of Bidenomics, declining poll results showed lacking optimism.

If your economy is broken, you can try to fix it — or you can essentially just throw it in the trash and try to build something new from scratch.

Why it matters: The latter is, broadly, the plan of anarcho-capitalist Argentine president Javier Milei, while the former is the plan of Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema.

Sephora might be the hot tween hangout, but that doesn't mean it isn't also popular with socially conscious adults.

Why it matters: Once those grown-ups get information on which brands are the most sustainable, they change their purchasing habits dramatically.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $250 million after it emerged that the head of its block trading desk, Pawan Passi, had tipped off hedge funds to large upcoming sales — after explicitly promising his clients that he wouldn't do so.

Why it matters: The case sheds a tiny bit of light on how far the government will go when it's investigating a bank.

Sephora, once a beauty refuge for grown-ups, has become increasingly dominated by tween girls spending adult-sized sums of money.

Why it matters: Girls between the ages of 10 and 13 have become an economic force far beyond the Stanley craze.

Davos — "a self-perpetuating phenomenon" — has come and gone.

Zoom in: Organizers set "rebuilding trust" among leaders as the theme of this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. It's a worthy one given the threat of geopolitics on business. However, AI took center stage.

☀️ The University of Michigan consumer sentiment gauge posted its largest two-month gain since 1991. (Axios)

🛬 JetBlue will cut some routes as it struggles to return to profitability. (CNBC)

✂️ Wayfair is laying off 13% of its workers. (CNN)

The S&P 500 closed at a new all-time high on Friday.

Why it matters: Reaching a new high-water mark confirms that we are indeed in a full-on, horns-out, snorting bull market, at least according to the conventional definition long used on Wall Street.

Postage stamp prices are on the rise and will increase by another 2 cents starting Sunday.

Why it matters: The U.S. Postal Service's third rate hike in 12 months will push the price of a first-class stamp up to 68 cents.

Bitcoin ETFs have picked up billions since their launch last week.

Why it matters: In just four trading days since listing on exchanges, investor flows in some of 10 are stacking up to broad-market funds, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.

There is a large chunk of the recently converted GBTC spot bitcoin ETF that will be forcibly sold, if it hasn't been already.

Why it matters: GBTC is one of 10 spot bitcoin exchange traded funds vying for new dollars since receiving the milestone nod from the SEC to list last week.

In the last couple months, Americans' sour sentiment has grown a lot sunnier.

Why it matters: Since the pandemic, U.S. consumers have consistently reported depressed economic sentiment, despite that fact that America's economy has staged a better recovery from COVID than the rest of the world's rich nations have.

Wall Street regulators' attempt to toughen bank rules has resulted in a surprising alliance of opponents, prime-time television commercials and an unprecedented legal threat that's shocked even the most seasoned policymakers.

Why it matters: Top regulators, including at the Fed, proposed new rules that seek to bring America more in step with international peers and safeguard the financial system after last year's banking turmoil. But it now looks like the final rule won't be as harsh as what was initially proposed.

Here's a quick update on the world's most well-telegraphed credit market problem — office loans.

The big picture: The WFH wars are over — hybrid work won. And the departure of roughly a quarter of white-collar workers from offices will continue rattling through the $20 trillion private commercial real estate market for the foreseeable future.