Good morning. It's Thursday, July 23, and we're looking forward to watching some professional baseball tonight. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Major League Baseball Returns

The 2020 Major League Baseball season gets underway tonight, four months after opening day was scrubbed by the then-emerging coronavirus pandemic. The league, the second-biggest in the US by revenue, will use a truncated 60-game regular season followed by the conventional playoff format (more details). The World Series will begin Oct. 20, a similar timeframe as recent years.  

First up, defending champion Washington Nationals host the New York Yankees (7pm ET, ESPN)—Dr. Anthony Fauci will throw out the first pitch—followed by the San Francisco Giants at the Los Angeles Dodgers (10pm ET, ESPN). Tonight's late game will feature a milestone, when the Giants' Alyssa Nakken becomes the first female to coach on field in a regular-season MLB game. The rest of the league begins tomorrow; see the full schedule here. The Dodgers enter the shortened season as favorites to win the World Series (15-4 odds), followed by the Yankees (4-1), Houston Astros (8-1), and Atlanta Braves (13-1). 

The stands will be empty—but fans will reportedly be able to boo via app, which will be piped in through stadium loudspeakers.

Operation Diligent Valor

Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler was part of crowds tear gassed by federal agents last night as protests continued in the city for the 56th consecutive day. Officials say gas was fired after some protestors began to throw objects at officers. The news follows a revelation that the federal government has assembled at least 114 nonmilitary federal agents—mostly immigration and Border Patrol officers—to protect federal property in the city under the banner of "Operation Diligent Valor." The federal presence in the city has increasingly become the central focus of the demonstrations. 

Agency officials say federal buildings have been under attack by groups of violent protestors, including a fire set at a federal courthouse July 3. Critics say the group has no training in riot control or de-escalation techniques (an assertion confirmed by a federal memo), and that unmarked agents have been detaining citizens without cause. The city has called for the agents to leave; Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf has refused. 

Within the demonstrations, one group has stood out—a self-described "Wall of Moms" (w/photos).

In related news, President Trump yesterday said he would send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, though they will reportedly be used to help combat violent crime as opposed to quell protests.  

US Locks in (Potential) Vaccine Doses

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and partner BioNTech inked a nearly $2B deal with the US government yesterday, guaranteeing delivery of a coronavirus vaccine still under development. Preliminary data earlier this week showed their potential vaccine prompted an immune system response in a small group of healthy volunteers, and a large-scale study is expected to begin this month. 

The funding will go toward manufacturing and scaling up of the drug, assuming it is proven safe and effective, and an initial order of 100 million doses. The government has the option to secure another 500 million doses. Company executives say the vaccine may be ready for final regulatory approval by the end of the year, and officials signaled doses would be free for Americans—but didn't specify who would be first in line to receive the treatments.

The drug is one of four that has passed early safety trials and moved on to testing in humans. Track the status of all vaccines here.

Separately, Ohio, Minnesota, and Washington, DC, all issued mandates to wear facemasks in public. The US has reported 3.97 million total cases as of this morning, with 143,190 total deaths. See how your state is doing here.

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

Hi there, Tim here, 1440's CEO. For today's sponsorship, we're going to try something a little different. Our editorial team has heard me ramble on about how much I love Motley Fool Stock Advisor, so they asked me to put pen to paper. Here goes nothing!

I’ve been a Stock Advisor member for years and the return on investment is one of the highest I’ve seen on any investing service. Their strategy—investing in game-changing, long-term growth companies with visionary leadership—has yielded incredible returns in my personal portfolio. You can check their history of stock picks back to 2002 and see how forward-thinking their investing team is, with recommendations like Costco, eBay, Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, and my personal absolute favorite: e-commerce platform Shopify, which was first recommended at $32 and (at time of writing) now trades above $900.

Our lawyers want me to remind our readers this is not financial advice, and all readers should make independently informed financial decisions. Without question though, Stock Advisor is my favorite investing tool. And their co-founder, David, recently announced a stock that could be like buying Amazon in 1997. Check it out here.

Disclaimer: Members of 1440’s leadership own shares of Amazon, Tesla, and Shopify. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon, Match Group, Inc., Netflix, Shopify, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Returns as of 7/13/2020

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> The New York Times taps Meredith Kopit Levien as new CEO, promoting her from current role of chief operating officer (More) | NYT acquires production company behind popular podcast series “Serial” (More)

> Fans will be required to wear face masks at NFL games this season (More) | NFL and players union reportedly agree to cancel preseason games (More)

> Annie Ross, Grammy-winning jazz singer and actress, dies at 89 (More) | Charles Evers, civil rights leader and brother of Medgar Evers, dies at 97 (More)

Science & Technology

> Twitter to crack down on viral QAnon conspiracy posts, saying it has banned 7,000 accounts; company says the actions will keep related links from appearing in trending topics and platform searches (More) | A look at the conspiracy theory (More)

> Controversial cave discovery in central Mexico suggests humans may have reached the Americas 30,000 years ago, about 15,000 years earlier than previously thought (More)

> Venus has dozens of dormant, but still active, volcanoes on its surface; study implies the planet's interior is still churning (More) | China launches its second attempt at a Mars mission today (More)

Business & Markets

Brought to you by The Ascent

> Existing US home sales jump 20.7% in June, largest monthly gain on record (More)

> Communication platform Slack files competition complaint against Microsoft with European Commission, alleges tying Teams product into Office suite is anticompetitive (More) | Famed investor Bill Ackman raises $4B SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) to purchase a “mature unicorn” (More)

> Earnings season: Tesla reports fourth consecutive quarterly profit, to open US Gigafactory in Austin, Texas (More) | Las Vegas Sands casino group reports 97% drop in quarterly revenues (More) | Chipotle triples digital sales, but sees same-store sales down 9.8% for quarter amid pandemic (More)

Need a breather from credit card interest? This card offers a market-topping 0% APR for 18 months on balance transfers, along with one of the highest unlimited cash back rates for every purchase. All with no annual fee (More) #Ad

Politics & World Affairs

> Hurricane Douglas, the first of the season in the eastern Pacific, strengthens into Category 2 hurricane; will pass over Hawaii Monday (More) | Tropical storm Gonzalo in the Atlantic expected to strengthen into a hurricane today (More)

> Report finds UK officials failed to respond adequately to widespread Russian interference in the country's politics, including attempts to influence Brexit outcomes; see key points here (More)

> New report alleges Rep. Matt Gaetz (R, FL-1) violated House ethics rules, including using taxpayer funding to build a television studio in his father's house (More) | House votes to remove Confederate statues from Capitol; bill faces opposition in Senate (More)

IN-DEPTH

Dispatches from 1918

Radiolab | Staff. (Podcast) With World War I raging in the background, the 1918 flu had trouble breaking though contemporary news coverage. Take a fascinating look at the aftermath of the pandemic and how the US changed forever. (Listen)

USC's Heartthrob Prince

LA Times | Harriet Ryan, Matt Hamilton. The riveting true story of a Qatari sheikh that came to the US to study, only to live a lifestyle so lavish, it blew away the astronomical norms of Los Angeles. With a small economy springing up around him, at least one local university became very accommodating. (Read, $$)

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

Tim here again. One of my highlights of each month is to review the Stock Advisor picks every third Thursday, to see what new companies and industries co-founders, David and Tom, have unearthed (I have a reminder in my calendar so I don't miss the email).

Today we’re highlighting a report that David recently released, covering a stock that could be like buying Amazon in 1997. It’s already up 882% (at time of writing) since David first recommended it, and he believes it’s got plenty of room to grow. This report is only available to members, so get it now by signing up for Motley Fool Stock Advisor today.

Thanks for the support!
-Tim

Returns as of 7/13/2020

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ETCETERA

MIT demonstrates the power of deepfakes with this footage of President Nixon announcing a moon mission disaster.

Feeling lost in all the COVID-19 stats? Here's how to read them. 

Visualizing how remote work divides America.

These award-winning photos celebrate the art of movement.

Children's animal drawings turned into terrifying reality. 

Long-haul truckers rank America's most beautiful drives.

Ukraine hostage situation ends after the president plugs a Joaquin Phoenix film.

Bear casually blasts through the door of a Lake Tahoe cabin.

Clickbait: Meatball sub fails student taking online exam.

Historybook: RIP Ulysses S. Grant (1885); 43 killed, more than 1,000 injured in Detroit Riot (1967); Hale-Bopp comet is discovered (1995); RIP Amy Winehouse (2011); RIP Sally Ride, the first American woman in space (2012).

"All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary."

- Sally Ride

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