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What's Happening Today

Good morning! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

Expect some bumpiness in the markets this week, as investors brace themselves for this week's Federal Reserve meeting. Everyone will be waiting to hear more about the central bank's plans to raise interest rates and taper its asset purchasing program, which helped inject billions of dollars into the U.S. economy each month. The VIX, also known as the "fear index," has been on the rise, highlighting investor concerns and rising market volatility.

U.S. stocks haven't been doing well lately; last week the Dow and S&P 500 had the worst week since the pandemic hit (more on that below). In fact, markets haven't started a new year this badly since 2016. That doesn't necessarily mean you should panic and sell—or rush to "buy the dips"—but perhaps save yourself the anxiety and avoid looking at your retirement account for a few days.

And for cryptocurrency investors, things aren't much better as the price of Bitcoin tumbles below $34,000. When I wrote about Bitcoin's decline in value on Friday, just a few days ago, the digital currency was worth around $38,000. The losses have extended to other tokens as well. The price of Ether dropped 9% over the last 24 hours to just over $2,200, from more than $3,000 last week.

Earlier this morning, Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced that he and several other attorneys general would be suing internet search giant Google. The complaint alleges that Google's business model relies on "constant surveillance" of customers to make profits. This is the latest of several bills and lawsuits targeting large tech companies in the U.S. over data collection practices—and if successful, could change how these businesses operate (and how we interact with social media, shopping, and internet platforms, as a result).

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

$130 Billion Wiped Off Crypto Markets in 24 Hours as Bitcoin, Ether Drop to Multi-Month Lows (CNBC)

U.S. Food Supply Is Under Pressure, From Plants to Store Shelves (Wall Street Journal)

The Markets Tremble as the Fed's Lifeline Fades (New York Times)

LGBTQ+ Workers Make 10% Less Money, Survey Shows (The Balance)

Off the Charts

Lumber prices are on the rise again, nearly tripling in the last four months of 2021 and pushing up the price of an average new home by more than $18,600, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Number of the Day

22 - That's how many months it's been—going back to the pandemic's first onslaught—since the S&P 500 or Nasdaq Composite have had a week this bad.

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