Happy weekend! It’s March 23, 2024. We have three great stories to wrap up the past few weeks in markets, business, and the economy for you and your family.

Here are the highlights:

• All hail the robots. Why your next co-worker will likely be a computer.
• Banning TikTok. Why Congress suddenly wants to ban the social media giant (again.)
• COVID’s stock market crash is four years old. Lessons learned from one of Wall Street’s craziest moment.

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AI Robots Could Be Coming To A Workplace Near You

Robots? In your workplace? It’s more likely than you think. Despite American workers notching record productivity, they might soon meet their match in workplace robots. (Yes, seriously.)

• What’s the big deal? AI is already making inroads in white collar industry like tech, finance, and consulting — but it’s also starting to crop up in other industries which require more hands-on work. However, that fast-evolving AI tech needs a bridge into the real world… and companies think robots are the answer.
• Who’s building the robots? AI giant Nvidia, which has appreciated one of the greatest rallies in the modern history of the stock market, announced Project GR00T during a keynote this week — which is an effort led by companies such as Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and Boston Dynamics to build humanoid robots.
• What can they do? Nvidia looks at Project GR00T as something of a “moonshot” project to help plug its robust AI technology into burgeoning robotic technology — but the robots are already starting to learn by watching humans perform tasks in research labs, warehouses, and other environments.

Why does it matter for EarlyBird families?

Robots won’t take our jobs today or tomorrow, but being aware of developments in the ever-changing AI and robotics space might help you stay current on trends and changes in the workplace — and U.S. economy. And, more importantly, being prepared for the change is better than being surprised by it. For some, the embrace of humanoid robots might be insignificant. But for others, the rise of the robots and AI might be a wake-up call to consider a new career, sidehustle, or gig.

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Banning TikTok: Inside Congress’s Latest Proposal

In 2020, President Donald Trump gave TikTok owner ByteDance 90 days to sell its U.S-based business given concerns that the app was a national security risk. But after buyers put in bids for the social media giant, 90 days came and went — and the company eventually survived the Trump Presidency. However,  its independence is now being challenged by a new administration.

• History repeats itself: President Joe Biden said that he would sign any bill that bans the social media giant, assuming that ****Congress can put it on his desk. It’s now halfway there.
• What’s happened so far? In a rare 50-0 bipartisan decision, members of the House of Representatives Commerce Committee pushed a proposed TikTok bill to a vote — one which would require the company to sell itself or face a ban in the United States. The bill eventually passed, but now must enter its next gauntlet…
• Welcome to the Senate… Or more like, unwelcome in the Senate. Although the TikTok ban bill flew through the House, it will likely face scrutiny in the upper chamber of Congress — where it could be months before the bill is voted on.

Why does it matter for EarlyBird families?

TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms in the world now, with billions of users. If it were banned in the U.S., that would likely mean big changes to the way that Americans interact and connect with each other — and that could even trickle down to impacts on your family, depending on the age of your children.

While it’s possible nothing will change (just like in 2020) talking with your family about the ban could open up conversations about business, politics, and social media like TikTok. A conversation could be an opportunity to bring family together — and learn from each other.

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COVID Stock Market Crash: Four Years Later

Its now been four years since the U.S. stock market faced one of its fastest, most dramatic, volatile crashes in history — but we wouldn’t blame you if you forgot, especially since there was a whole pandemic going on at the time…

• What happened? In Feb. 2020, the U.S. stock market was sitting at record highs. But within weeks, the S&P 500 would fall more than 30% from its record highs as the world digested the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Why did it matter? With the benefit of hindsight, investors now liken the COVID crash to market crashes in 1929, 1987, and 2008. In fact, the stock market had two of the ten worst days it had in its history — putting it in scary company. However, the lessons it has offered investors are generational.
• What’s happened since? Within just six months of the market’s 30% crash, U.S. stocks were back at record highs. And today, four years after hitting rock bottom, stocks are more than 127% above where they were as COVID ravaged the world.

Why does it matter for EarlyBird families?

These four years offer perspective for the simple two-step recipe to build wealth in the stock market.

1) Creating a consistent plan to invest and sticking to it. It’s the only tried-and-true way to time the market — and make sure you don’t miss generational buying opportunities like the COVID crash.

2) Never panic sell — because you might miss out on growth. For new investors, this might sound perplexing, but investors who sold in 2020 probably lost money… especially considering how quickly stocks rebounded.

Just think about this: even if you bought the all-time high on Feb. 14, 2020 — if you held on, you’d be up more than 55% since then. And if your plan kept you buying all the way down, you might have more than doubled your money on those investments over the last four years.

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What else is up?

• March Madness is here: The first round is already over — and the round of 32 is beginning with zero perfect brackets left. Who do you have winning? Check out what games are this weekend.
• Lollapalooza is turning 20 this year: As far as music festivals go, Lollapalooza is a classic — and  one of just a few reasonably-priced, all-age festivals left in the U.S. And after releasing its lineup on Tuesday, tickets are on sale for the festival’s 20th edition.
• Oklahoma City is a step closer to building its first super-tall tower. Oklahoma City’s tallest building is 844 feet tall, but one developer wants to build a new mixed-used project which is nearly double that size. According to its developers, the proposal is fully-financed — and if completed, it would become the fifth-tallest building in the world. See more about Oklahoma’s newest tower.