📈 MOVIN' ON UP

Just a week ago, Wall Street was freaking out about inflation. Today the mood was decidedly "inflation, inshmayshun."

The Dow closed above 32,000 for the first time ever after jumping 1.5%. The broader S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq ended flat.

Why the chipper mood after last week’s tantrum? A consumer price report came out this morning that acted like a big financial Xanax. Inflation anxiety melted away and investors focused on bright spots, like the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that’s now on its way to President Biden’s desk after clearing both chambers of Congress. And vaccines. And springtime.

RELATED: Roblox, the video game platform popular with kids, debuted on Wall Street today and instantly surged nearly 55% to $69.50. The company, which like most of the gaming industry benefited from lockdowns that left kids bored and stuck inside, is now valued at more than $45 billion.

💰 NUMBER OF THE DAY

$25 billion

Elon Musk lost tens of billions of dollars last week. Then he made nearly all of it back. In. One. Day. Musk added $25 billion to his net worth on Tuesday alone thanks to Tesla's 20% stock gain. That brings Scrooge McMusk's total fortune to $174 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It's a stark reversal from last week, when he lost $27 billion following a broader sell off of tech stocks.

💫 STAR SPACS

Just because all the cool kids are doing it, that doesn't make it a good idea. That’s more or less what the SEC has to say about SPACs, the fundamentally unsexy acronym that’s suddenly the hottest celebrity side hustle.

"Never invest in a SPAC based solely on a celebrity's involvement," the agency warned the public in an alert Wednesday.

QUICK SPAC EXPLAINER

SPACs are essentially shell companies that exist solely to buy an undetermined private company and take it public. Historically, Wall Street looked down their nose at these entities — the thinking being, if these are quality companies, why aren't they going the traditional IPO route?

But these days, there’s so much cash in the market, investors are getting a bit less picky. Bring on the risk! IPOs are time-consuming and expensive — you have to win over regulators and investors who’ll scrutinize the heck out of your balance sheet and blegh, who can be bothered? Merging with a SPAC, on the other hand, is relatively quick.

A-LIST BUYERS

Shaquille O'Neal, Colin Kaepernick, Jay-Z and Alex Rodriguez are just a few of the celebrities setting up SPACs, and that’s made the SEC, the agency tasked with regulating Wall Street, nervous.

"Celebrities, like anyone else, can be lured into participating in a risky investment or may be better able to sustain the risk of loss," the SEC said. My colleague Matt Egan has more on why the SPAC boom may be a bubble waiting to burst.

Barcelona, June 2021? Mmm, that’s a hard pass for a handful of tech giants.

THE NEWS

One of the world’s biggest tech events, the Mobile World Congress, is planning to hold an in-person event (with some virtual aspects) in Spain this June. In the Before Times, this was a mega trade show, drawing more than 100,000 attendees from across tech and telecom.

The trade group behind the show, GMSA, announced plans earlier this week to bring the in-person gathering back for 2021. But even with strict health protocols in place, several major companies, including Ericsson and Sony, are bailing.

Nokia and Facebook on Wednesday followed suit, both saying they will participate virtually but have no physical presence at the event. My colleague Clare Duffy has more.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

💰 Black women in the United States hold 90% less wealth than white men, according to a report from Goldman Sachs. In response, the bank is investing $10 billion to fund organizations run by Black women.

🌮 Queso connoisseurs, take note: Taco Bell is bringing back the Quesalupa after a five-year hiatus.

🧽Clorox is back: Disinfecting wipes were among the first panic-buying targets when the pandemic hit the US a year ago, and Clorox couldn't keep up with demand. But the company has a new strategy to get the wipes where they're most needed: businesses like Uber, AMC and United Airlines.

✈️ End of an era: General Electric officially sold off its aircraft leasing business, closing the books on its once-mighty GE Capital unit.