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It's almost the weekend, which for many of you will bring — and I'm not kidding — snowfall measuring somewhere between a light dusting and the apocalypse. Let's get into it.

By Allison Morrow

💰 SHOP THE PAIN AWAY

Never underestimate just how much Americans are willing to spend to soothe ourselves in the midst of a crisis.

The Big News: The US economy grew 5.7% last year, the fastest pace since Ronald Reagan was in office and the pinnacle of cool was hanging out in suburban malls.

The last three months of the year were especially strong — GDP grew at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.9% in the fourth quarter.

Why? Because even with inflation at its highest level in nearly four decades and supply chains still backed up from the pandemic shutdown, Americans will always treat Christmas shopping like it's a professional sport. And consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of gross domestic product.

President Biden praised the country's growth: "The GDP numbers for my first year show that we are finally building an American economy for the 21st Century, with the fastest economic growth in nearly four decades, along with the greatest year of job growth in American history."

But... As strong as the finish to the 2021 was, the first few months of this year might look rather different.

The Omicron variant, which emerged in the United States after Thanksgiving, arrived too late to significantly curb spending and upend business operations. That means means the first quarter of 2022 might not look quite as robust...but we won't have a clear sense of that for a few months.

Plus, the economy in 2022 will have far less government support in the form stimulus checks, and interest rates are set to go up, as the Fed confirmed this week. Washington's policies have changed and that means that slower growth is coming our way, my colleague Anneken Tappe writes.

#️⃣ NUMBER OF THE DAY

$1,800

Stocks are wobbly. Cryptos are radioactive. But there's at least one asset that hasn't started off 2022 in the gutter. Gold, the classic inflation hedge, is up slightly over the past few months, and holding steady around $1,800 an ounce. That's far from its all-time high just above $2,000 — reached in the scary summer of 2020 — but some experts believe gold could blow past that record this year.

🍻 BEER-ISH

It's the holy grail for brewers: a low-calorie, zero-carb beer that is still, somehow, beer. You know, the thing that's made from barley and wheat, aka grains, aka complex carbohydrates.

Anheuser-Busch thinks it's cracked the code with Bud Light Next. It's being touted as the first zero-carbohydrate beer on the market, with just 80 calories.

How'd they do it? How'd they extract the evil carbs from a drink that's basically liquid bread?

Jennifer Logan, senior general manager of the Georgia plant that's brewing it, declined to give details about how it's made, but she told my colleagues Jordan Valinsky and John General that it is a "highly technical process."

Logan described the crisp taste as a mix between elderberry and chamomile, with a fruity aroma (OK frankly that's hard to believe, but we'll go with it).

"The body is very thin, as you would expect being a zero-carb beer," she said.

The body is very thin... just like yours will be when you switch to Bud Light Next? Because it's apparently just fizzy water flavored with beer-y essence. Like a beer-flavored LaCroix?

We'll see for ourselves when it hits grocery shelves February 7. That's a week before the Super Bowl, a sacred weekend when calories don't count and diets start on Monday.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

💸 The stock market staged a strong rally Thursday morning…and then gave it all up by the afternoon. Investors seemed enthused/distracted by better-than-expected GDP data. But then the ghoulish voice of Jay Powell came slithering back into their consciousness and they got all sad again.

🍎 Apple posted record revenue even as it continued to grapple with supply chain shortages.

🏦 Deutsche Bank delivered its most profitable year in a decade on the back of a dealmaking bonanza.

🎶 Spotify will no longer stream Neil Young's music after the artist complained about sharing a platform with podcast host Joe Rogan, who has made frequent false claims surrounding vaccines and Covid-19.

👀 Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, unvaccinated and positive for Covid, was spotted dining at New York City restaurant. Which reminds me: HEY, TOURISTS: Yeah, so look. No one here has got time for another outbreak, and if you thought New Yorkers were surly before you waltzed in trying to spread a deadly disease in a crowded place, just wait...