|  | Nasdaq | 22,043.07 | |
| | S&P | 6,587.47 | |
| | Dow | 46,108.00 | |
|  | 10-Year | 4.011% | |
| | Bitcoin | $114,375.29 | |
| | Opendoor | $10.52 | |
| | Data is provided by |  |
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The S&P 500 is at the point where every time it goes up, it will notch a new record, and it went up yesterday, thus notching another new record. That was despite a marked rise in inflation, which investors have become accustomed to shrugging off. Elsewhere, the meme stock Opendoor skyrocketed after it named Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian as its CEO.
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ECONOMY The economic picture is starting to look like someone took a Polaroid of a Jackson Pollock painting. It's still developing, but you can already tell it's going to be a bit jumbled. Annual inflation hit 2.9% last month, marking the fastest increase since January. Jobless claims are ticking up, too—the latest sign of a softening labor market. That puts the Fed in a tough spot headed into next week's meeting, where it'll decide on an interest rate cut. Prices were a mixed bag The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% from July to August. Airfare jumped 5.9% and car repairs spiked 2.4% month over month, while dairy and bakery products only rose 0.1%. But no one got hit harder than Ron Swanson. Year over year: - Roasted coffee was up 21.7%.
- Uncooked beef steaks were up 16.6%.
- Eggs were up 10.9%.
- Bacon was up 7.2%.
There was some good news: Hospital services and car insurance rates were flat, and shelter prices are slowing down. The impact of tariffs. Some major retailers—including Walmart, Best Buy, and Target—have flat-out said they raised prices because of tariffs. Broken down by category, tariffs are having the biggest effect on household furnishings, appliances, recreational goods, and apparel, CNBC reported. Labor pains: Normally, when the Fed sees higher inflation, it raises interest rates, or holds them steady, to cool down the economy. But since the labor market is also wobbling, the Fed's decision is more complicated: - Initial jobless claims hit their highest level in nearly four years.
- The BLS announced earlier this week that the US created 911,000 fewer jobs than originally thought for the year ending in March 2025.
Ball's in your court, JPow: Even with the conflicting data, the Fed is expected to cut rates a quarter percentage point at next week's meeting.—BC | | |
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WORLD  Police are still searching for Charlie Kirk's assassin. The FBI released two images of a person of interest in Wednesday's fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, an indication that authorities have not yet identified him. Investigators believe the shooter, a "college-age" male wearing dark clothes, shot Kirk from a rooftop with a "high-powered bolt-action rifle," which was recovered from a wooded area near the campus of Utah Valley University, where Kirk was speaking. According to the New York Times, a preliminary Justice Dept. report that ammunition in the rifle was engraved with statements of "transgender and anti-fascist ideology" didn't match other summaries of the evidence and may have been misinterpreted. President Trump announced that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
 Paramount Skydance is reportedly preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. CBS, CNN, Paramount+, and HBO Max could all soon be part of the same company. Paramount Skydance is readying a majority cash bid to buy all of rival entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery, the Wall Street Journal reported, in a move that would upend legacy media. Warner's $33 billion market capitalization is more than double Paramount's, but the bid is being backed by the family of new Paramount CEO David Ellison, whose father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, became the richest person in the world this week. WBD announced plans last year to separate its debt-ridden traditional TV business from its streaming and studios, and Paramount may be attempting to get out ahead of a potential bidding war for the latter, per the WSJ.
 The FTC is investigating the effects of AI chatbots on children. The Federal Trade Commission is demanding information from OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, xAI, and more tech companies about how kids interact with their AI chatbots and what safety measures are in place to protect them. AI companion bots are the subjects of several high-profile lawsuits against companies like OpenAI and Character.AI for allegedly bearing responsibility for children's suicides. OpenAI and others have announced plans for additional chatbot safety features, including parental controls.—AE
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MEDIA President Trump signed a memo this week that aims to nearly ban direct-to-consumer drug advertisements, which tend to feature more dance choreography than useful information. It's a crackdown on an industry injecting billions of ad dollars into TV annually and reverses a 1997 FDA decision that allowed companies to list some, instead of all, drug side effects, as long as viewers were directed to more info elsewhere. That loophole made 30-second ads possible, since listing every side effect would mean longer and more expensive ads. The ban could make the long-standing pharmaceutical advertising boom go bust: - Pharma companies spent $10.8 billion on US ads last year, per data from MediaRadar, and are on pace to top that this year. According to eMarketer, ~$5 billion was spent on national TV spots.
- Drug ads are big for broadcast news: They accounted for 24% of ads on evening network and cable news shows in the first five months of 2025, generating a total of $2.7 billion in revenue for CBS, NBC, Fox, and ABC, according to Nieman Lab.
Not fast-acting: Ad executives who spoke to the Wall Street Journal said they expect legal challenges to delay the new regulations, which would also apply to social media, from taking effect. In the past, courts have blocked limitations of drug advertising on First Amendment grounds.—DL | | |
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FOOD & BEV The world's biggest coffee chain just completed its first trip around the sun under CEO Brian Niccol, the former Chipotle chief executive who got a ~$100 million pay package to join Starbucks one year ago this week. Since pivoting from black and pinto beans to roasted and ground ones, Niccol has been trying to reverse Starbucks's falling sales by returning to its coffeehouse origins. What he's been up to: - Starbucks's self-serve condiment bars are back, as are comfy chairs and ceramic mugs in some locations. Plus, refills of drip coffee and tea are free so that people stick around.
- Upcharges for nondairy milk are gone, the menu is more streamlined, and a forthcoming protein cold foam will soon let customers gains-max their beverages.
- Baristas—most of whom already felt overwhelmed—now have to wear a black T-shirt and pants, greet customers, scribble personalized messages on each to-go cup, and ideally hand over drinks within four minutes.
Status report: With same-store US sales in decline for six straight quarters, Starbucks's stock is down ~9% over the past year, as Wall Street remains uncertain of Niccol's plan. But there are some optimistic signs—traffic dips and sales declines are slowing, per Restaurant Dive, and Starbucks's China business is also improving. On average, analysts who spoke with Business Insider gave Niccol a B for the year.—ML | | |
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STAT Colorado sports haven't been this down bad since Russell Wilson failed to take Broncos Country on a ride. MLB's Colorado Rockies are on pace to finish the regular season with the worst run differential (the difference between runs scored and runs allowed) in modern baseball history, the Wall Street Journal noted: - As of yesterday, the team had scored 377 fewer runs than their opponents over the course of the season.
- That's 28 runs worse than the current record-holder, the 1932 Boston Red Sox, whose shortstop was named Rabbit Warstler.
But it's not so bad. The Rockies are still likely to finish with a better win-loss record than last year's Chicago White Sox. In the competition for which team can have the most fans put paper bags over their heads, there can be multiple winners.—AE |
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Together With West Capital Lending |
QUIZ The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz has been compared to agreeing with your partner on a restaurant without any fuss. It's that satisfying. Ace the quiz. |
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NEWS - Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, was found guilty by the country's Supreme Court of orchestrating a coup attempt after his 2022 election defeat.
- Robinhood, the popular investing app, is launching a social network where users can track the trades of their friends and public figures.
- Democratic senators are calling for hearings on JPMorgan's ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
- Uber was sued by the DOJ for allegedly discriminating against disabled riders, which the company denied.
- Spinal Tap II hits theaters today, more than 40 years after the cult music mockumentary first turned things up to 11.
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RECS  Bake: Lean into the season and use this stoneware for tiny festive baked goods.**
Watch: Twelve new TV shows to watch this month. Chill: The five doctor-approved keys to managing stress. Read: Is the decline in drinking helping American runners run faster? Time for kickoff: Don't let a bad connection be your tailgate party pooper. Stay in the loop and in control from kickoff to final whistle with AT&T Connected CarTM.* Growing for the win: There's tech, and then there's intentional tech for small business. Join Tara Reed for the Bossy live virtual workshop series to learn more.* *A message from our sponsor. **This is a product recommendation from our writers. When you buy through this link, Morning Brew may earn a commission. |
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PLAY Jigsaw: Today's puzzle unveils an iconic NYC spot for Instagram photos. Solve it here. Friday puzzle For each of the following items, scramble the letters and then add an X at the end to make a new word. Example: coven + x = convex 1) real + x = 2) torah + x = 3) compel + x = 4) claim + x = 5) nasty + x = 6) hoboes + x = |
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ANSWER - Relax
- Thorax
- Complex
- Climax
- Syntax
- Shoebox
Source Word of the Day Today's Word of the Day is: percolating, meaning "oozing or trickling through a permeable substance." Thanks to Christine from Irvine, CA, for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here. |
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✢ A Note From AT&T Connected Car Requires eligible car and wireless service plan. Additional restrictions apply. ✳︎ A Note From West Capital Lending NMLS #1566096: NMLS consumer access. This site is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services. No mortgage loan applications for properties located in the State of New York will be accepted through this site. - A WCL HELOC is secured with your home as collateral, whereas personal loans and credit cards are not.
- To check the rates and terms you qualify for, we will conduct a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you continue and submit an application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit.
- Approval may be granted in five minutes but is ultimately subject to verification of income and employment, as well as verification that your property is in at least average condition with a property condition report. Five business day funding timeline assumes closing the loan with our remote online notary. Funding timelines may be longer for loans secured by properties located in counties that do not permit recording of e-signatures or that otherwise require an in-person closing, or that require a waiting period prior to closing.
- The West Capital Lending Home Equity Line is an open-end product where the full loan amount (minus the origination fee) will be 100% drawn at the time of origination. The initial amount funded at origination will be based on a fixed rate; however, this product contains an additional draw feature. As the borrower repays the balance on the line, the borrower may make additional draws during the draw period. If the borrower elects to make an additional draw, the interest rate for that draw will be set as of the date of the draw and will be based on an Index, which is the Prime Rate published in the Wall Street Journal for the calendar month preceding the date of the additional draw, plus a fixed margin. Accordingly, the fixed rate for any additional draw may be higher than the fixed rate for the initial draw.
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