Good morning. The summer is almost over, but there's still plenty of time to even out that horrible t-shirt tan. And we're to help by giving away free Brew tanks. How it works: Refer just three people to the Brew today and you'll get a Morning Brew tank, on us. You can do that by clicking the button below and sharing your unique referral link with coworkers, friends, or the D&D group. The giveaway runs until midnight ET tonight, but you gotta act fast—only the first 1,000 readers who snag three referrals can claim the tank.* Share to win—Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein, Jamie Wilde | | | |  | Nasdaq | 12,854.81 | | | | | S&P | 4,210.24 | | | | | Dow | 33,309.51 | | | | | 10-Year | 2.788% | | | | | Bitcoin | $23,934.13 | | | | | Meta | $178.34 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 7:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: With happy tears in their eyes, investors sent stocks rocketing higher yesterday after the July inflation report came in cooler than expected. And how about two words you haven't heard in a long time: "bull market." Thanks to a resurgence in major tech stocks, the Nasdaq entered one yesterday after rebounding more than 20% from its low in June.
| | | | Giphy After climbing the longest, steepest hill in decades, inflation finally hit a flat road. It's about damn time. On a monthly basis, prices in July did not budge a lick from June, yesterday's consumer price index showed. On an annual basis, July prices did jump 8.5%—a rate that's near 40-year highs—but it's less than the 9.1% spike in June, and lower than economists forecast. This CPI report is a hopeful sign that inflation is starting to recede. What kept inflation from raging again Plummeting gas prices put the team on its back. At one point in June, the national average for a gallon of gas was $5. Now, after 57 straight days of declines, it's hovering around $4 (still higher than last year's prices). But economists don't typically include gas prices when evaluating underlying inflation because they're so volatile. A better indicator is "core CPI," which strips out energy and food costs. Good news is, core CPI is looking healthier, too. It increased 0.3% in July, much lower than June's 0.7% gain. So why might inflation be turning the corner? Experts say it's a combo of changing consumer appetite from goods → services and easing supply shortages. For instance, Walmart and Target said recently that they actually have too much stuff people don't want, so they're planning to mark down prices. Where we stand now Inflation might be coming down from its peak, but as anyone who's heard a pilot say "we've begun our initial descent" knows, it takes an excruciatingly long time to land the plane. Despite easing up, 8.5% inflation is nobody's idea of healthy price growth, and Americans are still seeing it eat away at their income. Average hourly earnings, when adjusted for inflation, fell 3% in July from last year. Looking ahead…the Fed will continue increasing interest rates to cool the economy, but given yesterday's inflation report, those rate hikes might be smaller than once envisioned.—NF | | | With weeks left 'til Labor Day, there's still plenty of time left for summer adventures—and why not earn incredible cash back with this card while you're at it? First up, this card is interest-free for balance transfers and purchases until nearly 2024. You'll also get up to 5% cash back in purchase categories you'll actually use. And you can apply for this card in just two minutes. Whether you choose a day at the beach or a staycation close to home, you'll be earning cash back in no time while you unwind.
There's still time to make this the best summer ever. Apply here. | | AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images  Disney dethrones Netflix. Disney now has 221.1 million subscribers across its streaming platforms globally, putting it ahead of Netflix, which has 220.7 million. Disney posted impressive subscriber growth last quarter, adding 14.4 million to Disney+, and it announced price hikes across its streaming products in the US. But if we're just talking dollars and cents, the real star of the quarter was Disney's parks segment, which posted record revenue.
 Trump takes the Fifth. Donald Trump said yesterday that he refused to answer New York Attorney General Letitia James's questions in a civil investigation into his real estate business. "I once asked, 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Now I know the answer to that question," the former president said. Trump's decision to keep mum was likely due to a parallel criminal probe in Manhattan, but the New York cases are separate from the one that prompted the recent FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
 Crimea attack opens new front in Ukraine war. Ukraine claims nine Russian warplanes were destroyed on an airbase in Crimea as part of an ambitious attack carried out by Ukrainian special forces, an anonymous official told the Washington Post yesterday. After the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war must end with the "liberation" of the peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Russia, meanwhile, denied that any aircraft had been damaged and blamed the explosions on a "violation of fire safety requirements."
| | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images In an unwanted rebrand, Meta is now the face of tech's role in abortion cases. Police used private Facebook messages to bring charges against a Nebraska woman and her teenage daughter, claiming they conspired to abort the fetus being carried by the daughter around the 28-week mark. Some background: Police allege that Celeste Burgess told them in April she had a miscarriage and buried the body. A detective claimed that Burgess scrolled through Facebook Messenger during questioning to find the date of the miscarriage, leading police to deliver a search warrant to Meta on June 7. - Meta handed over 300+ MB of data from the accounts of Celeste and her mother, Jessica Burgess, including a conversation between the two that Jessica had purchased abortion pills.
Both mother and daughter pleaded not guilty on a previous felony charge related to the disposal of the fetal remains and two misdemeanors. But with new evidence, Jessica was charged with 1) inducing an illegal abortion (Nebraska has banned abortions after 20 weeks since 2010) and 2) performing an abortion without being a licensed physician. Big picture: Facing public backlash, Meta defended its actions yesterday, saying it received the warrant before Roe v. Wade was overturned and that it did not mention abortion. Still, this case is a "stark example of how digital footprints will be utilized in a post-Roe America," the Verge notes.—MM | | Anti Fund Jake Paul is famous for being many things: Vine star, YouTuber, boxer, brother of Logan Paul, instigator of 8,000 controversies… What he's less known for is Anti Fund, the venture capital fund he leads along with entrepreneur Geoffrey Woo. Emerging Tech Brew got the scoop that Anti Fund recently made its largest investment to date in defense technology company Anduril, which makes products including attack drones and autonomous surveillance towers—"fake Area 51-type s***," according to Paul. Emerging Tech Brew chatted with Paul and Woo about their new investments. Here's an excerpt: As far as Anduril, how do you balance the "innovation" you're speaking of with the controversy over funding tech used for defense, and its potential harms? GW: "With the conflict in Russia, Ukraine right now, speaks toward the need for great engineers, great technologists to keep pushing forward what is possible for defense. It is potentially uncomfortable or unsavory to think about conflict in the future, but I think we're fairly pragmatic and historians here. I hope to live in a world where there's no conflict, no battles, and no wars, but I'm not betting on it. And if we can bend history toward Americans—our country's having the most advanced defense technologies, because I believe in our civilization, I believe in American values and American democracy—then I think that's a hill that we're happy to fly the flag on. We're happy to support making sure that Americans have the best access to the best technologies for security purposes." Jake, anything to add? JP: "No, I think Geoff crushed that, man. Geoff is amazing." Read the entire interview here. | | 30 Rock/NBCUniversal Stat: How are teens using social media differently now compared to 2015? Pew's new survey offers some surprising (and not surprising) answers. - About half of US teens aged 13–17 say they're online "almost constantly," up from 24% in 2015.
- The most popular platform for teens isn't TikTok but…YouTube, which 95% of teens use. In 2015, the No. 1 platform was Facebook.
- Speaking of Facebook, 71% of teens used it in 2015. Now, 32%.
Quote: "We owe you big man, we owe you." As President Biden signed the PACT Act, which expands health benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits, he praised Jon Stewart for the comedian's leading role in pushing Congress to pass the bill. When the bill was being blocked by some GOP lawmakers, Stewart protested with veterans groups and unleashed tirades that went viral online. Read: Big takeaways from the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid. (Wired) | | How to mess with a text scammer: One hilarious method suggests playing along with the scam. Video of the week: If "Break My Soul" were a Denzel monologue. Invest in the boba boom: Bobacino's robotic stand-alone kiosks can meet demand for *sweet* boba—a $1.9b industry that's expected to grow 128% by 2028. Invest in Bobacino before the opportunity ends tomorrow.* Up your data game: Become more data-driven with the Brew's Business Analytics Accelerator. You'll learn how to analyze data for better decision-making so you get buy-in for your ideas. It starts Sept. 6, so apply today. *This is sponsored advertising content. | | - The DOJ charged a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for allegedly trying to plot the assassination of John Bolton, President Trump's one-time senior national security advisor.
- The FCC withheld almost $900 million worth of subsidies from SpaceX for its Starlink satellite internet service, which aims to bring broadband service to rural areas. The FCC said that SpaceX's internet speeds may not be up to par.
- Prepare to pay more to send gifts: The US Postal Service approved an increase on parcel rates for the upcoming holiday season.
- Samsung unveiled new foldable phones, smartwatches, and earbuds at its Galaxy Unpacked event.
| | Hear about the business topics shaping your life on the Business Casual podcast from Morning Brew. Host Nora Ali peels back the professional fluff to bring you convos with people you know, and some you may not know yet. Because money talks…but it doesn't have to be dull. Episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. This editorial content is supported by Real Vision. | | Brew Mini: Find the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow-shaped crossword. Solve it here. Three headlines and a lie Three of these headlines are real, and one is faker than a clean Nalgene. Can you guess the odd one out? - CEO posted crying selfie after layoffs to show execs are "normal people" too
- Farmers in Iowa say "grasshopper tornadoes" are one of the biggest threats for late summer
- WHO asks people not to attack monkeys over monkeypox
- "He was helping us": Investors cheer CEO accused of scamming them
If you love Three Headlines and a Lie, play along on The Refresh from Insider and dive deeper into these weird headlines. | | Tank tops can be business casual if you're not a narc. Secure a new tank today if you're brave enough. All you have to do is get three people signed up for this newsletter by midnight tonight using your referral link. But you gotta act quickly: Only the first 1,000 readers to get three referrals today will win the tank. Get your free shirt now*See terms and conditions here. | | Savings, checking, and investing accounts. It's a lot. To help, The Money with Katie Show explains how to create systems that help you balance your short-term and long-term spending goals. Listen or watch here. Check out more from the Brew:  ️ Managing up isn't about buying your boss coffee—it's about building relationships and selling your soul value. Learn how to get your boss on your side.
🖋 Unlock the ultimate spreadsheet experience with our new Excel Banner Pen. Shop now to have your favorite life hack on hand wherever work may take you. | | | We made up the grasshopper tornadoes one. | | |
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