gas prices

The Great American Road Trip Now Costs About $2,350 in Gas, Roughly $1,000 More Than in 2015, Per Yahoo Finance

Driving the optimal US road trip, hitting the top landmark in each of the lower 48 states plus Washington, D.C., would cost about $2,350 in gas today, per Yahoo Finance, roughly $1,000 more than the same 13,949-mile, 49-stop trip cost in 2015.

housing

Moving Now Costs the Average US Homeowner About $335 More a Month at Today's Mortgage Rates, Per The Economist

Moving now costs the average US homeowner about $335 more a month just to refinance what they still owe at today's rates, per The Economist: trading a cheap old mortgage for a new one at 7.4 percent costs the middle 20 percent about $260 a month, or 4.4 percent of income.

Immigration

US Immigrant Visas Have Collapsed Almost Everywhere Under Trump's Policies, Except Canada and Mexico, Per WSJ

Immigrant visas to the US have collapsed almost everywhere since Trump's new policies took effect, except for two places, per WSJ: monthly visas are up 142 percent from Canada and 17 percent from Mexico, while falling 99 percent from Central Asia, 89 percent from Africa.

AI

The AI Layoff Gamble Is Backfiring as Companies Clean Up After Their Own Agents, Per the Guardian

Companies that rushed to replace workers with AI are now cleaning up the mess, per the Guardian: Meta scaled back AI agent plans and is rehiring managers, Microsoft and McKinsey are limiting employee AI use, and 90 percent of executives say AI has not yet boosted productivity.

Trump

Trump Asks UFC Fighters, Including Khabib Nurmagomedov, to "Defend Us From the Lunatic Left"

President Trump has requested UFC fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and Kayla Harrison to "defend us from the Lunatic Left," the latest and most literal step in his long-running alliance with the UFC and its fighters.

youtube

YouTube Is Now the Most-Watched TV Distributor in America, and It Is Pulling Away, Per WSJ

YouTube is now the most-watched TV distributor in America, with its share of all US TV viewing time climbing to about 14 percent, up from roughly 9 percent at the end of 2023, per Nielsen data charted by The Wall Street Journal, ahead of Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox, and Netflix at about 8 percent.

University of California

UC Freshmen Are Failing Intro Math at Nearly Double the Rate Since the System Dropped the SAT and ACT, Per EdSource

18 percent of University of California freshmen got a D or F, withdrew, or did not pass an introductory math class in 2025-26, nearly double the 9.2 percent in 2020-21, the last year UC required the SAT or ACT, per UC data reported by EdSource, and the system is weighing whether to restore testing.

Trump

Trump Offered Dana White the White House Press Secretary Job. White Declined, Per CNN

President Trump offered the position of White House press secretary to UFC CEO Dana White, according to reports, and White declined the offer, per CNN, ending one of the more unusual staffing ideas of Trump's second term.

iran

US and Iran Edge Closer to a Deal to End the War, Per Bloomberg

Movement in the Talks The US and Iran are edging closer to a deal to end the war, according to Bloomberg. Tehran is reportedly willing to discuss nuclear issues it previously considered off-limits, a possible shift in the talks. The nuclear file has been the war's core

openai

OpenAI Closes $11 Billion of New Funding Round at a $1.25 Trillion Valuation, Per Bloomberg

The Round That Shrank OpenAI has closed $11 billion of its new funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The round's path tells the story. OpenAI started out seeking more than $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, then scaled back to $20

Trump

Trump: Israel and the Entire Middle East Would Not Exist Today If He Had Not Stopped Iran From Having a Nuclear Weapon

The Maximal Claim Trump has said: "Israel, and in fact, the entire Middle East, would not exist today if I did not stop Iran from having a Nuclear Weapon." The statement is the president's fullest defense of the war the US and Israel opened against Iran

measles

US Measles Cases Top 5,000 for the First Time in 35 Years

A 35-Year Line Crossed US measles cases have topped 5,000 for the first time in 35 years. The CDC has now confirmed 5,182 cases this year, in 45 states, more than double last year's total. It is the highest count since 1991, and Bloomberg reports

microsoft

Microsoft Is Winding Down a Deal to Rent AI Cloud Capacity From Oracle, Per Bloomberg

The Rental Ends Microsoft is winding down a deal to rent AI cloud capacity from Oracle, according to Bloomberg. The reason, per Bloomberg: over time, the Oracle computing Microsoft was renting became less useful because it no longer fit Microsoft's specifications. The hardware ran on older-generation Nvidia

data centers

41% of Pending US Data Center Capacity Is Planned in States Whose New Governors Promised to Stop or Pause Construction, Per Cleanview

The Buildout Meets the Ballot Box 41 percent of pending data center capacity in the US is planned to be built in states where newly elected governors have promised to stop or pause such construction, according to Cleanview. The figure puts a number on the buildout's newest risk.

Arizona

Arizona Democrats Win Control of State House, Senate and Governor's Office for the First Time Since 1966, Per AP

A 60-Year Streak Ends Arizona Democrats have won control of the state House, Senate and governor's office for the first time since 1966, according to the AP. Gov. Katie Hobbs won reelection, and Democrats flipped both chambers of the Legislature. Republicans had controlled the House for 60

Stephen Miller

Trump Announces Stephen Miller as New White House Chief of Staff

The Hardliner Gets the Building Trump has announced Stephen Miller as the new White House Chief of Staff. Miller is the architect of the administration's immigration agenda, the deportation program and the hardline border posture that defined the president's second term. The chief of staff job

congress

House Laying Groundwork to Investigate Trump's Use of Grok in Maduro Capture Operation, Per WaPo

From Headline to Investigation The House is laying the groundwork to investigate Trump's use of Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, to plan the military operation and capture of Maduro, according to the Washington Post. The underlying story has been public for months: Trump asked Grok before the

trump

Trump Signs Executive Order Preventing Future Presidents From Changing the Oval Office, Per BBC

Locking the Door Behind Him Trump has signed an executive order preventing future presidents from changing the Oval Office, according to the BBC. The order follows his proclamation this week designating the Oval Office, the Outer Oval and the Cabinet Room as a national monument, a step he said he

North Carolina

North Carolina Democrat Who Beat Tim Moore Due in Court on Felony Car Theft Charge, Per the New York Post

A Win, Then a Court Date North Carolina Democrat LaKesha Womack, who pulled off a surprise win over Republican Rep. Tim Moore on Tuesday, is due in court next week on a felony car theft charge, according to the New York Post. Per the Post, Womack was served the felony

hedge funds

Hedge Fund Samlyn Capital Sells Nearly All Stocks Except Financials, Per Bloomberg

The Eject Button Hedge fund Samlyn Capital has sold off nearly all its stocks except financials and is letting go of senior analysts, according to Bloomberg. Samlyn is one of the best-known long/short equity funds in the business, running a concentrated book built on deep fundamental stock picking.

Elon Musk

Musk Says SoftBank Is Defaulting on Its Turbine Orders

Musk's Claim Elon Musk has said that SoftBank is defaulting on their turbine orders. The claim, made by Musk without supporting detail in the post, is unverified, and SoftBank has not publicly responded in the reporting available. It should be read as an allegation from a competitor with

taxes

"The Survival of American Democracy Depends on Taxing Billionaires," Per the Guardian

The Maximal Version of the Wealth Tax Case "The survival of American democracy depends on taxing billionaires. It is essential not just to fund the public goods the nation needs, it is indispensable to restore a sense of fairness," according to the Guardian. The argument lands at a

AI

Finance Jobs Are Among Those Most at Risk From AI, Per Bloomberg

Finance in the Exposure Zone Finance jobs are among those most at risk from AI, according to Bloomberg. The finding puts one of the economy's highest-paid white-collar sectors squarely in the automation path. Finance work is heavy on exactly the tasks current models do best: document

AI

Companies Pulling Back on AI, Treating Spending as a Margin Cost, Per Apollo

The AI Spend Gets Reclassified Companies are starting to pull back on AI and to treat AI spending as a cost that weighs on margins rather than a source of growth, according to Apollo. The shift in framing matters. For two years, corporate AI budgets were sold to investors as

canada

Canada's Carney Government Releases 2027–29 Immigration Plan, Per CBC

Ottawa Lays Out Three Years of Targets Canada's government under Prime Minister Mark Carney has released its immigration plan for 2027 through 2029, according to CBC. The plan targets 380,000 new permanent residents a year, alongside 370,000 new temporary residents a year made up of workers