From My Desk

Investors are bracing for a new era in bonds -- and some see echoes of 2007. A global bond selloff is raising borrowing costs for governments, businesses and families, with little relief in sight. The continuing U.S.-Iran war and inflation are part of the story. So is artificial intelligence: The industry's enormous appetite for debt puts it in competition with traditional nation-state borrowers.

Speaking of AI: Big Tech is confronting a growing backlash that threatens the foundations of the AI boom. Our reporters take you inside the frantic race to quell it.

Today's Headlines

Rep. Byron Donalds, President Trump's staunch ally, cruised to victory in the Republican contest in Florida, while a Democratic socialist, state Rep. Angie Nixon, scored an upset win in the Democrats' Senate primary.

Trump said he would pause a 50% tariff on certain goods from Canada, as the two countries seek an agreement.

U.S. officials said Trump is pushing aides for a meeting as soon as this fall with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz are piling up without an American military response.

Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old aide to Trump, has become an object of fascination for both the left and the right.

Live From The Markets

OpenAI's second-quarter sales show tepid growth compared with Anthropic's.

The key to pharma M&A is never shopping hungry, writes David Wainer.

Read It Here First

Big food companies are fighting to tempt taste buds in the era of weight-loss drugs.

For decades, food makers have relied on a proven playbook: cater to consumers' taste buds with sugar, salt and a steadily expanding galaxy of flavors. But for America's biggest food firms, winning over GLP-1 users is a whole new challenge, report Amira McKee and Jesse Newman. With one in five U.S. households now including a GLP-1 user -- doubling since early 2025, according to PwC -- the drugs are increasingly hard to ignore. JPMorgan sees the treatments draining the food and beverage industry of $30 billion to $55 billion in annual revenue as soon as 2030.

This cast-iron company has been controlled by the same family for 130 years.

In an era of public offerings and rich acquisitions, the Lodge family has kept a tight grip on the handle of its cast-iron business since 1896. Each year, the 70 family shareholders come to Tennessee for the Lodge Cast Iron pan company's annual meeting; the extended family, every five years on the company's dime. It's a striking example of how family-owned businesses like Lodge remain a force in the U.S. economy, reports Juliet Chung.

See The Story

The tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta is grappling with a new migrant crisis.

Makeshift migrant camp along an industrial warehouse wall in Ceuta, with temporary sheet and tarp tents set up on a large concrete lot where several people and children are gathered.

An abandoned warehouse complex overlooking the Moroccan border in Ceuta has become a squalid village, with hundreds of people living under sheets tied to the sides of buildings and sleeping on broken-down cars and ripped sofas. Three weeks ago, more than 72,000 migrants poured into this tiny Spanish territory, overwhelming authorities and causing many residents to close up their shops and stay inside their homes. Seeing little hope of making it to continental Europe, most of the migrants left within days. But the thousands who stayed behind, refusing to leave, are creating a humanitarian crisis -- and a growing headache for local residents.

Happening Today

The Little League World Series begins.

Earnings: Target, Lowe's, Estée Lauder, TJX

Number Of The Day:

>$800

The price tag some vintage graphic T-shirts were fetching at a recent ThriftCon clothing convention in New York City. Driven by nostalgia and a desire for authentic style, old threadbare tees have turned into big business.

And Finally

LinkedIn has accidentally become a dating site -- despite its no-romance rules.

Tired of the endless roulette of online dating, more people are looking for love on LinkedIn. With its clear headshots and ample details about a person's path in life, the professional platform has become a go-to tool for singles. While the platform's guidelines strictly forbid any kind of romantic advances, it's increasingly common for the networking site to feature -- directly or indirectly -- in users' dating lives.