|  | Nasdaq | 25,114.44 | |
| | S&P | 7,230.12 | |
|  | Dow | 49,499.27 | |
| | 10-Year | 4.378% | |
| | Bitcoin | $78,164.61 | |
| | Apple | $280.14 | |
| | Data is provided by |  |
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | - Markets: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have been racking up more records lately than your ex who overidentified with High Fidelity, with both indexes starting May by closing at new heights yesterday. Apple rose a day after delivering better-than-expected quarterly results.
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It’s not easy taking over hosting duties from a legend (just ask Ken Jennings), but that’s exactly what Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO, Greg Abel, will be tasked with today at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting. It’s the first time in 60 years that former CEO Warren Buffett will not host the popular event, so the pressure is on—especially since Berkshire has underperformed the market this year. The Greg Abel Experience Buffett, 95, remains the firm’s board chair and will be in attendance, but passed the chief executive oracle baton to Abel at the beginning of this year. So, the meeting—long known as “Woodstock for Capitalists”—is kind of like Abel’s welcome party, with an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 guests expected to attend the event this weekend. But while Buffett’s annual Q&A session was known for unlimited folksy wisdom, Abel is decidedly more businesslike and operations-focused (you know, like Woodstock). That may not be a bad thing, though, because business is what’s on many shareholders’ minds. And Abel isn’t likely to get the same benefit of the doubt that the legendary Buffett did. Per CNBC: - Berkshire shares have trailed the S&P 500 by more than 30 percentage points since Buffett’s announcement last May that he would be stepping down. That underperformance persisted even as Berkshire bought back about $226 million worth of its stock.
- Year to date, Berkshire shares are down more than 5%. Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose 4%.
Abel to answer questions. The new CEO will face no shortage of queries, such as: Will he start winding down some of the company’s Buffett-era positions? What’s the long-term strategy for handling Berkshire’s disappointing stake in Kraft Heinz? What will he do with that massive $373 billion pile of cash that Berkshire is sitting on? And how does AI inform what’s next? Then, if there’s time, maybe he can tell us whether he likes Cherry Coke as much as Buffett does. Earning his place: Berkshire’s Q1 earnings will also be released tomorrow, showcasing Abel’s first quarter as the big boss—yet another reminder that the Buffett era is over. It’s Abel’s Hatha-way or the highway.—BC | | |
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Big Pharma companies spent billions trying to cure osteoarthritis. A biotech startup called Cytonics may have actually done it. Their first-gen therapy has already been used to successfully treat 10,000+ patients. The opportunity? 500m+ people deal with osteoarthritis worldwide, with no treatment that can actually stop it. It’s a $560b market in total. It’s also why Cytonics has raised $25m from over 7,000 investors. Now, after completing phase 1 FDA trials, Cytonics is gearing up for the next stage of clinical trials for “CYT-108,” their next-gen drug candidate that’s 200% more potent and built for global scale. And you can join them ahead of phase 2 trials. Get up to 15% Cytonics investor bonus stock as an early-stage shareholder today. |
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 Spirit Airlines may be coming in for a hard landing as government talks falter. The struggling budget carrier is preparing to liquidate after it couldn’t get its bondholders and the Trump administration to agree to a bailout that would have given the airline $500 million in exchange for giving the government an up to 90% stake, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Without a deal, Spirit is rapidly running out of cash, especially with elevated fuel prices. President Trump said yesterday that the government had given Spirit its “final proposal.”
 Iran offered a new deal, but Trump’s “not satisfied” with it. Iran gave the US a new proposal to end the war yesterday, hoping to restart stalled peace talks. The proposal reportedly included some elements of compromise concerning the timing of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending a US naval blockade. Oil prices fell amid hope for progress, but President Trump swiftly rejected the proposal. “They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it. We’ll see what happens,” he said yesterday.
 Trump threatens 25% tariff on EU cars and trucks. Accusing the 27-nation bloc of not complying with a trade deal struck last year that capped tariffs on most EU imports to the US at 15%, President Trump said on Truth Social yesterday that he’d be increasing the tariffs on vehicles imported from the European Union next week. Trump did not explain how he thought the EU had violated the deal. The renewed trade fight comes amid global economic uncertainty from the Iran war. While European-made cars are a small part of the US auto market, the US is the second-biggest market for EU car exports.—AR
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Colossal Biosciences, the company that claims it can reverse extinction, announced it has taken steps to restore the bluebuck antelope, which was native to Africa and vanished from the planet around 200 years ago. The biotech firm—with its $10 billion valuation and a nightmare blunt rotation of investors that includes Peter Thiel, Tom Brady, and Paris Hilton—extracted DNA from a bluebuck specimen from the Swedish Museum of Natural History in 2024. Now, people in white lab coats who probably get cornered at parties when they mention their jobs are cooking up new bluebucks in a lab. However: The scientific community says that Colossal technically isn’t bringing back extinct species; it’s creating new hybrids by editing them into the modern genome of a similar animal. Applications for the living: CEO Ben Lamm said that the reason for revealing the company’s bluebuck work now is because the technology could be used to preserve endangered antelope species, of which there are 29 in the world. What’s next: The bluebuck’s original habitat is likely gone, so Colossal is partnering with nonprofit Advanced Conservation Strategies to find potential new host countries. The company is also collaborating with private landowners and governments to create a reintroduction plan.—DL | | |
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The sauna that actually gets used. Most home saunas get used three times, then gather dust. Peak Saunas built the fix: full-spectrum infrared with medical-grade red light therapy, plus a free guided wellness platform for life. The result? Members average 4.2 sessions per week. The hardware is premium; the habit is the point. Your wellness routine starts here. |
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Here’s everything that didn’t make it into this week’s newsletters but we immediately sent to the group chat.  New satellite images from NASA show Mexico City is sinking almost 10 inches a year. The massive city is primed for sinkage because it was built on top of an ancient lake bed, but it doesn’t help that y’all are bringing an overstuffed carry-on every time you visit.
Pavel Talankin, who won an Oscar for his documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, finally got his Oscar statuette back after Lufthansa Airlines briefly lost it. TSA made Talankin check it at New York’s JFK airport. Newark would never. Scotland soccer fans in Rhode Island booked a fleet of 20 school buses to avoid ballooning transportation costs to travel to Boston’s stadium during the World Cup. If you see a hayrack ride flying down the highway with England fans, mind your business. Chanel debuted a new half shoe that only covers the wearer’s heel, finally letting those little piggies breathe. The sandal is perfect for pacing parking lots, factory work, and cleaning up broken glass. The future of Albany’s iconic 28-foot-tall terrier statue, Nipper, is uncertain. The warehouse it’s been perched on since the 1950s is starting to fall apart, but moving the statue would be a logistical nightmare. Plus, older dogs always have a harder time getting adopted.—MM |
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- The US military will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said, following Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying the US was being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership earlier this week.
- A federal appeals court temporarily halted abortion pills by mail yesterday.
- The Pentagon inked deals with seven companies—OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Elon Musk’s xAI, and the startup Reflection—to use their AI tools in classified settings. You’ll note that Anthropic isn’t on that list, as the Defense Department has deemed it a supply chain risk, meaning it won’t work with the company.
- Estée Lauder plans to cut as many as 3,000 more jobs, bringing the total layoffs to around 10,000, even as it upped its profit forecast.
- President Trump said he’s lifting tariffs on Scotch whisky “in honor of the King and Queen” of the UK after their visit to the US.
- Roblox shares fell 18% yesterday as new child-safety measures slow user growth on the gaming platform.
- GameStop is preparing an offer to buy eBay as part of an effort to transform the meme-stockers’ favorite company into a $100 billion empire, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Sponsored By Fisher Investments |
Last week, we asked, “What was the coolest field trip you went on in your school days?” Here are some of our favorite responses: - “It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized our behind-the-scenes tour of Canada’s Parliament buildings, including a Q&A session with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was not a typical elementary school field trip.”—Sarah from Ottawa, Canada
- “Detroit, Michigan: a tour of the Ford plant; liquid molten steel poured into forms for cars. Dozens of little kids on the catwalks—no helmets, no goggles, or noise suppression headphones...1970s.”—kjnyc from Scottsdale, AZ
- “Our elementary school in Oyster Bay on Long Island put on a play about Theodore Roosevelt. His daughter, Ethel Roosevelt Derby, invited my entire fourth grade class to her mansion. She served us tiny finger sandwiches. It was kind of a big deal.”—Carol Anne from Rochester, NY
- “I don’t know if it was the coolest, but it was the most impactful: In seventh grade, we took a school bus to the local landfill and drove around on it, experiencing the magnitude and stench of the mountains of garbage. I have been a recycler ever since.”—Maria from Birmingham, AL
- “In high school, the first year Boy Scouts let girls be Explorer Scouts. I joined my town’s Medical Explorer Scout group. One field trip was to a hospital where a cardiologist did open heart surgery for us on a large dog from the local pound. It was fascinating, but certainly quelled my interest in a career in the medical field.”
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