Inflation is behaving itself, which could be a sign for Jay Powell and Co. that it’s time to end the Fed’s rate cut timeout.

Prices rose 2.7% in July from the year before, according to government data shared yesterday, largely in line with what economists predicted. Relatively tame inflation indicates that companies have so far mostly avoided passing the brunt of President Trump’s tariffs onto shoppers—an indicator the Fed wanted to see before deciding whether to slash borrowing costs.

But it’s no price stability utopia

While food prices flatlined and energy became cheaper, month-to-month inflation without those notoriously volatile categories was 0.3% in July, a six-month high. And as a sign that tariffs aren’t having zero effect, inflation accelerated for frequently imported goods like furniture and car parts.

But services were what really pinched Americans’ wallets:

• Dental and medical care prices rose 2.6% and 0.8%, respectively, in July.
• Flight prices shot up 4% from the prior month—the biggest price increase in over three years—after declining for several months before.

Data worries

The inflation report comes amid concerns about the quality of Uncle Sam’s economic data. Earlier this month, President Trump fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner after claiming that its recent jobs data was rigged to make him look bad. Yesterday, Trump’s new nominee to run the number-crunching agency, E.J. Antoni, suggested suspending the BLS’s monthly jobs report, which investors use to assess the health of the US economy, “until it is corrected.”

Looking ahead: Many economists say it’s still too early to tell how tariffs will affect inflation in the long run, since companies are still selling products they stockpiled before import duties kicked in and the heaviest tariffs were enacted only last week.—SK

Perplexity offered to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion. The unsolicited offer from the AI upstart, which reportedly includes several other investors, is nearly double its own $18 billion valuation. Per the Wall Street Journal, Perplexity’s offer may not be a serious attempt to acquire Chrome, but rather a move to convince a federal judge to force Google to sell the web browser by showing that there would be interested parties. After ruling last year that Google operated an illegal search monopoly, the judge, Amit Mehta, is now deciding on an appropriate remedy, including the possibility of ordering that the tech giant break up its empire. Google has resisted calls to sell Chrome, which is believed to be worth between $20 billion and $50 billion.

Trump threatened to sue Powell over Fed building renovations. Trump v. Powell could soon go from a political beef to the literal name of a court case after the president said he is considering allowing a lawsuit against the Fed chair over what he called the “horrible, and grossly incompetent” renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC. After months of President Trump hurling insults at Jerome Powell for not raising interest rates, the two butted heads in person last month when Trump toured the Fed building under construction. Standing next to each other in hard hats, Powell corrected Trump when the president claimed that the cost of the renovation had ballooned to $3.1 billion.

Spirit Airlines doubts it can stay in business much longer. The ultra-low-cost airline known for its bright yellow planes and barebones flying experience has “substantial doubt” it can continue to operate over the next 12 months, it told investors yesterday. Weak domestic demand for travel, in part caused by tariffs, has worsened Spirit’s losses—and unlike larger carriers, Spirit can’t offset them with luxury travel. The airline has tried adding more premium options, but that hasn’t been enough to stop the bleeding. It lost $246 million last quarter, up from a $193 million loss the year before.—AE

No need to ask Grok if this is true. Elon Musk is threatening to sue Apple over what he considers unfair App Store listings for his AI chatbot that recently praised Adolf Hitler:

• Late Monday, the xAI CEO said he would take “immediate legal action,” alleging that Apple makes it impossible for any AI company other than OpenAI to reach the top of the free app rankings. As of yesterday, ChatGPT is ranked first; Grok is fifth.
• Musk wondered if politics are responsible for the absence of Grok and his social media platform, X, from the App Store’s “Must Have” section.
• OpenAI boss Sam Altman, whose company partnered with Apple in June 2024 to power Apple Intelligence, responded by accusing Musk of manipulating X to quash competition, triggering an online billionaire beef.

A matter of antitrust: The EU hit Apple with a $2 billion fine last year and a $570 million punishment this year for antitrust infractions involving the App Store. In 2021, a US court found that App Store practices violated a competition law in California, while this year, a judge ruled that the company had failed to remedy the issues and referred the case to federal prosecutors.

As for favoritism claims…China’s DeepSeek reached No. 1 in January, and Perplexity topped the charts in India last month. Both occurred after the Apple-OpenAI partnership began in June 2024.—DL

Give Kodak everything tonight—it might not get tomorrow. America’s longest-running camera company warned this week that its future is uncertain because it doesn’t currently have enough money to pay its debts.

“Kodak has debt coming due within 12 months and does not have committed financing or available liquidity,” the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday. “These conditions raise substantial doubt about Kodak’s ability to continue.”

• The warning came as Kodak, which is more than 130 years old, reported a $26 million loss in its most recent quarter, down from a $26 million profit during the same time last year.
• Despite the doubt over its future, Kodak tried to calm investors, saying it’s “confident” it can figure out ways to pay off its debts.
• Still, the company’s stock fell more than 20% yesterday.

Promising avenue: Kodak is planning to end its employee pension plan, which would free up ~$300 million to go toward its debt, the Wall Street Journal reported last year. The company said it should have more details on a replacement plan for pensioners by Friday.

Digital-age struggles: Kodak, which has roots in printing and chemicals, has pivoted to pharma in recent years. After winning a government loan to start a drugmaking division in 2020, the company is now set to open a pharmaceuticals plant this year.—ML

Make sure to find your neutral pelvis before taking in this statistic: Pilates is by far the fastest-growing fitness activity in the US, with a five-year growth rate that’s nearly double every other type of activity, according to a recent report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

And it’s not just pilates—a lot of chis are being found, too. Other mind-body practices like tai chi, yoga, and barre each grew more between 2019 and 2024 than did most other activities. Meanwhile, group cycling plummeted almost 40% in that time, as once-dominant brands like SoulCycle have struggled to maintain their popularity.

For the full chart of fitness activity growth rates, check out this X thread from journalist Derek Thompson.—AE