|  | Nasdaq | 25,067.80 | |
|  | S&P | 7,200.75 | |
|  | Dow | 48,941.90 | |
|  | 10-Year | 4.446% | |
|  | Bitcoin | $80,367.67 | |
|  | UPS | $96.31 | |
| | Data is provided by |  | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | Markets: Stocks fell while oil rose yesterday as the ceasefire in Iran was tested from both sides. UPS and FedEx slipped after Amazon announced that it was expanding its logistics business. | |
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Like believing you can move that Facebook Marketplace side table via Citi Bike, GameStop is feeling ambitious. The company most famous for riding meme-stock mania made an unsolicited ~$56 billion bid on Sunday to buy the much larger, online resale marketplace eBay. But…its CEO couldn’t quite explain to CNBC yesterday how the company planned to pay for it if the offer is accepted. Wall Street responded with its version of a laugh. EBay was valued at $46 million before the offer. Its stock jumped 5% yesterday following the offer. GameStop was already worth just $12 billion, about a fourth of eBay, at market close Friday. Its stock dropped over 5% yesterday. How would GameStop pay for this? GameStop is offering to acquire eBay at $125 per share through a 50% cash, 50% stock deal. But…GameStop only has about $9 billion in cash available, and even with the $20 billion in financing from TD Bank it has lined up (but not officially locked in), there’s still a pretty big funding gap: - GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of Chewy, went on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” where journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin asked about the roughly $16 to $20 billion difference.
- It got awkward as Cohen kept repeating that it would be “half cash, half stock,” not providing additional details and referring viewers to his company’s website. If you’re confused, so was Sorkin. (Watch it here.)
It wouldn’t be the first time a much smaller company bought above its weight class, and it definitely wouldn’t be the first time a buyer relied on massive debt (that’s why we’ve got the term leveraged buyout). However, the lack of clarity didn’t help sell the vision. GameStop’s big plans to overhaul eBay: EBay has lost revenue and market share to retailers like Amazon and TikTok Shop, but it’s already in the midst of a massive turnaround that analysts say is working. Cohen thinks eBay would benefit from Gamestop’s brick-and-mortar locations as hubs to host live video streams for selling and to use as authentication and fulfillment centers. He’s also in favor of slashing the company’s marketing budget. Looking ahead…EBay said it had received the offer and would review it, but analysts predict the sale won’t come together.—MM | | |
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Iran ceasefire shaky after attacks escalate. With the US drawing Iranian attacks while attempting to usher boats through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, the ceasefire that the US and Iran agreed to last month appeared even more fragile. The US military said it had gotten two American-flagged merchant ships through the strait and that it had sunk six small Iranian boats targeting ships there, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, the UAE, a US ally, suffered its first attacks from Iran since the ceasefire took hold. President Trump refrained from calling Iran’s actions a ceasefire violation, however, referring to the escalating tension as a “mini-war,” per the Wall Street Journal. SCOTUS temporarily restores access to abortion pills by mail. The Supreme Court blocked a lower court’s ban on sending the abortion pill mifepristone through the mail for at least a week, as it considers an appeal from the companies that make the drug. The drug is used in about two-thirds of all US abortions. Louisiana sued over a 2023 FDA decision that allowed doctors to prescribe mifepristone without seeing the patient in person, and on Friday, a federal appeals court sided with the state. Drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro then asked the high court to intervene. Yesterday’s SCOTUS order did not address the substance of the case but restored broad access to the drug for now. OpenAI’s president testifies after revelation that Elon Musk tried to settle. Yesterday, OpenAI President Greg Brockman became the latest high-profile executive to take the stand in Musk’s lawsuit over OpenAI’s pivot to becoming a for-profit. Brockman, who has not invested his own money in the company, told the court that his stake in OpenAI is currently worth $30 billion. But the biggest surprise came in a filing from OpenAI, which claimed Musk reached out to Brockman two days before the trial began, seeking a settlement. “By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America,” Musk reportedly texted, referring to the CEO of OpenAI. “If you insist, so it will be.”—AR
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Recent college grads who start twitching whenever an older adult asks them “so, what’s next?” might want to consider moving to Birmingham, AL. At a time when many companies have dialed back entry-level job postings, Birmingham has the most favorable employment conditions for young people with a college diploma among large metro areas, according to a report published this week by payroll firm ADP. Hiring hubs ADP ranked 53 metro areas based on hiring momentum for young college grads, wages, and affordability: - Birmingham earned the top spot due to strong job growth and its median annual wage jumping 16% from last year. Tampa–St. Petersburg, FL, followed due to hiring growth, while the greater San Jose area in California rose to third, thanks to local tech companies hiring at high salaries.
- San Francisco joined New York City in the top 10—both buoyed by relatively solid hiring and high pay, despite the stratospheric cost of living.
Meanwhile, Raleigh, NC, lost its top spot from the last two years, moving down to fourth place. Phoenix plunged from 8th place to 22nd. Big picture: Though there are signs that entry-level hiring is rebounding, it’s still rough out there. Unemployment for young degree holders jumped to 5.6% at the end of 2025, up from 4.8% a year before, per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.—SK | | |
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Yesterday’s Met Gala in Manhattan delivered its usual stream of opulence, beauty, and outfits you couldn’t wear to an office without getting a call from HR. While the gala is no stranger to protests, this year’s “Fashion is Art” themed event drew more ire than usual due to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, serving as lead sponsors and honorary chairs. How much ire? An activist group called Everyone Hates Elon (the billionaire Musk, not the college in North Carolina) called for a boycott, placed ~300 bottles of fake urine inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday in a nod to reported conditions for Amazon workers, and projected anti-Bezos messages nearby on Sunday. Critics questioned why the $100,000-ticket fundraiser’s longtime organizer Anna Wintour allowed the world’s fourth-richest man to gala-wash his reputation after… - Mass layoffs at the Washington Post, which he owns.
- A growing perception that he and his fellow billionaires are not paying their fair share of taxes.
- Amazon donated to President Trump’s inauguration fund and spent $50 million on a Melania Trump documentary that got criticized as propaganda.
RSVP no: Amid the hubbub, previous attendees Zendaya and Bella Hadid opted to stay home. New York City Mayor and Carhartt enthusiast Zohran Mamdani also spent the evening in sweats and a T-shirt, saying he preferred to focus on “affordability” in a city where one in four residents live in poverty. But plenty of stars from Rihanna to Heidi Klum strutted their stuff on the red carpet. And even fellow tech titan Mark Zuckerberg showed up (but skipped the walk up the iconic steps). Wear the story ends: To see all the looks that cost more than your yearly rent, click here.—DL | | |
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MATTY’S WORK-LIFE BALANCE On Tuesdays, the Brew’s Matty Merritt brings you the news you need to make life a little easier during your 9-5, 5-9, or OOO. With airlines cutting flights and shuffling passengers around to save on fuel costs, make sure your vacation doesn’t get ruined by a scam preying on scrambling travelers. Scammers snag phone numbers similar to those of airline customer services or take out Google ads so that when you type some version of "Southwest support flight delayed HELP,” a fake number pops up. It may be fake, but the pain is real: - One traveler told the WSJ last week that he got scammed out of $12,132 trying to rebook a trip to Budapest.
- Reports have also flooded Reddit about passengers calling fake numbers and being told their tickets are only for the waitlist, and they need to provide their credit card info to actually book the flight.
How to avoid getting scammed during your PTO: Slow down, take a breath, and double check that the customer service number you’re about to call is on the airline’s verified website, email, or on the back of your airline credit card.—MM |
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