New CPI figures showed U.S. inflation topping the already high expectations for June. Prices were up 9.1% from a year earlier, all but confirming another big rate hike from the Fed as it struggles to “wrestle under control” price pressures that “are broad and stubborn” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Marketplace
The tiny glimmer of hope here is the recent decline in gas prices. Those high costs at the pump were a major factor in June’s eye-popping inflation figure, and there’s hope that 28 straight days of falling gas prices means the next inflation report will show signs of improvement - NYTimes
Don’t expect those drops to translate into a turnabout for markets. JPMorgan just kicked off big bank earnings report with a nearly 30% drop in profit (thanks in part to setting aside $428 million “to cover potential future loan losses) in what’s sure to start another cycle of hand wringing about an impending recession - WSJ and Bloomberg
More from Netflix on its efforts to build out an ad-supported service, with news this week that the streaming giant has chosen Microsoft to help it construct the new tier - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and TechCrunch
Some nitty-gritty on the brewing legal battle between Elon Musk and Twitter, including the dispute over the hard-to-pin-down number of fake and spam accounts on the social media platform - WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
Meet Michael Barr, the new Fed vice chair for supervision who “provides the central bank with a full seven-member board for the first time in nearly a decade” - WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
SEC Chief Gary Gensler is going on record as pessimistic about the odds that negotiators from the U.S. and China will “reach an agreement over audits that is necessary to prevent Chinese companies from being delisted by U.S. stock exchanges.” Talks have heated up in recent weeks “ahead of a looming deadline for American regulators to gain access to Chinese companies’ audit papers as required under U.S. law,” but the countries may not get the deal done - WSJ
Even in the face of shortages in components and finished products, consumer interest in electric vehicles boomed in the past year, with purchases of battery-powered cars doubling overall as compared to a year ago despite new-car sales declining 20% marketwide - NYTimes and Bloomberg
Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black will appeal SDNY Judge Paul Engelmayer’s late-June decision to dismiss his claims that co-founder Josh Harris “conspired with a Russian model and others to destroy [Black’s] reputation” - Bloomberg
Putting in some time at the Road Hole to properly honor the Open’s return to golf’s birthplace - NYTimes
Stay safe,
MDR
