• Markets: Stocks had a case of the Mondays yesterday, dropping as oil prices spiked amid renewed tensions over the Strait of Hormuz (more on that below). Investors also fretted about AI, so semiconductor stocks fell, including Korea’s SK Hynix, which had a much hyped US debut last week.

Guardians of the gulf

AFP/Getty Images

Uncle Sam might act as a paid bodyguard for ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said on Truth Social yesterday that the US will be the waterway’s “guardian,” using its navy to keep it open, while charging shipowners a 20% fee on their cargo for getting it through the area safely. The president’s post also said that the US would reimpose its blockade of Iranian oil shipments.

Trump’s announcements followed the US and Iran exchanging attacks this weekend, undermining the recovery of the region’s shipping traffic that came after last month’s ceasefire. The fighting restarted last week when the US responded after Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming vessels were only allowed to pass through its approved routes.

The US struck additional targets in Iran last night, and said its blockade of Iranian ships would resume today at 4pm ET. The UAE said Iran hit two of its tankers in retaliation yesterday.

Before the war, one-fifth of the world’s oil passed through the strait. The US previously said it must remain open without tolls.

Murky seas

The idea of paying the US for maritime security—and the percentage floated—is raising eyebrows:

• Bloomberg reported that analysts and industry insiders expressed confusion about how the escort fee would work in practice. The publication estimated that a 20% cut would be about $30 million for a supertanker filled with oil, several times more than the ~$2 million tolls Iran began charging amid the war.
• Another analyst told CNN that shipowners typically pay only ~2% or 3% of a cargo’s value in fees. The outlet also said insurers might refuse to cover vessels in the strait even if they’re willing to shell out for US naval protection.

Is a protection fee legal? The UN’s International Maritime Organization said yesterday that it opposes any shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, in accordance with international law. It previously made similar statements when Iran charged tolls. But some experts say the US could legally charge a fee—as long as it’s for a specific and voluntary service.

It’s already having an impact: The price of crude rose above $80 a barrel yesterday for the first time since the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in June.—SK

      

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World

Tour de headlines

Brian van der Brug/Getty Images

🎬 States led by California sue to stop Paramount-WBD merger. The home of Hollywood and 11 other states filed a lawsuit yesterday hoping to call “cut” on Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Despite the federal government’s green light, the suit, lodged in California federal court, seeks to block the merger on antitrust grounds. The combination “would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. Paramount vowed to “vigorously defend” the deal, saying the suit “distorts settled antitrust law.”

⚖️ Judge says Trump’s lawsuit against IRS was brought in bad faith. Criticizing the president’s lawyers and referring one for possible discipline, a federal judge said President Trump’s $10 billion suit against the IRS—which ended with a deal for Trump and his family to avoid tax audits and a now-paused $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund—was filed for an “improper purpose.” The suit was “an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” Judge Kathleen Williams wrote in the judicial equivalent of a primal scream. The ruling is unlikely to impact the audit deal as the president dropped the suit, and the deal was not filed with the court.

🏦 Get ready for all the bank earnings. Banks typically kick off earnings season with a window into the American economy, but it’s unusual for as many to drop their quarterly results in one day as we’re getting today—with five of the six largest US banks reporting. JPMorgan and Bank of America have overlapping conference calls, and Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup are also announcing their latest. It’ll be a marathon for Wall Streeters, and Bloomberg reports that one analyst and powerlifter is making the ultimate sacrifice of skipping the gym.—AR

MOANA MO’ PROBLEMS

Walt Disney Studios

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had a wig on this weekend, and barely anyone was around to see it. The latest Moana botched its debut and became one of Disney’s lowest-opening live-action remakes ever.

How far it didn’t go: Moana made $95 million at the global box office, a “brutal” start considering the film cost $350+ million to make and market, per the New York Times. Domestically:

• Moana made $43 million, missing Disney’s goal of $60+ million.
• In comparison, the animated Moana and Moana 2 opened to ~$57 million in 2016 and ~$140 million in 2024, respectively.

Cause of flop: CGI-heavy, shot-for-shot visuals that made Moana feel like “a glossy digital clone of the original,” per Polygon. It was also poor timing:

• Disney typically waits 27 years on average for live-action remakes of its animated classics, according to film consultant David A. Gross, but the new Moana waited only a decade.
• It also shared the weekend with Minions & Monsters and Disney’s own Toy Story 5.

Zoom out: Disney is running out of animated originals to remake. Since 2010, it’s done Snow White, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, The Lion King, Aladdin, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, and Lilo & Stitch. Disney’s last original live-action franchise hit was Pirates of the Caribbean.—ML

      

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PENNE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

Olive Garden

Olive Garden may need to adopt a belt-loosening policy thanks to the return of its extremely beloved Never-Ending Pasta Pass, a subscription plan that grants a limited number of patrons 13 weeks of unlimited pasta for $100.

The return of the Pasta Pass represents the latest in a trend that Olive Garden helped create of restaurant chains trying to win repeat business via limited-time subscription programs. These programs can drive both customer loyalty and headlines (like ours). Taco Bell, Applebee’s, and Subway also have popular ones. And Olive Garden is looking for a boost after its same-store sales growth disappointed in Q4.

If you’re the proud owner of an “I ♥️carbs” t-shirt…you can take advantage of a deal that also includes infinite soup, salad, and breadsticks (but not wine) by going to the Pasta Pass website on Thursday at 2pm ET to get one of the 10,000 available passes. The $100 pass (plus tax) is good for 13 weeks starting Aug. 24, and you only need to order four plates of Chicken Alfredo before breaking even.

But be warned: The company claims Olive Garden sold out of 24,000 passes in “milliseconds” the last time it ran the promotion in 2019.—DL

      

Matty’s work-life balance

The water cooler is not for flirting anymore

Niv Bavarsky

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.

Looks like y’all are actually clocking in and locking in. People aren’t dating their coworkers like they used to:

• Just 16% of survey respondents said they went on a date with a coworker last year, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
• Back in 2008, 40% of those surveyed by The Harris Poll said they went out with a coworker.

Even cubicle yearning is down: Last year, 22% of people reported having an office crush compared to 49% in 2024, according to SHRM.

What changed? More sexual harassment trainings, blanket bans on intra-office romance, and the boom of (and burnout from) online dating all seem to have played a role.—MM

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News

What else is brewing

• Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been appointed to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January, after his sudden death this weekend.
• An appeals court revived 500+ lawsuits against Tylenol-maker Kenvue that allege a connection between the use of the painkiller during pregnancy and autism and ADHD in children.
• At least 27 people were killed in a fire at a Bangkok pub.
• An ICE agent fatally shot a motorist in Maine, the second time in a week in which the agency’s officers used deadly force.
• Meta said it was boosting its investment in its data center campus in Louisiana by $40 billion, which Bloomberg reports brings the total cost of the project to $250 billion—though only $50 billion has been publicly announced.
• The FCC approved a startup’s controversial plan to test using a 60-foot mirror to reflect sunlight back to Earth and illuminate part of the night sky.
• Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park and The Piano, has died at age 78.

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Play

Brew Mini: If you know several ways to express approval and disapproval, you’ll do just fine today. Play the Mini here.

Holiday trivia

Today is Bastille Day in France, commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison, which helped kickstart the French Revolution. Think back to European history class: what year did this take place?

Answer

1789

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: yearning, meaning “longing tenderly.” Thanks to Annette from Florida for sating our desire for a suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.