Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 📦 Prime time for ecommerce
• 🎤 Olivia Rodrigo’s all-women festival
• 🛻 $25K electric pickup truck

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.68-minute read (978 words).

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In yesterday’s edition, we mistakenly sent out an earlier version of Sports, Media, & Entertainment Holes with the NBA Draft update unfinished. Here’s a link to draft grades and recap of Round 1 action

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."

–Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

Amazon's annual Prime Day officially kicked off this week, but calling it Prime “Day" is starting to feel a little like calling the Super Bowl a neighborhood pickup game.

What began in 2015 as a made-up shopping holiday to sell Prime memberships has evolved into a full-blown retail event.

Prime Day runs from June 23-26 this year, while rivals including Target and Walmart have launched their own competing deal events to cash in on the shopping frenzy.

Consumers are showing up

Americans spent ~$8.3 billion online to begin the Prime Day event on Monday, per Adobe Analytics, topping the firm's earlier forecast of $7.9 billion. Adobe projects online spending will reach $26.3 billion this week, up 9% from last year.

• 46% of shoppers plan to browse Prime Day deals without a specific purchase in mind, while 25% plan to stock up on everyday essentials, according to research firm Numerator.
• Another 21% say they're using the sales to buy household necessities or larger purchases they've been putting off.

At the same time: The average Prime Day order size currently stands at $48.36, or ~$10/shopper lower compared to the same point last year (-17%). The data indicates that more consumers are shopping on Amazon this year, but they’re shelling out less than before.

The shopping spree is universal this week. Major competing sales events at Target (Circle Week) and Walmart (Walmart Deals) are also running alongside Prime Day, turning what was once a company-specific promotion into the summer version of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Bring tired-looking skin back to life. Jones Road Beauty's Bright Skin Illuminating Drops are intentionally designed with finely milled pearls to create the kind of sheer radiance that makes people think you’ve been on vacation.

Wear it your way. Mix a few drops into moisturizer, apply it to bare skin, or tap it over makeup for a glow-from-within look. They blend seamlessly into your routine, giving skin a fresh, healthy-looking boost whenever it needs a little extra light.

The going rate for a comfortable retirement is now somewhere around the price of a modest luxury yacht, according to most Americans.

• The average resident now believes they need $1.46 million to retire comfortably, per a recent Northwestern Mutual survey of 4,375 US adults.
• That “magic number” has risen from $1.25 million in 2022 to this year’s current high point.

The reality behind the “magic”

The $1.46 million figure isn’t a hard and fast rule, and most planners say it’s not even close to universal. A more grounded benchmark suggests saving about 10x your annual income by age 67, amounting to ~$800,000 for the typical US household based on recent median income levels.

Still, many Americans are falling short. The median US household in the 65-74 age range has ~$200,000 in retirement savings, while the average stands at ~$609,000, per a 2023 federal survey.

The retirement paradox: Recent research shows the youngest generation in the workforce is actually the most prepared for retirement at this stage in their lives. A Vanguard study found 47% of US workers aged 24-28 are on track to have enough money to maintain their lifestyle in retirement, while all other generations come in around 40%-42%.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 Micron reports better-than-expected earnings and revenue in its fiscal third quarter; memory maker’s stock soars ~15% after-hours, with its earnings report sparking a wider rally in Nasdaq index futures.
• 🍔 Wendy’s stock soars as much as 42% on heavy volume before closing up ~26% as retail investors rally to the stock; it follows a viral Reddit thread on r/WallStreetBets Tuesday night calling to “save Wendy’s.”
• 🤖 Agility Robotics, a startup that makes humanlike robots used in manufacturing facilities and warehouses (including Amazon’s), is going public in a deal valuing it at ~$2.5 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 LA Lakers G Austin Reaves reportedly agrees to 4-yr, $185 million max contract to return to the franchise; it’s the richest NBA contract ever for an undrafted player.
• 🎤 Olivia Rodrigo announces inaugural “Daisy Chain Fields” all-women music festival on August 29 in Irvine, CA; performers include Chappell Roan, Katseye, Doechii, Stevie Knicks, and more.
• 🏆 Film Academy invites 529 new members to become voters for the Oscar awards by joining the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; list includes 95 Oscar nominees and 21 winners, as well as mainstays like Jenna Ortega and Jon Bernthal.

Oil prices can change by the hour. Quantum computing could still be years from becoming reality. Whatever you're tracking, Kalshi lets you trade on your predictions, whether they play out in five minutes or five years.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 💉 Covid vaccine found to be ~55% effective against hospitalizations, while reducing trips to the ER and urgent care by 50%, per a new study; research was published this week in JAMA Network after it was pulled from a government health journal.
• ♥️ New AI screening tool that detects hidden high-risk heart disease based on routine ECGs receives world's first FDA clearance for the technology.
• 👶 Most IVF “add on” treatments aren’t backed by reliable evidence, don’t boost fertility, and may be a waste of money despite widespread use, new research finds.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🏛️ President Trump cancels plans to sign a recently approved bipartisan housing measure and demands that Congress first pass the SAVE Act, which would tighten voter-eligibility rules among other Trump-backed provisions.
• 🗳️ Progressive and Democratic Socialist candidates endorsed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani sweep three key Democratic primaries in the Big Apple, including two upsets against incumbent House members.
• ⚖️ Federal appeals court allows the Trump admin to resume expedited deportations nationwide, reversing a lower court's block on the policy.

☝️ EV startup Slate Auto opened pre-orders for its bare-bones $24,950 electric pickup truck yesterday. The tiny Slate Truck ditches paint, built-in navigation, radio, and other modern extras in favor of optional vinyl wraps and DIY upgrade kits. It’s already racked up 160,000+ reservations ahead of planned deliveries later this year.

🤔 Did you know? Pub trivia can provide a major boost for local businesses. Studies show venues that add trivia nights often see weekday attendance jump by 20%-30%, with Wednesday—for whatever reason—emerging as America’s favorite night to show off random knowledge.

📰 Worth a read: Goodbye pilates princess, hello gym goblin: how the just-got-out-of-bed look took over fitness

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• Lies about sunscreen do really well on social media
• Frozen yogurt is having a renaissance—at $30 a bowl
• The scientific case for reading on paper

How your home smells says as much as how it looks... Laundry Sauce infuses laundry with high-end fragrances by top perfumers that elevate your clothes and your space. Turn your routine into a ritual. Shop the collection at Laundry Sauce.com.

Yesterday we covered a new federal plan to provide billions of dollars in loans to help accelerate construction of nuclear reactors across the US, as the gov’t joins a nationwide push for nuclear energy amid growing demand for electricity.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about investing in nuclear energy as a source of electricity in the US?

• Strongly agree: 36%
• Somewhat agree: 26%
• Neutral: 11%
• Somewhat disagree: 14%
• Strongly disagree: 13%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 612 votes and 58 longform responses.

🎨 Tortured artist: Find out why Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, and how that shaped his iconic artwork.

🚶💤 Walk this way: There’s a simple explanation for why humans are the only species on Earth that sleepwalks.

🗺️ It’s not about the destination: One artist has been building a fictional map for the past six decades: take a peek at Jerry’s Map.

📝 Access 25 easy ways to get organized in less than 5 minutes a day, free, plus our free organizing e-zine from GetOrganizedNow.com featuring helpful tips, fresh ideas, monthly organizing checklists, and more. Visit Get Organized Now.*

*A message from our partners

Technically considered a lake, which inland body of water is the largest in the world?

☀️ Santa Monica nonprofit environmental group The Bay Foundation has successfully "rewilded" 8 acres of natural sand dunes along the city's beaches. Their efforts help protect the local environment, wildlife, and communities that depend on them.

The Caspian Sea

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