Conservative Leader Charlie Kirk Fatally Shot Dead at 31

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news this morning:

• Pokémon cards’ massive returns 

• Tucker Carlson grills Sam Altman

• Charlie Kirk shot dead

I’ve got all the details for you, so let’s dive in.

— Josh

MARKETS

💰 Pokémon Card Boom Delivers Over 3,000% Returns for Collectors

The Scoop: Lucas Shaw, a 27-year-old Ohio account manager, struck it rich investing in Pokémon trading cards, using his profits to fund a lavish 3.5-carat engagement ring and wedding plans, as the cards’ 3,821% return since 2004—driven by nostalgia and speculative frenzy—outpaces the S&P 500, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Details:

• Shaw’s gains from Pokémon cards, which soared in value during the pandemic, enabled a custom 18-karat gold ring with three diamonds for his fiancée, highlighting the cards’ appeal among young investors chasing childhood nostalgia.

• Card Ladder reports Pokémon cards yielded a 3,821% return since 2004, dwarfing the S&P 500’s 483% and Meta’s 1,844% gains, with a single “Pikachu Illustrator” card fetching $5.3 million in 2022.

• Investors like Justin Wilson, with a $100,000 collection, and Matthew Griffin, curating sets for his kids, treat cards like financial assets, though critics warn of inconsistent pricing and a potential bubble akin to the 1980s baseball card crash.

• The market’s surge, fueled by stimulus cash and meme-stock-like mania, lacks regulation and hinges on subjective factors like card condition and rarity, with counterfeits and sentimentality posing risks.

What’s Next: The Pokémon card craze, tied to lockdown-era economic policies, may face a reckoning if oversupply or fading nostalgia triggers a price collapse, while the trend may shift focus to other speculative assets as economic conditions evolve.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The Labor Department’s inspector general launched a review into challenges confronting the Bureau of Labor Statistics in collecting key data. (CNBC)

• Senate Republicans are pushing to confirm Trump's nominee for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Stephen Miran, to as early as Monday. (RTS)

• The Trump administration appealed a judge's ruling that blocked Trump's attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. (FBN)

• The Treasury-led Financial Stability Oversight Council voted to disband two Biden-era climate advisory committees focused on embedding climate risks in financial regulations. (RTS)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Oracle’s Larry Ellison briefly displaced Elon Musk as the world's richest person, with his net worth peaking at $393 billion amid a 40% surge in Oracle shares. (TG)

• Klarna debuted strongly on the NYSE with its IPO priced at $40 per share, above the $35-$37 initial range, valuing the Swedish fintech at $10.7 billion. (PI)

• Figure raised $787.5 million in its IPO, selling 31.5 million shares at $25 each, above the $20-$22 range, to value the company at approximately $5.3 billion. (BBG)

• Opendoor’s shares surged 30% following the appointment of former Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian as its new CEO. (WSJ)

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched record closes for the second straight session, propelled by a better-than-expected 0.1% decline in wholesale prices. (CNBC)

🛢️ Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The EIA forecasted that natural gas prices will plummet to around $50 per barrel and $2.90 per gallon in early 2026, marking a 20-year low. (MDN)

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the U.S. will double its natural gas exports within five years. (FOR)

• The European Union is showing reluctance to impose oil-related tariffs on China and India for their purchases of Russian crude. (OP)

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticized the prospect of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 as a "colossal train wreck." (CNBC)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Brian Quintenz, Trump's CFTC nominee, accused Tyler Winklevoss of lobbying to block his confirmation, sharing texts from Winklevoss urging him to "rectify" the agency's history with Gemini. (CD)

• The Avalanche Foundation is aiming to raise $1 billion to establish two crypto treasury companies that will hold AVAX tokens. (FT)

• Gemini has raised its IPO price range to $24-$26, aiming to secure $433 million and valuing the company at $3.1 billion. (TB)

• Quantum computers could potentially unlock billions in lost Bitcoin by breaking the cryptographic barriers of unrecoverable private keys. (CT)
  

SPONSOR

The AI Agent Shopify Brands Trust for Q4

Generic chatbots don’t work in ecommerce. They frustrate shoppers, waste traffic, and fail to drive real revenue.

Zipchat.ai is the AI Sales Agent built for Shopify brands like Police, TropicFeel, and Jackery — designed to sell, Zipchat can also.

• Answers product questions instantly and recommends upsells

• Converts hesitant shoppers into buyers before they bounce

• Recovers abandoned carts automatically across web and WhatsApp

• Automates support 24/7 at scale, cutting tickets and saving money

From 10,000 visitors/month to millions, Zipchat scales with your store — boosting sales and margins while reducing costs. That’s why fast-growing DTC brands and established enterprises alike trust it to handle their busiest season and fully embrace Agentic Commerce.

Setup takes less than 20 minutes with our success manager. And you’re fully covered with 37 days risk-free (7-day free trial + 30-day money-back guarantee).

On top, use the NEWSLETTER10 coupon for 10% off forever.

Try Zipchat free

TECH

💻 Tucker Carlson Grills Sam Altman Over OpenAI Whistleblower’s Death

The Scoop: In a tense interview with Tucker Carlson, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the death of former researcher Suchir Balaji for the first time, backing the official suicide ruling while rejecting murder allegations, as the conversation highlighted ongoing family concerns and investigative questions surrounding the whistleblower's November 2024 passing.

The Details:

• Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old Indian-origin AI engineer who worked at OpenAI for four years and contributed to ChatGPT, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, 2024, shortly after accusing the company of copyright violations in AI training data; police and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide with no evidence of foul play.

• Carlson questioned Altman on details like signs of a struggle, blood in multiple rooms, cut surveillance wires, Balaji's recent vacation and takeout order indicating no suicidal intent, and claims from Balaji's mother of a cover-up.

• Altman, who described Balaji as a longtime colleague and acquaintance, said he reviewed available reports and believed it was suicide, citing the gun's purchase by Balaji himself, and pushed back on the implications, saying, "I haven’t done too many interviews where I’ve been accused of murder."

What’s Next: Balaji's family continues advocating for an independent FBI investigation into potential lapses, which could revisit evidence and clarify discrepancies; this may intensify scrutiny on whistleblower protections in the AI sector, influence ongoing copyright litigation against OpenAI.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: OpenAI inked a historic $300 billion deal with Oracle to secure 4.5 gigawatts of computing power over roughly five years starting in 2027. (WSJ)

• ByteDance unveiled Seedream 4.0, its advanced AI image generation and editing model, claiming it outperforms Google DeepMind's Nano Banana on prompt adherence and aesthetics. (SCMP)

• Stability AI unveiled Stable Audio 2.5, an enterprise-grade audio generation model that slashes custom audio production time from weeks to minutes. (VB)

• A man dubbed the "Slop King" claims to have made $3 million by flooding Amazon with 100% AI-generated books. (PW)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: A report delves into how AI-powered robots are poised to transform manufacturing like Ford’s assembly line, streamlining manufacturing workflows and freeing humans for complex challenges. (WSJ)

• Amazon is developing AR glasses with a color display for consumers by late 2026 and glasses for delivery drivers by mid-2026. (TI)

• Ant Group, the fintech giant backed by Jack Ma, unveiled its first humanoid robot R1 at the 2025 Inclusion Conference in Shanghai. (BBG)

• Shenzhen Airport launched a robot food delivery service, allowing travelers to order meals and wait for them at their departure gates. (CDA)

• A University of Chicago study reveals that social robots can significantly alleviate reading anxiety in children. (PHYS)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: A Congressional investigation uncovered that over $2.5 billion in Pentagon-funded research grants inadvertently bolstered Chinese military capabilities. (WT)

• SpaceX launched 21 satellites to kick off the U.S. Space Development Agency's 126-satellite network for enhanced global military communications. (SP)

• Ukraine's Marine Corps has introduced the Barracuda unmanned surface vessel, a modular AI-equipped drone boat that autonomously detects threats. (DP)

• BMT unveiled a modular warship concept for the UK Royal Navy, enabling rapid role-switching with interchangeable mission payloads to boost flexibility and cut costs. (APDR)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Perplexity AI finalized a $200 million funding round at a $20 billion valuation. (TI)

• AI coding platform Replit has raised $250 million in a funding round led by Prysm Capital, nearly tripling its valuation to $3 billion. (BBG)

• Brain Co., co-founded by Jared Kushner and Elad Gil, emerged from stealth with a $30 million Series A from Affinity Partners and Gil Capital to help enterprises and governments adopt AI. (FOR)

• Cybersecurity startup Koi secured $38 million in Series A funding, led by Battery, to bolster its platform for managing risks from self-installed enterprise software. (CAL)

FREEDOM

😭 Conservative Leader Charlie Kirk Fatally Shot Dead at 31

The Scoop: Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder and father of two, was fatally shot in the neck during a campus event at Utah Valley University in a targeted assassination. The 31-year-old conservative activist died after being rushed to a hospital. FBI manhunt for the sniper remains ongoing.

The Details:

• Kirk was shot at 12:20 p.m. MDT while speaking to 3,000 attendees under a tent; the sniper fired from a rooftop 200 yards away, causing panic as the crowd fled.

• The FBI released an initial detainee, and the search for the shooter continues; UVU locked down, canceled classes through September 14, and evacuated students.

• Trump and Vance condemned the violence, offering condolences to Kirk’s wife Erika and their two children; flags ordered at half-staff.

• Kirk hosted a top podcast; his event aimed to counter "leftwing indoctrination."

• In a chilling Instagram post hours before his death, Kirk mourned slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, saying, "America will never be the same."

What’s Next: The FBI is probing the shooter’s motive, likely tied to Kirk’s activism. The killing could fuel debates on campus free speech and leftwing political violence ahead of midterms.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy, Free Speech, Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Brazilian feminist Isabella Cêpa won a landmark free speech case in Brazil's Supreme Court, avoiding a 25-year prison term for criticism of a transgender politician's gender identity. (RTN)

• Texas A&M University fired a professor over a course lesson exploring transgender experiences in works like Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. (KBTX)

• Intel's latest Corporate Responsibility Report has dramatically scaled back its language on DEI commitments. (TS)

That's a wrap! You're officially caught up on all things tech, markets and freedom. Subscribe to CAPITAL below.

Feel free to reply to this email with any questions and/or comments.

DISCLAIMER: The CAPITAL newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The CAPITAL newsletter and its owner and operator, Josh Caplan, are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on this information. The CAPITAL newsletter is solely owned and independently operated by Josh Caplan, separate from any employer affiliations.