The Pentagon’s Favorite Tech Guy: A Real-Life Tony Stark in a Hawaiian Shirt

Biggest danger to U.S. economy

Pentagon’s favorite tech founder

SCOTUS blocks CA’s woke gender rule

⭐ Editor’s Pick: "The Big Short" Hedge Fund Manager: Ignore U.S.-Iran War, Will Be Long-term "Positive" (CNBC)

The White House is preparing a phased plan to ease a sharp oil price spike tied to its strikes on Iran. (USN)

U.S. tariffs cut the trade deficit with China by about 32% year over year, knocking it from the top spot among America’s goods-deficit partners. (BN)

Average U.S. gasoline prices climbed above $3 per gallon on Monday for the first time since November. (RTS)

Nearly one in five home transfers in California come through inheritance, making passing down property one of the few paths to homeownership. (WSJ)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unveiled a proposal to impose a 5% annual wealth tax on U.S. billionaires that could raise $4.4 trillion over the next decade. (WAPO)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Jefferies Reveals Top 3 Metals and Mining Picks Poised to Surge Amid Iran War (BI)

Move over D-Wave Quantum, this subscription software powerhouse could be the smarter bet on the quantum-and-AI surge, according to Motley Fool. (MF)

Morningstar flagged five undervalued stocks it says investors may want to snap up before their discounts disappear. (MS)

Insider Monkey listed 12 bargain-priced stocks it says are cheap buys right now before their value rebounds. (IM)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Photos: Zuckerberg’s $170 Million Mansion Buy Breaks Miami Price Records (WSJ)

More hiring managers say Gen Z applicants are bringing their parents into job interviews. (FBN)

Apple launched a lower cost iPhone 17e starting at $599. (CNBC)

A shadowy pro-China activist network is behind a planned protest in Miami targeting Palantir. (FOX)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Qatar’s LNG Blackout Just Broke Global Gas Market (OP)

The U.S. military says the Strait of Hormuz is not closed, contradicting Iranian claims that it was shut. (FOX)

China is urging Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and avoid targeting oil and LNG shipments. (IRNT)

Iranian drones struck Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery, the country’s largest, causing fires and prompting some operations to be halted. (AN)

The U.S. government has no immediate plans to release crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to counter rising oil prices. (BBG)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Vitalik Buterin Lays Out Plan to Overhaul Ethereum From Ground Up (TB)

A consortium of European banks is moving ahead with plans to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin, targeting a second-half-2026 debut. (MEXC)

Nasdaq asked the SEC to allow it to list binary options on the Nasdaq-100, enabling yes-or-no bets on index moves. (CD)

Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought about $200 million of Bitcoin in its third-largest purchase of the year. (BM)

Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion boosted its Ether holdings to about 4.47 million ETH by buying roughly 51,000 ETH worth $98 million. (FXS)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. Military Using AI to Select Targets in Iran Strikes (FUT)

OpenAI is amending its Pentagon deal, with Sam Altman conceding the rushed agreement appeared “opportunistic and sloppy.” (CNBC)

Anthropic submitted a pitch for a $100 million Pentagon drone-swarm AI challenge amid its feud with the Defense Department. (BBG)

Meta is testing an AI shopping research tool by offering product suggestions and info to select users. (ENG)

Apple is in talks with Google about hosting a Gemini-powered version of Siri on Google’s cloud infrastructure. (VER)

The Treasury Department, State Department and a federal housing agency are dropping Anthropic’s tools. (RTS)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Watch: Snow Shoveling Robot Goes Viral (MUG)

A robot nurse prototype can autonomously navigate hospital wards, deliver meds, monitor patients with sensors and assist clinical staff. (UDT)

Startup MMI seeks to use tiny robotic devices to help treat Alzheimer’s. (FOR)

A new insect-scale soft robot powered just by light can perform 188 continuous jumps and even steer and carry huge relative loads. (IE)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Startup Making AI Chips More Power-Efficient Raises $500 Million (WSJ)

Mental health platform Grow Therapy secured a $150 million Series D led by TCV and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, lifting its valuation to $3 billion. (BBG)

Ease Health emerged from stealth with a $41 million Series A led by a16z to build an AI-native operating system for behavioral health providers. (TFN)

Quick-grocery startup Flink raised $100 million at a $900 million valuation, with funding from Prosus Ventures. (SIF)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Woke Goes Silent on Women’s Rights as Iranians Fight for Freedom (SKY)

The Education Department hung a large banner of Charlie Kirk. (X)

A white evolutionary biologist sued Cornell University, alleging the school excluded white candidates from consideration for a faculty position. (CF)