National Debt Hits Forty Trillion, & Karma Fires the Zoom CEO

We made it — another week down, another Sunday morning with coffee in hand and the world doing its usual chaotic thing.

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Dr. Fauci's former right-hand man, David Morens, pleaded guilty this week to a felony charge for conspiring to defraud the United States by hiding federal records tied to COVID's origins, admitting he used his personal Gmail to dodge FOIA requests. Fauci himself hasn't been charged and still holds a Biden pardon covering his conduct through last January, but the walls are getting closer.

The Navy's having a week. The USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer patrolling the South China Sea, lost all power for four days after a generator failure, leaving roughly 300 sailors without drinkable water, working toilets, air conditioning, or hot food until tugboats hauled it to the Philippines for repairs. It's the second such power loss for a Navy destroyer in the Pacific this year.

Disney is suing the Trump administration's FCC, accusing it of waging a "retaliatory campaign" against ABC over content it doesn't like, including an accelerated license review of ABC's stations and a probe into The View. The FCC says it's simply enforcing broadcasters' public-interest obligations and is calling Disney's lawsuit meritless.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pulled ahead of Gavin Newsom as the frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic nomination on Polymarket, with Kalshi showing a tighter, split picture depending on the day. Neither AOC nor Newsom has announced a bid, and traditional polling still has Kamala Harris on top, but the money is clearly starting to flirt with the Bronx.

Seattle's democratic socialist Mayor Katie Wilson is facing a recall petition over her handling of public safety and her abrupt push to oust the police chief, and now finds herself at odds with fellow Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson after a botched, hours-late public response to the Bite of Seattle shooting. Even her own party is starting to notice.

Moderna stock more than doubled Wednesday after the company and Merck announced their experimental mRNA melanoma vaccine hit its mark in a late-stage trial, cutting the odds of the deadly skin cancer coming back after surgery. Investors got giddy fast, and just as fast got nervous — shares gave back roughly a quarter of that gain by Thursday as some traders cashed out, though Wall Street still called the data a genuine win for a company that hasn't had one in years.

Meanwhile, the bond market is not celebrating anything. The 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 this week, as July's fiscal deficit posted its worst monthly total since March 2021, inflation continues sitting above the Fed's target, and the Israel-Iran conflict keeps oil prices elevated. Washington keeps borrowing, and lenders keep charging more for the privilege.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, is throwing a party. It topped $77,000 and is on pace for its best week in years, a rally that kicked off after Treasury Secretary Bessent stepped in to calm the bond market and picked up steam when the White House pushed hard for the Clarity Act. Nothing says "healthy financial system" quite like crypto rallying because the government just admitted its own debt market needed an intervention.

Walmart says it's putting nearly $3 billion in tariff refunds toward keeping prices low, after the Supreme Court struck down the Trump-era tariffs that generated the refund in the first place. FedEx, UPS and DHL are passing their own tariff refunds back to customers, giving Americans who got directly charged for those duties an actual shot at getting some money back — a rare thing when it comes to anything tariff-related.

Home Depot customers, meanwhile, are still spending on their homes, just in smaller doses. The retailer's second-quarter sales rose 5.7% to $47.9 billion, with comparable sales up 1.7%, as homeowners lean into smaller projects instead of big renovations while mortgage rates and home prices stay elevated.

Meta is headed to court after a group of state attorneys general sued the company, alleging it deliberately engineered its platforms to be addictive and misled the public about the risks. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court denied Verizon's request for a rehearing in its fight over a $46.9 million FCC penalty tied to the company's former customer location data program, meaning that bill stands.

Costco is making a surprise move into healthcare, announcing plans to sell Medicare plans in a bid to make coverage more accessible for older Americans. And Walmart's e-commerce business had a strong quarter across the board, with global online sales up 23% and U.S. e-commerce sales up 24%, driven by store-fulfilled delivery, its marketplace, and advertising.

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