Thursday, August 13, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1942, Col. James C. Marshall, who led the Army Corps of Engineers' Syracuse, New York, district, set up the Manhattan Engineer District in New York City. It’s more commonly known now as the Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Millions of people from Greenland to Spain watched the sun vanish behind the moon on Wednesday, and the pictures don't disappoint. Find them in Science below, then tell us in today's poll whether you've ever caught an eclipse yourself.

Do you remember exactly where you were on 9/11? Most of us can still picture the room, the faces, and the TV screen as if it were yesterday. Scientists call it a "flashbulb memory," a moment so powerful your brain takes a photograph and keeps it sharp for decades while ordinary days vanish completely. Only a handful of events in modern history have burned themselves into nearly every American's mind that same way, and researchers have measured which ones cut the deepest. So how many of them do you remember? Today on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla counts down the moments Americans will never forget. Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, Mode Mobile, is reimagining the smartphone by turning everyday phone activity into opportunities to earn—and now investors have a chance to get in before its planned public-market debut.

Trump Declares Tight Grip on Strait of Hormuz

President Trump posted on Wednesday that the United States has "total control" of the Strait of Hormuz, writing, "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT," while Iranian officials shot back that the strait "remains blocked" until its conditions are met. See the President's post here.

The standoff is escalating at sea. A Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into a cargo ship's engine room after it tried to run the blockade of Iran's ports, the third vessel disabled since July. Follow live updates here.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels, meanwhile, killed six people on a cargo ship off Yemen, the first deaths from the group's attacks on shipping in this round of fighting.

Tuesday's tally of eight vessels fell below a 10-day average of about 12, for the lowest daily count since Aug. 5, down from about 130 a day before the war. The ceasefire expires Aug. 17, with no extension talks underway, a senior Iranian source says.

2027 Social Security Raise Takes Shape

Consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July, easing the annual inflation rate to 3.4% and reshaping the size of next year's cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients.

New estimates released Wednesday put Social Security's 2027 cost-of-living adjustment at 3.4% to 3.6%, down from forecasts as high as 4.7% in June.

That would still be the biggest increase since 2023. The average retired worker collects $2,071 a month, so a 3.6% bump would add about $75 to each check. The official Social Security increase will be finalized on Oct. 14, after two more months of inflation data are in.

LA Lakers Sell for Record $12.5 Billion

The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands again, with former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner agreeing to buy the storied NBA franchise at a record $12.5 billion valuation.

Josh Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law. He and Iger had been exploring a potential expansion team in Las Vegas before pivoting to the Lakers. The purchase still requires approval from the NBA's Board of Governors.

The sale comes less than a year after Mark Walter took control from the Buss family, who had owned the team for nearly five decades, in a $10 billion deal. Walter's firms are reportedly under federal investigation over whether private credit investments were properly disclosed, though no wrongdoing has been alleged and nothing public ties the probe to the sale.

Jeanie Buss is expected to stay on as Lakers governor, though reports conflict on how long, with some saying as many as five years.

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Buffett’s ‘Rule’ Could Send EarnPhone Soaring

Warren Buffett famously said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die."

But what if the answer is sitting on your nightstand?

Mode Mobile has created technology that turns idle phone time into passive income. With 490M+ users in their ecosystem and $1B in earnings and savings, their EarnPhone is being called the Uber of smartphones.

With 32,481% revenue growth, they were named the fastest-growing software company in 2023 by Deloitte, and with 7 billion smartphones worldwide, their market could be significantly larger than Uber’s.

They’ve just secured their Nasdaq stock ticker $MODE, and you have until August 14 to invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.52/share.

⚠️ Last chance to invest. Share price changes on August 14.

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ These seven moments burned themselves into nearly every American's memory. Where were you? (Hear About Moments)

➤ Democrats spent weeks pressuring one of their own Senate nominees to quit ahead of a ballot deadline that could reshape a key race. (Hear Details)

➤ Video gamers are being hired by the thousands to guide real planes as the air traffic controller shortage deepens. (Listen Now)

➤ President Trump announced Wednesday that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of the month to spend more time with her family. No successor has yet been named. (More)

➤ In this week’s primaries, Socialist Francesca Hong lost to establishment Democrat David Crowley in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, while in Minnesota, left-leaning Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeated centrist Democrat Rep. Angie Craig for Minnesota's Senate nomination, in a split verdict by voters on the party's left vs. center divide. (More)

➤ In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham, appointed to her late brother Lindsey Graham's seat, advanced in her primary to an Aug. 25 Republican Senate runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman. (More)

➤ In Minnesota, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, endorsed by President Trump, is refusing to concede the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary after losing to House Speaker Lisa Demuth by double digits. (See Details)

➤ And in Connecticut, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin ousted 14-term Rep. John Larson in the Democratic primary, making Larson the seventh incumbent Democrat to lose their primary race this year. (More)

➤ The Dallas Cowboys ($15.5 billion), Los Angeles Rams ($12.7 billion), and New York Giants ($12 billion) top Sportico's annual NFL franchise valuations. The average NFL franchise is now worth $9.34 billion, a 31% jump from last year. (See List)

➤ NFL preseason Week 1 kicks off tonight with six games, headlined by the Packers at Steelers and Titans at 49ers on NFL Network. All 32 teams will play during a three-day window from today through Saturday. (See Schedule)

➤ College football's targeting rules are changing for the 2026 season: A first-time offender will still be ejected from the game, but will no longer miss time in the next game. Offensive pass interference is also dropping from a 15-yard penalty to 10 yards. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Tennis | Soccer

Daily Market Report 08/12/2026

▲	NASDAQ National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	26,588.49	0.54%
▲	SPX S&P 500	7,748.50	0.26%
▼	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	53,770.27	-0.04%
▼	BTC Bitcoin	$63,495.17	-0.09%
▲	GOLD Per Ounce	$4,468.10	1.94%
▲	SILVER Per Ounce	$65.44	1.04%
▼	OIL West Texas Intermediate Crude	$82.59	-0.73%
▲	NBIS Nebius Group NV	$259.19	+34.13%

Bitcoin, gold, silver, and oil are traded 24 hours a day.

➤ Big Stock Move: Nebius stock jumped 34% on Wednesday after the AI infrastructure company reported a 454% year-on-year increase in revenue in the second quarter. (More)

➤ Eli Lilly is suing six companies selling black market versions of retatrutide, its unapproved experimental weight-loss drug, as illicit sales boom online ahead of a planned 2027 FDA submission. (More)

➤ The Intercept and a press-freedom group sued to block Truth Social's "Truth API," which charges up to $100,000 a month for early access to the president's market-moving posts. (More)

➤ Domino's will launch "the Domino," a customizable, personal-size Detroit-style pizza that isn’t meant to be shared, beginning Aug. 31. (More)

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Mark Cuban’s Biggest Regret?

Imagine turning down Uber at a $10 million valuation, only to watch it go public at over $80 billion. That’s exactly what happened to Mark Cuban. But fellow Shark Tank investor, Kevin Harrington, spotted a similar opportunity in pre-IPO tech darling Mode Mobile.

Like Uber turned vehicles into income-generating assets, Mode turns smartphones into income streams. They were named the No. 1 fastest-growing software company by Deloitte and have already helped their users earn and save over $1B.

Kevin Harrington invested early.

🚨 This is your last chance to join him and invest at $0.52/share.

This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile Regulation A+ offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.modemobile.com/ *Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur. *Mode cumulative revenue includes full year revenue of businesses acquired in 2025.

➤ Millions watched the moon blot out the sun over Greenland, Iceland, and Spain in Wednesday's total solar eclipse. Skywatchers in the northeastern United States caught a partial version. (See Eclipse)

➤ Astronomers discovered a star-like object that pumps out 100 billion times more energy than any star. The "black hole star" may explain mysterious red dots spotted in the early universe. (More)

➤ Dogs can tell human emotions apart just by looking at our faces, brain scans of 12 pets show. Only happy expressions lit up their reward centers. (More)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ The Protein That Stops Hair Loss In Its Tracks. Watching your hair get thinner each year? Scientists have identified a unique protein that rebuilds hair follicles from within. Users report visibly thicker hair in just weeks, with reduced shedding. This natural solution works where other treatments fail, strengthening each strand from root to tip. No expensive treatments, no side effects, just results. (Learn More)

Throwback Thursday is brought to you by:

➤ Record-low water on Hungary's Danube revealed the remains of two German soldiers from World War II and a nearly intact army motorcycle. Recovered ID tags may finally tell their families what happened. (More)

➤ IKEA catalogs from 1960 to 2021 trace how sofas faded from bold greens, blues, and reds to today's gray, beige, and white. The 1990s brought a brief burst of plaid. (See Graphic)

➤ The 1950s and '60s are often remembered as an era captured in black and white, but the growth of new color films produced albums full of color family snapshots from those years. (See Images)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Step Into Skechers Savings

Now’s a great time to refresh your shoe lineup for less. Skechers’ sale section is packed with discounted styles for men and women, including comfortable walking shoes, casual sneakers, and easy-wearing favorites. Whether you need an everyday pair or something more active, shop the current markdowns before your size disappears.

Shop Skechers Sale >>

➤ A traffic camera caught severe storms flipping a vehicle in Columbus, Ohio. The governor has activated the National Guard, with more storms and flooding expected. (See Video)

➤ A comedian with a garbage can on his head who calls himself Count Binface, a self-described intergalactic space warrior, is the default challenger to Nigel Farage in today's British special election after the major parties boycotted the race. (Meet Binface)

➤ An Arkansas high school football player practiced nearly an hour with a venomous 2-foot cottonmouth hidden in his helmet padding. Police poured water into the helmet to flush it out. (See Snake)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ There’s a surprising difference between popular U.K. and American fries—and it comes down to one common ingredient found in many American households. Even if you rarely eat fries, you could still be consuming them regularly. Some experts suggest it may contribute to bloating, low energy, and stubborn weight. Discover the ingredient Americans may want to avoid >>

Have you ever seen a solar eclipse?

Yesterday's Results:

How do you feel about license-plate cameras in your community?

It's mass surveillance: 30%
Mixed feelings: 30%
They make us safer: 26%
I haven't noticed any: 14%

Daily Quote

"I cannot believe what I just witnessed. I knew what to expect: I've seen thousands of photos, but nothing compares to that feeling you get when you watch the sun transform before your very eyes."

— Daisy Dobrijevic, an editor at Space.com, after watching Wednesday's total eclipse from the deck of the MS Spitsbergen off Greenland