October 12, 2026

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Mornin’. Hope you got to sleep in a bit today. But also, don’t forget to set your alarm back to early o’clock for work tomorrow.

—Holly Van Leuven, Brendan Cosgrove

In today’s newsletter, we’ll get into:

Unpacking the global diesel situation
The aftermath of two attacks on Riyadh’s airport
The NBA planning to get in on chips

Markets: Year-to-Date

Nasdaq

27,366.17

+17.74%

S&P

7,811.54

+14.11%

Dow

51,654.95

+7.47%

10-Year

5.244%

+108.1 bps

Bitcoin

$83,538.96

-4.54%

Humana

$431.87

+69.87%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 12:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: Traders are working through today’s holiday, with an eye toward upcoming bank earnings and inflation data (more on those later). The stock market is open for regular hours today, but bond markets are closed.
Stock spotlight: Humana shareholders are still probably doing a little dance today after the stock jumped more than 11.5% on Friday, thanks to positive data on its Medicare Advantage plans.

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The Fed raised rates and online banks now offer APYs up to 4.20%, over 11x the national average. The Motley Fool just released the top five high-yield accounts. Check them out.

energy transfer

A closer look at the US-Russia diesel deal

A woman in front of a closed Russian gas station. Contributor/Getty Images

This weekend, lawmakers and energy experts responded to President Trump’s announcement that Russian diesel would enter the US and global markets to lower fuel prices. Their reactions mostly ranged from skepticism to condemnation. Russian officials and one US lawmaker (Rep. Thomas Massie) voiced support.

ICYMI: Trump said on Truth Social on Friday that after a “successful discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, millions of tons of Russian diesel would hit the market in the coming weeks, meaning prices “will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the news, which drew Trump’s ire. On Saturday, Trump told reporters that Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world. I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” Ukraine’s allies rallied around Zelensky following the comment.

The backstory

Diesel prices have increased 68% since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, according to AAA data. Currently, the US national average price of diesel is $6.28/gallon. The week before the war began, it was $3.76/gallon.

But Trump blames Ukraine striking Russian diesel plants in mid- and long-range missile attacks for the price increases:

In the four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has honed a strategy of targeting critical components within Russian oil refineries that are difficult to repair.
As a result, Russia is experiencing its worst fuel crisis since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

State of play

Experts don’t think diesel prices will decrease meaningfully because of the deal, partially because the amounts mentioned in Trump’s initial announcement aren’t enough to move markets.

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators released a statement calling for Trump to “immediately reverse course,” saying Putin shouldn’t get “a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians.”

Zoom out: Earlier yesterday, Trump said on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire. Zelensky told the media that this was news to him. On ABC’s This Week, his message to Russia was, “Don’t attack us. Don’t kill our children. We will stop attack your diesel.”—HVL

World

Tour de headlines

The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh prior to this weekend’s attacks. Getty Images

🌏 Riyadh airport struck twice this weekend by Houthis, killing at least 13. The King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had already been attacked several times last week when a missile strike on Saturday killed 12, including one American, and injured over 300. On Sunday, with the airport already closed, another attack occurred, killing at least one and injuring several more. Assault on Saudi airports, military complexes, and oil infrastructure have escalated since a Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis last week. President Trump said he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has repeatedly pressed Trump for direct US strikes on the Houthis, but as of last night, it was not clear that they had spoken yet.

🌀 Much of the US affected by storms; 4 killed by Hurricane Isaias. Isaias made landfall on Friday as a Category 2 hurricane in Florida and weakened, but still impacted Alabama with tropical-force winds. Two storm-related deaths were reported in each state. Hundreds of thousands lost power, with 226,000 Floridians in the Panhandle and southern Alabamians still without electricity as of last night. The remnants of Isaias continued north through Georgia and the Carolinas, then into the mid-Atlantic and beyond, prompting flood watches in parts of Pennsylvania and the Central Appalachians. On the West Coast, Post-Tropical Cyclone Rachel brought heavy downpours, riptides, and erosion to Southern California.

📺 Cartoon Network assets exposed in massive “gigaleak.” The leak affected over 30 of the channel’s classic shows, according to Gizmodo, including Regular Show and Powerpuff Girls Z. An estimated 200 gigabytes of material was released illegally onto the web. While finished episodes would be bad enough, storyboards, character rigs, internal production guides, and more are now out there. As of last night, there was no word on who was behind the leak or the motive. The crisis comes less than a week after Cartoon Network’s former parent company, Warner Bros., was acquired by Paramount. A similar situation went down in 2024, when Disney Animation had critical internal material leaked onto the internet. That one remains a mystery, too.—HVL

Finding a baseline

During the NBA’s pandemic bubble season, the league used Oura rings to track players’ health metrics. In recent months, it’s also experimented with wrist wearables for game officials, like refs communicating with the replay center. Players, however, have expressed concerns over how their data might be used. “If you could see a player was slowing down or something…they’re worried that that could get used in bargaining,” Silver told CNBC.

Big picture: Some professional soccer leagues are also experimenting with chips in balls, and the NFL has been using RFID tags in balls to measure stats like speed and ball rotation for years.—BC

Reader Poll

Do you like the use of AI-enhanced analytics in sports broadcasts?

I’m neutral about it.
Yes, the info is pretty cool.
Yes, it makes the broadcasts more watchable.
No, it’s annoying.
No, I don’t watch sports.

calendar

The week ahead

A HomePod display in an Apple Store. The new HomePod Mini 2 is expected this week. Nurphoto/Getty Images

Earnings season is back: It’s time to see how well banks turned their quarters into dollars. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo will report quarterly results tomorrow, followed by Bank of America and Morgan Stanley on Wednesday. Beyond the financial sector, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth, and Domino’s will also report earnings tomorrow, ASML and BlackRock will report on Wednesday, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will do so on Thursday.

Bringing it home: Apple will host a product launch event tomorrow that aims to kick open the door to the smart home market. The event, which has the tagline “Welcome home,” is expected to unveil several products, including a new Apple TV streaming box and a smart home hub display. According to Bloomberg, Apple has also been working with LG Electronics to create home devices that work with Apple’s ecosystem, like smart locks, thermostats, and other things your dad won’t let you touch.

Inflation updates: The September consumer price index (CPI) report will be released on Wednesday, and it’s expected to be the hottest reading in five months, thanks to high gas prices, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Then, the producer price index (PPI) will be out on Thursday. Both readings will factor into the Federal Reserve’s thinking as it weighs a possible rate hike at its meeting later this month. As of now, the central bank is expected to keep rates right where they are, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

But wait, there’s more:

Live-action movie Street Fighter, the Jane Austen adaptation Sense and Sensibility, and the Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything will land in theaters on Friday.
The WNBA Finals begin on Saturday, pitting the Atlanta Dream against the Golden State Valkyries.

BRENDAN’S GOT GOOD NEWS

Renoir paintings survive brush with crime

The Renoir Museum villa. Laetitia Notarianni/Getty Images

Mondays are bad enough, so the Brew’s own Brendan Cosgrove scoured the internet for a positive news story to help you start the week off right.

Apparently, French investigators go hard in the paint. Nearly a month after thieves robbed a museum in southern France and made off with two Renoir paintings, the works have been recovered and are headed back to their home in Cagnes-sur-Mer, the city said, adding that six suspects were arrested in connection with the crime.

France’s cultural minister hailed the recovery as a “huge relief,” saying the two paintings, “Madame Colonna Romano” (1910) and “Young Woman at the Well” (1886), “are part of our collective memory.” Unfortunately, in true Impressionist fashion, the paintings have shone a light on a scene still coming into focus: France’s recent struggles to protect its most valuable artifacts. But let’s celebrate the wins where we can.—BC

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News

What else is brewing

A federal judge ordered pro-Trump TV ads made with taxpayer funding to be taken off the air immediately.
The Justice Department is investigating the five major US TV networks for potentially violating federal antitrust laws after they temporarily declined to provide pool coverage of President Trump.
Pope Leo announced he would have “a very early stage” growth removed from his lung.
Quentin Tarantino will direct his first play, a West End production starring Sacha Baron Cohen. It is set to open in March.
The Social Reckoning flopped at the box office with a $5.5 million opening weekend, earning less than even the much-maligned Digger when it opened earlier this month.

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No. 1 hit trivia

Only 33 music albums have contained three or more songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list since it launched as a definitive all-genre hit tracker in 1958 (not counting greatest hits compilations). Here are some trivia questions about them. If you get at least 10 points, you deserve to work in the record store from High Fidelity:

The first album to accomplish this feat came out of Motown in 1964. Name the group (for 1 point) and the album (for another point).
The Beatles have three albums that each had three songs hit No. 1. Name the albums for 1 point each.
Only one movie soundtrack has earned this distinction. Which one? (Hint: The film was released in 1977.) (1 point)
Six solo artists have accomplished this feat with their debut albums. Earn 1 point for each artist you can name.
If you count songs released later on a deluxe edition of the album, one of hers has the most No. 1 songs ever. (1 point)

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Answer

1) Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes

2) Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, and Let It Be

3) The soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever

4) Whitney Houston, George Michael, Paula Abdul, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Fergie

5) Katy Perry. Did you think this was Taylor Swift? While her The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore meant that she earned another No. 1 for that album with “Patient Zero,” that brings The Life of a Showgirl’s official count to three No. 1s. But Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album snagged six No. 1s total after she released Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection.

Explore the list of the 33 albums and their songs compiled by Business Insider here.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: maligned, meaning “spoken about harshly.” Thanks to Janet from Atlanta, GA, and the other esteemed readers who made the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

Written by Holly Van Leuven and Brendan Cosgrove

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☕ Energy transfer