Daily Brew // Morning Brew // Update

May 29, 2026

Happy Friday. Patagonia is suing drag queen environmentalist Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement. “While we wish we didn’t have to do this...it has become necessary to protect the brand,” Patagonia said. In response, Pattie Gonia accused the outdoor apparel company of “trying to erase an activist.”

Just wait until L.L.Bean hears about Elle Elbeen.

—Dave Lozo, Matty Merritt, Brendan Cosgrove, Adam Epstein, Holly Van Leuven

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

CEOs losing confidence in the US economy
Meta launching subscriptions for its apps
Travis Kelce making a big investment

MARKETS

Nasdaq

26,917.47

+0.91%

S&P

7,563.63

+0.58%

Dow

50,668.97

+0.05%

10-Year

4.455%

-3.0 bps

Bitcoin

$73,542.64

-2.13%

Dell

$317.05

+3.84%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: Stocks took a leap yesterday amid reports that the US and Iran could be close to a deal to extend the ceasefire (more on that below). Meanwhile, Dell spiked after announcing a $9.7 billion deal to supply software to the US military.

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CONFIDENCE IS LOW

CEOs are turning pessimistic about the economy

Getty Images

The people whose problems include finding a place to park their yacht are starting to sound like everyone else when it comes to the US economy. A survey of CEOs from some of the biggest US companies revealed a decline in confidence in the economy—and a dim outlook for the next six months.

The Conference Board, a nonpartisan think tank, polled 141 chief executives of Fortune 500 companies during Q2 and returned a confidence score of 47, a 12-point drop from Q1. Anything below 50 is considered negative. But that’s not all from the demoralized C-suite:

Only 8% of CEOs said conditions worsened in Q1, but that share exploded to 47% in Q2.
Forty percent expected things to get worse over the next six months, up from 13% in the previous survey.

Consumers agree. The Conference Board also found that US consumer confidence dropped in May, reinforcing a similar report from the University of Michigan last week that showed consumer sentiment at an all-time low.

What’s got everyone anxious?

Regardless of your tax bracket, you can throw a dart at just about any economic indicator and have it hit something that will make you take a big swig of Pepto-Bismol.

Gross Domestic Product: The GDP for Q1 was adjusted down from 2% to 1.6% yesterday.

The change was due to “downward revisions to investment and consumer spending,” according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Inflation: High gas prices—they affect cars and private planes—have helped drive the 12-month inflation rate to a three-year high of 3.8%, per the Commerce Department.

Fed’s next move: With inflation heating up, new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh may have a hard time delivering his desired interest rate cut. According to CME FedWatch, there’s now a 37% chance of a rate hike in December, as central bankers grow skeptical of the idea that AI-fueled growth will cool inflation.—DL

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Deal talks went “back and forth” as Iran war reached three-month mark. The US and Iran have been negotiating a memo of understanding this week that would extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start discussions around Iran’s nuclear program, multiple outlets reported, but neither side signed off on it as of yesterday. Vice President JD Vance told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews yesterday evening that the nations were going “back and forth” on a couple of language points, despite making significant progress. It followed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s use of the same status update at a White House briefing yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government said its foreign minister would meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC, today.—HVL

Caesars Entertainment was sold for $6 billion. The iconic casino chain will soon be owned by Fertitta, which also owns a potpourri of entertainment ventures, including the Golden Nugget casino, the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and the restaurant you still have weird dreams about from a class trip in middle school (Rainforest Cafe). The deal is technically worth nearly $18 billion after adding in the almost $12 billion in debt that Fertitta will take on from Caesars. The casino brand has been under major pressure due to Las Vegas’s dwindling foot traffic and the rise of online betting platforms.—AE

Google employee charged with insider trading on Polymarket. Michele Spagnuolo, an information security engineer at Google who used the username “AlphaRaccoon,” allegedly made $1.2 million on bets using insider info. According to prosecutors, Mr. Raccoon correctly wagered that the singer D4vd would be the most-searched person of 2025 based on access he had to internal—and confidential—Google data. The arrest is the latest in a long list of insider trading scandals connected to prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi.—AE

FOR LESS THAN A CUP OF COFFEE

Would you pay for Instagram and Facebook?

Getty Images

Fresh off the company’s 10% layoff, Meta is officially rolling out subscriptions for its apps in an effort to diversify its heavily ad-based revenue.

Meta announced yesterday that users will be able to pay $3.99 a month for Facebook or Instagram Plus for features that predominantly seem to benefit influencers and people down bad for their crush:

These new tiers will let you see how many people rewatched your story, provide a search function for story viewers, and let you extend stories beyond 24 hours.
Meta is also rolling out plans for businesses and creators, with the most expensive plan at $49.99 a month offering access to human customer service agents.

That’s not all

WhatsApp Plus will let subscribers pay $2.99 a month for the ability to customize app themes, pin more conversations, and access premium stickers.

Meta also introduced Meta AI subscription tiers at $7.99 and $19.99 a month for more compute power. The company didn’t specify what limits might be imposed on nonpaying users.

Why now? The company’s non-advertising revenue—which includes hardware and subscriptions—was about $1.29 billion last quarter, a long way from its $55+ billion in advertising sales. But Meta needs to show investors it can make money off of its $600 billion AI infrastructure investment.—MM

READER POLL

Do you plan to subscribe to Instagram Plus for $3.99 per month to get extra features?

Yep.
Nope.
Only if my friends do, and then I will succumb to peer pressure.

Friday puzzle

In today’s puzzle, you’ll need to remove the last letter of one word to form a new, completely valid word. You will be given clues for the two words, with the longer word first.

Example: Begin // heavenly body

Answer: Start and star

1. Local region of land // determine a number

2. Small // a metallic element

3. Red gem // cause friction

4. Slick // foot covering

5. Prepared // interpret written characters

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ANSWER

1. County and count

2. Tiny and tin

3. Ruby and rub

4. Slippery and slipper

5. Ready and read

(Source)

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: potpourri, meaning “a medley or assortment of items.” Thanks to Mike from Baltimore, MD, for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

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This paid content was created with our sponsor and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or point of view of Morning Brew.

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