July 21, 2026

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Just brew it. We, a newsletter named for your favorite morning beverage, are delighted to report that the American Heart Association (AHA) has deemed it safe—and even potentially beneficial—for most adults to drink up to five cups of coffee per day. In addition to keeping you awake at that 9am meeting, the AHA said the ~400 milligrams of caffeine from three to five cups of joe has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. However, the AHA did not mention what being around a colleague who just downed five cups of coffee does to your blood pressure.

— Dave Lozo, Sam Klebanov, Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Neal Freyman, Abby Rubenstein

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

The latest on lettuce
New tariffs on Canada
Why getting a little culture might help you live longer

Markets

Nasdaq

25,508.07

-0.05%

S&P

7,443.28

-0.19%

Dow

51,839.26

-0.59%

10-Year

4.598%

+6.0 bps

Bitcoin

$65,282.89

+1.41%

Alphabet

$351.99

+1.50%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:30pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: With oil prices volatile after a weekend of escalation between the US and Iran, stocks fell yesterday like the lip balm that didn’t quite make it all the way back into your pocket. Google, which is among the Big Tech companies reporting earnings this week, rose amid reports that it’s developing a new AI chip.

Markets Sponsored by Cytonics

Final days to invest: Cytonics aims to crack a $560b market with what could be the first and only potential cure for osteoarthritis. Join 7,500+ shareholders and invest before this month’s deadline.

EXPLOSIVE (DIARRHEA) UPDATES

FDA’s false positive doesn’t clear Taylor Farms

Packages of Taylor Farms salad kits in grocery store

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The FDA said “lettuce get this right.” The agency retracted its claim that it had found the sickness-causing cyclospora parasite in a sample of Taylor Farms lettuce over the weekend, saying yesterday that the test was a false positive. But don’t go preparing that salad kit in your fridge just yet—the FDA still believes the company’s iceberg lettuce is linked to the multi-state outbreak.

Here’s what we know about the illness’s probable connection between the company whose clients include Walmart, Whole Foods, Costco, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s and the gastrointestinal ailment that’s got Americans straddling toilets in agony:

Last week, the outbreak of explosive diarrhea (as if there’s any other kind) was linked to shredded lettuce from a single supplier to Taco Bell restaurants in five states.
On Friday, Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall of its iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico that was sold between June 29 and July 16 across 27 states. The recall remains in place.
Despite the false positive, the FDA clarified yesterday that, unlike the Titanic captain, it still considers the iceberg a serious problem. “FDA’s traceback investigation and outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms locations in central Mexico,” the agency said in a statement.

In its own statement, Taylor Farms said that the FDA “apologized to us” for the false positive, noting that besides the lettuce from Mexico, “all other Taylor Farms products…are not involved in the recall.”

How did the false positive happen?

An expert told the Wall Street Journal that cyclospora is impossible to grow in a lab, making it harder to study and link to a common source because scientists can’t culture more of it to test.

Another scientist interviewed by MarketWatch said the complex nature of the pathogen could have resulted in the test detecting a similar organism.

More cases are likely coming: As of July 15, the FDA said there have been more than 1,600 confirmed cyclospora cases in the US and another 5,100+ it is working to confirm.—DL

Reader poll

Are you eating lettuce?

Yes, I like salad and living life on the edge.
Yeah, but not iceberg.
Only if it comes from the local farmers market or I can buy a whole head and get rid of the outer leaves.
Nope, it’s not worth the risk.
I have sworn off all fresh produce.

Sponsored By Cytonics

The next-gen treatment targeting a $560b disease

Osteoarthritis is one of the world’s most common diseases, with over $560 billion spent managing its symptoms each year. But soon, its 500+ million patients* may be able to do more than that.

An emerging biotech company called Cytonics may have discovered what soon could be osteoarthritis’s first potential cure.

They successfully cleared phase 1 clinical trials with a perfect safety profile.** Now, Cytonics is gearing up for the next phase on a version engineered to be 200% more potent.

Potential medical breakthroughs like this are rare. Even rarer? You can invest in Cytonics as they prepare for the next phase.

But the opportunity to invest ends next week. Become a Cytonics shareholder before next week’s deadline.

World

Tour de headlines

American and Canadian flags flying together

Geoff Robins/Getty Images

🍁 Trump slaps an additional 50% tariff on many Canadian goods. In a significant escalation toward the US’ northern neighbor and second-largest trading partner, President Trump signed orders yesterday to impose the additional tariff on goods including wine, hockey sticks, plywood, furniture, and more. The duties, which are slated to take effect in 30 days, do not include exemptions for products covered under an existing trade pact between the US, Canada, and Mexico. The White House said the import taxes were retaliation for Canada’s unfair treatment of American exports, including alcohol and cars.

🇮🇷 Iran and the US continued to trade attacks as the Houthis open up a new front. The US and Iran attacked one another for a 10th day yesterday, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining a major point of contention. The US military said nearly 100 service members had been injured in the conflict in the past two weeks. And, after deadly attacks on US allies over the weekend that killed three American soldiers, President Trump said that when Iran kills US soldiers it will “will pay for that killing many times over.” Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthi militia threatened to blockade Saudi ships in the Red Sea, putting even more pressure on global energy markets. Meanwhile, Iran said mediators had reached out with a proposal for a new possible ceasefire.

⏸️ Judge presses pause on Paramount-WBD deal. In a twist Hollywood studios would clamor for if it didn’t hit their bottom line, a California federal judge yesterday granted a temporary restraining order that blocks Paramount Skydance from moving forward with its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery for 14 days. The ruling came in a challenge to the merger brought by 12 states that claim it violates antitrust laws. The judge will use the two-week delay to consider whether to halt the merger for longer as the case proceeds—but even the short pause is likely to delay the deal’s timeline.—AR

Hollywood Ending

Blockbuster parade brings windfall to AMC

Getty Images

Only the joy of seeing Penelope reunite with Odysseus on IMAX is equal to what AMC Theaters is feeling right now. The world’s biggest cinema chain posted record quarterly earnings yesterday after several recent blockbusters convinced people to return to the movies.

The overpriced popcorn purveyor reported that:

Q2 revenue rose 14% compared with last year to nearly $1.6 billion, while adjusted earnings grew 70%.
It had an adjusted EBITDA (basically profit without considering the interest on its massive debt) of $320.6 million…but it still actually lost money in part due to interest payments and other debt-related costs.

AMC’s stock popped almost 27% yesterday as investors applauded its recovery from a yearslong audience slump.

Audiences return for the magic must-watch movies

Attendance at AMC’s theaters rose 12% in the US and 18% abroad last quarter compared with the same time last year thanks to a parade of Hollywood hits. Blockbusters like Toy Story 5 and the breakout horror hits Backrooms and Obsession helped generate the biggest quarterly US box office in seven years.

And the hot streak might continue: This weekend, 4.3 million people saw Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey at AMC. More than half of those ticket receipts came from showtimes in premium auditoriums, and AMC said it’ll continue investing in elevated moviegoing experiences to juice revenue.

However…some analysts are skeptical that the moviegoing momentum can be sustained, especially if next year has fewer splashy premieres.—SK

Sibling trivia

We’ll give you the first names of famous siblings. Can you figure out their last names?

Willow and Jaden
Jake and Maggie
Joan and John
Andrew, Luke, and Owen
Kate and Rooney
Ira and George

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Answer

Smith
Gyllenhaal
Cusack
Wilson
Mara
Gershwin

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: clamor, meaning “vehemently demand.” Thanks to Lisa from Indiana for responding to our insistent requests for suggestions. Submit another Word of the Day here.

✢ A Note From Cytonics

This is a paid advertisement for Cytonics’ Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.cytonics.com/.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee of performance. Past performance does not predict future results. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal.

*Source: The Lancet Rheumatology

**Phase 1 clinical trials are designed primarily to assess safety and tolerability and do not establish efficacy. Clinical trial results are preliminary, and there can be no assurance that future trials will be successful or that any product candidate will receive regulatory approval.

Written by Abigail Rubenstein, Dave Lozo, Sam Klebanov, Molly Liebergall, and Matty Merritt

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☕ Lettuce lurch