Daily Brew // Morning Brew // Update

April 18, 2026

Breaking: On this day in 1930, the BBC reported, “There is no news,” and proceeded to play 15 minutes of piano music.

May all of your “just catching up” conversations with high school frenemies go the same way.

—Sam Klebanov, Brendan Cosgrove, Dave Lozo, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein

In today’s newsletter, we’ll look at:

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Anthropic’s White House meeting
Gwyneth Paltrow’s business expansion

MARKETS

Nasdaq

24,468.48

+1.52%

S&P

7,126.06

+1.20%

Dow

49,447.43

+1.79%

10-Year

4.246%

-6.0 bps

Bitcoin

$77,425.19

+3.30%

Netflix

$97.31

-9.72%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: The S&P 500 pulled off a three-peat of record-high days, rising again yesterday after Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump suggested a peace deal could come soon (more on that below). But investors were not chill about Netflix, which tanked yesterday amid concerns about the company’s post-Reed Hastings future.

GRAND REOPENING

Iran declares Hormuz open—for now

Shady Alassar//Getty Images

The global economy experienced the equivalent of the moment when, after hours of standstill traffic, the car in front of you finally starts inching forward. Iran said yesterday that it had opened the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial shipping in response to the US brokering a ceasefire that paused Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.

Wall Street cheered the prospect of sustained peace and the unlocking of the waterway that serves as a crucial conduit for fuel, fertilizer, and industrial goods—though confusion remained about how free-flowing Hormuz traffic will really be. But even as President Trump expressed optimism that the war would end soon, uncertainty reigned.

Yesterday morning, Trump thanked Iran on Truth Social, but said that the US will continue the blockade of Iran-affiliated traffic in Hormuz that it started this week until there’s a peace agreement between the two countries. In the evening, Iran threatened to stop passage through the strait again if the US blockade continued.

So, what’s next? Trump sounded a confident note in media interviews and social media posts:

He told Axios he expects to reach a peace deal “within a day or two,” and said to CBS that Iran had “agreed to everything,” including giving up its enriched uranium.
However, Iran did not confirm his claims, with the country’s top negotiator saying Trump had made seven false claims in one hour.

Cautious optimism

There’s an estimated 135 million barrels of oil in tankers stranded in the Persian Gulf because of Iran’s closing of the strait, per Bloomberg Intelligence. And investors think they’re closer to reaching global markets soon:

Oil futures fell as much as 13% yesterday, dropping below $90 per barrel for the first time in over a month.
Shares of oil giants experiencing a windfall from sky-high oil prices also dipped.
Airline stocks surged on optimism that jet fuel shortages would be alleviated, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring more than 6%.

But…even before Iran threatened to shut the route down again, shipping experts cautioned that vessels still had security concerns about traversing Hormuz.

Looking ahead: Peace talks between the US and Iran are expected to continue soon.—SK, AR

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Anthropic’s CEO went to the White House. Sure, his company is suing over the Pentagon’s decision to brand it a “supply chain risk,” but that didn’t stop Dario Amodei from scoring an invite to meet with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday. With Anthropic having tipped off the government before unveiling its powerful Mythos model—which can find cybersecurity vulnerabilities faster than any human hacker, raising major concerns—there may be better reasons to work together than fight, especially as government agencies are said to be seeking Mythos access. Both the White House and Anthropic called the meeting “productive.”—AR

Chevron wins SCOTUS battle over environmental damage suit. In a victory for oil companies fighting over whether they should have to pay for Louisiana’s coastal erosion, the Supreme Court ruled 8–0 yesterday that Chevron can move a lawsuit from state to federal court—where the company is likely to find more sympathy. There are numerous similar lawsuits pending against oil and gas companies that will likely be impacted. It also jeopardizes a $745 million state court judgment against Chevron to help restore damaged areas. “Chevron looks forward to litigating these cases in federal court, where they belong,” the company said.—AR

The San Diego Padres are nearing a record sale. The Seidler family, which has owned the Padres since 2012, is on the verge of selling the franchise to private-equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, for ~$3.9 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’d be the highest valuation ever for an MLB team, eclipsing the previous record of $2.4 billion spent by Steve Cohen to buy the New York Mets in 2020. The deal, which is expected to be announced next week, would make Feliciano and Jones the first Puerto Rican and African-American majority owners in MLB history.—DL

GOOP TO STOOP

Goop Kitchen’s Gluten-Free Empire State of Mind

Isa Zapata

Slop bowls are out and Goop bowls are in. At least that’s what Gwyneth Paltrow is betting on. The actress-turned-entrepreneur is expanding her food takeout business, Goop Kitchen, to New York City, after a successful launch on the West Coast. We assume gluten futures are already tanking.

The concept: Goop Kitchen is an offshoot of the separately run Goop, Paltrow’s multimillion-dollar lifestyle and luxury diaper company. It offers “certified clean” takeout food that was designed to travel well, like bowls, wraps, salads, soups, and pizzas that are made without gluten, seed oils, or processed ingredients. The prices are better than you might expect from the founder of a company that once featured a five-figure backgammon set, with menu items hovering in the $15 to $25 range. However, some have very questionable pun names, like Goopfellas Pizza.

Recipe for success: Five years after it started, Goop Kitchen currently has 11 locations in Los Angeles and three in the San Francisco Bay Area. And they’re doing well—the company told the Wall Street Journal:

Goop Kitchens serve more than 40,000 customers a week.
Half of its locations make $20,000 per day on average.
Year over year sales grew 48% in fiscal year 2024, and 61% in FY 2025.

Ghost Space Coast to Coast: Three Manhattan locations are slated to open on Monday. Like the California outposts, they’ll use ghost kitchens to prepare food items for pickup or delivery only. Miami, Paris, and London could be next, Paltrow said.—BC

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ICYMI

Have you heard…

Here’s everything that didn’t make it into this week’s newsletters but we immediately sent to the group chat.

A new study found that 52% of American men between the ages of 18 and 49 have an active online sports betting account. The other 48% are in states where sports betting isn’t legal yet.

Researchers found that one way to combat social media brainrot and improve creativity is to watch short, experimental films. Get ready to hear that word for word in the next few weeks if you’re dating a film major who shoots everything on an iPhone.

Thursday’s Royals–Tigers game was delayed multiple times due to home plate umpire Andy Fletcher leaving the field with stomach issues. Too many umpires were worried about ABS when perhaps the real problem is IBS.

Novelist Helen DeWitt turned down the $175,000 Windham-Campbell prize for writing because she didn’t want to participate in the extensive promotion required. Geez, just say you don’t want to do Hot Ones.

Chinese automaker Seres received a patent for an “in-vehicle toilet” that can be used while on the road. Picture it: A cop pulls a man over for speeding and asks why the rush. The cop looks inside the car and sees the man on the car toilet, clenching the steering wheel for dear life, his eyes begging for help. “Follow me,” the cop says. The cop gets in his car and gives the desperate man a police escort home at 100 mph. The man makes it to his bathroom just in time. Finally, a title on the screen appears: “Ryan Gosling in Drive 2.”—DL

READER POLL

Would you ever want an “in-vehicle toilet”?

Yes, when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go.
No, ew.
Maybe, but only for long road trips.

NEWS

What else is brewing

A federal judge halted the $6.2 billion merger of local television station owners Nexstar Media Group and Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.
American Airlines said yesterday it’s not interested in merging with United—something the rival carrier’s CEO had floated.
Meta plans to lay off about 10% of its global workforce in an initial round of 8,000 job cuts next month, Reuters reports.
Singer D4vd was arrested on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in his Tesla months ago.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Canada “they suck” in response to a report that the country was waiting out the US in trade negotiations.
AI chipmaker Cerebras, which scrapped earlier IPO plans, filed paperwork to go public.
Ford recalled nearly 1.4 million F-1 pickup trucks because of a gear shift issue.
Uber Eats announced it will pick up returns of retail items purchased through its service, hoping to woo customers by saving them the trouble of printing out labels.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that rides for Dr. Santos. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Zillow

Today’s home is in Pittsburgh, PA, which we assume is a real place and not just a city HBO invented for an epic medical drama. The views from two separate semi-curved decks are perfect for the firework show. Amenities include:

3 beds, 4 baths
Giant fireplace
Elevated breakfast nook

How much for the Pittsburgh property?

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ANSWER

$2.5 million

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: alleviated, meaning “made less severe.” The suggestion was submitted anonymously, but we’re still grateful to whoever helped ease our need for a word. Submit another Word of the Day here.

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