Welcome to The Weekly Wire.
A running collection of the stories, stats, nostalgia, news and general nonsense worth talking about this week. Updated throughout the week as we find more things worth talking about.
The economy may be stronger than people think
We’ve spent months asking when rates will finally come down.
But if the economy keeps growing reasonably well while inflation remains sticky, policymakers have less reason to provide relief.
Why can’t we just kill ticks?
Ticks spread Lyme disease, alpha-gal syndrome and other illnesses, so why don’t we just wipe them out?
Turns out, we really can’t. Ticks spend much of their lives hidden in leaf litter, forests and on wildlife, making large-scale eradication nearly impossible — so scientists are focusing more on controlling them where people live and spend time.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley says Americans can’t outright ban Flock cameras because they are ‘for our safety’
He says when he think about legislation that calls for an outright ban, that’s like banning vehicles. That’s not even remotely the same thing.
Spider-Man just crossed $2 BILLION
Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed $2 billion worldwide, becoming one of only a handful of movies ever to reach that mark.
Audiences increasingly seem willing to turn out massively for a small number of enormous cultural events, while ordinary movies struggle to command the same attention.
San Francisco found the guy who has everyone Googling his name
Hello, Jacob Cowing.
Cowing returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown as San Francisco hammered the Chargers 41–17.
Topps Flagship Football launches TODAY
2026 Topps Flagship Football releases today, marking Topps’ first fully licensed Flagship Football set since 2015. The set has a 400-card checklist, including 100 rookies, and features Fernando Mendoza, Jeremiyah Love, Ty Simpson and Carnell Tate alongside stars and legends.
Fernando Mendoza gave us preseason lesson last night
Mendoza looked good in his preseason debut.
Game two was rough.
He completed 8 of 15 passes for 86 yards and threw an 80-yard pick-six as Las Vegas fell behind Houston 20-3. The Raiders eventually came back to win 22-20 behind Aidan O’Connell.
Walmart sales grew — and investors hated it
Walmart’s comparable U.S. sales rose just 2.6%, the company’s slowest growth in six years and below expectations. The stock fell about 9%, wiping out more than $80 billion in market value. Consumers are being squeezed by higher fuel costs and uncertainty, while store traffic and spending per customer both slowed. The bright spot was e-commerce, up 24% year over year.
Nvidia has become the test for whether the AI boom can keep justifying itself
Next Wednesday, August 26, Nvidia reports earnings. Investors are treating it as a major test of the AI-driven stock-market rally at a time when chip stocks have fallen sharply and bond yields are pressuring richly valued technology companies. Nvidia has also helped assemble financing involving six major financial institutions aimed at supporting more than $500 billion of AI infrastructure.
AI Is Becoming the New Oil
Not because GPUs and oil are identical, but because the economic similarities are getting interesting:
scarce capacity
huge infrastructure requirements
changing spot prices
financing
massive energy consumption
companies competing for supply.
For decades, businesses worried about the price of oil.
The next generation of companies may also worry about the price of intelligence by the hour.