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1. FROM MY DESK
Good morning. We now have a price tag for the U.S.-Iran war: $37.5 billion. Pete Hegseth shared the updated estimate yesterday—some $9 billion higher than earlier projections. The rising bill comes as fighting intensifies. Our latest reporting shows Iran’s ballistic missiles remain a deadly threat to U.S. forces and regional allies. Yet Israel is staying out of the fight—for now—at Washington’s request, to preserve room for diplomacy. Meanwhile, President Trump has approved a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could bring large profits for American companies, but could also raise concerns about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
This is an edition of The 10-Point newsletter, a guided tour to the best coverage in The Wall Street Journal. If you’re not subscribed, sign up here. If you’re reading this in your inbox, tap the headline above for online and audio versions of this newsletter.
2. TODAY’S HEADLINES
Trump is preparing new tariffs to replace the ones he put in place after the Supreme Court gutted his trade agenda.Anthropic is doubling its spending on the midterm elections to $40 million to push for artificial-intelligence regulation.Ukraine’s armed-forces chief was fired after days of street protests.Cuban-Americans who lost property in the 1959 revolution are seeking compensation, emboldened by the Trump administration’s pressure on Cuba.Reddit, Politico and others are weighing how—or even if—they can work with Google as AI tools supplant traditional searches.
3. LIVE FROM THE MARKETS
📈 Follow our live financial coverage all day.
General Motors is pivoting its business to capitalize on the Trump administration’s policy changes. Wall Street loves it.Hermès continues to be the most reliable luxury stock, even if Cartier’s owner Richemont is catching up, writes Carol Ryan.
4. READ IT HERE FIRST
Meet the startup insiders who stash huge sums in tax-subsidized retirement accounts.
IRAs and workplace retirement accounts have been supercharged by startup founders, hedge-fund managers and Silicon Valley insiders who have access to investment opportunities unavailable to most Americans. Those entrepreneurs and their financial backers are increasingly using that strategy to pile up giant retirement-account balances, all subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, Anne Tergesen and Theo Francis determined by analyzing regulatory filings, government data and other documents. More than 1,000 individuals had IRA balances of at least $25 million in 2024, more than double the number with similar-size accounts in 2019.
5.
This South Carolina town is in turmoil over a $545,000 email phishing scam.
The trap began with a routine bureaucratic ritual: the head of a family-run contracting company and a small town public-works director trading emails about when the municipality would cut a six-figure check for utility work. Someone posing as a company employee emailed the director to request an electronic transfer instead. Days later, the town sent $545,598.30 to a Utah bank account that wasn’t the company’s. Surfside Beach had fallen victim to a “business email compromise” scam, a cyber-swindle that cost $3 billion nationally last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says. The money is still missing, and the fallout is rippling through the tourist enclave of about 4,300 year-rounders, reports Scott Calvert.
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6. SEE THE STORY
Tesla’s market value eclipses all the other automakers. Here’s how.
It doesn’t sell more cars than any other automaker. It isn’t more profitable than the competition, either. And now, it has fewer models in its lineup than it has in years. But to Wall Street, Tesla is still on top. Investors continue to bet on Tesla’s ability to deliver truly self-driving vehicles and humanoid robots, giving it a market capitalization equal to the combined value of the next 37 largest automakers. Tesla reports its second-quarter earnings later today, and some analysts expect the stock price to rise even higher.
7. HAPPENING TODAY
Earnings season rolls on with Tesla, IBM and Google parent Alphabet all posting results after markets close.📰 Today’s paper
8. THE NUMBER
The record-high net asset value of U.S. private-equity assets stuck in “zombie funds” at least a decade old at the end of 2025, according to PitchBook. That is 3.5 times the amount in 2015 and over 100 times that of 2005. The slowdown in private-equity sales has fueled frustration among investors eager to cash out.
9. AND FINALLY…
Everyone gets lost at a Pitbull concert.
Pitbull fans swarm his shows wearing bald caps and aviator sunglasses, a nod to the hairless rapper’s signature look. Pitbull (the real one) has embraced the tradition and affectionately calls his fans “The Bald-Es” because they “fly high like bald eagles.” It’s really fun until they lose track of their friends.
10. BEYOND THE NEWSROOM
Opinion: Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery may be a bad business deal, but bad antitrust policy is no reason to stop it.WSJ | Buy Side: Private student loans can close funding gaps left by federal loans.
Corrections & AmplificationsBig Boy 4014 is traveling east of the Mississippi on its first coast-to-coast tour. The July 21 edition of this newsletter incorrectly said it was traveling east of the Mississippi for the first time.
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