Good morning.

It’s Thursday, September 11. A date that will forever carry weight, especially here in New York and across the country. The memories are heavy, but so is the resilience that came after—the proof that even in the darkest moments, people can come together, rebuild, and keep moving forward. Today isn’t just about looking back—it’s about honoring strength, choosing kindness, and carrying hope into the rest of the week.

So take a deep breath, sip your coffee a little slower, and remember that even hard days can hold light. Wishing you a good day, and a better week ahead.

Today’s stories:

• Apple launches thinner iPhone with weaker battery

• Crocs release ugly, charm-ready phone case

• Amazon debuts robotaxi toaster in Vegas

• W New York reopens after $100M facelift

• Ellison briefly dethrones Musk as richest

• Mercedes unveils SUV with giant screen

• Mortgage demand spikes as rates drop

• Pickleball replaces 8,000 tennis courts

  and more…

US stocks mostly moved higher Wednesday as Oracle lit up Wall Street with its best day in more than 30 years. The company’s blowout revenue forecast, fueled by soaring AI cloud demand, sent shares up more than 36% and reignited hopes the AI boom is only getting started.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to a record close, while the Nasdaq eked out its own record finish. The Dow, with less tech firepower, slipped 0.5% from its peak. Adding fuel to rate-cut bets, wholesale inflation unexpectedly cooled last month, giving the Fed more room to ease at its meeting next week.

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Oracle Boom Makes Ellison Richer Than Musk—for Like a Minute

Larry Ellison, 81 and apparently allergic to retirement, just leapfrogged Elon Musk to briefly become the richest man alive. Oracle’s stock went berserk—up 36% in a single day—handing Ellison a cool $101B, the biggest one-day gain ever recorded. That pushed his net worth to $383B, enough to flex over Musk for a few hours until Tesla’s rollercoaster fortune shoved Elon back on top by $1B. Oracle hasn’t had a day this wild since the early ’90s, while Tesla’s stock is limping around, down 14% this year. Musk still has his insane pay package dangling—hit the targets and he could be the world’s first trillionaire.

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Mortgage demand pops off as rates stop being insane. Turns out people will buy houses again if the interest rate isn’t highway robbery. Mortgage rates dipped to 6.49%, the lowest since October 2024, and suddenly everyone’s sprinting to refinance or finally grab a house. Mortgage applications shot up 9.2% last week, the busiest since 2022. Refinancing alone jumped 12% in a week and 34% compared to last year. Basically, borrowers smelled a tiny discount and stampeded like it was Black Friday at Best Buy. Rates are still higher than last year, but at least they’re not the 2023 pain Olympics anymore.

Apple Event: Air Is Hot, Pro Is Not

Apple’s “awe dropping” event was mostly “awe, that again?” The star is the iPhone Air—a 5.6mm-thin supermodel of a phone that looks great but dies faster than your AirPods in a subway tunnel. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro lost its titanium body (the “must-have” material from last year) and is now plain aluminum, but somehow $100 more expensive. Black is gone too, so tough luck if you liked your phone to match your soul. Basically: the sexy one has worse battery, the “Pro” is less pro, and Apple’s big innovation is turning subtraction into marketing. Add in a sleep-shaming Apple Watch and AirPods that translate bad dates in real time, and you’ve got another keynote where Apple sells you less for more.

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Mercedes builds an SUV that’s basically a drive-in theater. Mercedes is dropping a new all-electric GLC in 2027, and it’s basically a rolling movie theater. The thing packs a ridiculous 39-inch dash-spanning “Hyperscreen,” up to 376 miles of range, and a dual-motor option that hits 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Fast charging to 80% takes 24 minutes—just enough time to scroll TikTok and regret your $80K purchase. It’s their biggest-selling model globally, so Mercedes is betting big on EVs.

Amazon’s taxi looks like it should reheat pizza rolls. Amazon’s Zoox just dropped its robotaxi service in Las Vegas, and it looks like a breadbox mated with a golf cart. No steering wheel, no front, no back—just four seats facing each other so you can awkwardly stare at strangers while praying the AI doesn’t glitch near a Raiders game. The rides are free for now, because nothing screams “beta test” like throwing drunk tourists into unproven hardware. Forget Tesla’s robotaxi vaporware—Zoox is already chauffeuring people in its toaster pods, and apparently that counts as progress. Vegas gamblers, meet your riskiest bet yet.

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8,000 Tennis Courts Murdered Since 2020

Pickleball has officially bullied tennis out of its country-club parking spot. The New York Times went full drone mode, analyzing 100,000 aerial photos, and found over 26,000 pickleball courts built in the last seven years—mostly by slapping new lines on old tennis courts. More than 8,000 tennis courts have been sacrificed since 2020 alone. Translation: tennis players are now fighting retirees with paddles for court time. With 68,000 pickleball courts nationwide, the asphalt war is real, and tennis is losing.

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Crocs made a phone case, because why not ruin more things. Crocs has officially jumped from ugly shoes to ugly phone cases. The brand teamed up with Seoul’s SLBS to drop a pastel smartphone case that looks like it belongs on your feet. Naturally, it’s customizable with Jibbitz charms—because why stop embarrassing yourself at the ankles when you can embarrass yourself in your pocket too? It comes with a detachable strap, screams “functional streetwear,” and yes, people will actually buy it. Available now with international shipping, so the cringe can travel.

W New York reopens: velvet, lobster, and Pelotons. Union Square just got a $100M facelift, and the W Hotel is back like it never left—except shinier, louder, and now with the only rooftop bar in the neighborhood. The Beaux-Arts building got scrubbed down, stuffed with velvet banquettes, Warhol wannabe décor, and bathrooms that cosplay as subway tiles. There’s a seafood brasserie on the way, a Peloton studio in the basement, and 256 rooms dripping in “maximalist New York energy,” which basically means ombré wallpaper and yellow faucet handles. Oh, and a penthouse big enough to make your lease look like a joke. Welcome back, Union Square—you’re gaudy again.

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TikTok of the day: watch here

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