We’re kicking off today’s Brew with a word you’ve waited so long to hear: “deflation.” It may not be as good as you think, though.

US oil prices collapsed below $100 a barrel yesterday for the first time since May, accelerating their decline over much of the past month. While that’s certainly a hopeful sign for gas prices, it also shows that investors are betting the economy is going to experience a bumpy landing on its way down from its inflationary heights.

Let’s dwell on the positive aspects of the oil price plunge a little bit longer, because it’s more fun. As oil prices have slid from their peak, so have prices at the pump.

• Retail gasoline prices have now fallen for 21 straight days, which is the longest streak of daily declines since the lockdowns of April 2020.
• The average US gas price right now is $4.80 a gallon. At those levels, you still want to cry every time you see the needle hovering near “E” on your dashboard, but prices have cooled from a peak above $5.

Why this is happening: It all comes back to the Fed. In its heavyweight fight to bring inflation back from 40-year highs, the central bank is hiking interest rates to cool off the economy. Investors are betting that demand for fuel from individuals and companies alike is going to drop relative to supply, which to date hasn’t dropped off like many predicted due to the war in Ukraine. Citigroup is perhaps the most bearish of all—yesterday the bank predicted that oil prices could fall to as low as $65/barrel in the event of a recession.

Commodity prices everywhere are dropping

Oil is just one of many commodities that has hit the downhill over the past several months after skyrocketing in price, suggesting that the Fed’s actions to combat inflation are working. Wheat, corn, and soybeans have now all fallen below their prices at the end of March, the WSJ reports.

Copper, the metal that’s seen as the best gauge of economic activity because it’s used in many different types of products, has dropped to a 17-month low over recession concerns. It’s on the brink of a bear market, and every recession of the last 30 years has followed a bear market in copper, per Insider.

Bottom line: The cooling commodities market could be telling us two things: 1) Inflation may be on the way down and 2) the economy may soon hit a rough patch.—NF

21-year-old man charged in Highland Park shooting. Authorities charged Robert E. Crimo III with seven counts of first-degree murder in the killing of seven people at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb on Monday. Police said that Crimo planned the attack for weeks and dressed up as a woman in order to evade authorities as he fled the area. Both rifles recovered at the scene were bought legally by Crimo, one of which he allegedly used to fire off more than 70 rounds. Police also said that authorities were called to Crimo’s house twice in 2019 over threats of violence and suicide—in one of those instances, they confiscated 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword.

Two top UK officials quit. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hair is probably more disheveled than ever after two key Cabinet ministers, Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, resigned within minutes of each other yesterday, plunging Johnson’s administration into a fresh crisis. In his resignation letter, Javid wrote that he could “no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government” that has been dogged by numerous scandals.

Judge sides with drug distributors in landmark opioid lawsuit. A federal judge ruled that three large drug distributors—AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson—were not responsible for fueling the opioid crisis in West Virginia. The judge said that the companies shipped 51.3 million opioid pills to communities in the state from 2006–2014 to fulfill legal prescriptions written by doctors. West Virginia communities hit hard by the epidemic decided against joining a nationwide settlement to pursue their own legal action. In that settlement reached last year, the three drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay up to $26 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits.

“ChinaDan” posted in an online cybercrime forum that they lifted the data of 1 billion Chinese citizens from a Shanghai police database—and they’re selling the entire 24-terabyte trove for 10 bitcoin, or around $200,000. It’d be one of the biggest data breaches ever…if ChinaDan is telling the truth.

To back up his claim, ChinaDan pulled a Costco and handed out a free sample of 750,000 records. It listed names, phone numbers, addresses, and birth dates—including info for at least one minor. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal separately confirmed parts of the sample matched actual Chinese residents.

At least one crypto company is raising the alarm: Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, tweeted that his threat intelligence team had detected that 1 billion resident records “from one Asian country” were for sale on the dark web, and called on other platforms to step up security measures.

Zoom out: The Chinese government is known for collecting extensive data on citizens, and a breach of this scale could be “potentially incredibly embarrassing,” cybersecurity research scientist Chester Wisniewski told the AP. After being a hot topic on social media platforms Weibo and WeChat this weekend, related posts, articles, and hashtags have been scrubbed by government censors, and accounts that posted about it were suspended.—JW

But it doesn’t look a day over 70 million.

A Gorgosaurus skeleton with immaculate bone structure is going up for auction later this month, Sotheby’s said yesterday. It’s not a T. rex (more of a shirt-tail cousin), but you can probably leave out that small detail as your astonished dinner party guests badger you about your new addition to the foyer.

This fossilized skeleton, which measures nearly 10 feet tall and 22 feet long, is the only one in private ownership, with all other Gorgosaurus skeletons being housed in museums. Plus, it’s a trendsetter: The dinosaur lived in Montana millions of years before it was cool to move there.

The presale estimate for the dinosaur skeleton is between $5 million and $8 million, the AP reports. GorgosaurusDAO, make it happen.—NF

Stat: Channeling our inner Joey Lucas for today’s stat. A new Monmouth poll asked Americans about the biggest concern facing their family, and the No. 1 answer by a mile is…inflation, at 33%. Plus, inflation-related topics like gas prices, the economy, and bills/groceries round out the top four. Other notable responses: safety/crime (2%), climate change/environment (1%), civil rights (1), and Covid (1%).

Quote: “It’s okay to get up and go pee.”

James Cameron spoke with Empire about the long-awaited (and also just…long) Avatar sequel, which hits theaters in December with a three-hour runtime. Using words that aren’t appropriate for this newsletter, the director explained that he has no patience for complaints about the length of the film, arguing that people binge an entire season of Stranger Things in a day but say they can’t sit through a 180-minute movie.

Read: Meet the guy behind RadioShack’s horny Twitter account. (Input Mag)

Drumroll please…we present to you the full agenda for our first-ever Emerging Tech Brew Summit: The Next Decade of Tech. We can’t wait for you to see all the amazing speakers and events that have been planned just for you. Join us September 29 in NYC to experience all the fun firsthand.

Check out what we have in store, and while you’re there don’t forget to grab your early bird ticket before prices increase next week.

The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is the dominant strain in new US Covid cases. Here’s what you need to know about it.

Videos that make you go, “Alrighty then!” Check out the incredible logistics behind weather forecasting.

Rivers run through it: The mighty Mississippi and all its tributaries.

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Word Search: Anyone who appreciates a good cocktail will enjoy today’s Word Search. Play it here.

Nutritional Facts

We’ll give you a list of ingredients for a popular food product, and you have to name the product.

Sugar, Invert Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Contains Less Than 2% Of Tartaric Acid, Citric Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5.

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