Negotiators from the US and Iran have reportedly reached an agreement to extend the current ceasefire, potentially marking the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the war started earlier this year.

However, the deal still requires final approval from President Donald Trump as well as confirmation from Iran’s leadership.

The deal comes as the two countries traded strikes around the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, raising doubts about the advancing peace talks. While the deal is still fragile, officials say the proposed “memorandum of understanding” would:

What would new negotiations look like? Iran would likely demand that the US discuss ending the blockade on its ports, loosening restrictions on its oil exports, unfreezing its assets held overseas, and easing sanctions. Similar to previous talks, the US would likely push negotiations to focus heavily on Iran’s nuclear program, including halting uranium enrichment and applying reductions to Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.

News of a peace deal already had an effect: Even though nothing is guaranteed, the reports caused oil prices to fall as traders grew more optimistic that the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, could soon reopen.

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Teenagers looking for part-time jobs this year are facing what experts say could become the worst summer job market since the federal government began tracking the data in 1948.

Surprisingly, it’s not TikTok that’s keeping kids away from working, but an unprecedentedly weak hiring environment. According to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas:

The trend follows a long-term decline, as teen participation in the workforce has fallen from above 50% decades ago to about 35% today, as more young people focus on academics, sports, and activities outside the classroom.

What’s with the hiring freeze? Faced with inflation and high energy prices, many businesses are cutting back on personnel, forcing them to cut back on hiring. At the same time, available roles are being automated with AI or filled by older workers, who are increasingly putting off retirement.

So where are teens supposed to work? Some are landing in retail, while many are using ride-share apps like DoorDash and Uber to get some extra cash. Young workers are actually flocking to gig apps faster than any other age group, with Gen Z signups jumping 8.4% over the past year, according to consumer data platform Apptopia.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it may give five companies access to radioactive plutonium taken from old Cold War nuclear warheads. If approved, it would mark the first time the US has transferred the weapons-grade metal to private companies.

The US government stores more than 50 tons of leftover plutonium from old weapons programs, a substance that can trigger nuclear reactions, is extremely toxic, and remains radioactive for millennia.

While the Department of Energy had plans to dispose of the stockpile, energy companies had another idea:

Companies participating in the program say the plutonium could serve as a temporary “bridge fuel” while the US builds out domestic production of enriched uranium and other reactor fuels.

It comes at a good time: Last year, the Trump administration set a goal of quadrupling US nuclear power capacity by 2050 to meet rising energy demands. Officials and nuclear companies increasingly see advanced reactors as a way to provide massive amounts of reliable, clean energy needed to power the ever-growing AI economy.

What’s the downside? Critics note that the program could be plagued by massive cost overruns and technical problems, while some lawmakers estimate the plutonium could theoretically be used to build thousands of nuclear weapons if improperly secured.

One grew revenue 50x after half his team quit over the strategy. One brought in 50K signups in a single day with no paid budget. One generated 100M+ views from a stunt that took 50 hours to conceive. One asked every prospect to demo the product themselves instead of demoing it for them.

None of them followed the safe playbook. They treated GTM like an experiment, moved before they had proof, and made bets most founders would never get approved.

HubSpot for Startups documented all 6 stories in the free Bold Bets Playbook. The risks they took, why it was risky, and what it returned.

Read the free Bold Bets Playbook

The US luxury housing market surged last month, significantly outperforming the rest of the housing market despite towering mortgage rates and rife economic uncertainty, per a new Redfin report.

While non-luxury home sales remained largely flat, sales of luxury homes (properties in the top 5% of a local real estate market) rose roughly 14% from the same time last year… and it’s not because prices are dropping:

The Bay Area has seen the biggest boom: Earlier this year, the median house price in San Francisco reached a record $2.15 million. Since late 2022, luxury house prices in the area rose 13.4%, while less-expensive properties fell 3.8%.

Why buy when it’s so expensive? Redfin notes that part of the reason the luxury market is so strong is that affluent buyers are less susceptible to high interest rates, as they are more likely to pay in cash, make larger down payments, and benefit from stock market gains, which has particularly helped boost wealth for higher-income households recently.

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Ford’s stock has jumped sharply in recent weeks, climbing to its highest levels in years. But, surprisingly, investors aren’t getting excited about pickup trucks or EV sales.

Instead, Wall Street is betting on Ford’s new energy-storage business.

The automaker recently launched a new subsidiary called (you guessed it) Ford Energy, which repurposes EV batteries into massive energy-storage systems for utilities, AI data centers, and industrial businesses.

At a time when EV sales are on the decline, the repurposed products caused Ford’s stock to rise over 25% in the past few weeks as analysts began looking at the company less like a traditional automaker:

Ford’s following rivals… some industry insiders see the move as Ford’s attempt to follow a path similar to Tesla, whose energy-storage business has also become an increasingly important revenue driver.

But also destroying them: While Ford’s push into energy appears to be paying off, its main competitors like GM, Jeep, and Stellantis have all seen their stocks fall this year.

> Splash, a two-year-old Asian small-clawed otter, has become the first of his species in the US trained to assist law enforcement with underwater search and recovery missions.

> Tick activity in the US has surged to its highest level in nearly a decade, particularly in the Midwest, as emergency room visits related to the pest’s bites have soared.

> While scientists knew sea cucumbers could regrow lost body parts, a new study found that the discarded, severed tissue itself can also heal, grow, and survive independently in natural seawater.

> Scientists discovered a two-legged crocodile ancestor from the Triassic period that looked more like an ostrich dinosaur than a modern croc; the finding may shed light on the experimental phase of evolution.

> A recent study (read here) found stress can interfere with how the brain connects old memories to new information, potentially explaining why people often seem more forgetful under pressure.

> Chicago has opened its highly anticipated Pokémon Fossil Museum, designed to pair paleontology with pop culture to spark a lasting interest in real-world science and nature among younger visitors.