The Lakers Just Became the Most Highly Valued Sports Team Ever. Again.

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Alex Ossola (0:18)

A cooler inflation report eases pressure on the Fed to raise rates. Plus, a sale of the Los Angeles Lakers values the team at a record-breaking $12.5 billion.

And, the StubHub customers who fought for tickets then had to fight even harder for a refund.

Hanna Krueger (0:35)

We found in some cases there are people who have waited months and even a year to get a refund on tickets that were never delivered to them.

Alex Ossola (0:42)

It's Wednesday, August 12th. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

New data from the Labor Department out today shows that inflation cooled to 3.4% in July. That's down from 3.5% in June in line with what economists expected. WSJ economics reporter Matt Grossman says one big reason for the decline was a drop in energy prices.

Matt Grossman (1:12)

Gasoline has been up and down throughout the Iran War. It's largely about how energy traders are anticipating the war is going to be resolved.

In July, on average, gasoline prices were down a bit from June. And that's largely what helped pull the overall inflation rate down last month. What we see in August could go either way. So far this month, energy prices have been a bit higher again. But there's still a lot of August to go and the war is still changing very quickly.

Alex Ossola (1:41)

One other interesting point in the report, the index for lettuce fell more than 16%.

Maybe not a surprise given the recent cyclospora outbreak. A bigger question, though, is where the latest reading leaves the Federal Reserve. 3.4% is still higher than the Fed's goal of 2% inflation. But Matt says that slightly lower reading could take some of the pressure off officials to raise rates at their next meeting.

Matt Grossman (2:05)

That probably gives the Fed a bit of a stronger argument if they want to say in September, well, we're on the right track here. We're seeing enough progress where we can wait and see if this continues to move in our direction in the months ahead.

Alex Ossola (2:20)

US stocks closed mostly higher today following the inflation report. The NASDAQ added about half a percent. Tech stocks rose after yesterday's blockbuster results from CoreWeave and SuperMicro Computer. The S&P 500 gained a quarter percent and the Dow was flat. In corporate news, we're exclusively reporting that Form Energy, a startup that turns rust into battery power, has raised another $750 million from investors. That brings its total funding to $2 billion. Form plans to use the new cash to boost manufacturing and for its first wave of commercial projects.

And two media organizations are suing President Trump over his company's real-time feed of top truth social accounts. They argue that selling preferential access to the president's statements is unconstitutional and that delayed access would harm their ability to produce or support journalism. A spokesman for Trump Media said the suit is an attempt to censor Trump and harm the company's shareholders.

The dust is still settling from yesterday's primary elections. Like we talked about this morning, Democrats are trying to figure out whether the progressive or centrist wings of their party resonate more with voters, and which will be better candidates when they face off against Republicans in the November midterms. One place where this will play out is Wisconsin, where Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly beat Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong to win the party nomination for governor. Crowley will face off against Tom Tiffany, a Republican congressman from Northern Wisconsin. And our national political reporter John McCormick says, that's going to be a race to watch.

John McCormick (3:54)

The state is hyper competitive. In the 2024 presidential election, it was decided by less than one percentage point, and that was the narrowest margin of any state in the nation.

So both parties are going to be working at this race very aggressively. It has implications for the 2028 presidential election as well, because who the governor is in this state in that year will have some influence.

Alex Ossola (4:18)

Separately, in Washington, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt is stepping down at the end of the month. President Trump announced the move on social media today, saying that Levitt wanted to spend more time with her family, and that she'll continue to be one of his top advisors. Coming up, the stunning sale of a storied sports team, and why some fans got shut out of the World Cup even though they bought tickets. That's after the break.