Good thing you can't buy love – Americans likely felt the pinch of inflation while celebrating Mother's Day last week: Treating mom for brunch cost 3.8% more this year compared to last year, while overall inflation grew by 2.4% over the same period. Over the last year, egg prices are up 60.4%, coffee is up 6.7%, and bacon is up 4.5%. (Source: MarketWatch)

Market dip? More like just a blip – The S&P 500 Index erased its 2025 losses just five weeks after nearly falling into bear-market territory in early April. The market turned positive for the year on 5/13 on reports that inflation rose at the slowest pace since 2021, as well as a potential deal on US-China tariffs. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Shake it off – Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 3.75% on 5/12 on the news that the US and China had reached a possible deal to reduce tariffs. Despite the drop, however, gold remains up nearly 20% year-to-date on safe-haven demand, reflecting US tariff-driven market volatility and geopolitical conflicts. (Source: Reuters)

Sounds like once bitten, twice shy – Foreign investors now own 32% of Japan's stock market, while domestic Japanese investors hold only 17% of the market. Still burned by the bursting of the 1990's asset bubble, some 54% of Japanese households still keep their assets in cash or deposits, compared to just 13% in the US. The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to lower the minimum investment threshold to make stocks more accessible for retail investors. (Sources: Sherwood News and The Economist)

Fewer cars, yet still more money – New York City’s congestion pricing was meant to discourage driving and raise money for regional transit programs. Since early January, about 76,000 fewer vehicles entered the congestion zone per day, or about 2.3 million fewer cars per month. So far, the congestion tolls have raised around $45 million in net revenue and are on track to generate about $500 million in the first year. (Source: The New York Times)

Do I just need another cuppa, or is it more serious? – Nearly 4 in 5 older Americans would gladly take a blood test to find out if they're in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms begin to impact their daily life. Of those who would opt in, 80% said they would ask a doctor to be tested rather than wait for a test to be offered. More than 7 million people in the US are now living with Alzheimer's. (Source: NPR)

First he conquered the internet, now libraries – YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has teamed up with mega-bestselling-author James Patterson to pen a thriller novel. The plot will resemble many of the viral challenges that have helped MrBeast go viral: 100 contestants competing, backstabbing, and making alliances in a dangerous contest around the globe, all in the name of winning $1 billion. (Source: The New York Times)

Talk about taking one for the team – A man named Tim Friede intentionally allowed various venomous snakes to bite him more than 200 times, which may have helped create a universal snake antivenom. Most bites require a specific antivenom, but researchers were able to combine several antibodies in Friede's blood into a cocktail that protected mice from 13 species’ venom, as well as partial protection against a few others. (Source: The New York Times)

Music, vampires, and a big draw? It's got it all – Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" broke a box-office milestone and became the highest domestic-grossing original film since Pixar's "Coco" in 2017. The movie is on track to surpass $275 million in sales domestically, which would help it surpass 2013's Oscar-winning "Gravity." If it surpasses $300 million, it would top "Avatar," the highest-grossing original film of all time. (Source: The Wrap)

Tusks up – After a process that lasted over a year and included trademark drama and more than 850,000 ballots cast by fans in multiple rounds of voting, the latest NHL team has an official name: Utah Mammoth. The team played its inaugural 2024-25 season under the temporary name Utah Hockey Club after Smith Entertainment Group purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise to Salt Lake City. (Source: ESPN)