Good afternoon. Here’s what you should know today, Aug. 8:

• Donald Trump wants three debates against Kamala Harris

• For Nasdaq, penny stocks aren’t shiny anymore

• The hospital where a mother delivers can be a life-or-death matter for a baby born between 22 and 24 weeks

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1.

The US warned Iran that its new government and economy could suffer a devastating blow if it mounted a major attack against Israel.

The message was communicated to Tehran directly (🔐 read for free) and through intermediaries, a US official said. Iran has signaled that it plans to retaliate against Israel for the recent killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran. The Biden administration has tried hard to discourage Iran, its proxies and Israel from undertaking military action that would escalate tensions in the region, as Washington tries to salvage prospects of a cease-fire in the Gaza war.

Sinwar Power Grab Cements Hamas-Iran Ties (Read)

2.

Donald Trump called for three presidential debates against Vice President Kamala Harris.

The former president said that he agreed to a trio of matchups: Sept. 4 on Fox News, Sept. 10 on ABC and Sept. 25 on NBC. The ABC debate had been agreed upon when President Biden was in the race. Trump had called into question whether he would face off on ABC with Harris at the top of the ticket. A Harris representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The vice president has previously said she’ll show up to the Sept. 10 debate. Trump also accused Harris of dodging the news media.

Kamala Harris Makes Risky Bet That Tim Walz Can Prop Up Blue Wall (Read)

Tim Walz Is Fascinated by China—and Disturbed by Its Human-Rights Record (Read)

3.

US mortgage rates dropped to a 15-month low.

The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage fell around a quarter percentage point to 6.47%, the sharpest weekly decline in around nine months, according to mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac. The data raised hopes for relief in the battered housing market . Home sales, which last year fell to their lowest level in nearly three decades, have been sluggish in 2024, too. Mortgage rates have roughly doubled since the Fed started raising interest rates in early 2022 to battle inflation.

Heard on the Street: Office Loans Are Toxic, but Apartment Loans Are in Bad Shape Too (Read)

4.

Nasdaq is trying to purge itself of hundreds of penny stocks.

The tech-heavy index is under fire for allowing risky companies to remain listed through reverse stock splits. (Finance 101: That’s when a company swaps multiple shares for one share to increase share price without changing the company’s market value. Investors often consider the move a red flag.) Nasdaq’s proposed rule changes would shorten the time a stock that closes below $1 for 30 consecutive trading days could stave off delisting and would speed up delisting for some companies with recent reverse stock splits. Of the 523 stocks listed on US exchanges closed below $1 per share yesterday, 433 were Nasdaq’s, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Compare that to fewer than a dozen sub-$1 stocks in early 2021.

S&P 500 Jumps 2.3% in Best Day Since 2022 (Read)

Goldman Sachs Is Giving Select Clients Access to One of Its Hottest Businesses (Read)

The Silver Lining of a Slowing Economy: Cheaper Gas (Read)

Massachusetts and California Weigh New Curbs on Private-Equity Medical Acquisitions (Read)

5.

The two suspects arrested over a plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna had planned to drive a bomb-filled car into crowds outside the venue to kill as many people as possible.

The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian citizen who’d pledged allegiance to Islamic State in July, confessed to the plans shortly after being arrested, authorities said. The suspect and a 17-year-old accomplice had planned to use explosives and knives to kill attendees. More than 200,000 fans were expected to attend over Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with tens of thousands expected to gather outside the venue, organizers said. The three concerts were cancelled.

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$12.7 billion

The amount that crypto exchange FTX and crypto investment fund Alameda Research have to pay fraud victims, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In March, founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from customers and defrauding investors and lenders. FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.

56

The minimum number of microseconds per Earth day by which a clock on the moon would be ahead of another clock on our planet. That’s because the gravitational attraction on the moon is much less than it is on Earth. The White House asked NASA to establish a unified lunar time standard to make missions safer in crowded outer space.

“While we clearly have a lot of work to do in restoring trust, I’m confident that working together, we will return the company to be the industry leader we all expect.”

—Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, in a message to employees on his first day as Boeing’s CEO. He’s tasked with overhauling a company that’s taken reputational and financial hits because of production delays, regulatory probes and safety concerns, notably a door-plug blowout and two fatal 737 MAX crashes. Boeing says it’s improving quality. Ortberg’s predecessor apologized to the crash victims’ families and acknowledged problems with the company’s culture.

“Through my career of more than 40 years now we’ve seen the limit of viability move about a week every 10 years…We’ve done what we thought was never going to be biologically possible.”

—Neonatologist Dr. Edward Bell, describing doctors’ growing ability to save extremely premature babies. Experienced hospitals report survival rates as high as 67% for infants born at 22 weeks. Some US hospitals aren’t equipped to offer the care, while others chose not to, citing the likelihood of failure, expense, needless pain for the babies and the risk of long-term disabilities.

• Behind the Movement to Turn Back the Clock on Gender Roles (Read)

• AI Companies Fight to Stop California Safety Rules (Read)

• Doctors Wish More People Over 65 Took Ozempic (Read)

• Supplying Saks Was a Soapmaker’s Dream Until He Got a $74 Check (Read)

• Her Dad Named Her for a Steely Dan Song. She Became the Best Player in the World. (Read)

How to lower the costs of eco-friendly home renovations

Green upgrades can help with their resale value and the materials used often are more durable and require less maintenance, but upfront costs are enough to put off some homeowners. For smaller budgets, buy reclaimed or repurposed products from your local architectural-salvage store, breathe new life into your home’s existing building materials like painting old cabinets and donate your old tile, plumbing fixtures, cabinets and hardware, sustainability experts suggest.

Competitive hobbyhorse riding is coming to the US

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Today’s newsletter was curated by Zlati Meyer in collaboration with publishing editor Maggie Rothfus in New York. Follow Zlati on X at @Zlatimeyer.

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