By Emma Tucker
This morning, we bring you the story of how a master of deception conned investors out of $50 million — in his own words. Paul Regan recorded himself ripping off investors, offering rare access into the inner workings of a fraud. Federal prosecutors say Regan and his co-conspirators misappropriated millions raised from investors in two firms. The Journal published a series of articles starting in August 2024 that raised questions about the high returns promised. By that December, federal and state authorities were investigating. Regan pleaded guilty to three felony fraud charges in March; his attorneys didn't respond to requests for comment.
Today's Headlines
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to end days of back-and-forth fighting around the Strait of Hormuz and resume peace talks.
Ukraine's drone strikes have plunged Crimea into blackouts, fuel shortages and tourism collapse, exposing war's costs on the Russia-controlled peninsula.
Greenwater Services, the company cleaning up the the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, says it has "nothing to hide."
With nearly 50,000 people missing after Venezuela's earthquakes, international rescue teams and frantic families are in a race against time.
The University of California, Berkeley plans to launch a new institute named for Nancy Pelosi and intended to strengthen democracy.
Live From The Markets
Follow our live financial coverage all day.
A tight-lipped Fed could lead to higher mortgage rates, writes Telis Demos.
Welltower's CEO received an enormous pay package for the company's turnaround, drawing shareholder backlash.
Read It Here First
A trillion-dollar borrowing binge is lifting the stock market to risky heights.
Investors have never been more eager to ratchet up their stock returns through margin loans and funds that amplify gains and losses. It may be a sign of trouble. U.S. margin debt, or what investors borrow from their brokerages to buy securities, rose 54% to a record $1.4 trillion in May from a year earlier, according to Finra data. Meanwhile, high-risk leveraged exchange-traded funds that produce double or triple the daily move of underlying stocks are growing rapidly, as is trading in options tied to them. The risks of buying leveraged funds are well-advertised. And yet, buyers ranging from hedge funds to teenagers on Robinhood have poured money into leveraged ETFs this year, reports Jack Pitcher.
This goal machine scores every 50 minutes — and still gets left on the bench.
The top scorers at the 2026 World Cup are a constellation of the brightest names in soccer. All over America, the likes of Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have been lighting up the scoreboard. But there's one player who scores more frequently than any of those legendary marksmen: Germany's Deniz Undav. Undav has found the net once every 50 minutes and 47 seconds ever since he first pulled on his country's jersey. The problem is that his coach barely lets him on the field. But heading into a Round of 32 clash against Paraguay, he is somehow his country's top scorer, report Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson.
The baby formula probe produced a pile of evidence. Then the DOJ dropped the case.
The Justice Department spent years investigating Abbott Laboratories over how it managed a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria was discovered and suspected of causing infant deaths, worsening a national shortage. Some prosecutors believed they had evidence to criminally charge the company, according to people familiar with the matter. Top decision makers instead closed the probe, the people said, opting for a lighter-touch option: clawing back money the company earned from selling formula through federally funded nutrition programs. The outcome, which hasn't been previously reported, illustrates how the DOJ under President Trump has moved away from strict approaches to corporate enforcement, report Dave Michaels, Sadie Gurman and Liz Essley Whyte.
See The Story
The expensive accessory every 'hot girl' wants is an old, loud SUV.
In wealthy zip codes and tony beach towns, shiny new luxury cars have taken a back seat as a status symbol. Instead, young women are pining for throwback, off-road SUVs. The market for vintage Broncos and Land Rovers is booming, fueled by affluent young women willing to spend north of $100,000 for "junk on wheels."
Happening Today
Sports: The Wimbledon tennis tournament begins. World Cup matches: Germany vs. Paraguay, Netherlands vs. Morocco and Brazil vs. Japan.
Earnings: Concentrix, AeroVironment
Number Of The Day
>14%
The amount of hiring devoted to entry-level roles across several countries has fallen more than 14% since 2019, according to London School of Economics researchers. They found that firms remaining remote after the pandemic were most likely to cut back on junior hiring. Because remote work slows the learning process, the researchers argue, companies see young talent as a less attractive value proposition, preferring to invest instead in older workers. As a result, remote work doesn't just dampen young employees' day-to-day experience — it makes it harder for them to find a job in the future.
And Finally. . .
Forensics take center stage in the mystery will of Tony Hsieh.
When the tech executive died at age 46 in a tragic 2020 fire after battling drug abuse, it was believed he had left behind a fortune valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and no will. But last March, seven typed pages, apparently containing the former Zappos chief executive's final wishes, surfaced via snail mail to the Las Vegas courthouse. As forensic testing of the purported will begins, the fight for the future of Hsieh's legacy harks back to a contested will for billionaire Howard Hughes.