This week’s world-famous news haiku competition™ is about how the average retail price for a pound of roast coffee has risen to $10. Send me your entry — to haiku at cheddar dot com — by noon ET Thursday, for consideration by your Cheddar peers.

And now, the news!

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

What’s the stock market up to, eh?*

$SPX ( ▲ 0.08% )   $DJI ( ▼ 0.18% )   $NDX ( ▲ 0.1% )  

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$UAL ( ▼ 1.85% )   $DLTR ( ▼ 4.2% )   $DG ( ▼ 2.58% )   $COIN ( ▲ 0.22% )   $MSTR ( ▼ 3.11% )   $UNH ( ▲ 9.37% )   $HUM ( ▲ 7.94% )   $JWN ( ▲ 0.08% )   $LNKD ( 0.0% )   $WFC ( ▼ 0.12% )  

Oil prices rise and stocks fall ahead of 'deadline' for Iran

U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday as investors anxiously awaited President Donald Trump's latest deadline threatening Iranian infrastructure, while oil prices continued their war-driven climb.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.3% to $113.82 per barrel, with Brent crude hitting $110.06— far above its pre-war level of roughly $70 in late February. The average U.S. gasoline price has jumped to $4.14 per gallon, up from below $3 before hostilities began.

The Dow $DJI ( ▼ 0.18% ) swung wildly in early trading, careening between a 74-point gain and a 425-point loss within the first hour.

"Investors are likely to remain on edge and markets unable to establish trends, probably until there is a clear outcome later this evening,” said Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, talking to the Associated Press. “A deal, the U.S./Israeli strikes intensify, or Iran's retaliation becomes escalatory instead of proportional."

Fuel-dependent companies took the hardest hits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings  $NCLH ( ▼ 3.3% ) dropped 3.8%, while United Airlines  $UAL ( ▼ 1.85% ) sank 2.9%. Discount retailers fell, Dollar Tree $DLTR ( ▼ 4.2% ) by 4.7% and 1.8% for Dollar General $DG ( ▼ 2.58% ) .

Crypto-linked stocks also struggled, with Coinbase Global  $COIN ( ▲ 0.22% ) down 1% and Strategy $MSTR ( ▼ 3.11% ) falling 2.7%. However, health insurers provided bright spots following positive Medicare news. UnitedHealth Group  $UNH ( ▲ 9.37% ) surged 10.5%, and Humana  $HUM ( ▲ 7.94% ) rose 9.2%.

Tailors are aging out of the workforce even as demand for their skills grows

An aging workforce and low wages threaten a craft that AI can't replace. Inside his Manhattan shop, tailor Kil Bae worries about his profession's future even as business booms.

"I recommend this job to young people because this one cannot be AI'd," said Bae, 54, talking to the Associated Press. "Different bodies. Different shape. They cannot copy like this."

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports fewer than 17,000 tailors now work in business establishments nationwide — a 30% decline from a decade ago. The median worker age is 54, and mean annual wages sit at just $44,050 compared to $68,000 for all workers.

"Most of fashion training is really aimed at mass production, not spending time in a shop handmaking a garment," explained Scott Carnz, provost of LIM College told the Associated Press.

Nordstrom $JWN ( ▲ 0.08% ) , employing 1,500 alteration specialists, partnered with the Fashion Institute of Technology to launch a nine-week sewing program. "We owe it to the broader industry to ensure that this is an art form that exists for years and years to come," said Marco Esquivel, Nordstrom's director of alterations,

Brooks Brothers is also expanding bespoke women's tailoring to 40 additional stores.

Bae, who previously worked as a pattern maker for Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, plans to keep sewing, even at 85.

"I'm always learning," he said. "I am like an artist."

Song of the Day: Chris Stussy featuring Kučka, 'Fantasy'

Chris Stussy's collaboration with Kučka on "Fantasy" is a standout piece from his debut album, “Lost, Found & Forgotten,” released earlier this year. It’s quickly become a fan favorite for its blend of atmospheric depth and classic house energy.

How Elon Musk's rocket technology could revolutionize warfare

Here’s a story that’ll definitely make you feel safer in bed tonight. While Elon Musk's “Starship Heavy” rocket aims for Mars, physicist and semiconductor entrepreneur Michael Hochberg argues it may first transform military strategy by enabling a
“revolutionary space-based weapons system.”

Last June's B-2 bomber strike on Iran's nuclear facilities (remember that?) took 37 hours and cost approximately $5 million per plane to, er…deliver. Hochberg, a visiting scholar at Cambridge University's Center for Geopolitics, believes Starship offers a cheaper, faster, er…alternative.

"Starship will make it possible to use low Earth orbit as a parking lot for a giant space-based