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Today’s Big Story

Peptide Stacking

Peptide injections are blurring the line between supplements and prescription drugs

The world of wellness is a wild and complicated landscape. That much we know. There’s a lot of myths and hopes, but for all the good nutrition (nothing wrong with more Omegas) and solid advice (focusing on sleep), there’s the shady business of biohacking with gray market pharmaceuticals.

The San Francisco Standard asks, “does everyone have a Chinese peptide dealer now?” The DIY dosing is part of a growing Silicon Valley trend that’s evolving beyond psychedelics and nootropics into needles and so-called “peptide stacks”. This cohort of mostly tech industry people are injecting research-grade peptides in hopes of a health or performance boost to address everything from fat loss and recovery to focus and libido.

Of course, a few years ago, most people didn’t know a peptide from a protein shake. Then came Ozempic, which turned GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptides, originally designed to treat diabetes but repurposed for weight loss) into a household name. Serena Williams shills GLP-1s for the telehealth brand Ro, and Hims & Hers advertises microdosing GLP-1s on billboards and buses in cities across America.

Forget the wine (or beauty product) fridge. The real flex now is a personal peptide fridge. Max Marchione, the baby-faced 25-year-old cofounder of Superpower, a telehealth-for-longevity startup, started with peptides a few months ago but is already an evangelist. In fact, the company offers free peptide injections to the whole staff on Fridays. As none of his preferred peptides are approved by the FDA, Marchione buys products labeled “for research use only” from a Chinese dealer. Most connect with dealers over social media and apps like WhatsApp.

On TikTok, enthusiasts tout peptide stacking blends with names like “Wolverine Stack” and “Vitality Protocol”, claiming they’ve been healed, energized, or even made to “feel 10 years younger.” It sounds great, but there’s still very little scientific data backing up the claims, nor any clinical trials to prove efficacy. Still, the global peptide market is booming, predicted to nearly triple from $4.1 billion in 2025 to $11.2 billion by 2035.

And Peptides like NAD+, small chains of amino acids that can help activate vital cellular functions in the body, have become a beauty buzzword. Its fans use “NAD” as a verb. “I’m going to NAD for the rest of my life, and I’m never going to age,” Hailey Bieber told Kendall Jenner while they were hooked up to catalyzers during an episode of The Kardashians. In her husband Justin Bieber’s documentary Seasons, the singer filmed himself getting an NAD+ IV at his doctor’s office. Podcaster Joe Rogan bragged that he and his producer have “NAD-ed” together. And Jennifer Aniston raved to the Wall Street Journal about the power of weekly peptide shots: “I do think that’s the future.”

The Latest From the Government Shutdown

IRS to furlough nearly half its staff as Senate Republicans eye piecemeal reopening

There's no end in sight for the sweeping government shutdown after senators on Wednesday rejected Republican and Democratic plans to reopen the government's doors. The vote marked the sixth time that the dueling agreements failed in the Senate. Democrats pushed for health care reforms in their package, while the GOP-backed legislation would have temporarily kept government funding going until Nov. 21.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is now considering bringing standalone appropriations bills to the floor, which Axios points out, would be a long and tortuous way to reopen the government, department by department. To pass a bundle of multiple appropriations bills—like the one that passed the Senate earlier this year—would require unanimous consent.

President Donald Trump called the Democrats’ strategy a “kamikaze attack” that has handed his administration the opportunity to cut “billions and billions in waste, fraud and abuse.” However, it seems like essential services are being harmed. Air travel has been disrupted, the IRS on Wednesday said it will furlough nearly half of its workforce and America’s 1.3 million active-duty military members last received their paychecks on Oct. 1. But they will not receive their next paychecks on Oct. 15 if the government remains shut down.

Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Ceasefire

Trump moves closer to foreign-policy goal of ending two-year war

President Donald Trump is on the brink of a major diplomatic accomplishment: Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan that will allow for the swift release of all hostages in Gaza, Israeli withdrawal to an agreed point, and the release of some Palestinian prisoners.

Egyptian officials who mediated the talks said Hamas would let the remaining living hostages go as soon as Sunday morning. Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the hostages would probably be released on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement was a “diplomatic success and a national and moral victory” for his country. Hamas thanked Trump and all mediators involved: Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

The president’s announcement marks a breakthrough in what had been eight months of stalled negotiations after he took office, bringing Trump closer to a top foreign-policy goal of ending the war in Gaza. It came together in less than a month after an Israeli strike on Qatar—a U.S. ally that harbors Hamas officials—led to heightened fears that the war was spinning out of control and brought new pressure on Israel from Trump and on Hamas from leaders in the Muslim world.

The New Era of Renting

The number of wealthy renters more than tripled in the last few years. But why?

Is it a lousy housing market? Do people just want greater freedom? Because previous wisdom always favored owning a home over renting, right? But millionaire renters in the U.S. have tripled from 4,500 in 2019 to nearly 13,700 in 2023, showing a surprising shift among the wealthy toward renting instead of investing in properties.

While both millionaire renters and homeowners have surged over the last four years, Forbes reports that renters are rising faster. The number of millionaire renters surged by 204%, outpacing the 169% growth in millionaire homeowners. “They’re choosing flexibility and liquidity over ownership,” one broker recently told the New York Times. “They don’t want to be bothered with the inconveniences of homeownership, which includes paying real estate taxes and insurance, especially in markets like Florida and California, where we’re seeing a lot of natural catastrophes.”

Cities like Austin, Nashville, Atlanta and Phoenix saw some of the fastest growth, a trend supercharged by the pandemic as affluent movers sought flexibility and newer markets outside traditional coastal hubs. If these early statistics once seemed a curiosity, today they signal a broader shift in high-end real estate: Developers are responding with buildings designed to cater to tenants who prioritize lifestyle, turnkey living and flexibility over the permanence of ownership.

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