Five Numbers We Couldn't Stop Thinking About — Jun 4, 2026
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"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." — Warren Buffett
Jun 4, 2026
A Pound of Ground Coffee Hit a Record $9.72 in April — Up Roughly 39% Since the Start of Last Year — Even as the Beans Themselves Got Cheaper on a Bumper Brazilian Crop
The average pound of ground coffee at U.S. grocery stores hit an all-time high of $9.72 in April, per a BLS price series that runs back to 1980. Here's the twist: bean futures have actually tumbled on a record Brazilian harvest, but roasters lock in their prices months ahead, so the cheaper beans haven't reached the can yet — proof of how sticky food inflation gets once it sets in.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (via FRED) / Daily Coffee News
For the First Time, FIFA Is Surge-Pricing the World Cup — Top Final Seats Now Run Up to $11,000, a 588% Jump From 2022 — and the Tournament Has Already Drawn More Than 500 Million Ticket Requests, Roughly Ten Times the Last Two Cups Combined
When the tournament kicks off across North America on June 11, it'll be the first World Cup priced like a concert: FIFA has put algorithmic, real-time surge pricing on every seat, lifting the top face value for the final to as much as $11,000 — up 588% from 2022's $1,600. Group-stage tickets still start at $60, but with more than 500 million requests logged — about ten times the 2018 and 2022 tournaments put together — the algorithm has every reason to keep the number climbing.
Source: FIFA / Fortune / European Business Magazine
Berkshire Hathaway Is Sitting on a Record $397 Billion in Cash — Bigger Than the Entire Economy of Norway — and in His First Quarter Running the Place, Greg Abel Sold More Stock Than He Bought
In the first quarterly report since Warren Buffett handed over the reins, Berkshire's cash-and-Treasury pile swelled to a record $397.4 billion — more than the GDP of Norway, and larger than all but a tiny handful of U.S. companies are even worth. The most famous value shop on earth was a net seller of stocks again, which is its own kind of forecast: when the smartest patient money on the planet would rather collect 4% in T-bills than own equities at today's prices, that's worth noticing.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Q1 2026 Earnings / CNN
Americans Have Lost Track of $2.1 Trillion in Old 401(k)s — Spread Across 31.9 Million Forgotten Accounts Worth About $66,000 Each on Average — With Some 900,000 More Slipping Through the Cracks Every Year
Roughly 31.9 million abandoned 401(k) accounts are holding an estimated $2.1 trillion — about a quarter of all the 401(k) money in the country — usually left behind when someone changes jobs and never bothers to roll the balance over. The average forgotten account is worth around $66,000, which means a whole lot of people are unknowingly leaving a down payment with an employer they quit years ago.
Source: Capitalize — The True Cost of Forgotten 401(k)s / Kiplinger
On a Lighter Note: The Tooth Fairy Paid an Average $5.84 per Lost Tooth This Year — a 17% Raise That, No Joke, Almost Exactly Matched the Stock Market's Gain Over the Same Stretch
Delta Dental's annual poll pegged the going rate for a baby tooth at $5.84 in 2026, up 17% and the first raise since 2023. The strange part is the correlation — the fairy's payout has shadowed the S&P 500 for years, so a generous night under the pillow tends to mean the 401(k) had a good year too.
Source: Delta Dental — 2026 Original Tooth Fairy Poll / Axios