July 3, 2024

The Appetizer

“There’s eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, we’ve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There’s lots of ways to help people.”

• Warren Buffett on setting up a new charitable trust for his fortune after his death.

Now, on to the numbers. Drum roll, please …

• 31: The number of times the S&P 500 has hit an all-time high since January.
• $419,300: The national median existing-home price in May, an all-time record for the data series that goes back to 1999.
• 95: The number of years that MLB fans had to wait to see a rare 1-3-5 triple play that the Phillies recently turned in a win over Tigers.
• 66%: The percent of Americans that will attend a July 4 picnic.
• 75,000: The number of firework shells used for the Macy’s fireworks show in New York City for July 4.
• 57%: The percent of Americans that are estimated to own an American flag.

Dig In
Housing Boom

With mortgage rates close to 7% today, those who locked in low rates in 2020 are feeling lucky. Believe it or not, two-thirds of outstanding U.S. mortgages have rates below 4%. This has created a “lock-in” effect, with homeowners staying put, which is driving home prices up. The median existing-home price now tops $400,000, up from $270,000 before the pandemic.

How did we get here? One reason is not enough homes have been built since the Great Recession. Most sales are of existing homes, and the “months of supply” measure is crucial. A balanced market has over 5 months of supply; we’re now at 3.7 months, far below the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 5.7 months.

This low supply is being met with strong demand, especially from millennials. This generation is entering its prime homebuying years, and many are eager to own a home. With 89% wanting to own a home, they now represent the largest (and growing) share of homebuyers in the U.S. at 43%, so the demand looks like it is here to stay. Hang in there, house hunters!

Weekly Specials

The battle of the value meal: Most remember the “$5 Footlong” Subway sandwich tune from 2008. But there’s a new price war on the street, between McDonald’s and Burger King’s $5 meals, Wendy’s $3 meal, and Starbuck’s $5 coffee and pastry combo! That’s some serious cheap eats competition.

The Paris Summer Olympics organizing committee said no air conditioning will be provided in athletes’ rooms. The reason? The organizers want to cut the event’s carbon footprint in half. So the U.S., along with others, are bringing their own ACs. Will this give some an unfair competitive advantage?

What do Utah, Romania, California, Spain, Wales, and Paraguay have in common? Each of these locations have had a metallic monolith appear since 2020. As of last week, we can add Las Vegas to the list. Some say it’s aliens, others think it’s just a Hollywood prop. Either way, someone knows the truth.

Corporate Lunch

You can’t sit with us: Delta opened the most exclusive airport lounge in John F. Kennedy International Airport. This place has two restaurants, an outdoor terrace, and a dedicated check-in area.

Ferrari’s CEO said the EV model will maintain the “emotion” of the supercars. Maybe not every emotion…customers could do without the buyer’s remorse.

Shopify is helping Target add sellers of trendy products to the Target Plus platform.

Krispy Kreme’s “Friends”-themed doughnuts are not available in the U.S. because they are ON A BREAK! Just kidding, they are only being sold in the UK and Ireland.

Volkswagen has agreed to invest up to $5 billion in a joint venture with Rivian. The news drove (ha) Rivian stock up 28% in a single day.

Amazon Prime Day will run July 16-17, and pink Stanley Quenchers will be sent all across the country.

CDK Global restored systems after multiple cyberattacks impacted its 15,000 auto retailers. Is that why it takes salespeople so long to talk to their managers?

Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss.

Indices are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is a capitalization-weighted index that is generally considered representative of the U.S. large capitalization market.

Past performance is not indicative of future results.