1. U.S. Foreign Buyers of Secondhand Homes Decline
2. U.S. Multifamily Development Projects Lead Growth
3. Amazon Seller Dashboard Malfunctions
4. Early Tesla Investors Double Down on Musk
5. U.S. Stock Market Pullback, Chip Stocks Lead Decline
6. SEC Rewards Whistleblower $30 Million
7. Olive Garden Parent Company Acquires Chuy’s
1. U.S. Foreign Buyers of Secondhand Homes Decline
A survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that in the year leading up to March, foreign buyers purchased 54,300 secondhand homes in the U.S., a significant 36% year-on-year decrease, marking the lowest point since 2009.
Foreign investors spent a total of $42 billion on U.S. secondhand homes, a drop of 21%.
Analysts attribute the decline to the strong U.S. dollar in recent years, which has severely impacted the purchasing power and options for foreign buyers. With the dollar depreciating, their investments would immediately face losses, prompting more buyers to wait for market and exchange rate fluctuations.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun stated that a strong dollar makes travel cheaper for Americans, but foreign buyers find it more expensive to purchase anything in the U.S.
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2. U.S. Multifamily Development Projects Lead Growth
Data released by the U.S. government today shows a 3% year-on-year increase in new housing developments in June, with an annualized total of 1.35 million new units. Multifamily projects led the way with a 19.6% increase, while single-family projects have seen a decline for four consecutive months.
The number of development applications increased by 3.4% year-on-year to an annualized rate of 1.45 million, with multifamily housing projects being the primary driver. However, single-family development applications dropped by 2.3%.
The number of projects currently under construction has also fallen to the lowest level since early 2022.
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3. Amazon Seller Dashboard Malfunctions
On Tuesday evening, Amazon’s self-service advertising portal experienced a technical glitch that completely disrupted this year’s major Prime Day promotion, preventing many sellers from tracking and adjusting their ad spending.
According to Momentum Commerce, sales during the first seven hours of Prime Day’s first day saw a 12% year-on-year increase.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that the issue has been resolved and that seller advertising efforts were not significantly affected.
Sellers reported that their advertising backend was down for about two hours.
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4. Early Tesla Investors Double Down on Musk
In recent months, early Tesla investor Ron Baron’s Baron Capital Management has set up two funds focused specifically on investing in Musk’s companies, xAI and SpaceX.
Earlier this year, xAI sold private stock and raised $6 billion in financing.
Since both SpaceX and xAI are privately held with limited shares, numerous special-purpose companies have been set up to invest in them. Investors interested in buying in must pay hefty fees.
In April, BaronX Cayman was established and used funds from overseas investors to buy shares in SpaceX.
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5. U.S. Stock Market Pullback, Chip Stocks Lead Decline
This week, the U.S. announced potential increases in export restrictions on advanced chips to China. As a result, chip stocks in the U.S., Europe, and Asia saw a significant decline, with Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom dragging the semiconductor index down by 6%.
The Biden administration has informed other allies that due to companies like Tokyo Electron and ASML still supplying China with high-tech chips, the U.S. may consider stricter sanctions.
Today, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 1% and 2.5%, respectively, although U.S. stocks had previously surged.
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6. SEC Rewards Whistleblower $30 Million
According to a statement from the U.S. SEC, a whistleblower successfully helped the agency identify potential witnesses and gather critical evidence of corporate wrongdoing. In recognition, the SEC has awarded the whistleblower a $30 million bounty.
The SEC’s whistleblower program rewards individuals who help recover penalties by offering 10% to 30% of the total fine.
Since the program’s inception in 2010, the SEC has issued more than $1 billion in rewards.
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7. Olive Garden Parent Company Acquires Chuy’s
Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, announced the acquisition of Texas-based Mexican restaurant chain Chuy’s for $605 million. The per-share price of $37.50 represents a 48% premium over Chuy’s last closing price.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of Darden’s fiscal year, around November.
Chuy’s stock was briefly halted, while Darden’s stock showed no significant movement.
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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.