—— Foreign buyers return to the U.S. market; Yellen advocates building an Allied supply chain; Britain begins developing Tempest fighter jets; Egypt helps ease the gas crisis; 30 FinTech companies halve their market value; New York City sells Penn Station renovation rights; ‘Raging Fire’ wins Best Film At Hong Kong Film Awards.
1. Foreign homebuyers return to the U.S. market
According to a new report from the National Association of Realtors, non-citizen homebuyers bought a total of $59 billion in U.S. homes in the 12 months ending in March, up 9% from the same period a year earlier.
The average price of a home purchased by foreign buyers also rose 18% to nearly $600,000.
Among foreign buyers, 44% purchased in all-cash, up from 22% of all homebuyers.
Foreign buyers return to the U.S. and buy $59 billion in properties after 3 years of falling sales
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2. Yellen advocates for supply chain alliance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently visited South Korea and promoted the construction of a global cooperative supply chain.
Yellen said in a speech in Seoul that allies should deepen trade ties to combat inflation.
Yellen also said that the United States will develop more allies and diversify supply chains to reduce over-reliance on Chinese production and suppliers, strengthen economic resilience and reduce risks.
The U.S. and its allies hope to alleviate inflation and logistics problems in various countries by building a common supply chain network
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3. U.K. begins development of Tempest fighter
The U.K. recently committed to designing and flying the Tempest fighter jet within five years.
The British company BAE Systems Plc. and the British Ministry of Defence will jointly design the fighter, aiming for a test flight within five years, and the fighter will be officially put into service in 2035.
The U.K. also has formal partnerships with Italy and Japan on the development of new fighter jets and joint operational analysis of future aviation.
BAE will join forces with engine maker Rolls-Royce and missile maker MBDA
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4. Egypt helps ease the gas crisis
With Europe currently facing a severe gas crisis, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said at a press conference that Egypt could export all of its eastern Mediterranean output to Europe natural gas.
Sisi said Egypt was happy and ready to play a role in alleviating any crisis.
Beginning in October 2021, the European region began to fall into a natural gas crisis, with unit prices soaring
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5. 30 FinTech companies halved in market value
Since the beginning of 2020, more than 30 financial technology (FinTech) companies have been listed in the United States, including stock investment platform Robinhood, in accordance with the influx of investors.
However, due to the impact of the pandemic and inflation in the past two years, the economy showed signs of recession, and the stocks of these companies began to be sold off.
Since the beginning of the year, the shares of these newly public fintech companies have fallen by more than 50%, with a cumulative loss of about $460 billion in market value.
The stock frenzy in early 2021 drove the market capitalization of many FinTech companies to sky highs, and now the bubble has burst
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6. New York sells Penn Station renovation rights
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the state and city governments have negotiated plans for the renovation of Penn Station in New York City.
New York State will sell the renovation rights to Penn Station to private developers and collect a tax called “PILOTS” (payments-in-lieu-of-taxes) from the developer.
The government will use the money from the PILOTS tax to improve New York City’s streets, sidewalks, and other public facilities.
New York State begins accepting bids in June, and renovations to Penn Station and surrounding areas could cost $6 billion
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7. Raging Fire wins Best Film at Hong Kong Film Awards
The selection of the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards was held last Sunday, and it was the first time since the outbreak of the new coronavirus that the awards ceremony was held on-site.
In this selection, Raging Fire won the Best Film Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. The film is a police and gangster film starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse.
The award-winning films that night also included “Sunny Day”, “Anita”, “Time” and so on.
“Rage: Serious Case” is an action film directed by Chen Musheng and starring Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, and Qin Lan.
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The content of this article comes from various financial news media such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Bloomberg.