Market Beats | Leadership Vacancies Deepen Strains at US BLS; Why New York Developers Are Fixated on 99-Unit Buildings; Winklevoss twins’ Gemini secures $50 million from Nasdaq; Murdoch settles succession battle; Klarna aims to price IPO above guidance range; US job growth sharply revised down; BYD warns of looming bloodbath in China’s car market

—— Leadership Vacancies Deepen Strains at US BLS; Why New York Developers Are Fixated on 99-Unit Buildings; Winklevoss twins’ Gemini secures $50 million from Nasdaq; Murdoch settles succession battle; Klarna aims to price IPO above guidance range; US job growth sharply revised down; BYD warns of looming bloodbath in China’s car market

1. Leadership Vacancies Deepen Strains at US BLS

Economists expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to announce a major downward revision to payroll figures through March 2025, casting the US labor market in a weaker light than previously reported.

Wells Fargo, Comerica Bank, and Pantheon Macroeconomics forecast that the BLS benchmark revision on Tuesday could reduce the March payroll count by about 800,000 jobs — roughly 67,000 fewer per month on average. Nomura Securities, Bank of America, and the Royal Bank of Canada warn the downgrade could approach 1 million.

Each year, the BLS benchmarks its payroll data against the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which is considered more accurate as it’s based on unemployment insurance tax records covering nearly all US jobs. This comes in addition to the regular monthly revisions. While the adjustment is backward-looking, a second consecutive year of sharp downward revisions would illustrate a labor market that cooled much earlier than headline data suggested and would reinforce expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates.

“A large downward revision to job growth through March 2025 may not impact immediate monetary policy decisions as much as changes in recent months’ data, but it does provide important context on how the economy has been performing,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. “And, all else equal, downward revisions increase pressure on the Fed to ease.”

President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of BLS data accuracy, is expected to intensify his attacks if the revisions prove substantial, raising further political tension over official statistics.

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2. Why New York Developers Are Fixated on 99-Unit Buildings

A striking trend has emerged in New York City’s real estate sector: developers are increasingly filing permits for buildings with exactly 99 units.

In the past four quarters alone, 28 permits for 99-unit buildings were submitted — more than double the total from the prior 16 years combined, according to data analyzed by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).

Industry insiders point to one clear driver: New York State’s 485-x tax program. Passed by lawmakers last year to replace the expired 421-a program, 485-x allows developers to obtain a property tax break if they include affordable housing units. However, it comes with a crucial condition: any building with 100 units or more must pay workers a minimum of $40 per hour, a significantly stricter mandate than before.

That wage trigger is prompting developers to stop at 99 units. Developer MaryAnne Gilmartin, for example, once envisioned a pair of 400-unit towers. She is now weighing as many as six smaller buildings on the same lot. Though this revised plan would be more costly per unit and take longer to deliver, she said it’s the only financially viable option.

The shift is an unintended consequence of a policy designed to expand housing supply at a time when skyrocketing rents are making New York increasingly unaffordable.

REBNY and many developers argue that 485-x’s requirements are slowing production and will ultimately result in fewer new apartments compared with the old program.

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3. Winklevoss twins’ Gemini secures $50 million from Nasdaq

Gemini Space Station Inc., the crypto exchange led by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has secured a $50 million private placement from Nasdaq Inc. as it prepares for its US initial public offering. The investment further strengthens the ties between a leading traditional finance firm and the emerging digital asset industry.

Under the agreement, Nasdaq’s institutional clients will gain access to Gemini’s custody and staking services, while Gemini users will be able to use Nasdaq’s collateral management and trading activity tracking platform. Earlier this week, Nasdaq filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow trading of tokenized stocks, part of a broader move by traditional finance firms into crypto.

According to Gemini’s amended S-1 filing, Nasdaq will purchase Class A common shares immediately after the IPO at the offering price less underwriting fees.

Gemini plans to offer 16.7 million shares at $17 to $19 apiece, with trading expected to begin Friday.

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4. Murdoch settles succession battle

Rupert Murdoch has resolved his long-running succession fight by buying out three of his children for $3.3 billion, ensuring eldest son Lachlan will control the family’s conservative-leaning media empire.

James, Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch will each receive $1.1 billion in exchange for giving up their ownership stakes in News Corp and Fox. Meanwhile, Rupert’s daughters with Wendi Deng, Chloe and Grace, will join the family trust alongside Lachlan.

The settlement means Lachlan will inherit control of outlets including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and The Sun in London. The multibillion-dollar payout ends a decades-long family feud that inspired HBO’s Succession. James Murdoch had been seen as a possible successor with a different political stance, but money ultimately prevailed over ideology.

Rupert’s earlier attempt to alter the trust via “Project Harmony” in favor of Lachlan was rejected by a Nevada commissioner, angering his children. The new deal will be financed by a partial block trade of shares handled by Morgan Stanley, with institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and family offices lined up to buy in.

The agreement secures the right-leaning direction of Fox and News Corp under Lachlan and preserves Rupert’s influence on politics in the US, UK and Australia even after his death.

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5. Klarna aims to price IPO above guidance range

Swedish fintech Klarna is telling investors it expects to price its initial public offering above its $35–$37 per share marketing range, targeting as much as $1.27 billion in proceeds.

According to people familiar, the offering of 34.3 million shares has been multiple times oversubscribed. Klarna stopped taking institutional investor orders on Monday, though final pricing details remain subject to change.

Of the shares offered, 5.6 million will come from the company itself, while 28.8 million will be sold by existing holders including co-founder Victor Jacobsson, Sequoia Capital, and Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen’s Heartland A/S.

Founded 20 years ago and entering the US in 2019, Klarna now has 111 million active users and works with about 790,000 merchants.

Its buy-now-pay-later and other financial products generated $112 billion in gross merchandise value in the 12 months through June 30.

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6. US job growth sharply revised down

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday that payrolls for the year through March will likely be revised down by 911,000, or 0.6%, the largest markdown since at least 2000. Final figures will be released early next year.

Before the revision, government data showed employers added nearly 1.8 million jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, averaging 149,000 per month. The new adjustment indicates average monthly job growth was only about half that. This suggests that the recent slowdown followed an extended period of moderate growth, laying the groundwork for potential Fed rate cuts starting next week. Chair Jerome Powell recently acknowledged rising risks to the job market, and two colleagues favored a cut in July. Traders widely expect a rate cut at the Sept. 17 meeting. Treasury yields climbed while the S&P 500 fluctuated.

Though benchmark revisions are routine, this year’s adjustments have drawn heightened attention from investors and Fed watchers looking for signs of a sharper labor-market slowdown. The issue has spilled into politics, with President Donald Trump previously lambasting revisions.

Downward revisions spanned nearly all industries, led by wholesale and retail trade, followed by leisure and hospitality. Professional and business services as well as manufacturing were also notably marked down.

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7. BYD warns of looming bloodbath in China’s car market

Lenders to luxury fashion retailer Ssense are asking a Canadian court to approve a quick sale of the cash-strapped company, with first bids due in early October.

A group led by Bank of Montreal filed an application to the Quebec Superior Court, saying creditors had lost confidence in Ssense’s ability to oversee operations. Other lenders include Royal Bank of Canada, JPMorgan Chase, National Bank of Canada, and Bank of Nova Scotia, with total debt of about C$145 million ($105 million).

Creditors want the company placed under court supervision via Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. They are pushing for a fast-track sale process, with potential buyers contacted next week and non-binding bids due by Oct. 6. They’ve also proposed selling inventory this month to raise cash.

Ssense, once a Montreal family-run success story valued at more than C$5 billion in 2021, is now threatened by debt and eroding trust.

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