Buy-Now-Pay-Later use is expected to account for about $100 billion in transactions this year.
Hedge Fund Performance
Trend-following hedge funds lost 9.6% in the first half of this year, on track for their worst annual performance since at least 1998. Meanwhile, hedge funds more broadly returned 4%, net of fees, while the S&P 500 delivered 6.2% to investors, including dividends.
Cut Probability
Markets are pricing in a 64% probability of a 25bp cut in September and expect approximately 100 bps of cuts over the next year. Meanwhile, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is trading at 4.33%, near the lower end of its year-to-date range.
Condominiums
The months of supply for condos, which indicates how long it would take to sell the existing inventory at the present sales rate, is near a 10-year high, said Asad Khan, senior economist at Redfin. Besides a momentary peak at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it hasn’t been so high since the early 2010s.
Corporate Leadership
In the Russell 3000, 41.5% of chief executives are at least 60 years old, up from 35.1% in 2017. Over the same period, the share of CEOs in their 30s and 40s has grown to 15.1% from 13.8%. People in their 50s held 51.1% of CEO seats eight years ago and now occupy 43.4%.
UNP NSC
The $85 billion merger deal between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern joins 50,000 miles of railroad tracks that span from the Jersey shore to the ports in California. The union would create a single company controlling coast-to-coast rail shipments for the first time in U.S. history.
Home Investors
So far in 2025, investors who buy homes to flip or rent out have made up about 30% of purchases of both existing and newly built single-family homes, the highest share on record. Small investors made up about 25% of these home purchases while large investors accounted for only about 5%.
Airbnb Experiences
Airbnb is making a renewed push into what it calls Experiences and Services—its second attempt after a 2016 effort failed to gain traction.
Affordable Housing
The Trump administration is proposing a $27 billion reduction in federal programs that provide rental assistance to low-income individuals. This cut would be part of an overall 44% reduction to HUD’s budget intended to slim down government spending.
World Economy
The world economy grew at a 2.4% annual rate in the first half of this year, around its longer-term trend.