Weekly News (August 6, 2024)

Mortgage Interest Rates Review

United Mortgage Nation  8/6/2024

                  Federal Fund Rate: 5.25 -5.50%        Prime Rate: 8.25 – 8.50%  

Residential Pending Sale Index Soared in June

      6월 잠정 주택판매 지수 깜짝 급등     

Korea Daily  8/5/24(Mon) 

• According to NAR, residential pending sales index — Under Contract — in June suddenly increased to 74.3 which is up by 4.8% from May. All four major areas’ index in U.S. also increased in June.
• But, this pending sales index declined 2.6% from the same period a year ago. This index has a reference point as 100 in 2001.  
• Lawrence Yun mentioned that increased inventory in the market has started to leading to pending sales and buyers are in better position than sellers.

Global Stocks Dive as Trades Unravel

        거래를 풀을려고 애 쓰면서 전세계적으로 주식 하강 

WSJ  8/6/24(Tue) 

• The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, falling 3.4%. Every industry segment in the S& P 500 declined, pushing the broad index down by 3%. All 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower and the blue-chip index shed 1034 points.  The Russell 2000 index of small stocks, resurgent in recent weeks, lost 3.3%. Oil, precious metals and bitcoin fell.
• The rout began in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 12% amid a surging yen. It was the worst single-day percentage drop for the Nikkei since Oct. 20, 1987.
• Now the debate centers on whether the Fed might take the rare steps of making a larger-than-usual half-percentage- point cut or even lowering borrowing costs between meetings.

Global stocks declined

WSJ 8/6/24

S&P 500 / 10-year Treasury Yield

WSJ 8/6/24

U.S. Hiring Slowdown Rattles Investors

 미국 고용시장이 식으면서 투자자들이 불안해…

WSJ    8/3/24(Sat) 

• Job growth slowed sharply in July and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since 2021, the Labor Department reported. The data adds to evidence that a labor market whose strength was already fading could actually be on its way to weakness.
• Hiring slowed to 114,000 jobs last month, the government said, missing expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%—its highest level in nearly three years, when the economy was still clawing its way back from the pandemic.
• Stocks fell sharply after the data came out – DOW downed 600 points–, reflecting investors’ renewed worries about an economic slowdown. Everything from banking stocks to small companies.

Unemployment Rates

WSJ  8/3/24

Fed Faces Renewed Threat of Hard Economic Landing

                연준, 다시금 경제 경착륙을 걱정해야 할지도

WSJ  8/5/24(Mon) 

• The script is being flipped for the U.S. economy.  For 2½ years, high inflation has drawn a nearly single minded focus from the Federal Reserve and the White House as the nation’s foremost economic challenge.
• But in the span of a week, punctuated by a surprisingly lackluster July hiring report on Friday that sent markets reeling, the labor market has become the locus of concern for economic policymakers in Washington.
• Investors are afraid the Fed is running late. Friday’s report shifts the debate from when officials will cut to how large their reduction next month should be: a traditional quarter- point cut or the larger half point reduction. 
• A handful of economists said Friday that the Fed will need to move faster to improve its odds of short-circuiting a downturn.

Temu Suppliers Cry Foul

테무에 물건 공급회사들 농성

WSJ    8/1/24(Thu) 

• Bargain site Temu has won over hundreds of millions of customers around the world with its rock-bottom-priced hairpins and pet toys. Some suppliers say consumers’ gains are coming at their expense.
• A throng of Chinese merchants who supply Temu stormed a company affiliate’s office Monday in Guangzhou, southern China, to protest what they consider unfair penalties that left some bankrupt.
• Temu allows buyers to get full or partial refunds without having to return their items in certain cases. Articles and videos that teach consumers how to receive free goods from Temu have circulated widely online, and suppliers believe they are bearing the brunt of the generous return policy.

Temu’s worldwide user’s

WSJ 8/1/24

Elon Musk says Neuralink Implanted a Second Patient with its Device 

   머스크, 2번째 인간뇌에 뉴럴링크 췹 시술 

WSJ   8/6/24(Tue) 

• In March, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink introduced its first human trial participant, a quadriplegic who showed the world how he could control a computer cursor with just his thoughts. In early August, Musk said that the company had recently implanted its device in a second patient.
• Neuralink’s fully implantable, wireless device—if it proves safe during clinical trials—would be a major upgrade on older technology, returning function to thousands of disabled individuals who have lost it.
• The company’s first trial participant, Noland Arbaugh, noticed about a month after his January surgery that the performance of his Neuralink implant had declined. 

Neuralink Implant

WSJ 8/6/24

WSJ Probe Uncovers Details of Tesla’s Autopilot Risks

 월스트릿저널이 테슬라의자율운전의 실체 파악

WSJ     8/1/24(Thu) 

• To understand safety issues surrounding Tesla’s Autopilot, The Wall Street Journal undertook a comprehensive analysis of crash data, uncovering previously obscured details by combining heavily redacted federal filings with local police records.

– Autopilot struggles with obstacles

– Autopilot crashes also involve veering

– NHTSA findings echo WSJ analysis

– Tesla and NHTSA withhold information from the public

– Tesla has reported over 1,200 Autopilot-related crashes to NHTSA since 2021

– Tesla tightly controls access to crash data

• Getting full details of what the cameras record and how they process those images to make Autopilot work requires expert access to the vehicle’s computer. Tesla says it shares information when required by police or in lawsuits.