The housing market is in year FOUR of its slowdown — and real estate agents are finally hitting the wall. 🏠
The numbers are brutal:
→ NAR membership down to 1.4M from a peak of 1.6M
→ Only 71% of agents say real estate is their only job — the lowest on record
→ A new agent last year averaged just 3 deals and earned $8,100
→ Mortgage industry employment is down nearly 40% from its 2021 peak
One Texas broker opened her firm in 2023, built a team of 13 agents, and shut it down this spring. Her husband had to take a school district job just to pay the bills.
This isn't just a real estate problem. It hits appraisers, photographers, home-warranty sellers, appliance makers — anyone whose livelihood depends on homes changing hands.
High rates. High prices. AI is making it easier to go without an agent. And last year's existing-home sales pace was the worst since 1982 as a share of households.
If you know someone in the industry, check in on them. It's a tough season. 💙
🚀 A "very rough day" for Blue Origin. 💥
Jeff Bezos’ space venture suffered a major setback last night after an uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad during a critical hot-fire test in Florida.
Video captured by NASASpaceflight shows the 29-story rocket igniting before erupting into a massive fireball, sending a towering plume of flames into the night sky.
Here is what we know so far:
Safety First: Blue Origin confirmed the "anomaly" but stated that all personnel have been safely accounted for.
The Reaction: Jeff Bezos took to X, saying, "Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it."
Billionaire Solidarity: Even rival Elon Musk chimed in, responding to the video with: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”
The Stakes: This is a big blow to Blue Origin as it races to compete with SpaceX's Falcon and Starship fleets. The rocket was recently being prepared to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites to rival Musk’s Starlink network.
NASA’s Play: NASA is tracking the incident closely. While they just awarded Blue Origin a $188 million contract this week for lunar rovers, officials say they will investigate the impact this might have on future Artemis moon missions.
Spaceflight is incredibly unforgiving, but as the industry always says, you test to failure so you can fly safely later.
👇 Watch the footage and read the full breakdown of what this means for the billionaire space race in the comments.

A million potential buyers have ditched the new-car market since 2020, The Wall Street Journal reports. Americans are proving hesitant to splurge as gas prices, interest rates, and inflation all remain stubbornly elevated. General Motors and Ford are just two of the major automakers who are expecting their sales to fall or flatline this year. Industry experts say it could be 2030 or later before new-car sales climb back to their 2020 levels — a situation Volvo CCO Erik Severinson calls "a real threat to the whole industry."

In the fight for AI supremacy, Anthropic just got the upper hand. The company's valuation hit $900 billion in its latest funding round, surpassing OpenAI. Anthropic is now worth $965 billion, including $65 billion in additional investment. It also launched a new flagship model, Opus 4.8, for its Claude chatbot. The artificial intelligence lab said its annual revenue run rate now exceeds $47 billion, as it experiences unprecedented demand for its technology. Major tech firms, including Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, are helping bolster Anthropic's growth.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation increased 3.8% on an annual basis last month, in line with analysts' expectations, data out Thursday showed. The rise of the personal consumption expenditures price index marked the fastest yearly acceleration since May 2023. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 3.3% year-over-year. A month earlier, that figure was up just 0.2%. The Commerce Department's report is the first of its kind since Kevin Warsh was sworn in as Fed chair earlier this month.

Best Buy's fiscal first-quarter results exceeded expectations, with revenue reaching $8.94 billion and adjusted earnings per share at $1.28. Growth was mainly driven by gaming, computing, and mobile phones, while appliance sales fell. Company veteran Jason Bonfig will be looking to juice sales even more when he takes over as CEO in October. The chain has struggled recently with the impact of tariffs and diminished consumer confidence. Best Buy, like many other retailers, including Target and Walmart, is getting an ever-growing boost from its advertising and marketplace businesses.

Israel-based tech firm Wix is making previous rumblings of job cuts official. On Thursday, CEO Avishai Abrahami confirmed on LinkedIn that the company will be reducing its workforce by 20%, affecting over 1,000 jobs. Abrahami pointed to the rapid evolution of AI and the strengthening Israeli shekel against the dollar as driving factors. The company, which trades on the Nasdaq, aims to restructure for quicker decision-making. The move aligns Wix with a broader trend in the tech industry, where firms are reducing headcounts to adapt to AI advancements.

National Public Radio has laid off 10 journalists and offered buyouts to 18 staff members as part of cost-cutting measures driven by recent federal funding cuts to public broadcasting. The reductions, amounting to 4% of all newsroom and podcast staff, aim to save $8 million in response to a projected $15 million drop in member station fees. Veteran journalists who accepted buyouts include national political correspondent Don Gonyea, managing editor Vickie Walton-James, and investigations correspondent Joe Shapiro.

As rising airfares and hotel rates impact travel plans, budget-conscious consumers are delaying or canceling trips, while wealthier travelers continue to vacation. A recent Deloitte survey indicates that 45% of Americans have made summer travel plans, the fewest in six years, with middle-income travelers most affected. Many are waiting for prices to drop or choosing closer, cheaper destinations. Government data show that airfares were up more than 20% in April compared with the previous year.

Dell saw its stock skyrocket in after-hours trading on Thursday after raising its annual revenue and profit forecasts, reflecting strong demand for AI servers. The company's first-quarter revenue rose 88% year over year, significantly outpacing analyst estimates, while its infrastructure solutions group reported a 181% increase in revenue. Dell also upped its expected AI server revenue for the 2027 fiscal year to $60 billion from $50 billion, with its full-year sales now expected to come in between $165 billion and $169 billion.

A software engineer employed by Google stands accused by the federal government of insider trading on the crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket. According to a complaint, an Italian citizen who has worked at the Alphabet-owned tech giant since 2014 made more than $1 million betting that Google's most-searched person in 2025 would be D4vdon, a singer who pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The case follows similar charges against a high-ranking member of the U.S. military, accused of using classified information to make $400,000 on Polymarket.

Apple is expected to debut iOS 27 at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month. But Bloomberg got a sneak preview of the new operating system, which includes AI-powered web search and enhancements to the polarizing Liquid Glass design. Another new feature? A "dedicated Siri app" is intended to put Apple in direct competition with ChatGPT. The iPhone maker has a lot riding on iOS 27, Bloomberg notes: After many of the features were delayed in 2024, Apple has been fighting a widespread perception that it's behind on AI.

🎶 Ever heard of "432 Hz" music? It’s taking over streaming playlists, and people swear it’s the ultimate hack for focus, anxiety, and chronic pain. 🧠✨

Here is the twist: modern music is standardly tuned to 440 Hz. Dropping it to 432 Hz makes the notes sound slightly lower, warmer, and smoother.

🔬 What does science say? Experts say there is zero robust evidence that 432 Hz has "healing powers" or is the "frequency of the universe." In fact, instruments today are literally built to sound best at 440 Hz.

🤷‍♂️ But does the science actually matter? For listeners dealing with ADHD, migraines, or high-stress jobs, the answer is a hard no. Whether it's a placebo effect or just the soothing vibe of a slightly deeper tone, people are using it to: