Good morning everyone. With Grexit fears sinking in once again, traders sold off shares in the U.S. and sent the S&P 500 down 0.7%. All isn’t so bad though, America’s first quarter contraction has practically been revised away, and millenials have finally joined the housing market, bumping first-time home buyers to 32% of all existing home sales in May.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Asian futures trade mixed. Future contracts on Asia’s largest equity markets traded mixed recently with the Nikkei falling at least 0.2% in Osaka while the FTSE China A50 Index soared 0.8%. Bloomberg
Traffickers smuggling 40-year old meat busted. As if the nation’s recent food safety scandals weren’t enough, Chinese regulators have recently busted an international smuggling ring trying to sneak in 100,000 tons of meat, with some of the products reportedly over 40-years old. One Chinese official didn’t enjoy the experience: “(t)he products fully filled an entire compartment. It was smelly, and I nearly threw up when I opened the door.” MarketWatch
Repo market needs more work says NY Fed. After seeing liquidity evaporate prior to and during the Bear Sterns-Lehman Brothers incidents, the Fed has boosted its efforts to eliminate risk in the short-term funding market, but apparently, it won’t be done this year: “completion of the movement of all general collateral finance repo trades to late afternoon settlement, to avoid the need of clearing-bank credit, won’t likely be achieved this year” Bloomberg
No more “Orange is the New Black” for Carl Icahn. Activist investor Icahn sold the rest of his Netflix stake. Apple now offers the opportunity that Netflix did years ago, Icahn tweeted. Icahn’s firm had almost 1.4 million Netflix shares at the end of Q1. Reuters
Boston bomber apologizes. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the condemned Boston Marathon bomber, apologized to his victims and asked Allah for mercy in a Boston courthouse Wednesday. Tsarnaev is the first person to be sentenced to death in a federal terrorism case since the September 11 attacks. CNN
Play it again, Sam. The Republican Party has yet another candidate in the ring for 2016. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced his bid for the White House Wednesday. In an off-beat approach, Jindal made his announcement through a video of he and his wife telling their kids the news. Mother Jones
“To Kill a Mockingbird” sales surge. Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been blessed with a resurgence in anticipation of Lee’s new book. “Go Set a Watchman,” a sequel to Mockingbird, is due out July 14. WSJ
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