Mortgage rates as low as 4 percent are still not motivating enough buyers to commit to home ownership, indicating the American housing market has more troubles than just too-high interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Yes, the rich are getting richer, and the middle class is shrinking. And as for young Americans having trouble finding decent paying jobs, this is part of a mega-trend that is shaping the economic future.
LIQUIDITY ADDICTION DESTRUCTION (BLOWOUT… HOLLOW-OUT)
Weakening the dollar helps service US debt, but pushes trade blocs to settle outside the dollar. With that, lower external USD demand = more of our own debt must be held internally/absorbed into The System.
HUMANOIDS, FROM CURVY TO HULKISH
Humanoid robots aren’t being developed to simply act as sophisticated tools or ultimate smart appliances for human consumers.
IDF LAWYERS WARNED ABOUT EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES IN GAZA
Top IDF lawyers expressed concerns over the Israeli military’s actions inside Gaza during the course of the two-year genocide and warned that evidence was emerging that could link the Israelis to war crimes, Reuters reported, citing five former U.S. officials.
CONSUMER SENTIMENT NEARS RECORD LOW
Americans’ outlook on the nation’s economy is within reach of a record low set during the COVID War, the University of Michigan’s twice-monthly survey of consumer sentiment discovered.
Global Economy
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that have profoundly affected the business community this year.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS, JOBS GO WITH IT
As AI continues to take over human jobs, IBM announced a restructuring to focus on software development, cloud services and AI, which could result in 2,700 to 5,000 layoffs.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Civitas Resources and SM Energy are merging in an all-stock deal worth $13 billion that will create a major natural gas producer in the shale-rich Permian Basin underlying Texas and New Mexico.
The Israel War
GAZA DEATH TOLL
At least 69,179 Palestinians have been killed by Israel inside Gaza since October 2023 and 170,693, have been injured.
ARAB STATES CONCERNED ABOUT TRUMP’S PLAN FOR A ‘NEW GAZA’ THAT WILL ESSENTIALLY CUT ENCLAVE IN HALF
Arab countries are growing more concerned about the U.S.-Israeli idea of essentially cutting Gaza in half to form a “New Gaza” in the enclave’s east, where IDF troops have been stationed behind a Yellow Line, while Palestinians continue to live in the western part of the enclave.
IDF LAWYERS WARNED ABOUT EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES IN GAZA
Top IDF lawyers expressed concerns over the Israeli military’s actions inside Gaza during the course of the two-year genocide and warned that evidence was emerging that could link the Israelis to war crimes, Reuters reported, citing five former U.S. officials.
Trends in AI
CHINA WILL WIN AI RACE, NVIDIA BOSS SAYS
“China is going to win the AI race,” Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, the world’s leading AI chip maker, said last week in a Financial Times interview during the news service’s Future of AI Summit in London.
DO AI MODELS HAVE A DRIVE TO SURVIVE?
Some AI models refuse to shut themselves off even when they’re told to do so in no uncertain terms, according to a new study by nonprofit Palisades Research, a firm studying AI safety and whether people can control it.
AI GENERAL INTELLIGENCE IS ALREADY HERE, INDUSTRY PIONEERS SAY
ChatGPT and its rivals are “generative” AI, responding to requests and instructions by matching patterns they find on the Internet, a high-tech version of monkey-see, monkey-do.
Hi-Tech Science
A NEW APPROACH CURES ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN MICE
An experiment at Spain’s Institute for Bioengineering in Catalonia has used nanoparticles to reverse Alzheimer's Disease in mice. Instead of carrying drugs, the particles themselves were the cure.
TOYOTA’S CHAIR WALKS, KNEELS, AND CLIMBS STAIRS
Toyota’s “Walk Me” chair, introduced at the Japan Mobility Show 2025, might make wheelchairs obsolete.
SYNTHETIC PROTEINS THAT STORE AND CARRY ELECTRICITY
Researchers at the Basque Region’s Cooperative Research Center in Biomaterials have engineered proteins that carry electricity like a wire and store charge like a battery.
