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New Home Sales Unexpectedly Plunged In May As Prices Surged

With Case-Shiller reporting existing home price declines in half of America's largest cities, New Home Sales were expected to rebound from April's ugly decline.

But they didn't... at all...

NAR reports that New Home Sales in May plunged 7.3% MoM (versus the 3.2% MoM rise expected). That print was below the lowest analysts forecast.

April's 6.2% MoM plunge was revised up modestly to a 5.7% decline, all of which left new home sales down on a YoY basis...

Overall, new home sales have really gone nowhere for four years (but on the bright side, they are not as bad as existing- and pending-home-sales)...

It seems lower mortgage rates (admittedly having risen for the last month) did nothing to help move new home sales...

Finally, while existing home prices are lower, median new home price rose 2.0% MoM to $424,900, unchanged YoY...

Average and median new home prices continue to diverge as sales of ultra-expensive homes drag the average higher even as median price is dropping...

The biggest two-month jump in median new home prices in four years is more than offsetting any gains from lower mortgage rates. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 10:10

The singer surprised audiences with a performance of "Love Story" at the Nashville event wearing a custom Monse creation.

The singer surprised audiences with a performance of "Love Story" at the Nashville event wearing a custom Monse creation.

Francisco "Frankie" Lombardo described the "f--king weird" way he and Bunnie Xo got together -- and detailed their "nightmare" breakup.

Francisco "Frankie" Lombardo described the "f--king weird" way he and Bunnie Xo got together -- and detailed their "nightmare" breakup.

New York is aiming to fix a few things: decode food date labels for shoppers, stop food waste, and save New Yorkers money.

The BetMGM bonus code NYPNEWSGET unlocks a welcome offer for the World Cup.

Switzerland and Canada will battle for first place on Wednesday.

Najor said she has not booked a trip without telling her husband, Nick Barber, since that one fight.

Republican voters are deeply torn over the preliminary peace deal with Iran, and a plurality outright calls it a "bad deal" when presented with specifics, a new poll has found.

The second round of the 2026 NBA Draft goes off on Wednesday — and there's plenty of talent left on the board.

The Texas camp where 28 people including 25 young girls died in catastrophic flash flooding last July has declared bankruptcy amid mounting debts over $10 million, the New York Times reports.

She called the deeply discounted formula "brilliant."

She called the deeply discounted formula "brilliant."

'Customers Are Being Gouged': Trump Tells DOJ To Look Into Gasoline Prices

President Trump said on Wednesday that he had instructed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into oil companies over high gasoline prices.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said that oil companies have not lowered their prices at the pump despite a recent decline in crude prices following the U.S.–Iran preliminary agreement.

“Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,’” he said.

“Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

Brent crude futures fell below $75 per barrel on Wednesday (back near pre-war levels), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped to $72.29, amid the resumption of shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bloomberg's energy guru, Javier Blas, remarked after President Trump's post: 

"US President Trump, all political theatre, has just discovered the refining (and marketing) margin."

The national average price for regular gasoline stood at $3.93 per gallon on June 23, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), down from $4.04 the previous week.

The gas price was $4.53 per gallon a month ago.

Of course, given the supply/refinery chain, it takes time (two weeks) for crude prices to ripple through to pump prices...

AAA said it observed that gas prices remain above the levels before the conflict with Iran erupted in February.

The national average price for regular gas was $2.98 on Feb. 28, the day when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran, triggering the war.

“Getting prices back down to prewar levels will take longer because of the time it takes to resume shipping and production,” Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho, said in a statement.

As Aldgra Fredly reports for The Epoch Times, US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding last week to end the war. Under the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz would be fully reopened, and Tehran would not procure or develop a nuclear weapon. The United States also agreed to waive sanctions on Iranian oil for 60 days.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told ABC News on June 21 that commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had returned to normal levels, and that Americans should expect further declines in oil, gasoline, and other energy prices as traffic resumed.

“Flows of oil and natural gas through the straits have already returned to normal, and they will continue that way whatever happens with the negotiations with the Iranians,” he said.

Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, said on June 23 that more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the region due to war would be evacuated under a coordinated effort with Iran, Oman, other coastal states in the region, the United States, and the maritime industry following the U.S.–Iran preliminary deal.

“We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” Dominguez said in a statement.

Iran had previously blocked traffic in the Strait of Hormuz—a critical waterway through which a significant share of global oil and gas shipments passes—in response to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on its nuclear and military sites.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 09:25

Early Christmas gifts, anyone?

Uh-Oh, Silver!

Authored by Adam Sharp via DailyReckoning.com,

One year ago, silver was trading at around $36 per ounce.

Today the price is around $60. Normally, that’d be considered a win.

But over those 12 months, we silver bugs have been on a wild ride.

Simply incredible price action. From $36 to $119 in about 8 months. And now back down to $66.

I believe the silver bull market still has years to run. Maybe even another decade.

Today, let’s explore why.

+$16 Since 1980?

Silver first reached $50 way back in 1980.

Of course, silver’s miraculous 1971-1980 run wasn’t totally natural. The famous Hunt brothers had cornered a big chunk of the silver market, controlling roughly 9% of investable silver through physical ownership and futures contracts.

But silver would have done well during the 1970s even without the Hunt Brothers. That year inflation peaked at around 14.8%.

Investors sought refuge from stagflation in precious metals. And gold and silver were the star sector of the 1970s.

It’s wild that silver is still only $16 above the 1980 peak.

This Isn’t 1980

1980 represented a peak for gold and silver that would last decades.

Some precious metal investors may be concerned that we’re seeing a similar peak today.

But what caused the 1980 peak? Two factors dominated.

In 1971, Nixon ended the last remnants of the gold standard. The U.S. dollar was no longer bound by a fixed relationship to gold.

The 1970s gold and silver bull market was primarily driven by this massive shift to purely fiat money. It was a classic devaluation of hard money into fiat.

By 1980, the Petrodollar arrangement, in which oil producers agreed to only sell oil in dollars, had restored demand for U.S. dollars on the global stage.

Additionally, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker finally resolved to kill persistent inflation by hiking interest rates to nearly 20%. These sky-high rates finally tamed inflation.

By 1980, the U.S. had eliminated the inflationary threat, and set itself up for a period of strong growth.

In 1980, stocks were dirt cheap and poised to outperform precious metals for some time to come.

A Different World

Looking back at the 1970s can be helpful at times. It was one of the greatest hard asset bull markets in history.

But it was a different kind of crisis compared to the issues we face today.

For decades the world has been on an unprecedented debt binge. Governments, corporations, and individuals have all run up huge tabs.

The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio today is over 125%. From 1970-1980, it never surpassed 40%.

Having so much debt limits the policy options of central banks like the Federal Reserve. You can’t exactly jack rates up much higher than they are today, or soon we’ll be spending a majority of tax revenue just paying the interest on our debt. Much of the world is in a similar situation.

So I continue to believe that eventually the Fed and Treasury Department will be forced to use extreme measures. Money printing and debt monetization on a scale never seen before.

That’s a primary reason I believe the precious metals bull isn’t over. Not even close.

Finding Its New Range

Silver has fallen significantly from its 2026 highs. But the long-term trend remains up.

Silver only broke through the historic $50/oz resistance wall late last year.

Breaking the $50 level, and staying above it, was a huge milestone. And silver continues to find its new range.

Silver demand remains strong, with 2026 deficits estimated to be significantly above the 2025 shortfall.

Silver being in “deficit” simply means that more is being consumed than produced. And as you can tell, we’ve been in a serious silver deficit since 2021.

Now, it’s important to note that earlier estimates had predicted a significantly smaller silver deficit in 2026. But strong demand for coins and bars, especially in Asia, made the difference.

Inventories at major exchanges like the COMEX have fallen below 100 million ounces, from a high of 300 million in 2020.

Industrial and investment demand for silver remain strong. I expect both to stay robust for years to come.

Silver production from mines remains essentially flat. Recycling is up, which is one of the reasons for this correction. Millions took advantage of the price spike to sell the family silver.

But the global debt bubble is still inflating. Massive amounts of money will need to be printed to patch holes in it.

So I’m holding. Silver is destined to hit $200 within the next few years. We’ve never had this much industrial demand, and savvy investors will buy the dip. I even expect that more global governments will begin stockpiling the metal, as both the U.S. and China have recognized silver as a critical strategic metal.

Silver remains an excellent way to hedge against inflation. It’s also a critical metal for bleeding-edge tech.

“Poor man’s gold” will remain highly volatile, but as long as you can stomach that, I say buy the dip. Cautious investors may want to consider spreading their buys out over time (dollar-cost averaging), in case we haven’t bottomed quite yet.

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 09:10

Across the pond, Brits are taking to TikTok — in earnest — revealing that the media in other countries “paint this weird narrative” about Uncle Sam.

Jones, who was on "SNL" from 2014 to 2019, said she was consistently cast as characters who were "beating up people or in love with a white boy."

Jones, who was on "SNL" from 2014 to 2019, said she was consistently cast as characters who were "beating up people or in love with a white boy."