U.S. Existing Home Sales Jump More Than Expected In May

With purchasing power bolstered by falling mortgage rates, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Friday showing a bigger than expected jump in U.S. existing home sales in the month of May.

NAR said existing home sales surged up by 2.5 percent to an annual rate of 5.34 million in April, while revised data showed existing home sales in April were unchanged at a rate of 5.21 million.

Economists had expected existing home sales to increase by 1.2 percent to a rate of 5.25 million from the 5.19 million originally reported for the previous month.

“The purchasing power to buy a home has been bolstered by falling mortgage rates, and buyers are responding,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The report said the median existing home price for all housing types was $277,700 in May, up 4 percent from $266,900 in April and up 4.8 percent from $265,100 in May of 2018.

Total housing inventory increased to 1.92 million existing homes available for sale at the end of May, representing 4.3 months of supply at the current sales pace.

NAR said single-family home sales spiked by 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.75 million, while existing condominium and co-op sales jumped by 1.7 percent to a rate of 590,000.

Next Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of May.

Why do airlines overbook flights?

Airlines have been deliberately overbooking flights for decades. Following the deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, airlines have become incentivized to increase the number of passengers on their flights.

They identified one big missed opportunity for more revenue – all those sold but empty seats. Airlines now use sophisticated AI driven revenue management systems to choose which seats to oversell.

Even with the use of artificial intelligence, last year planes were flying on average with almost 20% of its seats empty.

Watch the video to see the full story.

Minister suspended after grabbing protester

Foreign Office minister Mark Field is suspended after he was filmed forcefully throwing a climate change protester out of a black tie dinner. Also, the US president says his military was “cocked and loaded” before he called off a strike on Iran.

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'Seige and starve': Syrian refugees trying to survive

The opposition accuses the government of using a tactic employed throughout eight years of war – to siege and starve people into submission.

The opposition in Syria is accusing the government of using “siege and starve” tactics, to force war refugees from a camp in the desert.

Around 14,000 people have left Rukban camp in the past three months.

It’s unclear how many of the remaining 27,000 are ready to return to government-controlled territories.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports.

Cardi B Indicted On Felony Assault Charges Following Strip Club Brawl: Reports

Cardi B was indicted Friday on multiple felony charges related to a brawl at a New York strip club last August, according to news reports.

The rapper was arrested late last year and charged with two misdemeanors over the fight at Angels Strip Club on Aug. 29. She allegedly ordered an attack on two women, according to TMZ.

She was reportedly indicted Friday on 14 charges, including felony assault, conspiracy and harassment.

Cardi reportedly rejected a plea deal early on, which would have allowed her to avoid jail time if she pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor.

Prosecutors found new information in the case last month and decided to put it in front of a grand jury, they told TMZ.

Cardi’s lawyer maintains that she didn’t harm anybody, according to CBS. Police say the incident began when Cardi and others with her started an argument with a female bartender at the strip club. A brawl broke out that included people throwing hookah pipes, bottles and chairs.

Cardi’s next hearing date is Aug. 9, and a judge granted an order of protection for the complainants in the case.

CarMax Inc. Reveals Advance In Q1 Profit

CarMax Inc. (KMX) released earnings for its first quarter that increased from the same period last year.

The company’s earnings totaled $266.74 million, or $1.59 per share. This compares with $238.66 million, or $1.33 per share, in last year’s first quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.47 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 12.1% to $5.37 billion from $4.79 billion last year.

CarMax Inc. earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q1): $266.74 Mln. vs. $238.66 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q1): $1.59 vs. $1.33 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $1.47
-Revenue (Q1): $5.37 Bln vs. $4.79 Bln last year.

Formula One: Ferrari request to review Vettel penalty rejected

LE CASTELLET, France (AFP) – Ferrari’s request to be granted a review of the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory at the Canadian Grand Prix was rejected on Friday (June 21).

A hearing called by the stewards of the Montreal race, held between practice sessions at the French Grand Prix, rejected the Italian team’s claims that they had convincing new evidence.

Dow’s gain belies decidedly negative market breadth

The minor gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.17% and the declines in the Arms Indexes, belie the clearly negative breadth in the overall stock market. The Dow was up 14 points, with 14 of its 30 components gaining ground. Meanwhile, the number of declining stocks outnumbered advancers 1,714 to 903 on the NYSE and 1,884 to 763 on the Nasdaq exchange. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.01% fell 0.1%, the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.01% shed 0.3% and the Russell 2000 RUT, -0.86% dropped 0.9%. The volume in declining stocks represented 62.1% of total volume on the Big Board and 58.6% of total volume on the Nasdaq. The Arms Index, a volume-weighted breadth indicator that tends to rise above 1.000 when stocks fall, slipped to 0.900 on the NYSE and fell to 0.595 on the Nasdaq.