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Politics

Worst Debate Ever

At least we know their (alleged) handicaps…

The first of two presidential debates is officially in the books. So, what did we think? President Biden is three years and seven months older than Donald Trump. But watching the two on Thursday night, didn’t that gap feel more like a valley? There was certainly plenty of concern coming out of the debate about the democratic side. Is Biden still the best option? Was his ship sunk on Thursday? Should Gavin Newsome be kept on speed dial?

In Biden’s defense, he did seem to bounce back better the following day in North Carolina (in an entirely different environment), which helped settle some of the murky waters for his supporters. 

Trump, meanwhile, seemed to win the battle, despite avoiding direct answers to most of the questions. He did deliver a vicious blow after one particular ramble from Biden, which shot him up the odds board to win the election. And yet, in the end, the hottest button issue of the night seemed to be their golf games.

51 million Americans watched the debate. Which is a lot of people, but the fewest for a debate in 20 years. So maybe many are fatigued by the sad state of our nation’s politics at the highest level. 

A common refrain after Thursday was that there were no winners, and that America was really the big loser in all of this. Like something out of Seinfeld - we’re all apparent losers. Or maybe Billy Madison is more apropos. Meanwhile, Mark Cuban used Grok to analyze the debate and provide an interesting breakdown here. For an encore, these two will debate again on September 10th, for the final time prior to the election.

Business

Hurricane Season is Here

Seriously what kind of name is Beryl though?

We now have our second named storm of 2024, as Hurricane Beryl is set to hit the Caribbean this morning. The storm strengthened from a tropical depression to a hurricane within 24 hours. And not just any Hurricane, but also a category 4 hurricane - meaning winds of 140+ MPH. Residents were warned to finish up prep as soon as possible, as the storm rapidly barreled towards them. 

This is the first storm to EVER move from a tropical depression to a major hurricane (category 3 or stronger) prior to September. And according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University, this is the first major hurricane (category 3 or stronger) on record east of the Lesser Antilles during June (when this storm first began). 

Beryl is also the Atlantic Basin’s earliest category 4 Hurricane on record, beating Hurricane Dennis, which was a category 4 hurricane on July 8, 2005. The average date of the first such storm is August 11th. So this is well ahead of schedule, which could be very foreboding for the type of Hurricane season it might be this year. This continues the trend of crazy weather in recent years.

Beryl formed farther east than any other June hurricane since records began in the mid-1800s. The previous record was Hurricane Two, which formed on the coast of South America in 1933. No part of America, or its territories, are under watch at this time. We’ll be thinking of everyone in the Caribbean and certainly will be hoping for the best. 

Finance

Nike Dropping Fast

The wrong kind of record to break.

Nike just made history for the wrong reasons. Their stock plummeted following the forecast of a drop in sales, prompting the single worst day in their stock’s history. This entailed losses that wiped out $28.4 billion (20%) from their market valuation. 

This came as a surprise, as analysts had estimated a 1% percent rise in revenue for Nike. However, on Thursday, the company projected a fall in 2025 revenue of about 4-6%. Nike also dragged down others with them, as JD Sports (a British sportswear retailer) lost 5.4% at Friday’s close and Puma fell 1%.

Nike’s US market share has fallen from 35.4% in 2021 to, most recently, 34.9% in 2023. Meanwhile, other sporting goods brands, such as Hoka, Asics, New Balance and On, account for 35% of the global market now, compared to just 20% in 2020. So, long story short, the competition has been closing in on Nike. 

Nike launched a $2 billion cost-cutting plan late last year, which included a new product lineup set to feature new sneakers that cost under $100. Many have also wondered if a management shake up is possible in the near future too. 

BMO Capital Markets analyst Simeon Siegel said, “This is still Nike, and we expect their size and scale to prove a long-term competitive advantage, but the burden of proof [is] on management execution at this point.” When it comes to buying Nike sneakers, people aren’t “just do(ing) it” like they used to.

Business

Realtors, What Do They Really Do

Class Action law suit leads to new rules

Changes are coming to real estate agent fees that should help all buyers and sellers. Americans have long been paying some of the highest real estate agent commissions in the world, amounting to roughly $100 billion annually! 

But following multiple class action lawsuits, and a recent settlement, that is now set to change. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has agreed to pay more than $400 million in damages and to rewrite its current agent commission fee rules. 

Typically, the commission fee is 5-6% of the home value, with the amount paid out of the seller’s pocket and split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. But, starting this month, brokers can not be listed on Multiple Listing Services and the buyer-side agent has to enter into written agreements with their buyers.

Buyer agents will no longer be able to see the commission that sellers are offering (the database, Multiple Listing Service, previously listed this information) and will have to get their commission from the buyer, not the seller. The concern was that the broker’s interest wasn’t aligned with the buyer’s interest, and instead was driven by the commission fee at times. Which certainly isn’t a stretch to believe.  

Sports

Olympics Are Here

But it’s a bad year to be a swimmer.

You have to deal with a lot of things in order to become an Olympic medalist. Training (some say it takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to reach Olympic standards), you must be able to avoid serious injuries, eat well, take care of your body, outdo essentially every other athlete in your sport in the world and, for some… apparently E. Coli too.

Paris is ready to hold the summer olympics later this month, but apparently the Seine River isn’t. The Seine River is supposed to host various open-water swimming events. The problem? There are still dangerous levels of E. Coli in its water. 

E. Coli, as we’re sure you’re aware, can cause some serious digestive issues if ingested. Along with UTI’s, pneumonia and sepsis. Now imagine swimming in that water, after years of training to finally be able to reach and compete in the Olympics. And that’s what you’ll have to jump into. 

Not to mention the fact that swimming in the river has been illegal since 1923. For over 100 years. And now, suddenly, this seems like a good idea. For the Olympics, nonetheless. 

Without getting bogged down in the data, the E. Coli levels are twice as high as they’d need to be for the river to be considered “good water quality.” So there’s still plenty of work to be done. Paris has already spent $1.5 billion in an attempt to clean up the river’s water. 

A lot of kids grow up holding their noses when they jump into water. Or taking a deep breath, before submerging under water, cheeks filled with air, afraid to open their mouths. Those types of swimmers might fare best later this month in Paris…

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