Commissions conspiracy

Plus, Apple launch event

01 Nov

*past 24-hour performance

  • Apple launch event: Apple (AAPL) unveiled new M3 chip-equipped iMacs and MacBook Pros during its "Scary Fast" launch event, introducing features like improved CPU and GPU performance, Mini LED displays, and up to 128GB of unified memory. (Verge)

  • JetBlue & Spirit antitrust trial begins: A DOJ lawyer is urging a federal judge to block JetBlue Airways' (JBLU) planned $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) at the start of closely-watched antitrust trial. (CNBC)

  • 20-city home price index up 2.2% year-over-year: Home prices in the 20 biggest U.S. metros rose for the sixth month in a row, as the housing market continues to deal with a shortage of homes for sale. (MarketWatch)

  • REITs making moves: Healthpeak Properties (PEAK) and Physicians Realty Trust (DOC) are combining in an all-stock merger valued at $21 billion. (WSJ)

  • REITs making moves part II: Realty Income (O) said it will buy Spirit Realty Capital (SRC) in an all-stock deal valued at $9.3 billion as it looks to expand its real estate portfolio. Spirit Realty shares are up 13% on the deal. (Reuters)

  • 100 satellite deal: The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency announced $1.3 billion in contracts to York Space and Northrop Grumman (NOC) to build communications satellites. (Payload)

  • Vineyard takeover: Treasury Wine Estates, a publicly listed Australian wine producer whose brands include Penfolds, agreed to buy Paso Robles, Calif.-based Daou Vineyards for upwards of $1 billion. (Axios)

  • Real estate stocks plummet: A federal jury on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors and large residential brokerages liable for ~$1.8 billion (and potentially much more) in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high. (Housing Wire)

    • Shares of real estate stocks plunged as a result: Opendoor Technologies (OPEN; -9%), Zillow Group (ZG; -7%), Redfin (RDFN; -6%), RE/MAX (RMAX; -4%)

  • Off the wall: VF Corp. (VFC), stumbled 14% after it pulled its annual guidance, slashed its dividend and said it would replace the president of the Vans brand. The company has recently come under pressure from activist investor Engaged Capital. (Yahoo)

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The sales pitch for an 8% mortgage: Buy now, refinance later—for free: Lenders are making these offers because the market for mortgages cratered as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to two-decade highs to tame inflation. ​ The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 7.79%, according to Freddie Mac. But is it a good deal for buyers? Read more »

This would change homebuying forever: Two decades after companies like Zillow and Trulia revolutionized home search, the rest of the process remains pretty much the same. The next big change: "the Amazon of real estate." Read more »

US department of labor’s new proposed retirement security rule: The proposed rule would protect retirement savings from being jeopardized by harmful junk fees caused by increased costs and lost returns that can result from conflicts of interest. Read more »

  • In Texas, Bitcoin springs from gas wells (WSJ)

  • Andreessen Horowitz prepares its next $3.4 billion mega-fund (Axios)

  • TikTok: The junk is winning (The Atlantic)

  • Home schooling’s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education (Washington Post)

  • How Larry Gagosian Reshaped the Art World (New Yorker)

  • Happy Birthday Bitcoin (Blockworks)

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