🏠 Home prices continue to rise

👷‍♀️ While finding a job is the hardest it's been in years

Yesterday, we wrapped up our three-part series on one of the most enigmatic and lucrative asset classes: Litigation finance.

Check out the trilogy:

Masterworks just sold 006 by Jean-Michel Basquiat for $8 million.

This is their 23rd exit, but their first ever Basquiat exit, and it delivered their second-largest payout to date.

Over 2,000 investors are getting a payout this week. Masterworks has distributed back over $60 million in total proceeds across 15,000+ payouts.

The Dow eked out another record high as investors await Nvidia's upcoming earnings report.
- The blue-chip index claimed a second consecutive record close, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose about 0.2%.
US home prices hit a record high in June, with a 0.2% increase in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, marking the fifth straight monthly rise.
Former President Donald Trump faced a revised federal indictment accusing him of attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed the Biden administration pressured the company to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic.

Forecasts via Kalshi, the prediction market.

American home prices continue going up and to the right despite mortgage rates remaining over 7%.

Get $20 free shares at public.com using code ALTSCO.

Earnings, upgrades, and acquisitions

Bank of Montreal failed to meet analysts’ estimates as shares slumped 2.6%.
Nordstrom reported better-than-expected Q2 sales growth of 3.2%; shares surged 11%.
Box reported results in line with estimates, with revenue up 3.3% year-over-year, lifting shares 8.29%.

Market movers

Meta shuttered its augmented reality studio for third-party creators, shifting resources to "next-generation experiences."
Self-driving truck company TuSimple settled a shareholder fraud lawsuit for $189 million.
A federal judge dismissed a proposed class action claiming X (formerly Twitter) targeted female employees for layoffs under Elon Musk.
Intel board member Lip-Bu Tan quit over disagreements about the company's bloated workforce and lagging AI strategy.
The US commodity regulator fined TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA $48 million for attempted market manipulation of European gasoline futures.

Americans grew more pessimistic about the job market, with only 32.8% saying jobs are "plentiful".
Oil prices surged 3.5% due to production halts in Libya and escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
Former President Trump's lead over Vice President Harris on the economy narrowed to 3 points, with both tied at 40% on crime.
American support for Ukraine increased, with 48% wanting to support Ukraine as long as the conflict lasts.

🇺🇦 🇺🇸 Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he will present his peace plan to President Biden next month to end the war with Russia.
🇮🇱 Israeli special forces rescued a hostage from a tunnel in southern Gaza, leaving 108 hostages still in captivity.
🇨🇳 Chinese hackers exploited a vulnerability in Versa Networks software to compromise internet companies in the US and India.
🇪🇸 A Spanish police boat appeared to run over a dinghy carrying four people approaching Melilla.
🇫🇷 France announced it will trial a school mobile phone ban for children under 15.
🇩🇪 A 26-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker turned himself in to German police, claiming responsibility for the Solingen knife attack.

Former President Trump launched a new NFT series, "America First," a collection of Bitcoin-themed digital cards.
BlackRock listed its iShares Ethereum Trust on Brazil's B3 exchange, expanding its crypto ETF offerings in the country.
MakerDAO rebranded as Sky, introducing new USDS stablecoin and SKY governance token alongside existing DAI and MKR tokens.

Swiss scientists made a chocolate breakthrough, eliminating the need for sugar.
The US military ran Tinder ads in Lebanon, warning residents not to attack the US or its allies.
A new study has found that Ozempic is linked to higher suicidal thought risk than other drugs.
An injured and angry water buffalo is on the loose in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.
Manette Baillie, at age 102, just became the United Kingdom's oldest skydiver.

That’s all for today. Did I miss anything? Smash the reply button to let me know.

Cheers,

Wyatt

or to participate.