For: June 18, 2025
>>Watching Wall Street
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after Wall Street saw stocks close lower Tuesday. Stocks fell as President Trump met with his national security team at the White House and the Pentagon moved additional forces to the Middle East. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 299 points to 42-215. The S&P 500 fell 50 points to 59-82. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 180 points to 19-521.
>>Federal Reserve Expected To Hold Rates Steady
(Washington, DC) -- The Federal Reserve is not expected to announce any interest rate cuts today for the fourth consecutive time. Rates are still high hovering between four-and-a-quarter and four-and-a-half percent. Mortgage rates are near seven-percent, and the average credit card rate is north of 20-percent. President Trump has been pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates.
>>Homebuilder Sentiment Drops To Near Pandemic Lows In June
(Washington, DC) -- Homebuilder sentiment is nearing its pandemic low. The National Association of Home Builders cites high mortgage rates and uncertainty over the economy as key factors in a two-point drop in sentiment in June. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell to 32, hitting its lowest level since December, 2022. The survey shows more than a third of all builders saying they had cut prices due to rising inventory levels. The survey's chief economist says many potential buyers are "on hold" waiting for affordability issues to improve.
>>Meta Testing Spoiler Text On Threads
(Menlo Park, CA) -- Meta is testing what is called spoiler text on its Threads platform. It's text that is grayed out and can only be read when a user manually taps on the grey bar over the text. It helps with things like not spoiling a plot twist or ending for a movie, TV show or book. It's a popular feature on platforms like Reddit and Discord. It can also be used to blur out text or images that might be uncomfortable for some.
>>Senate Passes Crypto Bill
(Washington, DC) -- A bill to regulate cryptocurrency has passed the Senate. The bipartisan vote Tuesday was seen as a win for the crypto industry, which has lobbied for the bill that would regulate stablecoins. Those are a type of cryptocurrency tied to an asset like the U.S. dollar, whereas most cryptocurrency is valued based on market fluctuations.
>>Tron Going Public
(Undated) -- Tron, a cryptocurrency platform created by billionaire Justin Sun, is planning to go public. The deal is through a reverse merger with SRM Entertainment and arranged by Dominari Securities, a group with links to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The new entity will be called Tron Inc. The move comes after the federal government decided to stop pursuing fraud charges against Sun to discuss a possible settlement.
>>Amazon Prime Day To Be Held Over 4 Days
(Seattle, WA) -- Amazon Prime Day will last four days this year. The online retail giant announced its popular annual sale for members will be held July 8th through the 11th. Prime Day started as a one day event ten years ago before eventually expanding to two days. New this year are "Today's Big Deals" which will see themed daily deal drops featuring deep discounts on a host of brands from Samsung to Levi's.
