Newsletter Aug 19, 2022

3 things you must know

Tight labor market is food for thought for Federal Reserve
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week and the prior period's data was revised sharply lower, suggesting labor market conditions remain tight despite a slowdown in momentum due to higher interest rates. The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment claims report on Thursday combined with strong industrial production in July and underlying retail sales growth to allay fears that the economy was in recession. The claims report, the most timely data on the economy's health, could give the Federal Reserve more ammunition to deliver another hefty rate hike next month.
FIND OUT THE FED'S FACTORS FOR DECIDING RATE HIKE

Home sales fall 6% in July amid higher rates, tight supply
Home sales dropped 6% in July, according to Thursday's data release from the Commerce Department, but high prices and tight supply remains stubborn. Higher borrowing costs are weighing on housing, but an outright collapse is unlikely because single-family homes for sale remain scarce, keeping prices elevated, as 82% of homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month.
WHY INVENTORY INCREASE ISN'T IN THE HOUSING CARDS

Musk subpoenas ad tech firms over bot info for Twitter trial
Elon Musk, who is attempting to break his deal to acquire Twitter, has subpoenaed documents from advertising technology firms to gain more information on bot and spam accounts. Twitter sued Musk, who has accused the company of hiding information about how it calculates the percentage of bots on the service, prompting him to pull out of the $44 billion deal. The trial is set for Oct. 17.
SEE WHICH AD TECH FIRMS ARE RECEIVING SUBPOENAS

Markets

DJIA	33,999.04	0.06%
S&P 500	4,283.74	0.23%
Nasdaq Composite	12,965.34	0.21%
Japan: Nikkei 225	28,942.14	-0.96%
UK: FTSE 100	7,541.85	0.35%
Crude Oil Futures	90.65	0.17%
Gold Futures	1,771.00	-0.01%
Yen	135.85	-0.03%
Euro	1.01	0.11%
* As of market close

Judge rules for releasing some Trump docs

A federal judge ruled for the release of some sealed records containing evidence the Justice Department presented to secure court approval to search Donald Trump's Florida home, striking a compromise with news outlets that argued that the public deserves to see the details. The DOJ opposed the release of the affidavit containing the evidence, but a redacted version and related documents will be released. The search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort was part of a federal investigation into whether he illegally removed documents when he left office in 2021.

FORMER TRUMP ORG EXEC WEISSELBERG'S PLEADS GUILTY

Tesla must turn over info in Autopilot probe

U.S. auto safety regulators on Thursday asked Tesla Inc to answer questions about its in-car camera intended to monitor driver awareness as part of a probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles that employ the electric carmaker's advanced driver assistance system called Autopilot. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is assessing the performance of Autopilot after earlier identifying a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles mysteriously struck stopped emergency vehicles.

SEE WHAT TESLA IS SAYING ABOUT ITS AUTOPILOT SYSTEM

Chicken wing prices fall as football kick off

Are you ready for some football -- and some cheap chicken wing? Prices on the fan-food favorite have drastically lowered following a pandemic-induced shortage that made wing prices skyrocket. In the beginning of 2020, wholesale chicken wing prices per pound were about $1.60 before more than doubling during the pandemic, peaking at about $3.25 per pound in May 2021. But a steady decline has seen prices fall to about $1.30 per pound -- lower than pre-pandemic levels.

FIND OUT WHAT FACTORS HAVE PUSHED DOWN WING PRICES

Winging it

Who is credited with creating the Buffalo wing? What year and venue?

Thursday's answer: The first official pizzeria in the U.S. was Lombardi's in New York City, which opened in 1905 and is still serving pies today.