Housing affordability in America is its worst in nearly a decade, and there's one clear culprit

Housing affordability hit its worst level in nearly a decade during the first quarter, according to Attom Data Solutions. Attom measures affordability by comparing average wages to median home prices to determine the share of income people need to spend on housing. Prospective buyers needed to shell out more because mortgage rates rose.

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  U.S. Home Prices Least Affordable in Almost a Decade

  Bloomberg
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  As N.J. rents continue to rise, finding an apartment becomes even harder

  Philly.com

How to outlast a job you hate until you can retire

Filling your mind with pleasing images of retirement — what you’ll do, where you’ll reside — can divert attention from the daily grind. Counting the days until retirement gets easier if you’re used to priming your brain to work to your advantage. Joanne Waldman is director of training at Retirement Options, which certifies retirement coaches and offers retirement readiness assessments.

Xiaomi IPO Set to Be the World's Biggest in Nearly Two Years

Jun.24 -- Xiaomi's IPO is priced at up to 29.3 times forecast earnings and its CFO says the company deserves such a premium. Bloomberg Intelligence's Vey-Sern Ling discusses the IPO on "Bloomberg Markets: Asia."

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  Xiaomi Paves Way With $6.1B IPO

  Bloomberg
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  Discussing China's monetary policy, trade and Xiaomi's IPO

  CNBC.com

Future of Big Oil Increasingly Shaped by the Fate of Global Gas

Big Oil’s fortunes are becoming tied more closely to natural gas than ever before. Majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc have boosted their proportion of gas output in recent years, helping them trim Exxon Mobil Corp.’s lead as the world’s most valuable oil company. Meanwhile Chevron Corp. added two giant Australian liquefied natural gas projects and Exxon is punching back with two major projects of its own, in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique.

China Won't Target U.S. Companies in Trade Dispute, SCMP Says

China has no plan to target U.S. companies operating in the nation amid escalating trade tensions, as that would run counter to Beijing’s goal of attracting foreign investments, South China Morning Post reported on Sunday, citing unidentified people. The policy makers sought to reassure foreign businesses in China amid fears that the Beijing government would retaliate for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Chinese goods by harassing American firms or depriving them of commercial opportunities, the Hong Kong-based newspaper reported, citing "two Chinese government sources." The option of targeting these business "has never been on the cards," according to one of the people. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President David Solomon, United Parcel Service Inc. Chairman David Abney and Pfizer Inc. Chief Operating Officer Albert Bourla were among top executives at the meeting, according to the newspaper.

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  US Defense chief to visit China amid S. China Sea tensions

  The Hanford Sentinel
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  Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is making his first visit to China — here are 6 big issues hanging over his trip

  Business Insider

Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan Health Venture Takes Aim at Middlemen

The health venture established by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will take aim at intermediaries in the health-care system as a part of a broad effort to reduce wasteful spending, the venture’s newly named chief executive officer said. The still-unnamed business will initially seek to develop ways to improve care for the more than 1 million individuals who get health insurance from the three firms. Over time, the venture will make those innovations available freely to other companies, meaning that if it’s successful, its effects could be felt more broadly among the more than 150 million people in the U.S. who get their health insurance through work.

AT&T managers encouraged unethical DirecTV Now sales pitches

There's no question that AT&T really, really likes it when customers sign up for DirecTV Now. It regularly touts the subscriber numbers, and it has lately offset troubles with the telecom's conventional TV business. A Hawaii News Nowinvestigation asserts that AT&T retail managers pressured staff into using unethical sales tactics for DirecTV Now.

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  A Combined T-Mobile-Sprint Could Challenge AT&T's Bundle

  Motley Fool
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  AT&T Is Now Forcing Unlimited Customers to Take a Bundle

  Motley Fool

Shanghai Composite on the Edge of a Bear Market

Jun.24 -- The Shanghai Composite is teetering on the edge of a bear market as investors face the possibility of a U.S.-China trade war. Bloomberg's Divya Balji reports on "Bloomberg Markets: Asia."

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  Asian stocks fall, oil gives up some gains after China move

  KTAR 92.3 Phoenix
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  Stocks in China rise, but other Asian markets mostly lower

  MarketWatch

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's has advice for Facebook and Google: Don't make the mistake we did (FB, GOOG, GOOGL, MSFT)

The backlash against Silicon Valley is growing. Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, has some advice for the likes of Facebook and Google: Accept you've screwed up, and work with regulators to fix it. As Silicon Valley battles scandals and increasing regulatory scrutiny, Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has warned Facebook and Google not to make the same mistake Microsoft did.

Intel CEO Krzanich steps down after company uncovers past relationship with employee

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Brian Krzanich has resigned from the company effective immediately, the tech giant said Thursday, after he was found to have violated company policies through a past relationship with another employee. In a release, Intel (INTC) announced that an investigation by internal and external counsel found that Krzanich violated the company’s “non-fraternization policy” when he had a “past consensual relationship” with someone else at the company. Intel’s policy “applies to all managers,” the company said.

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  Intel's CEO violated no-dating rule: more companies have them in the #MeToo era

  OregonLive.com
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  As Intel Loses Its CEO, How Well Can It Compete Against Nvidia?

  The Street

Should You Buy Caterpillar (CAT) Stock Right Now?

Shares of Caterpillar CAT closed up marginally on Friday, ending a streak of nearly two straight weeks of losses on the back of heightened trade war tensions between the U.S. and China. With that said, now might be the time for investors to consider buying Caterpillar stock based on its currently stellar valuation picture and strong growth prospects. Caterpillar has been one of the Dow’s worst performers during its recent downbeat stretch, which stands in stark contrast to its standing over the last few years.

Paul Tudor Jones: Here's why the 1987 crash was an accident waiting to happen

Legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones became famous after predicting the market crash of October 19, 1987, known as “Black Monday” when the Dow Jones dropped more than 22%. “The crash of ’87 was really interesting just because the crash of ’87 probably never would have happened except for, again, the market infrastructure at that point in time,” Jones said in a conversation with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein as part of the firm’s “Talks at GS” series. Jones, 63, began his career at E.F. Hutton as a commodities trader in the cotton pits in 1976 before transitioning to macro trading and founding his hedge fund, Tudor Investment Corp in 1980.

Where Autistic Workers Thrive

Social interaction and communication skills can be a challenge for people with autism spectrum disorder, but companies looking to hire untapped talent for tech-related jobs are discovering that those with autism are unusually detail-oriented, highly analytical, and able to focus intensely on tasks, making them valuable employees. Last October, six companies—Ford Motor, DXC Technology, EY, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and SAP—formed the Autism at Work Employer Roundtable to share best hiring and workplace practices and to help other companies see the return on investment in hiring autistic employees. One of the first companies to seek out autistic talent was SAP, a multinational software company that began hiring autistic employees to do software testing.

Oil prices drop on OPEC's output deal, but markets to stay tight

Oil prices fell on Monday as traders factored in an expected 1 million barrels per day (bpd) output increase in the wake of an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna last week. Despite this, analysts said global oil markets would likely remain relatively tight this year. Brent crude futures were at $74.25 per barrel at 0636 GMT, down 1.7 percent from their last close.

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  UAE energy minister Mazrouei on the new OPEC output targe...

  CNBC Videos
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  How oil prices will affect your summer road trip

  MarketWatch

As trade war looms, China cuts some banks' reserve requirements to boost lending

China's central bank said on Sunday it would cut the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves by 50 basis points (bps), releasing $108 billion in liquidity, to accelerate the pace of debt-for-equity swaps and spur lending to smaller firms. The reserve reduction, the third by the central bank this year, had been widely anticipated by investors amid concerns over market liquidity and a potential economic drag from a trade dispute with the United States. Expectations of a cut had risen after the State Council, or cabinet, said on Wednesday monetary policy tools including targeted cuts in banks' reserve requirement ratios will be deployed to strengthen credit flows to small firms and keep economic growth in a reasonable range.

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  China cuts banks' necessary deposit reserves by $140b as Trump sanctions hit

  Financial Review
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  Shares slide on trade worries, oil gives up some gains

  Reuters UK

Central Banks Told Not to Be Afraid of Shaking Markets a Little

Central banks should accept that reversing crisis-era monetary policy will be “bumpy” and shouldn’t delay doing so just for fear of upsetting financial markets, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Claudio Borio, who heads the institution’s economics department, urged policy makers to press ahead, both to address financial stability risks and to insulate their economies against the next downturn. The BIS is effectively a bank for central banks.

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  It's time to get the RBA off the front page

  Financial Review
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  Protectionism threatens 'vintage' global growth: BIS

  AFP