Axios

The Texas Stock Exchange, unveiled this week with $120 million in funding from BlackRock, Citadel Securities and others, wants to challenge the NYSE and the Nasdaq by giving companies and investors an alternative — but it's got its work cut out for it.

Why it matters: The U.S. currently has a handful of exchanges, but business has long been concentrated in the top two. The No. 3 player, CBOE, has only about a 12% market share in trading volume, and the rest don't even clear 3%.

Stocks were quiet following this morning's strong jobs report, but the bond market was a different story.

Why it matters: On again, off again, and on again hopes of multiple rate cuts this year all but vanished today.

State of play: Yields on the 10-year Treasury note — a proxy for other important loan rates, like mortgages — jumped 15 basis points to 4.43%.

• Yields on the 2-year note, which tend to reflect expectations for the federal-funds rate two years out, rose 17 basis points to 4.9%.

What they're saying: "The bond market is back to pricing in only one rate cut (in September), down from two prior to the report," John Hancock Investment Management co-chief investment strategists Emily Roland and Matt Miskin wrote in a note today.

Stocks held the line today, despite diminished expectations for near-term rate cuts.

The big picture: The S&P 500 index is up 12.7% this year, the Nasdaq has risen 16%, and the Dow is up 2.9%.

• Household net worth increased 3.3% to $160.8 trillion in the first quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report today.
• Almost 75% of the growth was attributable to fattened stock portfolios.

Pat Sajak is signing off tonight from Wheel of Fortune.

Why it matters: Game shows are still big profit-drivers for broadcasters despite the streaming upheaval — the media equivalent of the horseshoe crab in terms of evolutionary survival.

By the numbers: Wheel generates over $100 million a year for parent Sony Television, KCRW reported last year, citing Puck News' Matt Belloni.

• The show draws around 8 million viewers a night, rivaling nearly anything on TV apart from the NFL, per a NYT report last year.

Between the lines: The NYT credited Sajak and co-host Vanna White with pulling the show off "ratings life support" in the 1970s.

A record share of working-age women are employed, according to data out Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why it matters: It's a remarkable comeback story. Women have not only regained their pandemic losses in the job market, they've been exceeding those numbers month after month.

Adorned in fake bandages while holding a beer and at one point a Magic 8 ball, GameStop meme trader Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, hosted a YouTube livestream Friday afternoon that proved — at least for the day — fun couldn't win over fundamentals.

Why it matters: The video game retail chain issued a surprise earnings report earlier in the day which disclosed a steep drop in first-quarter sales and a plan to sell additional stock.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell back under 7% this week, per Freddie Mac.

Why it matters: The dip is a reflection of renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut rates. But rates are still very high, a continuing turn-off for would-be buyers.

Ledger's Stax hardware wallet is shipping now.

Flashback: We wrote about its cool new e-ink display wallet back in 2022, saying that it should come out in early 2023.

• It did not.

The latest: They aren't available to order yet, but people who pre-ordered them are in the queue for a shipment.

• And Crystal got to see one at Consensus in Austin.

💭 Crystal's thought bubble: The TOUCH and feel of this thing is something else. It's excellent. I cannot describe the subtle difference in the tactile, but I can see it having an iPod-level following.

• Stax will be able to handle hundreds of cryptocurrencies as well as NFTs. Balances can be checked with its mobile app.

Maybe the most hotly awaited crypto-powered video game will drop its trailer today at 2pm ET, ahead of its July release.

Why it matters: Crypto gaming is one of the great hopes from the industry, because it promises a way to create an all-online economy.

• While players might have to buy in to a game, they will also earn crypto assets by playing.
• The best players will come out ahead, and the rest will at least have a sense of control over their in-game assets.

Details: The game will actually be three games: an open-world monster hunter, an auto battler and a world-building game.

Zoom in: Illuvium token, ILV, has been on the market since long before the game went live. At times, it traded for over $1,000.

Coinbase has just leveled up the user experience for cryptocurrency with a new kind of cryptocurrency wallet that will be much easier to use.

The big picture: Its reliance on cloud services to allow users to transfer it between devices will test true cryptocurrency believers, who have traditionally valued the ability to trust no one but themselves.

Hiring is hot and wage growth is strong, indicating plenty of demand for workers.

Why it matters: The May jobs report is good news for workers who continue to benefit from a still-solid economy. But the numbers call into question the narrative of a cooling labor market.

Retailers are struggling to rein in the proliferation of scammers tricking Americans into buying thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards.

Why it matters: The Federal Trade Commission estimates that Americans lost at least $217 million to gift card scams last year.

The U.S. economy added 272,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4% from 3.9%, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Why it matters: The boom in hiring shows workers are still in demand.

The high job growth of the past few years was driven in large part by immigration, but now the Biden administration is looking to curb migrants' entry into the country.

Why it matters: The strength in the job market helped underpin a surprisingly strong economy amid historic interest rate hikes. The big question now is whether the new border restrictions will slow either the job market or the economy overall.