Axios

After Nvidia hit a $3.3 trillion valuation this week — briefly taking the crown as the world's most valuable company — its stock has fallen 9.6%.

• In market cap terms, that's equivalent to shedding the entire market cap of General Motors... four times.

Between the lines: There's been no bad news around Nvidia to spark the drop.

• It could be thanks in part to profit taking.
• And it could be some portfolio rebalancing. Seligman Investments' Paul Wick told Bloomberg that they're trimming some NVDA simply because at this valuation, the company's concentrated revenue base presents just a bit more risk than megacap peers like Microsoft and Google.

Home prices hit a new record high in May.

Driving the news: The median price of an existing home was $419,300 last month, the highest price ever recorded and the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains, according to the National Association of Realtors.

• That's up 5.8% from May 2023.

Existing-home sales slipped 2.8% from a year ago, and 0.7% from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.11 million.

• Inventory ended the month at 1.28 million units, up 6.7% from April and 18.5% from one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at a 3.7-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.5 months in April.

What they're saying: "I thought we would see a recovery this spring," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, per CNBC. "We are not seeing it."

The lines between work and time off are blurring with the latest workplace and TikTok trend — "quiet vacationing."

Why it matters: Americans aren't taking all of their PTO and now some are going to extremes to hide their getaways while they work.

How does one introduce the Ethereum blockchain to the masses? Two providers of digital-asset ETFs just launched advertisements that take a stab.

Why it matters: As more crypto assets get ETF wrappers, investment pros are increasingly shaping the narrative behind blockchain technology.

Meme coin traders should mind the gap between bid-ask spreads on various crypto venues, lest they get wrecked.

• Pros usually do the math on the cost of trading, before they trade.

Why it matters: Meme coins with staying power, like dogecoin, are on various major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, but there are some places that offer better liquidity for certain coins over others.

By the numbers: Average bid-ask spreads for select meme coins on those exchanges over the last 30 days ended June 12, exceeded 2 basis points, or 0.02%, according to Kaiko.

Consensys' lawsuit against the SEC marches on as planned, though the agency said this week that it closed its investigation around Ethereum 2.0.

• "Consensys will press ahead with its lawsuit until we get the full relief we are seeking," the company's founder and chief, Joe Lubin, said in a statement sent to Axios yesterday.

Why it matters: It matters to Lubin and Consensys, because while the SEC closed its investigation of the blockchain, it hasn't necessarily backed off the firm developing software around it.

Behind the scenes: One SEC investigation has concluded: The one related to ether's status as a security post-Merge.

Everybody is waiting for rent relief to help bring overall inflation down. It might take longer than conventional wisdom suggests.

Why it matters: A surge in market rents in 2021 and 2022 still has a ways to go in fully working its way through the economy, despite moderation in market rents since then, a new paper from a Boston Fed economist finds.

There's an "unprecedented" scramble underway to find defense industry workers, per a new FT report and survey of nearly two dozen U.S. and European companies in the sector.

Why it matters: Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago coupled with evolving geopolitical risk have pushed global military spending to new highs.

Former President Trump's call to eliminate taxes on workers' tips is the kind of Vegas gamble a casino would never allow: It has multiple potential payouts and it's being made, essentially, with house money.

Why it matters: Trump is signaling to working class voters — many of whom are frustrated by high inflation — that he wants them to keep more of the money they earn.

Hertz is issuing $750 million in secured notes as the rental car company tries to get back on its financial feet.

The big picture: The company is hoping to bolster its liquidity as it's reeling from a massive depreciation in its vehicle fleet pegged to the sale of 30,000 EVs after its fleet costs ballooned.

• Hertz is hoping the pivot back to gas-powered vehicles will bolster its finances.
• But the company warned today in an SEC filing that if "we are unable to sell our fleet" at anticipated prices, "cash infusions may be required," which "could materially adversely affect our financial condition and liquidity."

"TrumpCoin-gate," the question of who's behind a new crypto memecoin called DJT, has taken a wild turn.

Why it matters: DJT exploded in value in recent days on rumors that it had a real connection to the Trump family.

• That sent a whole bunch of other Trump memecoins spiraling.

The latest: Blockchain research company Arkham Intelligence yesterday claimed to have solved the mystery. The token, it said, was created by… convicted "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli.

• Shkreli isn't denying a hand in creating the token. But he's been claiming on X that he did so in an effort with several others, including the former president's youngest son, Barron.

The battle has begun over what should become of former President Trump's signature tax law — many provisions of which are scheduled to expire next year — and Trump's former vice president is leading a new offensive to extend them.

Why it matters: Mike Pence's group Advancing American Freedom plans to spend $10 million to try to influence the tax debate over the next 18 months, pushing a pro-business tilt that contrasts with both the Biden administration and some populist Republicans who have Trump's ear.

Get a new hobby if you enjoy popping plastic air pillows from your Amazon packages because the company is aiming to trash the box fillers in North America for good by year-end.

Why it matters: The move, Amazon says today, will remove 15 billion plastic cushions annually from its shipping process — and from oceans and landfills.

The form of inflation that causes the most day-to-day discomfort is grocery inflation. White House economists have released a new analysis suggesting that the discomfort is finally improving.

Why it matters: Everybody has to eat, so when food becomes more expensive, it is particularly vivid and painful. But the data shows that grocery inflation has come off its high boil — with some commonly consumed items actually becoming cheaper — and that wage growth is catching up.

Younger investors like cryptocurrency a lot more than older investors.

• That might come as no surprise, but it's eye-opening to see how much they do like it.

The fine print: This is from a Bank of America survey conducted in January and February of 1,007 U.S. adults with at least $3 million in investable assets — not exactly your average man on the street.

Why it matters: This difference might help explain Trump's conversion to crypto as an election topic.

Coinbase International is offering futures markets on tokens that haven't launched.

Why it matters: For retail investors, these kinds of markets can aid in price discovery as they consider whether or not they want to buy a token when it starts trading.

• It also shows Coinbase getting competitive in an area adjacent to one that Binance has led internationally.

How it works: The pre-launch futures market will work like any other futures market. Investors will be buying or selling based on what they believe a given token will be worth at launch, based on all the publicly available information about it.

A milestone news dump hit with the midweek holiday: the SEC closed its monthslong investigation into Ethereum 2.0.

Why it matters: A sigh of vindication was audible from at least one major Ethereum firm that's been locked in a battle with the regulator.

Zoom in: Consensys, the company behind the Ethereum-based wallet MetaMask, touted the development Tuesday night as a "major win" for Ethereum developers.

• The SEC would not be pursuing charges against the company, according to Consensys.

Context: Consensys sued the SEC in April seeking a court order to halt an investigation that started months earlier, and "to stop its unlawful power grab," per the company's blog.

Next week's presidential debate may be President Biden's last chance to win over some of the single-issue voters with cryptocurrency on their minds.

Why it matters: Much to everyone's surprise, both candidates for U.S. president appear to be taking the topic of cryptocurrency seriously as an election issue, but only the challenger has made clear statements about the topic from the stump.

McDonald's is launching a new $5 meal deal nationwide starting June 25 as the fast-food price wars heat up.

Why it matters: Restaurant chains are feeling pressure to put the "value" back into the value meal after years of price hikes have hampered sales.

The Bank of England kept interest rates at the highest in 16 years on Thursday, joining the Federal Reserve in moving cautiously before cutting borrowing costs as a critical election looms.

Why it matters: Although U.K. inflation was the lowest since 2021 last month, the nation's central bankers worry subdued price pressures won't last.

Target is banking on a new generative artificial intelligence tool to help employees do their jobs and improve the shopping experience.

Why it matters: The Minneapolis-based company is the latest retailer to bet on AI for increased efficiency amid rising labor costs and underwhelming sales.