If you could invent something to fulfill an economist’s dream, it would look an awful lot like a prediction market. A world where every uncertain future can be priced, hedged and insured against? Kenneth Arrow and Gérard Debreu would approve. A market mechanism to co-ordinate the decentralised wisdom of crowds, ensuring the accuracy of such prices? Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek sought just that. More
Sales of new single-family homes dropped 13.7% in May compared with April, according to the U.S. Census.
Homebuilders who reported quarterly earnings recently noted high rates cutting into affordability.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage hovered around 7% for much of May, according to Mortgage News Daily.
Houses undergo construction in a neighborhood on April 17, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Sales of new single-family homes dropped 13.7% in May compared with April to 623,000 units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the U.S. Census.
That sales total was 6.3% lower than May 2024 and well below both the six-month average of 671,000 and the one-year average of 676,000. It also lags the pre-pandemic average in 2019 of 685,000 units sold.
Wall Street analysts were expecting May new home sales of 695,000, according to estimates from Dow Jones.
This count is based on signed contracts, so people out shopping in May, when mortgage rates remained stubbornly high.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage started May at 6.83%, rose steadily to just over 7% and then settled back at 6.95% by the end of the month, according to Mortgage News Daily.
“The large fall in new home sales in May cancels out all of the positivity of the past couple of months and serves as a valuable reminder that buyer activity can only rise so far with mortgage rates hugging 7%,” wrote Bradley Saunders, an economist at Capital Economics.
Homebuilders who reported quarterly earnings recently noted high rates cutting into affordability.
“The macro economy remains challenging, as mortgage interest rates have remained higher while consumer confidence has been challenged by a wide range of uncertainties, both domestic and global,” said Stuart Miller, co-CEO of Lennar, on a call with analysts following the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings release. “Across the housing landscape, actionable demand has been diminished by both affordability and consumer confidence, and therefore has continued to soften.”
Lennar reported lowering prices, but KB Home, which posted its quarterly earnings this week, raised prices.
Nationally, the median price of a new home sold in May was $426,600, according to the Census report, 3% above the year-earlier price.
Slower sales resulted in a significant bump higher in supply. There were 507,000 new homes for sales at the end of May. This represents a 9.8-month supply at the current sales rate, which is 15% higher than May 2024.
The last time supply was that high was briefly in the summer of 2022, after the Federal Reserve first started raising interest rates post-pandemic. Before that, supply hadn’t been this high since 2009, amid the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession.
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The Tennis Channel is extending its deal with the Women’s Tennis Association.
Tennis Channel CEO Jeff Blackburn told CNBC there was a “pretty big step up in our payments” to the WTA for the U.S. media rights, which now run through 2032.
The deal comes as American female tennis players have shot to the top of global rankings and women’s sports in general has seen a rise in popularity and investment funding.
Coco Gauff of the United States lifts the winners trophy after her victory against Aryna Sabalenka in the Final of the Women’s singles competition on Court Philippe-Chatrier during the 2025 French Open Tennis Tournament at Roland Garros on June 7, 2025, in Paris, France.
Sipa via AP Images
The Tennis Channel is extending its deal with the Women’s Tennis Association that will see the cable TV network and streaming service continue to broadcast more than 2,000 matches each season.
While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, Tennis Channel CEO Jeff Blackburn told CNBC in an interview there was a “pretty big step up in our payments” to the WTA for the U.S. media rights, which includes international tournaments and the WTA Finals event. The new agreement lasts through 2032.
“Our goal and mission is to just cover pro tennis and the game of tennis like no one else, every day, every hour, all year round. There’s no offseason,” Blackburn said. “WTA plays a huge role in that and it was a big priority for me to make sure that we renewed our relationship and extend it as long term as we were able.”
The exclusive rights renewal comes as the Tennis Channel is in the midst of a transition on several fronts.
Last year, longtime Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon was ousted from the company. Blackburn stepped into the role in early May, following a 24-year career at Amazon, where he helped to build out Prime Video and expand the streaming service into sports, among other businesses.
Meanwhile, Sinclair, the owner of broadcast stations as well as the Tennis Channel, had recently considered offloading the network, CNBC previously reported. The parent company, however, is no longer exploring a sale of the Tennis Channel, particularly since Blackburn has taken the helm, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details.
In the backdrop, the Tennis Channel, like its network peers, is contending with the continued loss of customers from the pay-TV bundle. While live sports garner the biggest audiences — and leagues have reaped huge rights payouts as a result — media companies are focused on growing the profitability of their streaming businesses.
In 2014 the 24/7 tennis network took its first step into streaming with Tennis Channel Plus, and later in 2022 introduced Tennis Channel 2, a free, ad-supported streaming channel. While Blackburn said Tennis Channel 2 has been successful and attracted a younger audience, he is focused on beefing up the Tennis Channel’s recently launched direct-to-consumer streaming app.
The app, which launched in November 2024, costs $9.99 a month or $109.99 annually and offers the same programming as the pay-TV network. Media companies are increasingly offering the same live sports featured on pay-TV networks on their counterpart streaming alternatives — most notably with the launch of Disney’s flagship ESPN app later this year.
“What’s important about the partnership is that they’re committing to doing more with us,” said Marina Storti, CEO of WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA. “They’re committed to that increased exposure across all of their platforms. They’re committed to ensuring this kind of equal exposure for women and men, where they have the rights. And they’re making a significant commitment. There is a substantial increase in the rights fees, which is a big milestone for us as part of our plan and commitment to growing.”
The Tennis Channel’s agreement with the WTA covers a large swath of the WTA’s tournaments outside of North America through the season-closing WTA Finals.
The audience for WTA events on the Tennis Channel has been growing, particularly among the younger demographic. Viewership among 18- to 34-year-olds on the Tennis Channel has grown annually for each of the past two years, according to a news release.
‘Equal footing’
Analyst Martina Navratilova with guest Maria Sharapova on Tennis Channel’s Wimbledon desk
Photo: Fred Mullane/camerawork, usa.
The deal comes as American female tennis players have shot to the top of global rankings and women’s sports in general have seen a rise in popularity and investment funding.
Already in 2025, two American women have won two of the top majors: Madison Keys took the Australian Open in January, and Coco Gauff was crowned the winner of the French Open in June. Gauff and Keys will be among the participants at Wimbledon, which kicks off on Monday.
“Tennis is really the only major sport where the men’s and women’s game is on equal footing, and that’s really important,” said Blackburn. “I think for tennis it makes it unique. The growth of women’s sports overall? Maybe basketball and soccer will get there, but I think tennis is way ahead in terms of providing that for the fan.”
The Tennis Channel 2 free streaming option has earmarked every Tuesday as “Women’s Day” — showing only women’s match coverage — and Blackburn highlighted the network’s roster of heavy-hitting female talent, including former players and Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport, among others.
The deal extension also builds on WTA Ventures’ recent efforts to grow its commercial revenue and build the profiles of its athletes.
In 2023 the WTA formed a strategic partnership with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which invested $150 million for a 20% stake in the newly created WTA Ventures. The entity was formed to focus on growing commercial revenue through sponsorships and media rights deals, with the goal of tripling its revenue by 2029.
In 2024 WTA Ventures said it expected to increase revenue by 24% in its first full year.
The media rights extension marks the first renegotiation with the Tennis Channel under the WTA Ventures framework. The WTA’s long-standing media rights deal with streaming service DAZN expires at the end of next year, and talks have begun for new deals that would begin in 2027, said Storti.
WTA Ventures said its global audience surpassed 1 billion viewers on broadcast and streaming last season, and Storti said the U.S. is among one of the WTA’s biggest growth markets, along with China and Poland.
“We are a completely mass-market product that attracts hundreds of millions of fans across the world, and I would say we deliver a product that stands kind of shoulder to shoulder with the men counterpart,” Storti said.
The WTA has also recently emphasized improvements for players.
This year it’s has announced a paid maternity leave funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, as well as a new policy allowing players to protect their rankings during fertility treatments
Still, tennis is not without its issues of disparity. While the U.S. Open awarded equal prize money to men and women beginning in 1973, it was decades ahead of Wimbledon and other majors. And while equal prize money is given at the majors level, there’s still a considerable pay gap at lower-level tournaments.
The sport also drew criticism around the 2025 French Open when the majority of prime-time slots went to men’s matches.
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ESPN has renewed a media rights agreement with the Premier Lacrosse League.
The five-year deal will begin with the 2026 season and include all PLL regular-season games as well as All-Star, playoff and championship games and Women’s Lacrosse League games.
Disney-owned ESPN said it will take a minority stake in the league.
Utah Archers Midfielder Tre Leclaire (44) carries the ball during the Premier Lacrosse League Cash App Championship between the Maryland Whipsnakes and the Utah Archers at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 15, 2024.
Terence Lewis | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
ESPN is renewing its media deal with the Premier Lacrosse League and taking an equity stake in the organization.
The five-year deal will begin with the 2026 season and include all PLL regular-season games as well as All-Star, playoff and championship games and Women’s Lacrosse League games. The deal comes as pro lacrosse has seen gains across broadcast, partnerships and attendance. It will also be added to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Alongside the deal, Disney-owned ESPN said it will take a minority stake in the league. A person familiar with the terms, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details, said the investment gives ESPN a 3% stake.
“ESPN are not only experts in their understanding sports fans, but they are also great predictors of audience and growth,” PLL co-founder and president Paul Rabil told CNBC. “It’s validating that they came in to invest in what we’re building, and then as a partner, in addition to the expansion of coverage that they’ll be giving.”
Rabil said the media deal with ESPN has been critical to the sport’s growth. He said the network has been investing in lacrosse for roughly three decades.
The partnership also seems to be paying off for ESPN. During the 2024 season, viewership on ABC for the PLL’s championship game was up 9% year over year. The league also had its most-viewed All-Star game in its history, which aired on ESPN.
The PLL is also seeing growth in nearly all metrics. Since 2019, paid tickets are up 34%, attendance is up 13%, ticket revenue is up 149% and sponsor dollars are up more than 100%, Rabil said.
The league, now in its seventh season, has financial backing from the likes of Joe Tsai, the Chernin Group, Arctos, the Kraft Group and CAA.
Last year, PLL announced it was starting a Women’s Lacrosse League, which is currently in its inaugural season.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More
Chinese Premier Li Qiang was speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in China.
Engaging in the international economy is a way of “reshaping the rules and order,” Li said.
Li also maintained an upbeat view on the Chinese economy during the conference.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC25) in Tianjin on June 25, 2025.
Jade Gao | Afp | Getty Images
TIANJIN, China — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday called on other countries to collaborate on trade, despite rising tariffs and other barriers.
“Globalization will not be reversed,” he said through an official English translation, as he called on all sides not to turn trade into a political or security issue.
Engaging in the international economy is a way of “reshaping the rules and order,” Li added, calling on countries to keep to the “right” path.
Li did not comment specifically on U.S. trade tensions or the Israel-Iran conflict. He was speaking at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in China, often dubbed “Summer Davos.”
Describing Li’s comment on “reshaping the rules and order” as “very interesting,” Adam Tooze, professor of history at Columbia University, said: “I think what we’re going to see is a pluralization.”
What’s needed is more about processes rather than focusing on who is setting the “order,” he told CNBC.
In the speech, Li referred to how more than 30 countries signed a “Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation” in Hong Kong last month. He called it a way of using “the wisdom of the East in resolving international disputes.”
Li also maintained an upbeat view on the Chinese economy during the conference, and said authorities would implement measures to “make China a mega-sized consumption powerhouse” in addition to being one in manufacturing.
Louise Loo, lead economist for China at Oxford Economics, noted that Li was “quite confident in the organic growth momentum within China.”
“We still think that there are challenges [for China] this year, but I think it’s not as far-fetched as we thought before,” Loo told CNBC’s Emily Tan on The China Connection show.
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“However punitive tariffs are, I think in the near term, it’s quite hard to decouple China from global supply chains, and that means we will continue to see China exports, at least, remain quite competitive, and that should support economic growth for the Chinese,” she added.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azín were among the top political leaders attending this year, according to a forum press release.
JD.com Founder and Chairman Liu Qiangdong and TCL Founder and Chairman Li Dongsheng were among the listed conference attendees.
In the last week, Li has met with the leaders of Singapore, Vietnam, New Zealand, Ecuador and Kyrgyzstan, according to Chinese state media.
— CNBC’s Victoria Yeo contributed to this report. More
China is introducing ways to bolster yuan’s usage as confidence in the U.S. dollar falters.
Three major Chinese exchanges have allowed certain foreign institutional investors to trade more futures and options contracts listed in mainland China.
From expanding investment channels to building digital infrastructure, Beijing has been laying the groundwork to accelerate international use of its currency.
A bank employee count China’s renminbi (RMB) or yuan notes next to U.S. dollar notes at a Kasikornbank in Bangkok, Thailand, January 26, 2023.
Athit Perawongmetha | Reuters
China is devising more ways for foreign institutions to use the yuan, as international confidence in the U.S. dollar falters.
The moves aim at challenging the greenback, experts said, even as the U.S. dollar remains by far the world’s predominant currency. The timing is favorable as the U.S. dollar index has tumbled more than 9% this year — while the offshore yuan has strengthened more than 2% against the dollar.
In a sign of growing resolve in Beijing to lure the world away from the dollar, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng in a speech last week at the high-profile Lujiazui Forum discussed “how to weaken excessive reliance on a single sovereign currency.”
He also announced plans to set up a center for digital yuan internationalization in Shanghai and promote trading of yuan foreign exchange futures. Beijing has already rolled out a digital version of its currency to replace some cash and coins in circulation.
Much of Beijing’s recent moves focus on the futures market.
Three major Chinese exchanges announced that starting last week, qualified foreign institutional investors would be able to trade 16 more futures and options contracts listed in mainland China.
The commodities covered include natural rubber, lead and tin, according to releases on the Shanghai, Dalian and Zhengzhou exchanges.
That follows the addition of dozens of other tradable futures contracts for foreign institutional investors earlier this year, according to Zhou Ji, macro foreign exchange innovation analyst of Nanhua Futures, a Hangzhou-based brokerage focused on futures products and research.
Zhou pointed out that besides expanding the range of hedging products for international institutions, those contracts increase the influence of the yuan in the global commodity pricing system.
In another step toward encouraging global investors to use the yuan, the Shanghai Futures Exchange announced in late May it was gathering feedback for a proposal to allow foreign currencies to be used as collateral for trades settled in yuan.
Other recent moves, though incremental, include China allowing qualified foreign investors to participate in on-exchange exchange-traded fund options trading from Oct. 9 for hedging purposes. Earlier this year, authorities also reportedly announced a 500-yuan fee waiver for international financial institutions to open a local account for accessing the bond market.
Morgan Stanley in January announced its local subsidiary could officially begin offering brokerage services for mainland China commodity futures, and planned to expand to equity and fixed-income futures and options once it received necessary qualifications.
Such access has been years in the making, as the U.S. financial giant said it received China’s approval back in May 2023 to set up a wholly owned brokerage in the country.
While global finance institutions and investors have long been interested in diversifying to China, Beijing’s strict controls on capital outflows and relatively opaque system have discouraged large-scale buying of mainland China assets.
While some worry about the unpredictability of U.S. policies in recent months, China has yet to present itself as a dependable alternative, said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research.
“China’s rule of law is inferior to the U.S., it does not offer a large and deep pool of liquid assets that is open to foreign investors like the U.S.,” he said, adding that Beijing has not been sufficiently addressing the geopolitical risks tied to its markets.
Global payments
It’s not just investment products. Over the years, China has developed a sprawling network of offshore yuan clearing banks and promoted the cross-border interbank payment system.
Increasingly, Chinese banks lending to emerging market economies have switched to the yuan instead of the U.S. dollar, partly due to lower lending costs, according to analysis published last month by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The world’s second-largest economy has also been promoting bilateral trade settlement in yuan, and in February announced $100 billion for businesses in Hong Kong to access yuan-denominated financing.
“China appears to be accelerating its de-dollarization efforts, though progress remains uneven,” said Dan Wang, director of Eurasia Group’s China team, though she noted an increase in yuan-denominated settlements of cross-border payments between energy and commodities companies in China and abroad.
Another trend supporting yuan’s internationalization is Chinese companies’ expansion overseas, especially smaller businesses selling goods online.
Startup FundPark said since its financial partners Goldman Sachs and HSBC hold offshore yuan, China-based customers can easily use it for both operations in China and overseas.
Chinese authorities also subsidize some of the interest costs for loans denominated in offshore yuan, said Bear Huo, FundPark’s China general manager. He said overall use of the currency remains low but growing, although he declined to share specific numbers.
At a global level, the Chinese yuan lost some ground in international use in May, according to Swift’s RMB Tracker. The data showed that the yuan accounted for 2.89% of global payments by value in May, the sixth most-active currency – down from 5th place in the prior month.
The U.S. dollar accounted for 48.46% of global payments, followed by the euro at 23.56%, according to Swift.
De-dollarization
Beijing’s latest efforts to promote the yuan coincide with a wider and more concerted shift away from the dollar in Asia recently. The region is gradually reducing its reliance on the U.S. dollar, driven by geopolitical tensions, shifting monetary dynamics, and increased use of currency hedging.
Policy uncertainty by U.S. President Donald Trump has fueled a notable selloff in the greenback, which saw its steepest losses of the year in April.
Overseas investors looking to diversify away from America and hedge against U.S. assets are also boosting the yuan, said Ning Sun, senior EM strategist at State Street Global.
“Our proprietary data indicates strong inflows to CNY, not a surprise given the good performance of CNY financial assets. Our data tracks only institutional investors, who are still very much underweight in CNY,” said Ning Sun, senior EM strategist at State Street Global. More
FedEx reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue Tuesday.
The company announced it had achieved its $4 billion cost-cutting goal and will aim to trim another $1 billion in its upcoming fiscal year.
The company offered current-quarter profit guidance that came in slightly below what Wall Street was expecting.
A FedEx truck on Cyber Monday in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
FedEx reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue Tuesday as the company announced it had achieved its $4 billion cost-cutting goal and will aim to trim another $1 billion in its upcoming fiscal year.
The company achieved its “structural cost reduction target, in the face of ongoing headwinds,” CEO Raj Subramaniam said in a media release.
“Looking ahead, I’m confident that our transformation initiatives, which are focused on integrating our networks and further reducing our cost-to-serve, will create meaningful long-term value,” he said.
FedEx stock dropped about 5% in after-hours trading as the company offered current-quarter profit guidance that came in slightly below what Wall Street was expecting.
As of Tuesday’s close, shares of FedEx had dropped more than 18% year-to-date.
Here’s how the company did in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2025 compared with what analysts were anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $6.07 adjusted vs. $5.84 expected
Revenue: $22.22 billion vs. $21.79 billion expected
FedEx reported its U.S. daily package volume was up 6% year over year. U.S. ground home delivery volume, specifically, was up 10% year over year.
The company reported net income for the quarter ended May 31 of $1.65 billion, or $6.88 per share, compared with $1.47 billion, or $5.94 per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, including accounting costs associated with retirement plans and other charges, FedEx reported earnings per share of $6.07.
Revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter rose to $22.22 billion, up slightly from $22.1 billion a year earlier.
For the full fiscal year, revenue was $87.9 billion, up from $87.7 billion in fiscal 2024.
FedEx and rival UPS are typically seen as bellwethers for the global economy since they touch a wide variety of businesses.
FedEx reported its capital spending for fiscal 2025 was $4.1 billion, down 22% from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2024. Capital spending as a percentage of revenue hit its lowest level in FedEx history, according to the release.
The reduction in spending comes as FedEx chases a long-term cost-cutting initiative. Its DRIVE program, introduced in fiscal 2023, is aimed at improving long-term profitability. FedEx said on Tuesday it achieved its target of $4 billion total in DRIVE savings by the end of fiscal 2025, relative to a fiscal 2023 baseline.
Its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance includes cost-cutting reductions of $1 billion. The company declined to give full-year fiscal 2026 earnings and profit forecasts.
For its fiscal first quarter of 2026, FedEx gave mixed guidance. The company forecasts revenue will be flat to up 2% year over year, topping StreetAccount estimates that called for revenue to decline by 0.1%. However, FedEx expects adjusted earnings per share of $3.40 to $4.00, slightly under the StreetAccount estimate of $4.06.
CFO John Dietrich said on a Tuesday call with investors that the company’s fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance includes a $170 million headwind from international exports due to global trade policy impacts.
Brie Carere, executive vice president and chief customer officer, said on the call the “vast majority of that is impact from China to the U.S. and within that, the vast majority is the impact of de minimis,” referencing a tax provision dealing with lower-value shipments.
FedEx in December announced long-anticipated plans to spin out its Freight division, leaving two publicly traded companies. At that time, FedEx said it expected the tax-free spin-off would be executed within 18 months.
The quarterly results come just days after FedEx’s founder and executive chairman, Fred Smith, died at the age of 80. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 and was succeeded by Subramaniam. More
